Our Home > Renovations > Upstairs
So, having finished a nice new "private" space for ourselves downstairs, it is time to attack the upstairs and turn it into a nice "public" space - getting rid of the claustrophobic little rooms and making it much brighter and lighter for us to enjoy and entertain in.
Saturday September 29th, 2007
But first, we needed to start by getting rid of old furniture and odds and ends that we just don't need, or don't have space for in this major renovation...
Yes, seriously, we did manage to get rid of all that stuff - really cleared the house!! And nothing like having a major "yard" sale two days before leaving on vacation!!
Tuesday October 30th
Back from vacation, and after a weekend of packing, basically everything left on the main floor and attic is packed into less than one room...
We now have a very stylish table and chairs for the kitchen during construction...
And so it is time to farewell to our old bedroom, that we carefully renovated eight years ago...
And the old dining room, where the plaster is as crappy and cracked as the day we moved in...
Friday November 2nd
We actually have contractors doing a bunch of the heavy work this time, so things happen quickly! On the first day, the old closet/pantry is gone...
Wednesday November 7th
In case you were ever wondering just how steep the old stairs to our attic were, here you are...
In this shot, you can also see the new larger opening between our kitchen and dining room, with the new orange beam spanning what was two small doorways and a few feet of wall.
Fortunately, the contractors were able to provide a zippered drop-sheet for the kitchen, so we have access to the kitchen and it is staying clean enough to use amid the dust and debris...
Sunday November 18th
The new (and much less steep) stairs to the attic are already in, and the full effect of the open-plan living and dining room is great...
Meanwhile, our old bathroom is gutted and slightly expanded...
And the attic has been gutted, we have framing for a small powder room up there, and Glenn has rewired this floor...
The one skylight (added for extra headroom in the powder room!) makes such a great difference to the feel of the attic, that we decide to add a second one while we are at it!
The plumbers have been in, and the insulation guys, so the attic is pretty much ready to drywall...
By Christmas, the attic has been boarded...
The contractors are now finished the tasks that we hired them to do, and now it is back over to us. Things are sure to progress somewhat more slowly!!!
Saturday February 2nd, 2008
When we said things would progress somewhat more slowly, we didn't intend for it to be this slowly! January was a write-off, with Glenn either at work or in bed sick every weekend. Most of February wasn't much better. But here we managed to squeeze in a day of work on the house, getting new recessed lights installed in the living/dining room...
With the recessed lights done in a day, it feels like we are making progress. But there is still much more to do, including ripping out the old wiring you can see hanging loose in this photo, and the existing lights...
Saturday February 9th
Another half-day to make some progress. "So Honey, how far apart did you want these wall sconces?"
A little time here, and a bit of time there, it took us till mid-March to complete the electrical and get it signed off. It would have been maybe three weekends work if I could have just worked at it solidly. Ah well, three weeks, three months, what's the difference? Time to get on with insulating!
Sunday April 6th
We now have the thermal insulation and vapour barrier complete and signed off by the City building inspector, and in the second photo, off in the distance, Theresa is working on sound insulation between the rooms...
As Glenn finishes up the last framing details, Theresa is happy to show off our new mantle, and where the gas fireplace is going to go (once it gets delivered again, given the first one delivered had been beaten up in the warehouse).
Time for drywall, and this is how to get drywall delivered, to the door! (When the drywall arrived for the attic, the poor guys had to haul it up two flights of stairs. Here, the guys were taking it straight off the crane lift and straight through the front door into the living room!)
Glenn is really busy with work and we figure it would take us at least three weeks of his spare time to board the walls and ceiling - so we get our drywaller to board as well and mud/finish the floor for us. Two guys, half a day, and the boarding is done! It's amazing how quickly things can happen when you bite the bullet and hire the pros!
(You know you have been living in a real construction zone for way too long when your reaction to a sight like this is "Wow, how neat and clean it all looks!", rather than "What a disaster zone!" (And no, the bathtub is NOT going to live permanently in front of the fireplace!)
Saturday April 19th
With the taping and mudding finished...
...we now have the most wonderful job in all of renovating -
cleaning up a house full of drywall dust!!! Oh joy!!!Tuesday July 1 - Canada Day
After a good, long break - away in China and Australia - we are back and it is time for painting. This is when things really start to look good...
Monday July 21st
After several weekends and numerous weeknights of painting,
the new rooms are really coming along...
Sunday August 10th
The floors have now been repaired - blending in the gaps where walls and closets used to be...
And we are moving on to trim and other finishing details...
Wednesday August 20th
And it's amazing how long trim and other "finishing details" can take to finish...
Sunday August 24th
The powder room upstairs is coming together, getting a few more things off our "to do" list...
Monday September 1st
With just two days until Mum & Dad arrive to stay with us, the living/dining room is as busy as a beehive as we try to get doors painted and door frames installed...
Tuesday September 2nd
But nothing like a deadline to make things happen. By the following night, it actually looks like a home rather than a job site...
We made it!!!! Whew!!!!
Thanksgiving - Monday October 13th
A month and a bit later, with a bit more furniture, it is really looking like a home...
And here is the final outcome of the main floor bathroom...
And a week later, here we are with the last lights installed in the dining room and some more artwork up on the walls...
February 2009
Yes, things have been moving much more slowly, but over the last few months we have gradually finished the last of the trim, and added the cute little "closet" we had planned for the guest room in the attic...
May 2009
In between planning the next phases of the renovation (our deck and our kithcen), we have still been finishing other details up, including the mantle over our fireplace...
But now it is time to move on to other things...
