Thursday, May 31, 2012

In Which Kristin Describes One of the (Many) Things Stressing Her Out

No, it's not parenting, nor is it work, nor something of the craft variety. (Don't worry, those are all keeping me occupied...)

What's weighing on me is the impending commencement of a rather significant home renovation: the taking off of the roof / raising the roof line on the back of the house / remaking the third floor reno that my husband has been researching and threatening for a decade. Obtaining the permits and determining structural requirements have taken an active year and a half. Not a wall has been demolished and it's already cost thousands. Alors, the mere cost of tax on the project has me breaking out in hives. Imagine the most expensive room redo you can envision and then double it. (Note: If you're super-affluent, don't double it. Other note: By Toronto-standards, I am not super affluent.)

This is the kind of project that lasts for 2 months (at a minimum), the kind that has you living with trades. We undertook a, very stressful, much less complicated reno in 2008 - one that taught us many things, for example:
  • Don't work with a designer who can't manage trades.
  • Make your contract iron-clad.
  • Phase payment according to work completed on a weekly basis.
  • Ensure you have communicated your expectations clearly from the outset.
The finished bathroom project was a success, but the renovation was a failure. It took far too long (5 months until the final touch) and Scott and I did the job of the woman we paid to manage the process.

This project is much farther-reaching - with huge implications. It involves living without a roof for a few days?!? (Urban camping, anyone?), which is why I'll be going away. (Scott will be here to oversee things.) Yeah, I'm spending my summer vacation in North Carolina with my parents, sister and assorted children. Somehow it's not Amsterdam with my husband. But nor is it living in a construction zone.

When I return (child-free for a month!), Scott and I will continue to live through renovation, though the plan is that the main part of our home (everything other than the third floor) will be sealed off and a scaffold will route all debris and construction out the third floor to the bin. The garden will be protected from damage, theoretically, by the creation of a raised path. All of this is complicated by the fact that I live in a row house that's 15 ft wide.

Why am I doing this aka Why isn't this a kitchen renovation since I'm a cook and my kitchen looks like crap / has done for the past 10 years? For a few reasons:
  • Homes need renewal. The third floor was initially part of a mediocre renovation that occurred 15 years ago. It's time to improve it. Not to mention water damage it sustained a few years ago.
  • It's not getting any lovelier with age - much like my kitchen. 
  • Of course, everyone will tell you that structural renovation increases the value of one's home. Whatevs. Since we never intend to move, I don't know how that helps us.
  • My husband really wants a new third floor. He's been working (and hanging) in the old third floor for almost 13 years.
Let's face it. This reno is part marital responsibility, part leverage. I can assure you that the next reno you read about on this blog (after this one which is bound to occupy a number of posts) will be the one about the new, insanely gorgeous kitchen I have designed entirely according to my own specifications. Lord knows when I'll be able to justify that expense. But it will happen, eventually.

17 comments:

  1. I don't envy you going through an intensive remodel. I think I'd rather shoot myself. Hopefully yours will go smoothly!

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    1. Ha! That's sort of how I feel. But now I guess I've got to get with the program.

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  2. I remember your lovely bathroom Reno! That means we have been doing this for 4 years K.
    Good luck and I hope you all stay together. It may amuse you to follow @MarianKeyes on twitter. Popular Irish Author who lives in Dublin who is getting a new roof too. Rains a lot here BTW
    xx

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    1. I've read a couple of her books, actually. Very good vacation reads! I should follow her - or maybe not :-)

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  3. You'll be just fine. This renovation will be worth it.

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  4. Oh good luck with this. We are undergoing a complete garden remodel which will take over a year, including the construction of a small garden studio (curved, grass roof, concertina glass doors, wood-burning stove- do I sound excited enough?), raised vegetable and flower-beds, and a raised walk-way. Our garden is a tiny, urban space, but the relationship between form and material is so complex that it won't be completed until next August. We've been involved in renovation projects of one kind or another for the past eight years, so I completely feel your future pain. Doc is also in the process of starting the next project- a pair of 17th century chapels complete with (never-used) crypt. He is wheedling around me by describing it as my pension plan. *covers face*

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    1. Wow - that is INTENSE! The only good thing about a garden reno (other than the end result) is that the project happens outside!

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  5. Yikes! I'm sure the results will be fabtastic, but having spent a few days last year with a huge whole in my roof while skylights were being replaced, new ones installed, the roofline altered, I know you have good reason to feel stressed. Getting out of town is a very good idea. . . Consider framing some of your Amsterdam pics to hang in the new space -- after all, its coast will represent several trips there and more than a few drinks in the Dylan . . .

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    1. I did not write "fabtastic" -- not in my vocabulary, seriously! That is a typo, I swear . . .
      And ditto for "coast" -- a typo which should read "cost". Jet lag is my excuse.

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    2. Ha! I did wonder when I read "fabtastic". It didn't seem like your kind of adjective :-) And I do like to think of the reno in terms of fancy trips to Amsterdam. :-)

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    3. OMG, and now I see that I've also got a "whole" in my roof. Hey, peeps, come see how many editing errors this English Lit. prof can make in one little comment. . . .Aargh!

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  6. I grew up amidst renovations (though not quite *this* extensive) so the idea of living in a construction zone is kind of normal to me---which is not the same as fun. Good luck! I don't blame you at all for ditching for a month---hope the child has a blast down south! We have typically shipped our kids to the family for a month of the summer for the last several years, it's both good and traumatic. This year we don't strictly have to, and trying to figure out whether we should anyway is, hmm, tricky.

    Good luck!

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    1. Fascinating. I think it's great to grow up around construction and transformation because it demystifies a stressful process. And I'm ready for a child-free moment (just for a little bit).

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  7. Wow, that sounds like quite the undertaking!!! I can't wait to read update posts. Try to maintain your sanity with much crafting:)

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