Is Summer really almost over???

It is really hard to believe that summer is almost over. The kids are off to school this week and nothing has happened to the house in a long time. Well, maybe not "nothing". Just not much. The front yard is still in need of grass but we are finishing up the landscaping.

First step is to hide the A.C. unit. The City of Winnipeg actually has a bylaw where if you put your A.C. Unit on the front of your house it needs to be shrouded. As we have a 3 tonne unit it probably is a good idea to minimize the impact.


The Posts were dug - I had to come out further from the front as the previous owners at one point buried a sidewalk and just below the soil was concrete. It was difficult to dig down with the postal auger.


The "fence" boards need to be something that ties into the rest of the house and hopefully becomes an architectural element. We selected horizontal cedar strips, (1) - 3" board followed by (3) - 1 1/2" boards. It required a bit more work but was worth it for the final look and feel. the fence looks higher now as the shrubs in front are all new but with tender loving care and a few years of growth they hopefully will fill out and balance things out. Nothing like planning 5 years in the future but you do what you have to do.


We still need to plant some grass - probably the fall project just before the snow falls! Hopefully that means late in October.


The basket ball net is also up - it did receive some action this summer from all four of us.


The ghetto 32 hopefully will be hidden one of these years. The front of the house is also going to receive cedar but vertical strips. That should be next weekends project.



Finally the Blue Spruce in the fore front was originally planted in the back yard tight up against the fence. We have nicknamed it a Charlie Brown tree as it was so small and sickly when we first transplanted it. It sure looks like it is growing now! Hopefully the small row of cedars beside it will be similar in the next 5 years.

Spring is Sprung

From November 19, 2009 till APril 7, 2010 there has been no activity here on the blogsite... reason being there has been no activity happening on the house. After being under construction for over a year it has been great to just live and do absolutly nothing around the house other than housework! That being said we have had an early spring here in Manitoba and with the melting of the snow the yard is one big mud hole. It is time to start the exterior landscaping, to build a deck, build a shed, plant some grass, figure out what is in the garden, build a fence, plant some new trees. I might be wishing for snow again just to hide everything! Oh well another few weeks and the games will be afoot again. I might have to start blogging again on a somewhat regular basis! Cheers.

Open House

Click on the image below.

The Beacon

I can already see my electrical meter spinning with the exterior lights! The switch for the soffit lights was completed yesterday so now the house truly glows. Who needs street lights on this side of Mohawk! The pictures are a bit fuzzy - I didn't grab the tri-pod and snapped this with the point and shoot camera. That being said they show the house lit up at night.

Over the past few months (year) I have consistently tried to take this same picture at the different stages of construction. One of this times I will have to create the image scroll of the same perspective at all of the different stages.

The ghetto 32 is still showing on the side of the chimney. The corrugated metal will be installed either over the winter or the spring. At this stage what is another couple of months! The garage / barn really stands out now.

This back corner shot is still one of my favorite shots of the addition. I connected the soffit light tonight so I could wash the back windows before it snows. No excuses now! The scale of this back is really apparent when you look at the BBQ to the lower left of the picture!

We've been under construction for How Long??

Last year at this time the foundation walls had been poured and the ground was back filled so that you could see the house. We blockaded the yard with caution tape and had the self serve Halloween candy dish at the end of the yard. This year we still had caution tape around the front yard perimeter - more so because we didn't want any kids tromping through the freshly spread top soil. Looking back at the pictures - what a difference a year makes!!

Exterior

What would abarn be if it wasn't a red barn!! The weather has finally co-oporated and the siding is almost all installed. There are still a few question marks as to what we are going to finish the exterior with but I would say we are 90% there. I have installed the exterior lights and the house glows at night. All that is missing above the barn is the basketball net and then we are ready to go!


The "bird house" otherwise known as Sarah's room will be getting a corrugated metal verticle finish - probably some time over the winter. In the spring we will also be building the deck that will extend from the double doors at the left to the single garden door off to the right.


The bird house corrugated metal will extend to the cedar shakes and wrap the entire second floor. The posts for the Pergola from a previous post have been removed - we needed them for landscaping and I am not sure what the deck will be. We are thinking of an exterior fireplace now...


Finally just another shot of the front looking south.

It's been awhile

I haven't been as diligent in updating the house renovation of late - partially as there isn't as much to show or tell and partially because I am getting lazy!! That being said here a re a few random images

The first image is on the south wall in our existing living room. I had come accross a leather look commercial vinyl that one of my Rep's generously provided a large 9 yard sample. You can barely make it out but there is a grid pattern on the wall.


We are still trying to find the right furniture for the family room but the piano fits in nicely. The two white tables were from IKEA this summer - not sure when we will find the sofa.

The two doors are to the Pantry and the Dining room. They are both solid core doors that were milled with frosted glass inserts.

And finally behind door number one is the pantry closet. I am not sure how we have lived so long without one. We are still organizing where everything goes but it is great having the storage space.

The Driveway

Finally after what felt like the entire summer mother nature accommodated us and allowed for the driveway to be poured. Tomorrow looks like a sunny day supposedly close to 30 degrees so we will be in good shape for drying. It looks like next week we might even be able to park the van in the garage again.

The sidewalk and approach to the front door was widened. It should make this easier to shovelin the winter as well allow for some extra space to practice the 3 point shot (once the basketball net goes up.

FInally the view from the street. Hopefully now when the neighbors drain their pool the water will not form Lake Mohawk at the end of the driveway and will continue to drain down the street. Just need the city to come by a fill the pot holes!

Niakwa Park wake up call...

I am sure that everyone in the close proximity of the renovation were happy to be awoken by the jack hammering of the driveway this morning. It is a sound of progress however.

Our garage pad will probably be poured tomorrow (it's enclosed and not weather dependant) and the drive way and sidewalk... soon?? The extended forecast looks to be nice so we may have a driveway by the weekend which would be nice. It will be an end to the lake that forms at the street when ever a neighbor drains their swimming pool or it rains.

Hopefully there will be pictures soon!

Hardwood Floors

We vacated the house for two weeks on a summer vacation and we had the hardwood floors completed when we were away. The existing hardwoods in the living room, dining room and main hallway had been originally completed in 1955. Since then the were covered with carpet until we exposed them in 2002 when we bought the house. Over the past 7 years the finish coat has experienced some damage and the floors need refurbishing.

For the new addition family room and connecting hallway we were able to continue the same 1 1/2" red oak flooring from the dining room. It is a seamless transition between the spaces - as if it always has been that way.

Kevin of Kevins Flooring was able to sand out and stain the two floors so they look as one. If one looks really hard you will be able to see the transitions but you will have to look. Below are three images of the new "dusty" hardwood floors.

Family Room Area

Existing Living Room

Back Foor hardwood and tile transition