House demolition

House build update –

It has been a while since my last update. But now I have something positive to report. The house is almost gone. It seems like forever, and it has been. But we had to remove asbestos from the drywall and stucco before taking the house down. In the process I have learned a lot about this nuisance (asbestos), and for one, many many many small houses are demolished in Calgary, probably daily, asbestos and all. Not sure why this is still not regulated more, i.e. why a builder does not have to prove a house is asbestos free. As far as I could tell, all you have to say is NO on the form and sign your name. My biggest beef with the asbestos is the expense of removing it. If the government somehow got involved and regulated this service, perhaps the removal quotes would not fluctuate with thousand and thousands of dollars. It’s insane.

Here is the house, all cleaned up. I was very pleased at how clean the company: Clean Air Services, left the site. My only beef with them is they don’t accept credit cards for payment.

So here we are during demolition. The heavy equipment operator (who thanked me profusely for removing the asbestos) was kind enough to save me some cedar ceiling. I am hoping to make one of two benches out of that great wood.

Well you could say the asbestos issue was not a good start to the project… and it sure feels like I have to say goodbye to the Miele steam oven I have been coveting… a luxury I can live without. There are some things I am not willing to compromise on, but other things I can. There will be a lot of back and forth in the coming months as to choosing and picking materials and finishes, so many decisions to be made, and yes even for me it feels a bit overwhelming. But there is no going back now. One step at a time.

Stay tuned ~

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A long-time dream

It’s finally happening! We are building a new home. For years I have been looking at lots and homes to renovate, or even to purchase. But every home, even those over our budget are never the way I like exactly. So my parter has been saying for a while, well honey, we just have to build it. So last week we finalized the purchase of a lot in and area called Charleswood. It is close to the kid’s school, the University should they choose to go there and also steps away from an off leash park and Nose Hill (a huge nature park, 11 sq km).
The saga has begun and we are currently talking to architects and builders to try and find one that we feel comfortable with. The price tag of the initial drawings are higher than I realized they would be (of course)… So stay tuned, I will attempt to blog about the process the whole way through. Our goal is to have it all ready for spring 2013.

We are removing the existing house but using the foundation to build a two-story modern but cozy home. Not too sleek but definitely not traditional. It seems my dream of a Cape Cod house has evolved.

The front has an east exposure and a lot of trees, six of which are on City property that you can’t see in this shot (may have to keep them all). There is a large Cedar at the corner of the house that is uncommonly big for Calgary I hear. We may want to keep some of it.

House from the front

The back has a lot of trees as well. Not sure how many we will be able to keep. The plan is for a large deck at the back and a double garage. The dream is to one day have a garden on top of the garage. Unfortunately decks for entertaining on garage roofs are not allowed in our town.

The back yard slopes down with a garage below.

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