A couple of weeks ago, I broke down and arranged for a plumbing repair… before our bathroom had a break down.
As I’ve written several times before, our main bathroom is in rough shape. For the last year, the tub’s cold water tap has been barely functional.
I’ve cooled Ellie’s bath with jugs of cold water carried from the kitchen. I’ve showered downstairs when I couldn’t adjust the temperature beyond scalding. Usually I resorted to turning the tap on and off with a screwdriver.
I hate the idea of fixing the bathroom when I’m going to renovate it (hopefully, relatively) soon. But the renovation is probably still a year away, and I was concerned the cold water tap wasn’t going to make it.
So I called the plumber.
Fortunately, he’s a plumber who worked with my Dad, and he (a) understood I was looking for a band aid solution not a fix, and (b) he’s a big believer in the friend and family discount.
He arrived with an assortment of parts to see what would work, gave us a new cartridge and a makeshift handle, and ended by saying, “How about you give me $40.” (I gave him $80 happily.)
It’s not pretty, but showers and baths are much more comfortable now, and our bathroom will limp along a little longer.
Anyone else have a makeshift solution at your house? What’s your fix versus renovate philosophy?
Our patio is done. We celebrated its completion with a party with a capital P. There was pizza, pop, party mix, and pie. (We also made a psalad with pecans and prusciutto.) Our landscapers are good sports and did a great job. They also enjoyed all of our homemade treats throughout the project, so it felt appropriate to treat them one more time.
We now have a beautiful flagstone patio, large boulders edging the front garden and herb spiral, and gorgeous stone steps for the living room patio door and mudroom entrance.
I knew from the start that I wanted real stone. As always, my goal is to make this house more “farmy,” so I wanted the patio to look like it could have come from the property. No pavers or tiles here. I’m grateful that our landscapers worked with me on the design, so that natural stone was possible within our budget. And that they were willing to take the machines across the fields to pull rocks from our own farm. (We worked with RS Landscape & Construction and they were awesome.)
The stairs, flagstone and boulders are all random. We bought the stairs and flagstone from a stone yard, and the boulders came from the fields. Our landscapers spent days laying everything out and fitting them together. I love the precision of all of the joints. They had amazing attention to detail.
For the mudroom step, they set out the three slabs and then spent a half an hour with me flipping and rotating them with the excavator until I was happy with the layout. They were super accommodating. Now when we go inside, there’s plenty of room for Cigo, Ellie and me to all stand on the step together–since no one in my family has heard of the concept of personal space.
The purpose of the patio is to give us proper stairs to access the mudroom and living room and to create a small landing area that’s separate from the driveway. The design gave us that, along with two pockets of space. One is just large enough for a small dining table and four chairs. The other fits a little lounge chair that’s the perfect size for Ellie and me to curl up together.
Starting our day out here with a book or breakfast has been a beautiful treat.
The patio is a major step in finishing off the garage renovation. I’d still like to pave the driveway, but I think I’m going to wait until my budget has recovered. In the meantime, we’re enjoying entering and exiting the house easily, our new herb garden, the improved view of the southside of the house, lounging in the chair, eating at the table, or simply perching on the steps.
I’m very grateful that we were able to build the patio and that it came together the way I envisioned.
Do you have a patio at your house? Who else likes outdoor lounging and dining? Are you a fan of natural stone? What outdoor projects are you tackling at your house this year?
Around June 1 every year I try to take a photo of the front of the house. Everything is out in leaf and beautifully green. The farm is looking its best. And it’s really fun to look back and see the progress we’ve made on transforming the property. This year, the picture is all about progress, though you might have to walk around the side of the house to find it.
Last week work on our new patio started (note the yellow excavator in the background on the left), and I am thrilled.
Since finishing the garage and mudroom, the exterior of the south side of the house has been unfinished. This meant no stairs to the living room patio door. No step into the mudroom (aside from a rock I dragged there). And gravel, just gravel, everywhere.
The patio project is about defining this side of the house. We will have steps and a delineated space that’s separate from the driveway.
I decided to shrink the garden around the well slightly. This will give us two small sections of patio alongside the two entrances. I’m thinking one will be for eating and the other will be for lounging. Both are small, but I think we’ll have just enough room. They could also work for a barbecue or a potting bench.
My goal has always been to make the patio look like it fits with the farm. When I first met our contractor (RS Landscape & Construction for any locals), he said, “Can we pull rocks from the fields?” Out loud I said, “Absolutely.” In my head I was fist pumping and happy dancing. He got my vision right away and worked with me on the budget to make it happen.
We chose beautiful natural stone–huge slabs for steps and random flagstone for the patio (selected from a stone yard during an ice storm in December). For the gardens we took the machines on a literal field trip and found large boulders for the edging.
I’ve taken advantage of having the machines here to tackle a few additional jobs. The crew removed the old chicken coop foundation and regraded that corner of the barn. They also trenched a new outflow for our sump pump. They have been super accommodating, friendly, helpful and conscientious. I’m so impressed with their work.
The extra work means that the patio itself got off to a slow start. We also had a miscommunication about the width of the steps leading up to the patio door. I want them wider, which means we need more stone slabs, which were a bit hard to find. A new shipment arrived at the stone yard on Friday afternoon, so we should be back on track soon.
We ended last week with the old coop finally completely gone, the sump trench backfilled, the start of steps into the living room and a beautiful row of boulders (aka new stepping stones) around the well garden and under the dining room window.
Looking at the front of the house, I am amazed at what a difference the boulders make. They give the front so much more presence (and even make me dislike the angel stone a little bit less). The patio project builds on 11 years of slow transformation. I’m excited to see it all come together.
Do you have a patio at your house? Are you into dining or lounging outside? Are you undertaking any big projects at your house this year? Who else loves seeing heavy equipment at work?
I so wish I could say, “We have doors!” in this garage/mudroom update. But all I have to keep it singular. After waiting four months for the doors to arrive, we have to wait a bit more.
Our contractor came with the doors last week. But, the door between the mudroom and garage was wrong. Argh.
It swung the wrong way.
Going all the way back to my initial scribbles, I always had the door swinging into the garage and toward the back wall. Our official blueprints show this configuration. Our contractors and I also discussed the door swings a couple of times.
The door that showed up last week swung into the garage but toward the front. That meant that I’d have to walk around the door every time I wanted to go in or out of the garage.
I’ve been told the right door should arrive this week. However, after a four-month wait for a 6-8 week order, I’m not entirely confident.
On the topic of doors we do have some things to celebrate though.
The garage doors are in (this happened a couple of weeks ago). I’m happy with the simple profile I chose, and best of all, I’m happy with how the colour looks with our board and batten siding. Phew. We are still waiting on the decorative handles and hinges to give them a carriage house look.
The person door that was correct is beautiful. This door leads from the mudroom directly outside. I chose to have a big window in this door, and I’m so glad that I did. The view through the glass and the light coming into the mudroom is better than I hoped.
The other high point of the week is that the contractor finished all of the trim in the mudroom (aside from the casing for the missing door).
I chose to use the same baseboard that we used in the basement. Ultimately, I’d like to change all of the baseboards upstairs to this trim.
Rather than going with the matching profile for the door casing, I decided to use a simple flat stock instead. With the panelled walls, I felt like trim would be too busy for me–even though the basement casing is very simple. I asked for a butt joint with a little overhang on the top piece, which appears a bit rustic to me.
Some more flatstock finished off the top of the walls where they meet the cedar plank ceiling.
The room is looking so much more finished. Just ignore the sheet of plywood over the one doorway.
What reno mix-ups have you experienced? Anyone else enjoy the power of trim? Who else is a fan of windows in doors?
We’ve talked about tile for the mudroom. We’ve talked about paneling for the walls and ceiling. Do you want to see it in real life?
Here is the new mudroom in its current state.
We are two doors, some trim and paint away from being done with the mudroom and garage. Sooooclose.
(I feel like I’ve been saying that for a while).
But I can see it coming together, and it’s all looking so good.
I went with a mid-grey porcelain tile. You may recall my biggest criteria with the tile was maintenance. I will not be cleaning this floor every day, and the tile need to hide all of the dirt that comes with a farm. We also chose a dark grey grout for the same reason.
The tiles are 12×24 and installed in a brick, running-bond, offset pattern. This is my second choice tile. My first choice had more variation in tones and the veining, but it was back-ordered, and I didn’t want to wait. When I picked up my order, I was pleasantly surprised to find tiles were more varied than I expected, based on the single sample tile I selected from.
The floor in the main area of the mudroom (the lower level) is heated, so yay to warm boots.
The risers and nosings on the stairs are faced with beautiful maple. I didn’t want a metal or rubber or tile edge on the stairs, so our contractor worked with me to come up with a solution and then he had his stair supplier fabricate the pieces. They are absolutely lovely. I will be protecting them with a stain and varathane.
The walls are the V-groove panelling, which I also love. It adds so much character to this room. My contractors did not love the panelling so much. Strapping the walls so that they were perfectly level took a lot of shims and a lot of time. (The new walls that they built were fine. The original wall backing onto the living room was c-r-o-o-k-e-d.)
One surprise with this V-groove is it’s not a true tongue and groove. Each board has a very small overlap, so my contractors ended up having to face nail each piece in a few spots. Lots of tiny holes for me to patch.
The ceiling is a really, really special feature. This is cedar V-groove that I found at a local supplier. I will be leaving this natural, as I love the tone so much.
For the lights, I ended up going with three flush mounts. My original plan was for two barn style pendants in the main mudroom area and a flush mount on the landing, but my Mom convinced me to go with one type of light for the whole room.
I chose the exterior lights first, and then picked the matching flush mounts. They look a bit rustic, a bit industrial, fairly casual, and I’m really happy with them.
I feel like I could change the title of this post to the mudroom is lovely. I truly love everything so much.
Hopefully doors arrive this week. Once they’re in, trim can be installed. Then the contractors will be done, and I’ll paint and we can start to use this lovely room.
When the wall of the pool was removed to frame up the openings for the new garage doors, I had a few regrets about turning the pool into a garage. I had a great view from the kitchen island out the side of the house, across the lawn all the way to the barn.
Not regrets in terms of, “Stop the project! I don’t need a wall on the side of my house!” But more, “Wow that’s a lot of light and what a nice view.”
Well, the view is no more. The mudroom wall has been filled with insulation, covered in vapour barrier and sheathed with plywood (on the garage side). I don’t even have a view out the mudroom door, as that opening has been covered in plastic (we will, once the door arrives).
But the regrets are easing. We are inching ever close to the mudroom actually being part of the house, which feels like a pretty big win.
Two beams are sitting in the new garage. This week they should be installed in the archway between the kitchen and the mudroom and the patio door will be removed (good riddance).
Framing in the opening means that tile can be laid and paneling can be installed on the ceiling and walls.
Outside, the roof is shingled and new board and batten siding is almost done. I feel like both of these items are a journey in colour.
For the roof, I knew what shingles we used on the rest of the house, so our contractor was able to get an exact match. Exact except that the other shingles are 9 years old and apparently pretty dirty. I had expected the old shingles to be sun faded and lighter. But instead they’re darker. Massive pine trees, dirt from fields, dust from the road, air pollution? Who knows what all is on them? But the new shingles are already starting to blend (or my eye is just getting used to them).
For the siding, I was trying to complement our existing red brick and the new garage doors. And I was referencing tiny sample chips, just a couple of inches wide. I called my contractor’s stain supplier and asked for a sample can, and they offered me a gallon. So I held my garage door sample up to the brochure, picked a light, warm neutral shade and crossed my fingers that it would work.
Right now, I love it. It looks good with the brick and is such a light, clean sight out the kitchen window. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it works with the garage doors (ETA unknown). Please don’t let them clash.
Also, please appreciate the precision of the spacing on the siding so that the light is exactly centred on the board. My contractors’ care and attention to detail consistently impress me. All of the lights across the front of the garage are each centred on their own board. The windows on the end gable wall have the same spacing all the way around so that trim is even. The battens are prenailed like this so that all of the nails line up perfectly.
Doors may end up being our speed bump (literally) on this project. I got word last week that the person doors are another 4 to 6 weeks out–even though they’ve been on order for nearly 2 months. I’ve had no word on the garage doors. So that view out across the lawn is going to be a while yet.
But, tile and panelling are on-site and ready to go. We’re also ready for soffit, fascia and trough, which will nearly finish off the outside.
It feels a bit like we are moving onto the finishing stage. Not necessarily finishing–although that is getting closer, doors notwithstanding. But installing the finishes like siding, paneling and tile feels like a good milestone.
Who else is a cross-your-fingers-paint-picker? When do you feel like you’re nearing the end of a project?
Soooo much progress was made on the garage last week. In fact, we have an actual garage now.
There’s more work to be done, of course. But it looks like a garage rather than a pool. In fact, Ellie and I drove the car in over the weekend.
We are 17 days into construction.
The exterior walls are all framed. The walls turned out to be our first hiccup because our contractor wasn’t happy with how the bottom plate of the existing walls was positioned in relation to the pool deck.
It looks like the plate had been set in place and then the concrete of the pool deck had been poured up against the wood. He wanted the plate higher up, so he reverse engineered footings all the way around the garage.
He braced the ceiling, so that the roof didn’t fall down. Then cut out the original plate and about 6 inches off the studs. Then he put in a new (floating) bottom plate, squeezed forms in underneath and poured new footings.
This has been our biggest (not so big) surprise so far, so not tragic.
For the side wall on the new addition, he decided to reuse the existing wall (which I’m grateful for since lumber is so expen$ive these days). After a lot of figuring, bracing and some extra help, they hopped the wall (all 20 feet long with the windows still in place) out 10 feet.
I love construction, so it’s neat to see the problem-solving, planning and building process up close.
The doors are all framed in as well. Seeing the garage openings made it feel much more real. It was also an opportunity to validate some of my planning. I am really happy with the dimensions and position (there’s a good amount of space to tuck recycling boxes along the side and still get out of the car).
They also mapped out the mudroom for me, so I could check the height of the floor, location of the doors and size of the landing. I really appreciate how conscientious and inclusive they are being.
And finally, FINALLY we have no pool. The excavator returned last Wednesday and gravel trucks started showing up a few minutes later. The excavator dumped bucketfuls of gravel into the pool and our contractor compacted it. It took most of the day, but by 5pm the pool was full.
The excavator returned the next day to finish backfilling all of the foundation, lay the driveway and take care of a bunch of other jobs that I had. Low spots were filled in, bumpy spots were leveled, rocks were moved, stumps were extracted. Soooo many things were crossed off my wishlist.
Though it felt like an expensive two days, having the excavator, two machines, our contracting crew and about 15 truckloads (250 tonnes) of gravel.
Ontario is under a whole bunch of new restrictions due to a huge wave of COVID infections, but residential construction that is already in progress is allowed to continue. So next on the agenda is framing the roof of the extension and the mudroom and pouring the garage floor.
Anyone else in the middle of a construction project (big or small)? Have you had any expensive days recently? Anyone else crossing things off your to-do list that have been on there for a long time?
Today is day four of garage construction. I am so excited to have this project underway. And our contractors have made so much progress already.
All of the brick is off the exterior of the pool, the deck inside has been demoed, the pool floor has been drilled for drainage, the new foundation has been excavated (without hitting the geothermal), we passed our first inspection, and footings have been poured. The patio around the outside of the pool and off the living room has been taken out. One tree has been taken down and cut up for firewood (half taken down by the excavator and the other half taken down by Matt’s Dad, who also did all the cutting up). Our pile of other firewood has been moved.
Next up is building the foundation for the garage extension and the mudroom dividing wall.
I ended up turning over the remaining demo to our contractors. I had really wanted to do a lot of the work myself. Demo is a relatively easy way for me to be involved, which is part of the fun for me. Plus it would save the contractors a bit of time.
But the deck turned out to be a beast. I took the railing off, then spent an hour and a half on the deck itself. I got four boards off and they all split.
I hadn’t taken any of the brick off the outside when the contractor said, “I can start next week.” He also said, “Scaffolding, jack hammers, three guys.” And I said, “You can do it.”
I am so glad I did. They were so quick. But they were also careful.
I want to use the lumber from the deck for Ellie’s playground expansion. And I want to save the brick for some future exterior work I have planned.
They took everything apart carefully. They stacked the lumber so I could take the nails out, and then moved it to the barn for me. They piled the bricks on skids and then tucked them behind the barn. Being able to reuse so much is so helpful.
And we’re already at the putting things back together stage. Though it’s going to take a while before it’s all back together. I’ll be sharing more as construction progresses.
Have you started any spring reno projects at your house? Do you have any renovation plans for this year? What jobs do you take on yourself versus hiring out? Have you ever reused lumber or other materials?
Tomorrow marks 9 years since the farm became ours.
I’ve been trying to think about what I want to write for the anniversary, and I haven’t been sure what to say.
Looking back at previous farm-iversary posts, year 4 feels closest to what I’m feeling right now.
“Four years ago, I started to live one of my dreams. It’s been a pretty amazing opportunity. Something I don’t take for granted and that is incredibly meaningful for me.“
Obviously, life has changed a lot since I wrote those words. But they’re still true. This place is special. I feel Matt and my Dad here, and I see meaning all around us. I don’t take that for granted at all.
But rather than being sentimental today, what I really want to do is celebrate.
Because we are about to embark on a new project.
It’s big.
It’s something I’ve wanted for a long time.
It’s a… garage.
I’ve been planning this for years–9 to be exact. Our official planning process with a contractor and blueprints and permits started in the fall. Demo is underway (the old indoor pool is finally going away). Construction might start this month, depending on the weather.
Nine years ago, during the home inspection.
I have so, so many more details to share. I think year 9 is going to be good. Stay tuned.
Do you celebrate your house’s anniversary? What projects are you tackling this year?
The living room has a big patio door on the south side. It gives us great natural light, which significantly increased when we removed the sunroom from the side of the house. I loved sitting on the couch in the fall, watching the leaves change colour.
But the beauty of fall is followed by the cold of winter, and I knew the patio door was a big source of drafts. I had felt that the sunroom provided some thermal buffer (perhaps wishful thinking). But with it gone, the cold air had a direct path through the door and into the house.
So at the end of the year (fortunately on a mild December day), we had the door replaced.
Of course, like so many things in this house, the door was “special.” It was right between five and six feet–the two standard sizes for patio doors. We went with a five foot door, and the installers built out the jamb and added some extra trim inside and flashing outside to cover the difference so it’s not noticeable.
Ellie plays in front of the patio door every day, and most lunchtimes are a picnic in the sunbeams that now stream through the window.
The feature I’m most excited about is the screen. With the sunroom in the way, we had no incentive to open the old patio door. We would have just smelled stinky old sunroom. Also, the door did not slide well and it didn’t have a screen. Now, we have a screen and a door that opens and closes smoothly. I am looking forward to fresh air as soon as the weather is warm enough to open the windows. For now, I’ll be enjoying my new view.
Anyone else dealing with winter drafts? Or enjoying winter sunbeams?
Home on 129 Acres 