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The Reno Diary

Kitchen reno gone wild

The House

Our house was built in 1929 and is in the Hastings-Sunrise neighbourhood in Vancouver, BC.  We have owned the home since we moved back to Vancouver in 2005. Despite skyrocketing property values, according to our assessment the actual house has gone down in value and is currently valued at only $53,000 (and that might be being generous). In Vancouver this is generally known as a “builders special” when the property is listed. 

The house is nothing special but it is level, has lovely old growth fir floors, plaster lathe on the original walls and generous 8” fir baseboards.  Our neighbourhood and large areas of Vancouver are full of homes just like it but more and more they are being knocked down to make room for duplexes and new builds that have basement suites and laneway houses so that the owners can afford the mortgage.

The house is in what i call “maintained original” condition and has not had any extensive work done on it. When we replaced the roofing the other year we had 3 layers of asphalt shingles on top of cedar shakes.  There are asbestos shingles on the sides of the house covering cedar shingles which are likely original.  At one point an addition was put on the back to extend the kitchen but it was not well built and the supports are rotting.  We knew this addition had to be replaced when we bought the house and it has always been ‘in the plan’ but there were always other priorities for our spare cash and a job that size is beyond my skill.  Attached to the addition is a deck on top of a shed.  The shed started to leak after we got here (well, we bought the place in the summer so perhaps it has been leaking all along) but since we were going to fix the addition and replace the deck we didn’t bother fixing it..  15 years later the deck is unusable and the rot has set in.

The basement had the remnants of 1 bedroom suite in it when we moved in.  There were some cabinets, a counter, and a sink but the plumbing had been disconnected.  The ceiling is 6’5” at it’s highest point and in the front where there is a subfloor it is about 6’3.  There is also a solid beam that runs the length of the house creating a low point. A cold air return runs along one side of it and a heat vent along the other part of the way creating some serious bump hazards.  We took out the kitchen to make a rec room when the Offspring was younger and over the years we have had students, friend’s kids, friends of friends, and friends live in the basement from time to time for short periods. It is sort of fun to have roommates from time to time but less so now that we are in our 50’s.  We want our empty nest empty.

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About the Blog

A personal blog for Rob & Sarah to document the renovation of our 1929 east Vancouver home. Follow along as we replace the foundation, put on an addition, renovate the kitchen, and add a deck on a tight budget.

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  • Week 115: Everything Everywhere All at Once
  • Week 114: Short but Suite
  • Week 113: Sweet Suite Framing
  • Week 112: Slab and lockable doors
  • Week 111: Ready to pour the slab

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