Priming the walls

Mick was in priming the last two days.  We're ready for flooring and tile to start tomorrow.

Taping continues

The tapers continue to work away... as demonstrated by this very revealing picture :-)

Drywall progress

The drywall is about 50% done.  Next week is all about taping, then we can get to the finishing side of things.  Looking good!

Stairs

The stairtech guys arrived right on time today to install the two sets of stairs to the basement.  Ignacio will by happy to know that we managed to squeak a 6'6" clearance on the bottom set (just enough for his 6'4" height!).  The open risers on the top run will look great.

Foam and batt!

With the cathedral ceiling sitting underneath the roof proper, we've used R31 batt insulation.  With the rest of the house, we've gone with 2lb spray foam that provides a 100% air and moisture barrier.  With all the windows in the house, it was a good decision by the owners to go with foam!

Windows complete

What a dramatic difference!  The windows look great.... albeit privacy might be an issue!

Window installation starts

John's crew was hard at work stripping the old crappy windows out and fitting the new, beautiful windows back in place.  They should be done tomorrow.

Sound insulation

We managed to squeeze the budget a little... enough to work in sound insulation where it counts - separating kids from adults!

Plumbing Rough-in

Tony, Mario and Rui arrived this morning to start the plumbing rough-in.  They completed the water pipe and remainder of the drains in time for the afternoon inspection, which passed - of course!

Concrete and floor leveling

A typical bungalow in Etobicoke can have as much as a 2" difference in height between the low spots near drains and the high spots near the edges of the block walls.  We've managed to make nice compromises on cost (ie not leveling out the whole basement) and performance.  Below, we are pouring the concrete for the new washroom, while we will use a bunch of hand mix floor levelling bags on the section next to this at the bottom of the stairs.  For the price, it's going to work out really well.

Electrical Rough-in

Kevin and Dave have made great progress on the electrical rough in.  We should be ready for inspection in a few days.

Progress

Things are cooking along inside.  We're ready for the electrical and then plumbing rough-ins upstairs, with a few more framing tasks downstairs pending.

Electrical Service

Kevin had the fun task of upgrading the electrical service today...luckily the weather has really been cooperating.

Windows ready

Juvee and Rui managed to remove the old headers, stone and brick in order to make way for the new, gigantic windows on order.  What a different look it will be when they are installed!

Plumbing Rough in

We don't have too much drain work to do in the house... that being said, Tony had his guys working all day today to trench far enough to reach the main drains under the slab.  We'll be changing all of the stacks, moving the water meter and adding a back water valve, so essentially, all the drains will be new in the house.

HVAC Rough In

Kyle from Pinewood has been working away in the relative heat of the basement on the new HVAC duct work.  The plan, which is working so far, is to use the old furnace in it's current location as our construction heat, until we can move it over to the new location at the other end of the basement.

The duct work layout and new stair configuration has really shown that the new "family room" in the basement should be in the Southeast corner (picture below on the left).  It's a huge room and because Ignacio is 6'4", will be better suited for his skull!

Beaming with happiness

What a day!  While Juvee has been doing all of the interior carpentry/framing, I had to bring my main framing crew in today to do the heavy lifting.

The ceiling effect we have designed for the open concept in the main living space calls for a TON of engineering behind the scenes.

Here's how the day progressed... First, some demo in preparation for the main ridge beam support.

Installaton of the new ridge beam.

Installation of the huge, 18" high, 4 ply LVL beam to carry the edge of the new ceiling, as well as support the roof.

The funny looking cantilever beam to support the ridge beam on top of the 4 ply beam.

Building a quick scaffolding to get the diagonal ridge beams in place (you can see the one side diagonals already installed on the left side of the pic).

Heavy lifting - installing the 2 diagonal beams on the other corner of the roof.

Tada!  The new ceiling comes in to shape... 12 hours, 3 (and up to 6 guys at times):

Permit and demo progress

We received out permit today, so the sign can officially go up!

However, we did get a head start on interior demolition...here is some of the work done to date:

Project Launch

Welcome to the 1 Sevenoaks Avenue project site by TPM Custom Homes.  This year we will be gutting and re-imagining the entire interior layout of this ranch style bungalow in the heart of Norseman Heights near Royal York and Norseman.