move. part 2.
I cannot believe we are heading into the weekend…and the ending of week 4. It is truly amazing how much the hubby and I were able to organize and accomplish in the past 4 weeks. For those of you just tuning in, we took possession of our property on September 15th, 2017. On Sunday this week we celebrate one month into a massive renovation.
When we bought this house back in July, we listed our house and it sold right away with a 30-day possession. This meant that we needed to be out of the house by mid-August.
At this point, we had decided to quickly sell or donate about 80% of all our belongings. I had a very short time period to try and find my family an interim furnished abode. A place to call home. A temporary casa. A place that would allow our family to rent short term. A place that would allow a small dog and three boys. Somewhere that wasn’t insanely expensive because I didn’t want to have the extra burden of crazy carrying costs.
You would be amazed at how very few places allow pets…or how few rentals accepted three children. So now, not only were we faced with this challenge but we also needed to stay close to our current neighborhood for the kid’s schools and my work.
After very few options we ended up in a cute 1100 square foot condo that is pet-friendly, kid-friendly, furnished and a decent price (includes all utilities and internet/cable).
It has now been 2 months in our smaller rental house. 5 people and a dog. Each of us occupying approximately 183 square feet each. Tight is an understatement at this point. Myself, sharing a wonderful full size, I repeat, FULL-SIZE bed with my gigantic 6 foot 4 husband. It’s been eye-opening. I want to be clear. We appreciate having a roof over our head and I appreciate our space but as a family of 6 I am looking forward to more, not much more, but more space. Also, the layout isn’t ideal. My three boys are sharing a bedroom. They are 15, 9 and 5. You probably could guess that our 15-year-old is thrilled about this.
Because of the current living arrangement we are so careful about what comes into this house. NO MORE CLUTTER. No space for useless things.
This brings me back to our deadline. November 15th, 2017. The landlord of our rental could only guarantee us 3 months as she had found a long-term renter for the end of November. From the possession day to move in gives us exactly 2 months time. 2 months to turn our 1979 character home into a beautiful modern and simple space. Our home. 2 months, 8 weeks.
So here we are, 4 weeks in. The halfway point. It seemed impossible at first, daunting really, to think about all we had ahead of us. Here is what we have done so far
We had to completely gut, take down walls and bring in a structural engineer
remove more walls, add new beams, add new joists
remove all subfloor
remove more walls due to moisture and mold
remove new found 1979 glued down linoleum floors
demo the house almost to all the studs
remove all tile work
gut all bathrooms
reframe master room, master bath, Anthony’s room
change out leaky skylights
replace 4 major windows
Remove a kitchen window and reframe and board
Move an existing new (LARGE) window 6 inches…6 INCHES!
move corner fireplace in the playroom and reframe
core new holes in cement for venting and move several ducts
add 40 new pot lights, 6 ceiling speakers and Electricians updated all wiring in the house
plumber upgraded plumbing, moved toilets, added gas lines
The list went on.
Here are some pictures of 4 weeks ago and the progress we’ve made since!
The sunroom area has been completed gutted, reinsulated, new drywall, new heat vents, new subfloor, new skylights and will become our dining area now that it is super cozy and very warm!
The main entrance, we closed up that dust collecting space above the closet, we made the closet doors 96 inches high for a more grand look.
The future kitchen area
The future wet bar area and pot lights we added in front
Kids Playroom had a corner fireplace, we fixed that. Corner fireplaces…the worst!
I cannot believe how far we have come in so little time! Everyone is working so hard on this project. The team on this job have been incredible.
Almost done drywall. We are also getting rid of all the textured ceilings and going with flat ceilings throughout the house. Something that is a rarity here in Calgary. We wrap this part up in about 3 days. Next, the finisher comes in to install all new doors, trim and window casings. Kitchen arrives next week as well. and we start on a few coats of paint. PAINT!!!!!!!!

I also have a few other fun surprises happening with the design piece but I will wait to share when the time comes. Which should be fairly soon at our pace!
4 weeks to go and we get to step into our forever home. I am getting really excited to see our vision come together. I am so glad to have you join us on our journey!
till the next post,
moveplaymom.
(If you are living in the Calgary area, are doing some reno’s and are interested in learning more about the awesome trades we had working with us, let me know)
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