Remodel in the Glebe: makeover with style

This was a full makeover of a two-storey 1930s home in The Glebe. We built a second-storey addition that turned a small balcony off a bedroom into living space.

The family of a couple with three boys about ready to leave for college loved the location of their home. They had lived in it for a long time. They knew what they liked in the house and what they wanted to change. They wanted a fresh look and increased floor space, a redesigned roof, a new kitchen, an updated mudroom, and better flow of traffic.

New windows, floors, powder room and basement

We gave the home new windows, new hardwood floors, and paint throughout. We created a new main floor powder room and a new finished basement containing a living area, three-piece bathroom and new bedroom with egress (tilt and turn) windows.

Flipped around and redesigned kitchen

We created a new kitchen. The footprint of the kitchen stayed the same, but we flipped it around and redesigned it. Now it has a walk-in pantry area and more floorspace going in and out, which optimized the flow of traffic. We replaced the old non-functioning mudroom with a new one.

Disappearing balcony and drafty door

To create a new space using a balcony in a bedroom, we extended the second storey out to line up with the first floor, and this increased the square footage. In that room we turned a drafty door into a window.

We reinstated the rear deck, using as many of the original pieces as we could.

There was a leaking roof problem because the original roof pitches were causing ice damming. We designed a new roof to prevent that in the future.

New windows, stucco, and the challenge of asbestos

Another challenge was installing new windows in the original stucco finish, which contained asbestos. We waterproofed those properly, future proofing them from leaks.

We solved the situation by installing a 5-inch trim around the perimeter of the window. Specialists cut the asbestos back (we had to set up a containment perimeter around each window), and then we placed windows that are five inches wider than the window frames. We used special flashing tapes and sealed them all up behind the stucco.

Before

After