poplar road

Although we're calling this our master bedroom reno, it really starts in the basement. Jason is setting us up with a new heat pump, partnered with a high-efficiency furnace and an instant-on hot water heater. (And yes, we're getting AC.) We spent two hours on the phone with him the other night, going over the plans, to make sure the four zones the house is split into will most effectively heat or cool where we want it, when we want it, and how to do that given odd basement ceiling heights, the more exposed southwest wing, and the overall downstairs layout. What makes the process a bit easier is that in October, Richard almost entirely gutted the basement, removing the drop tile ceiling for easy access to all the wiring and ducting. At right is a section of the west wall of the rec room as it was when we made an offer on the house back in September. Below is the reason Richard ripped out the walls: the insulating value of mouse nests and mouse turd is just about zero (never mind the stench).

When Allyson arrived at the end of May, we decided to install a water filter to help deal with the increased sediment our new well pump was churning up. That gave us an excuse to take down the last of the basement's drywall, in the bathroom we use as a laundry room. The "before" picture from September shows the previous owner's stuff (Note, the photo of the initial tidy up when we installed our washer and dryer is in the first October entry.) After Allyson and I got through with the walls, cupboards, shelves, and even the ceiling, it was easy to see where we can put not only the tub and sink in that bathroom (tub in the corner where the laundry sink is, new sink and vanity where the washing machine is), but also how the existing plumbing from above will work for the new upstairs bathroom layouts.

Since taking down the walls did have an effect on our heating bills over the winter, our intentions back in March leant towards finishing the "guest suite" downstairs, and leaving the master bedroom until last. But finishing 1500 square feet from concrete out is more than our budget can stand at the moment, and with the delay in getting the electrical done, it's now summertime and the coolness of the basement is pleasant rather than expensive. Richard has framed the west wall where he set up the new 200 amp panel for the electrical upgrade, and there will be some construction of a mechanical room when the heating system goes in, but the majority will happen upstairs to finish off the main floor.

So, here is that small room – more like a hallway – that leads from the master bedroom back behind the main bathroom and the stairwell. At the end, a four foot wide nook held a toilet and sink, so close together you could almost sit down to wash your hands with your knees against the cheap sheet of wood hiding the plumbing. Two things made that so-called ensuite the second most repulsive room in the house: the previous owners had carpeted the floor some time ago, and the mice had converted the two shelves in the vanity into a mouse duplex. We ripped out the stained carpet – and the toilet with it – the day we moved in, but the rest stayed, with mouse poison carefully tucked into the duplex on a regular basis. I shuddered every time we went in there to consider how to use that space.

Between ensuite and bedroom was a closet along the inner wall, which wasn't deep enough to hang clothes in without walking sideways, but it happens to back on the main bathroom. You can see in this shot how it follows the outside wall to the left of the sliding doors that open onto the back deck. That's directly over the downstairs bathroom, and the kitchen sink and dishwasher are on the other side of the ensuite wall. That concentration of all the plumbing appealed to Richard, so he began thinking how we might alter the existing walls here to accommodate a proper ensuite bathroom with our laundry in it, as well as the main bath, a large master bedroom, and double the amount of closet space.

The next few photos show the demolition project Allyson and I started on the 13th. By Friday, when I took these shots, the cedar siding lining the closet had been ripped out, and the framing for the two pocket doors came out without much prodding. Richard helped me get rid of the sink and then the vanity, which was held onto the wall as much by the wiring running through it to the overhead light as by the nails through the gyproc. That's when the mask went on, as the stench of mice crap was overpowering and deer mice are hantavirus carriers. Gyproc dust isn't much fun either. (But I do like ripping it out almost as much as putting it up.)

The view in this first photo looks into the master bedroom through the wide opening left by removing the closet's pocket door. Call it the master bedroom, but this portion of it is actually going to turn into a dressing room: closets all along the east wall, white French doors to replace the old sliding doors at left, and a new wall on the right, bumped out into the room by about three feet to create a hallway the width of the French doors. Some artwork, a padded bench, and mirrored closet doors, and it will be a very relaxing, bright and airy space. As the demolition photos continue here I'll indicate again which walls are going where.

Looking in the opposite direction now, through what was the pocket door to the closet, first the shelf and siding were all stripped away and the second pocket door to the ensuite pulled out, the sink and tiles disposed of, and then drywall removed and more of the framing as well. If you put your eye to the tiny hole made by the electrical socket facing outward in the bare back wall, you'd be looking over the kitchen counter at our dining room. The plumbing in the corner connects to the dishwasher and the kitchen sink. The left side of the ensuite section is going to be ripped out further next month, removing the wall facing into the stairwell, so Richard can access the plumbing for our new four-foot wide shower insert that will fill that end of the room (with an inch to spare!).

Rather than a rectangle the width of the shower, however, we wanted space for our stackable washer and dryer to be close at hand, a good-sized sink and counter with storage, and room to add a window to let in some daylight. Richard's bright idea is to bump out the wall between this room and the main bath (the left wall of the closet area), taking over the space occupied by the bathtub. He will also bump out the wall of the main bathroom, three feet into the existing master bedroom, so that the tub in the main bath moves from the back of the room to the side. In the ensuite, the combined area gained will give us enough room to put the washer and dryer and the toilet on opposite ends of the inner wall, and counter on the outer wall beside the shower.

From the new dressing room, looking towards the doors to the deck, the bumped out west wall shared by the two bathrooms will intersect the north wall a few inches from the edge of the sliding door. A new pocket door to the ensuite bathroom will open from a central position rather than the right. The dressing room hallway will end behind the viewer, opening into the new master bedroom area and a new doorway. I hope that makes sense… I suppose I could scan Richard's sketch of the floor plans if anyone's interested.

Here is how we finished up with the demolition today. Richard removed the insulation in the outer wall, propping up the ceiling layer after some of the yellow blow-in stuff fell down on him accidentally. We continued tearing drywall out around the sliding doors, and began removing the cedar siding covering two of the master bedroom's walls (see below).

I still have to yank out all the nails on the studs on all the outside walls, where Richard will increase the studs to 2x6 to allow for thicker insulation, just as he did in the great room. This is the first area where we've taken down the ceiling, but judging by the rodent damage it's necessary. He's also redoing light fixtures and fans so ceiling access will be important. Hopefully we don't have to redo the subfloors before laying the heating pads and tiles. I bought four tile samples yesterday, three of porcelain and one of slate, to see what might work in the new bathrooms. The actual floor space in both will be small, luckily, so we can afford to do underfloor heating and nice tilework. Both the shower and tub are one-piece acrylic enclosures so no tiling (and no grout-scrubbing!) to worry about with those. We got the coolest faucet for the master bathroom, something very sleek and high end that the showroom was selling the floor model of at a discount since it's been discontinued.

The trick with the bathrooms will be in the timing; we have to install the shower in the new ensuite and be able to use it before we rip out the wall and tub in the main bathroom, but still keep the toilet accessible in the main bathroom because there won't be one in the ensuite until the new wall is up. And we'll wait until the last possible moment to tear down the wall between the existing master bedroom and the guest room closet, since we don't want to lose our guest room – and closet space - for longer than necessary.

There are bound to be a few more surprises (such as this junction point hidden in the wall behind the dry cedar siding), and certainly a lot more work just to remove what we don't want, but it feels after today as if we've got our momentum back.

If the sunshine in tomorrow's forecast sticks around, there's more yardwork to do, and Richard's extension to the deck for the barbecue needs paint and a roof. And the neighbours provide lots of distractions - goats getting through fences, visits to share fresh vegetables or equipment, and a tour of the construction here and there - but next month there's time: we've decided to cut short our usual July vacation and spend it at home on this project. I'm glad, it's nice to be at home.