Garden Avenue Renovation

In 2006, our clients Nick and Julia fell in love with a charming two storey brick house on Garden Avenue, one block west of Roncesvalles. They loved the neighbourhood, but the house needed a major overhaul. Instead of saving up little-by-little for small, patchwork renovation jobs, the pair were willing to put up with the drafty windows, leaky roof, cramped layout and exorbitant gas bills until they could afford to do a major, top-to-bottom renovation. Living in the original house for five years gave them time to fully analyze their needs, helping them define the right scope of work required to design a home which would perfectly suit their family.

The house, originally built in 1911, underwent its fair share of renovation work throughout its long life. Over the years, previous owners had converted the rickety front porch into living space, underpinned the foundation, converted the entire basement into a separate apartment, and cosmetically updated the bathroom and kitchen. However, many elements from the original house still remained, such as the plaster and lathe, the single-pane wood windows, the home’s fireplaces and the knob-and-tube wiring. In 2011, on the house’s centennial year, Nick and Julia and their two young children moved out, and the renovation process finally began.

Our clients had two overarching goals: to greatly improve the home’s energy efficiency – something common to all Solares projects – and to create space for their growing family without building an addition, which would have made the project too costly. The family had a long list of other requirements for their dream renovation: an eat-in kitchen, a formal living/dining room, a playroom, a study, four bedrooms (one with an ensuite) and three bathrooms. With such a tiny footprint, our work was cut out for us.

Besides a clever design to optimize the family’s living space, this renovation also included major structural repairs, upgrades to all systems, a drastic increase of thermal performance, and fully updated interiors. The insulation value was more than quadrupled by applying closed-cell, water-based, spray foam to the inside face of the roof and load-bearing brick structure, also serving to make the house air tight. A high efficiency boiler provides heat for new compact radiators as well as for domestic hot water.

At 1,815 sq.ft. of living space over three floors, our design had to be compact and clever in order to accommodate all of Nick and Julia’s requirements.

The new design reintegrates the basement to the rest of the house with a stair that runs up all levels. The basement now includes a playroom, guest bedroom, guest bathroom, laundry room and a small mechanical room tucked under the stairs. On the ground floor, the foyer and stair hall are central, with an open concept living/dining room to the east. To the west is a kitchen with breakfast bar, ample storage and direct access to the large back yard. Creative planning on the second floor allows for two small kids’ bedrooms, a bathroom, an open study on the landing (which is designed for easy conversion to another bedroom if required) and a large master bedroom with a small “boutique hotel” style ensuite bathroom.

First to be tackled was the basement floor. Removing the 4 in. thick concrete slab was a huge task, but it gave us the opportunity to add 4 in. of XPS rigid insulation under the slab, a new code requirement which many houses don’t have. A 10m steel reinforcement grid was then laid over the insulation, onto which the in-floor heating tubes were attached. Finally, the new concrete floor was poured and sealed with a water-based acrylic.

The exterior walls were framed with 2×4 in. studs set 1-2 in. away from the inside face of the original brick structure. This gave us adequate space behind the studs for a continuous, 4 in. layer of water-based, spray-in-place polyurethane foam insulation by Icynene. When applied directly onto the brick face, the foam insulation acts as both insulation and air barrier. The west wall was redesigned to better suit the new floor plan, and a floor-to-ceiling window in the kitchen brings in light and improves the visual connection to the much-used backyard. Significant steel beams and posts were installed to reinforce the new window arrangement.

The renovation also incorporates up-to-date sustainable house design elements, especially when it comes to the heating, cooling and ventilation systems. Small radiators maximize the amount of usable space in each room, and are fueled by a super high efficiency boiler that is roughly the size of a small backpack. These tiny boiler functions for both hot water and space heating. Cooling is provided by an energy efficient air-to-air ductless heat pump, which uses one main exterior condenser unit with three interior heads: one in the living room, one in the kitchen, and one at the top of the stair case on the second floor. Ventilation is provided by a high-efficiency Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV).

All windows are double-glazed, and those on the west side of the house contain a reflective coating that reduces summer heat-gain without sacrificing a bright interior. All the new window systems are framed with Bauhaus solid wood units, while the existing window openings were installed with Marvin wood-clad aluminum windows. The plumbing system uses an efficient PEX tubing system, made of extruded high-density polyethylene (HDPE), which is much more affordable, flexible, durable in cold temperatures, and more resistant to corrosion and scale build-up than copper piping.

All the finishes in the house are clean, bright, and modern. Colourful accents rich with personality are well displayed throughout the house, like the striped stairway carpet, a dark fireplace insert, and vibrant artwork on the walls. The mostly white kitchen is accented with glossy grey cabinetry and makes use of both custom work and IKEA stock units. Wood touches bring warmth to the space, with a butcher block countertop and a finished plywood shelving insert.

The kitchen island is topped with quartz countertop, a manufactured stone product that avoids the invasive excavation required by options such as granite and marble.