The Hovel Renovation: Step One

After closing on the property the fun really started. First on the list was to do a more thorough inspection of what we had bought. The snow had all but disappeared from the land but parts were still frozen and others sections were underwater. But now we could see the contour of the property and at least start to plan the future location of things such as gardens, outbuildings, food forests and ponds. After a few months we also added windbreaks to that list and possibly a wind generator. We definitely have the wind.

The house was our first priority. We were still living on the boat and the plan was to continue to live there in the winter for at least one more year. Lack of insulation and a heating system in a Canadian home is not that appealing in the winter. The house also lacked a real kitchen, a bathroom that offered privacy and anything that could stop wind and bugs from passing through. We didn’t name it “The Hovel” without reason. My mother was much less subtle and referred to it as “a dump” which may have been insulting to landfill sites which from my experience are much tidier than this house.

The first step was to document our starting point. Second was to remove as much of the trash from the yard as we could. Still to this day we have trash surfacing every Spring with the frost. Broken glass, metal pots, and steel posts make regular appearances. We did manage to get rid of the broken furniture, old carpets and general garbage that first month, thanks in large part to the help of my brother. George was still working out of the country in those early days. The plan was for him to work until the weather was consistently good at which point he would take a few months off. George did contract work which was the only reason this was even an option.

While George was working and I was getting things organized in Florida, we hired a local mason to do much needed repairs to the foundation. One wall had failed and two others were thinking about following suit. The one saving grace was that the house was built using balloon construction. This meant that even with the failed foundation wall the house itself was relatively sound and level. At least as level as one could expect from a house built in the late 1800’s. While we had the mason there we also had a concrete floor poured in the crawlspace. We hired out this job partially because foundation work like this was something out of our wheelhouse. Even more significant was that spending time hunched over in a 5 foot crawlspace working wasn’t something George had a desire to do. It was also something that we needed done quickly. What would have taken us several weeks to complete was done in less than a week and we could spend time repairing and closing up the upper portion of the house without worrying that our work would fall into the crawlspace the following winter.

With a solid foundation in place George, along with our son, started working on closing the house up in mid-May. I was busy watching our new grandson. This was a temporary situation that allowed his parents to keep him out of daycare for at least a few more weeks. It meant that I watched progress being made via FaceTime and during quick, (eight hours travel time each way) trips to “The Hovel” on weekends.

Windows were first. We had done a survey of the windows in the house and realized quickly that they would all have to be replaced. None of the windows were original to the house and all appeared to be reused/repurposed windows. They didn’t match in size or style. Some were actually just storm windows repurposed as permanent windows. Most were off center, a few weren’t even fastened in their location and others didn’t have appropriate headers. We chose a six over six style window for most rooms with the dining room having a larger window and the living room would be outfitted with two garden doors. Turns out those are less expensive than large picture windows and they provide access to a deck that we planned on adding eventually.

By the time I returned to the property full time in July the windows were installed and the house wrap was being finished up. Putting the house wrap on meant filling in places where boards were missing. George and our son had also dedicated some of their time to controlling the grass. About an acre of our property had been used as a lawn and at the time we had only a push mower. This meant at least part of every day the sun shone was spent cutting lawn. The rest of the property had been left to become overgrown pasture. Eventually a tractor and brush hog were added to the list of purchases to help control the rest of the property.

The guys also had to get the water working reliably and get internet in place. I often wonder what the guys who installed the internet thought when they stepped inside the house. I’m sure they figured we could be spending our money on something much more useful, like a bathroom with walls and a door.

With the house wrap on and windows in it was finally time to put on some siding. I’m sure the neighbours were thrilled to see the improvements being made. I’m sure we increased the market value of their homes. We went with board and baton siding that our research indicated was age appropriate. Not sure if the dark blue siding and butter yellow trim was common in the late 1800’s but we liked the look. Our daughter likes to point out that we always pick weird house colour combinations that work anyway. Our pre-boat home was a Victorian house we painted sage green with ivory trim and dark green and burgundy accents.

I do want to reassure everybody that we didn’t spend the entire summer working. It was the first time we had been back in Canada for an extended period of time in twenty years. So some visiting happened and occasionally some work even got done during those visits. They just had to be short visits since we still only had a travel trailer to sleep in, unless you were our son in which case your room was a small tent pitched in the yard.

With the house sealed and winter around the corner it was time to think about next summer’s project. We knew that the garden doors at the back of the house still had to be installed and the ugly bump out on the side of the house had to be removed. And of course there was the entire inside to finish gutting and start re-building. Gardens and fruit trees were also on the list for the following summer. It was beginning to look like we would be spending at least one more summer in the trailer and an additional winter on the boat.