Over the past 2 years we’ve done a fair amount to the backyard but there’s still a lot of room for improvement.  We’ve focused on structural things like removing the old extension, bricking up the old second floor door and replacing it with a window, building a new two-tier deck, adding new double doors with a transom, building new fencing in certain sections, etc…

The gardens haven’t received a lot of TLC though.  Lots of room for improvement there!

Here was the backyard when we purchased the house:

Now here is the after (keep in mind it’s mid November in Toronto…so not the best representation of greenery!):

Taking these photos makes me realize I have to get up on a ladder and get that satellite dish down one of these days!  The other to do is for us to get a brick pointer in who can clean up the brick where the old extension was.

Up next…the main floor…

We’re going to start a series of posts where we show the before and after throughout the house.  It’s a good way of tying things up since we’re nearly done (thank goodness).

Last time we showed you the front of the house.  Now let’s move to the basement.

The basement was partially finished when we bought the house.  There were three finished rooms down there - an empty room, a bedroom for the main floor tenant, and a storage room.  About 50% of the area down there was done…but not very nicely.

When we started our renos the basement got torn apart.  Plumbing and electrical had to be accessed and changed and concrete had to be busted open to better support the open concept we were going for on the main floor.  Here’s how things looked:

Once all of the electrical, plumbing, boiler, hot water and sewage lines were replaced we decided to finish the basement.  We wanted a big playroom, storage room, tool room, spare bedroom and bathroom.  It took us a long time to agree on a layout but we finally rolled the dice and we’re happy with the result.  Here it is:

Next up…the backyard…

All of the painting is done, the windows were replaced, we rebuilt the stairs, and completed some landscaping.  We’ve now done as much as we’re going to do in the foreseeable future to add some curb appeal to the house.

Here it was before:

And here it is now:

Jim finished the front porch and front door this afternoon.  I wanted to show you the before and after.

Here was the state of the front porch when we first took possession of the house:

Now here it is after all of the work we’ve done on it - including the new paint job:

Once the forecast looks better Jim is going to finish up the facing of the third floor.  This has Anke and I really excited since it will make a huge difference to the look of the house.  Here’s how it looks now (including raw 2×4 that has been there since the new windows were installed a while ago):

Our favorite painter Jim (or Jim-bo as the kids like to call him) is back.  Since he’s been at our place he has done work for my parents and my sister to solid reviews. (You contact him at 416-951-4446)

We’re finally tackling the porch and the third floor decorative shingles both of which desperately need some sanding and a new coat of paint.  In addition we are going with a jet black front door.  The paint colours we are going with are a light and dark taupe.

Today Jim focused on all of the prep work that needed to be done.  Already things are looking better.

I’ll continue to upload images as he makes progress.