Let the spending begin

We have had a couple of meetings with the designer who's working on plans for our house reno/redevelopment. There are still lots of details to work out but it already seems to be most of the way there. Our designer is Wil Peereboom of Victoria Design Group, whose broad portfolio includes many conversions of heritage-type houses in Victoria like ours.

Our plan is to excavate the basement (a polite term for jacking up the house and blasting tonnes of granite). We (meaning not us but skilled workers) will then construct a fabulous three-bedroom ground floor suite, and rewire, re-roof, straighten, insulate and renovate the bathrooms in the upper two floors. The kitchen will move to a different part of the main floor. I want to demolish the existing, decrepit, single-car garage that is wedged between the house and the neighbor, and build a new garage behind the house, not for cars but for storing books. We need some new windows that actually close. Two chimneys will be demolished, and gas fireplaces will replace the old wood/coal burning ones. Closet space will be modestly improved.

This has all been like fantasyland up to now: Watching the designer sketch out what we want, without actually paying for any of it, yet.