RENOVATIONS: Wailing walls

The Village of Swansea is a neighbourhood of hills and dales bounded by Lake Ontario, Grenadier Pond, the Humber River and Bloor Street West. I went to see a two-storey Ugly Duckling semi-detached home here with real estate agent Jonathan Amantea (Sutton Group). The asking price was $449,000.

Lavinia is a street that heads north up a gentle slope, one street east of Windermere, toward the Swansea Town Hall Community Centre. The Ugly Duckling home that was on the market (it has since sold) has a wide porch hidden behind an overgrown evergreen on a patchy square of lawn. This is a home that had been well cared for but not updated much since it was built.

A dark tunnel of a front hall has stairs to the second floor, a door to the living room (which has a fireplace) and an angled door to the dining room. There is also a built-in coat rack and mirror, which is charming and, like the rest of the trim and hardwood floors in the house, is original and well kept. At the back is an outdated kitchen with a large, awning-clad picture window overlooking the yard, and a small unheated back porch.

The yard has ample space for outdoor living and a handy garage at the back serviced by a mutual driveway.

The unfinished basement is almost seven feet high, and dry, with a forced-air gas furnace and laundry located at one end. It offers a lot of potential, but has old wiring and plumbing that need to be changed.

The second floor has three smallish bedrooms with original hardwood and carpet over hardwood. There's a bathroom with original bath but no shower. Most windows in the house have been updated.

This home is small but conveniently located. Close to Bloor West Village, High Park, the Gardiner Expressway and the lake, in a tight community, it offers small-town living close to downtown. With a few changes, this house can feel more spacious and make better use of its assets.

The existing front hall tunnel needs a fix, so we'll remove part of the wall between the hall and the living room as well as all of the rest of the dividing walls between the hall, and the living and dining rooms. That way, we are left with a short vestibule where guests can remove their boots and hang up their coats on the handy built-in rack (of course it's staying), and a large open area for living and dining. A new gas fireplace fitted into the beautiful existing opening will become the focal point for the living room. Without those pesky restricting walls, furniture can be arranged in a relaxed semi-circle around the fireplace.

The hardwood floors throughout the house have been covered for most of their lives so are in good shape. With repairs, they can be sanded and refinished. Walls are solid and only need paint to come alive again. Opening the up-and-down staircases with railings instead of solid walls will increase the sense of space in a very positive way and make the basement seem more like the living space it will become.

I like the laid-back practicality of the mudroom off the kitchen, but would sacrifice it in a heartbeat for sunshine and outdoor living space. Without it, the back wall from the mudroom door to the picture window with the awning can be replaced with doors and windows that open to a deck that stretches into the yard. In the summer, living and dining can take place outdoors, and in the winter, there is room beside the windows for a table. The rest of the kitchen needs an overhaul as well, and the result will be a bright, highly functional room that takes full advantage of the yard.

Upstairs, the main change is to the bathroom. I'd replace the tub with a shower that uses every bit of space and has a glass surround. It is doable. Just.

Since we are updating the wiring and plumbing anyway, we might as well include the basement, which has potential for a family room plus a home office and a generous bathroom. Existing above-ground windows will let us take advantage of natural light.

This home now uses all its assets. Opening up the living and dining rooms makes them bigger and brighter and allows for flexible furniture placement. Fair-weather living will be greatly enhanced by our doors and deck plan, and given a choice between a shower and a claw-foot tub, most of us prefer to bathe standing up. But would all these changes have represented good value?

The answer is yes. I spent approximately $100,000 updating this home, which brought the final price to $550,000. As similar renovated semi-detached homes have sold for as much as $625,000, there was room to update this home and still maintain its value.

(prepared by Brenda McMillan/National Post)



COST ESTIMATE

Kitchen cabinets, countertop, etc., and install $19,000

Bathrooms (1x4, 1x3) $20,000

Wall removals andreinforcement $12,000

Floor repairs and refinishing $6,000

Windows and doors (kitchen) $8,000

Electrical (whole house) $8,000

Paint (includ. labour) $7,000

Deck $7,000

Rough plumbing $5,600

Gas fireplace $5,000

Kitchen and bathroom floor tile $1,800

Misc. (permits) $1,000

Total $100,400

(Source: Jonathon Rivait/National Post)