As demanded: pictures!

[c9]

24 O'Connor Drive is ours! The home inspection went well, nothing too onerous, so we're just signing to stop having to think about it. Smart, I know. :)


The house. (the witty part is later)


No random-window-itis! (common to Southern Ontario)

Also, the ladder shown is not to be trusted. It decided that not staying locked and dropping the inspector on Vinny's head was a good idea. It was not.


The rear of the house, with giant gate in the fence so we can lock a whole car in the back yard.


Our tree! Our shed! Woo!


Note the age of the shingles, windows and eavestroughs. I'm including the next few pictures for my dad, who's very handy and may be interested by these things. The rest of you can skip to the next one.


Most windows have decent (but old) seals on the outside, with a lot of caulking to add protection. It'll be nice to replace them all after we win the lottery. (that's Plan A)


Some age to the front stoop, but except for the middle there it's in great shape. The railing needs replacing, but that's nothing.


A/C on its last few years, the inspector thinks. Hard to tell in -5 degree weather. :)


Open the front door, and you find the kitchen! It's been hermetically sealed since 1968 - don't make any sudden moves.


Looking back towards the front door.


Front door on right, closet in middle. These bungalows all have windows in the closets to keep the moths out!


Looking into the living room from the front door. Of note, the nearly invisible power outlets on the wall that are original knob and tube wiring. That's on the "replace quickly" list.


From the opposite corner, looking back at the kitchen, front door, living room, and included husband.


Down the hall from the kitchen are the two bedrooms and one bathroom (on immediate right, in green)

The bedrooms are just rectangles with two windows each, nothing really exciting there. I took multiple shots in each and might stitch them together to learn the photoshop stitching deal.


I can't think of anything witty to say about the bathroom. That should tell you just how tired this has made me. Please help in the comments.


Not great shape -- I think the bathroom will be first to go. Except we'll need to make friends with a neighbour so we can still pee somewhere.


Between the bathroom and kitchen is a door helpfully labeled "More downstairs" with a Post-It. That's the side entrance from the driveway, which as all Maritimers know will be our main entrance.


The rest of the steps into the basement. Not shown: the old two-door pass-through "milk box" beside the door that was used for milk delivery. Closed up now.


Husband, realtor, laundry, inspector, wiring.


Completely full and slightly over-booked wiring panel. Spot the knob and tube! Just for fun there are two fuses in the little green box, but it's not hooked up to anything anymore, just power. Also, there's one fire hazard he pointed out which is not visible: a 30A wire leading to a 40A breaker.




The basement is quite large, and you can safely stand up if you're average height like us. This is standing at the bottom of the stairs and shooting the whole room. Another little stitching project.


Not an outhouse in the basement like Sam and Carrie's, but just some plumbing and storage shelves. Maybe someday a bathroom will live near here!


One third of the basement is sorta-finished (see ceiling). Good: finished rec room. Bad: asbestos in the tiles. Good: only matters when we're removing them. Bad: they're ugly.


This sticker was on the furnace. Read carefully in two places.

So, as I said before: "holy fuck!" I never thought we'd own a house in Toronto already. I'm planning a housewarming party, but Vinny wants it in like June or something. I think that's crazy, so I might need to come up with a way to trick him into it. Hopefully he won't read this entry. :)

Comments

[jdhorner.livejournal.com]

wow. congratulations guys. :)

That's the side entrance from the driveway, which as all Maritimers know will be our main entrance.

i'll also have you know that every single person (family and friends) that i EVER knew in southern new jersey ALL use their side door. every. single. one.

[c9.livejournal.com]

I guess NJ must be full of the same genes or something. :)

(does NJ have the abandoned front doors? i.e. house gets built with nice elevated front door, but no steps are ever added?)

[jdhorner.livejournal.com]

some of them, yes. but it's usually more from an inside point of view. they are never used, so people decorate in front of them, put couches/chairs/etc... in front of them, as though they're not even there.

(i've noticed, by the way, that it seemed usually because the front doors of most of my friends' houses all opened directly into the main living area instead of into the kitchen or hallway, like the side door.)

[senhor.livejournal.com]

Wow! Two plungers in the bathroom? Was that a special request on your part? Swanky...

Congratulations! Have fun moving in and getting settled. :)

[thespos]

It looks GREAT. I love the archway between your living and dining rooms, and for a small kitchen, I think it is going to be really functional.

And that basement - lots of potential there... it really looks great. I am SO happy for you both! :-D

[bartok.livejournal.com]

Good job on getting a real house (like separate and everything) in TO.

The structure looks sound, so it's just the cosmetic things that need to be brought kicking and screaming into the 20th century. No new roof or foundation repairs needed.

Are you thinking of taking down any walls? Especially if you can have one common area for kitchen/dining/lounging.

[c9.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think the wall structure around the kitchen needs to change. Not sure what's possible or not, so we shall see.

[sisyphus238.livejournal.com]

Looking forward to the updates. The kitchen is only slightly bigger than mine but more efficiently laid only mine is an apartment and my kitchen is almost a galley.

[joecdn.livejournal.com]

Looks like you found a little gem in the heart of T.O.!!!

There are some companies that have special insurance for Knob and Tube wired houses - as I know a lot of companies won't insure them anymore, or do so at a great premium. Although I'm confident your knowledgable husband knows all about this - just thought I'd give you a heads up to look out for that ;-)

[c9.livejournal.com]

Thanks B! Our realtor warned us on it too. I'd really like to get that dealt with quickly. Cosmetic things are just cosmetic, but this could burn the place down or zap someone.

[simplisticton.livejournal.com]

Yeah, knob & tube was an immediate "no thank you" for J and I, and we saw multiple places with it! Crazy old houses...

But the opportunity to re-wire is actually good. You can really geek it up with Cat-5, embedded audio, etc., and save yourself the vexations of having to go wireless (and it *is* vexing, I assure you).

[c9.livejournal.com]

Oh we are wireless, and it is vexing. I plan to get one of those homebrew flash updates for the router to boost the power, and hopefully the small size of the house will get us good signals. But I also plan to run cat5e or whatever.

[c9.livejournal.com]

I should have explained too that about 90% of the house is new wiring, but we found four receptacles and one switch that are on the old wires. So not a huge deal, which is good.

[gregr92.livejournal.com]

Great pics! Congrats to you both!

[primary-suspect.livejournal.com]

Nice. So you have owned a condo and now a are going to have a whole house. That house was a really good deal since it seems to include blow jobs!

[friendofjack.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you'll gay it up in no time!

[simplisticton.livejournal.com]

An actual house! In Toronto! I'm impressed! It's got tons of potential, and with you guys being so handy, that's certainly not an impediment. (Besides, the more practice you get, the more you'll be able to help me :)

[c9.livejournal.com]

Now you have a free hotel in Toronto, rather than just a cheap one.

We don't supply little soaps though.

[simplisticton.livejournal.com]

Two kids under 3. You want us to have the little soaps. Trust me. :)

[c9.livejournal.com]

I was just thinking "hose".

[simplisticton.livejournal.com]

I wasn't even thinking cleanliness. I was just thinking house + four adults + 2 kids == mayhem. A hotel room, while not as cheap as free, is worth it. Heck, after last time in the two-room suite, I might not even be able to go back to a single room :)

[c9.livejournal.com]

Yeah -- the suite we had for the new year's party sorta ruined me for hosting parties at home a little bit. :)

We'll just let the kids run around unsupervised in the basement with the knob and tube wires. They can tie them in knots!

[sassy-red-head.livejournal.com]

You are men! Men can pee in the laundry sink! Although you might want a litterbox for poo....

[c9.livejournal.com]

Oh my god we're gay men, let's be serious here. :)

[canuckboy.livejournal.com]

Be careful with the backyard parking. There are some wonky city regulations about the number of cars you're allowed to park on your land. I read this story in the Star about some people in Scarborough having an issue with having two-car parking.

[c9.livejournal.com]

I was just kidding. The drive can do two cars easy, and there's a curb in the yard so the pavement might actually go back further. Once the snow melts we can figure that out.

[canuckboy.livejournal.com]

Oh, but I was totally hoping you'd go trailer trash on us.

Booooo.

When do you move?

[c9.livejournal.com]

March 15 we take possession, and March 19 we lose possession of the condo, so the 16th seems likely. Have to call the movers today.

[canuckboy.livejournal.com]

Funny, I just spoke with mine. I'm booked for April 3. I'll be sure to invite you to the housewarming thingy.

Movers?

[(Anonymous)]

You have all these interested friends, all young and strong, and you're calling movers? ;>) Dad

Re: Movers?

[c9.livejournal.com]

LOL - I (ab)use my friends for in-city moves only. :)

My first parental comment!

[sarah-sosiak.livejournal.com]

I think that's so you can get the zamboni into the back yard to resurface the hockey rink.

You are going to build a hockey rink in the back yard, aren't you?

[c9.livejournal.com]

Not sure if the yard is flat enough yet. Also, we need kids in skates.

New House

[(Anonymous)]

Hi Guys - It looks really good and I am excited for you. A whole swath of reno projects! I see I missed the train on the BJ jokes so how about, "How many portable stereos do you need to do a home inspection?" Love. Dad

Re: New House

[c9.livejournal.com]

Thanks Dad! There appear to be a lot of leftover belongings, each with their own post-it note indicating who they belong to. They're going to belong to the garbage on March 15th!

[nihilicious.livejournal.com]

That place is going to be so freaking sexy when you guys are done with it! Congrats!

I warn you that when I come to visit I will expect a blow job. On the house.

[c9.livejournal.com]

But of course! The neighbours might get annoyed at all this activity on the roof, but hey.

[skaughty.livejournal.com]

nicely done! despite their age, notice how much nicer your windows are than those of your direct neighbours (with the world's ugliest vinyl lower-sash sliders ever produced). period windows make a vintage house, and apparently there are some great (read: non-crappy looking) period-appropriate storm windows on the market these days. ones that provide great R-value as well. and if you live in a heritage district (one designated under section IV of the OHA), you might even qualify for a heritage grant.

the interior spaces look really great (love the interior doors and hardwood floors), and the entire place will look fantastic with a great bathroom reno! can i start making tile and fixture recommendations now?

[c9.livejournal.com]

You now have a standing invitation to come visit and help any time -- we will pay the train ticket. But you have to help, not just recommend. :P

[skaughty.livejournal.com]

but of course! but be warned, i don't do plumbing. sanding, painting, cleaning, cabinetry, tile-setting, electrical, lugging, etc - yes. plumbing - no. maybe sometime in april, once you've settled in?

[c9.livejournal.com]

It's a date!

(we hire pros for the hard stuff, like plumbing and significant electrical, so no worried)

[skaughty.livejournal.com]

do you have plans for the easter long weekend? (apr 6-9) if not, that might be an ideal weekend for me to come up!

[c9.livejournal.com]

No plans that I'm aware of. Please clear your travel with the Big Gay Travel Office (vinny).

[sappiboi.livejournal.com]

Happy for you guys!

[zedinbed.livejournal.com]

Wow! Awesome!

Th first thing I noticed was the location. Not too crazy about it being not close to the subway but the Don Valley is really beautiful so the natrual surroundings of the area should be pretty nice.

I love the arch in the living room space. Its very neat! Also for some reason I really like the green tiles in the bathroom even though everyone else probably disagrees with me. I wish there is some way you can incorporate its retro style into your new design. :p

Congrats!

[c9.livejournal.com]

Actually, while it is about a 20-minute walk from the subway, there are two buses that run up and down Broadview at high frequency, so when we tried out transit we went from office desk to front door in 20-25 mins. So I think it'll be pretty good.

I think retro might work too -- it's just too bad that it's in bad shape in there. We'll have to rip it all out and do it brand new retro. :)

You have a house!?!

[evad-cgy.livejournal.com]

Far too exciting!

I thought for sure you'd be buying a condo!?!
I guess that can only mean one thing... when are you two expecting :P

Any-whos, we will most definitely have to come visit!

Just thinking, if the basement's already ruffed in... you could install a toilet downstairs before the upstairs renovation? From what I've heard from my brother, toilets are fairly easy.

Big kisses to both of you!

[dipdewdog.livejournal.com]

that place looks cute :)

[amelioratio.livejournal.com]

Aw, the house is so cute!

Yeah, I also thought you guys would get a condo, but it will definitely be nice to have a house and be able to do renovations and have your own yard and all that.

Most people in Ontario use their side door as their main entrance too. I think that's a universal thing.

And yeah, like everyone else, the archway thingy rocks my world.