The 2005 Purchase and Disasters

We wanted to live in downtown Calgary and bought a 3-story townhouse in a large downtown condominium complex.  That was June, 2005 and this photo shows what we bought.  With somewhat dark and unusual colours, it needed a facelift.   We spent months with all the magazines laying out floor plans and eventually came up with a great design that required removal of a wall and the entire interior.  It was exciting to renovate and design our dream home.  A year later we moved in (May, 2006).

 

This condo renovation covered all three floors and Kahrs Brazilian Cherry hardwood flooring was installed on each level.  We installed a gas stove, Miele dishwasher, electric warmer drawers, 2 fireplaces, new appliances, Insinkerator Hot Water dispensers and new light fixtures.  Because the PEX tubing of the 1995 era construction had a history of bursting,  we took the opportunity while the walls and ceilings were open to rip it out and install new plumbing lines.  The contractors updated included the new building code requirements.  We replaced the old fibreglass insulation with spray foam and included the spaces between floors to mute the sound in this wooden structure.  Flat ceilings were put back in with recessed lighting.  This was to be our home for the next 10 years and we designed the third floor to be the office where we ended up spending a large part of our days when it was completed.

A completely integrated central audio/video system was installed and feeds ran to all the rooms and no boxes appeared on any floor or wall.   The ceiling was located with 5.1 speakers and the space under the corner fireplace hid the Subwoofer.   CAT5 wiring ran to every room from a central junction panel.

We overlooked the Eau Claire Market, the river, downtown and all the bike paths and it was perfect. The demand in Calgary for contractors was strong and it took a year including all the board approvals from the condo association. We eventually put it all together with the help of our great contractors (Meadow Sage Builders) and moved into our home in May, 2006.