kichen bath dining reno - Durham Region

Would like to use a local company.

Looking for someone to come in and give me some ideas of what I can do with my main floor. I'd like to open up my kitchen to my dining room, and also reconfigure a small bath and laundry off it.

Then the upstairs bathroom once I have a shower downstairs.

We would do the work ourselves, but want help on what exactly we can do.

The house is circa 1871 with addition after addition. I'm trying to make it make sense (a lot of wasted space imo), but it's a nightmare doing any renos. Can't pay for labour when ours is free and I'd feel bad for anyone else getting into it!

so, you're looking for an architect / designer ??

"do the work ourselves" - to what extent? what are your qualifications? structural ? plumbing ? electrical ? how well do you want it to look and function ?

If the house is old: budget high and hire a professional. You are going to have a lot of problems.

Also, check with the city they should have all permits on file so you can see what everyone did in the past hopefully with some engineer blueprints etc...

So you want a designer who can provide you drawings?

LiNK666 said:

If the house is old: budget high and hire a professional. You are going to have a lot of problems.

Also, check with the city they should have all permits on file so you can see what everyone did in the past hopefully with some engineer blueprints etc...

Click to expand...

Nope, doing it ourselves. I know this house is a nightmare, I've been dealing with it for over a decade. Not worried about not hiring a professional.

Thanks for the city permit tips though, I imagine some of these renos go back pre war though

Then all you need is an engineer. Make sure they have a license and ask to see it before you have them do any work. There are lot of fake engineers out there or people who do commercial and then random residential on the side for money ... they really don't know what they are doing.

meme said:

Nope, doing it ourselves. I know this house is a nightmare, I've been dealing with it for over a decade. Not worried about not hiring a professional.

Thanks for the city permit tips though, I imagine some of these renos go back pre war though

Click to expand...

Yeah I guess I'm looking for a floor planner.

We just built a 28x32 garage with a second level ourselves. Pretty confident in our ability.

I know what walls are structural, where limits are. I just I want. Designer, but not in the way of telling me kitchen/bathroom cabinetry, rather an independent idea of what I can do with space.

you dont want a designer or engineer, you want an architect . he/she will get an engineer if they need one, designers are fun but have no idea what holds the room up. what your asking for is what they do. be prepared to spend a few bucks, its worth it IMHO

Agreed, it's why I'm looking for some help. Thx

we hired an architect to redraw a cottage, second floor loft was going in and everything on the ground floor was coming out except the washroom. I knew what I wanted. She had three meetings with us and a half day site meeting. What she drew and points she made, plus moving a couple windows and a doorway that wasnt in my mind made everything 100% better.
I wasn't surprised since redesigning and repurposing buildings is all she does all day......

If you have reasonable skills DIY is the way to go. A reno on a century home will be a quotation nightmare as new problems are found. Unless you have a saint as a general contractor every discovered surprise will cost a fortune and result in delays.

I've done some work on my daughter's 90 year old house and they did not build them all better back then. You may have to connect modern materials to stuff that hasn't been made since WWII. Knob and tube wiring, cast iron pipe etc.

A good architect who is familiar with old structures is a really good idea. Be prepared for modern safety items that may seem irrelevant to you.

ESA can be a pain depending on the inspector. Expect expensive circuit breakers. Only the owner or a licensed electrical contractor can do the work. A friend who is an electrician can not help unless he is working under a contractor's license.

Your biggest problem will be getting qualified trades due to the building boom going on at the present.

Another downside to DIY is that when you hire a general contractor at some time he is finished and the job is finished. When you do it yourself there always seems to be some other little thing to get around to.