When is a Home a Castle?

"Holway House, La Crosse" - watercolour painting by John W. Johnston
Image Credit: jwjonline.net
The personal web pages of John W. Johnston of Northampton, England - JWJ

"Yes, your home is your castle, but it is also your identity and your possibility to be open to others."
David Soul

It’s a very romantic notion: your home is your castle. Some might call it old fashioned, but I like to think of it as never being more relevant than it is today.

Our home is our sanctuary from the world “out there.” Sure, we might have a hi-definition window onto that world, but we watch it from the relative comfort of a sofa, a bowl of comfort food nestled lovingly in our loungewear-clad lap. In moments as these, our home is literally our “happy place.” From romantic nights to family get-togethers; new loves to newborns, the space we live in literally accommodates life’s most cherished people and moments.

It’s no accident that real estate prices increased again in September, with Toronto once again particularly buoyant. Considering the time, energy and money we spend on (and in) our homes, it becomes clear we’re investing in more than just a living space; we’re investing in our own “headspace.”

How do we feel when our space feels “off?” Can we feel we’re standing on solid footing living in an older home with potentially faulty footings? Where is our headspace when our living space was designed for people 50, 60 or even 80 years ago? Is it “our castle” when the walls seem “a little thin?”

Unlike our cranium and grey matter (which we’re more or less stuck with), a complete overhaul of our living space is possible and may be just what we need to overhaul our life! Just think what a total upgrade of your home’s core structures and components will do for your headspace (and heating bills).

Invest in some cool green technology. Build an addition for a home theatre, listening room, Jacuzzi, greenhouse…whatever reflects your headspace right now—or the future. With all the stress “out there,” making your home a castle of refuge for the space “in here” has never been more important.

Attila Lendvai
VP of Strategic Development
Wo-Built Inc. - Innovative Design and Build

Home Renovation Do’s and Don’ts: What to do before you do anything

Home Renovation Discoveries: Black Mold,
Spaghetti Wiring, Arching Electricity, Crappy Plumbing.
Look for These and Other "Fun Discoveries".
Image Credit: MS Office ClipArt:
Mans face featuring a pondering emotion
2011 @ wobuilt.com

Today we begin a series on what to do and what not to do when it comes to your home renovation projects. We’ll take you inside one of Wo-Built’s projects to see the reality behind the advice. And, perhaps more importantly, appreciate the impact of not taking our advice…

What do you do before you start any major home renovation project? Call a good general contractor. Why? Because a general contractor has a sense for "the big picture" and an eye for "all the little details," whereas a more specialized contractor or tradesperson may not.

Case-in-point:

Homeowners Bob and Marsha (not their real names), decided they wanted to remodel and renovate their bungalow in East York of roughly 60 to 70 years of age (the bungalow, not Bob and Marsha). So, they went ahead and had the ground floor remodeled with beautiful trim, fresh paint, a remodeled bathroom and had a brand new kitchen.

They were so happy with the way everything looked, they said "Let’s finish the basement now." Only then did they contact Wo-Built to come do the basement, after their main floor renovations. It was only after Wo-Built took down the walls in the new bathroom adjacent to the new kitchen (to get at the black mold and properly insulate the walls to prevent it from returning) that the electrician found a single wire spliced into an electrical box (running on a single 60-70 year old circuit / fuse) powering no less than 5 outlets in the kitchen (in addition to the outlets and fixtures it was powering in the bathroom).

So, someone using a hair dryer in the morning while the coffee maker and toaster is going? What about throwing in a blender for that morning smoothie? It could have turned into quite the morning StairMaster workout to go reset the fuse every morning. Now, Wo-Built has to cut into recently finished and painted walls in a brand new kitchen to fix an electrical wiring oversight by the individual(s) who installed it.

Wouldn’t it have made more sense to have called in a reliable general contractor like Wo-Built to oversee any renovations being planned from the get-go? Isn’t it better for the realistic scope of the project and correct order of work to be determined before a single hammer is lifted? Wo-Built would have been able to spot problems and avoid wasted effort, saving Bob and Marsha time, money and headaches.

And this is just a taste of the "horrors" lurking behind the walls, in the foundation, and elsewhere in the basement of this benign little bungalow in a sleepy little East York neighborhood of Toronto, Canada.

Black mold behind walls of the "new bathroom," the spaghetti wiring with arching electricity and scorched insulation, the complete lack of insulation in some areas, and plumbing that looks like it was put in by a lonely octopus. Look for these and other "fun discoveries" in the weeks to come (i.e. the Halloween edition…for obvious reasons).

Attila Lendvai
VP of Strategic Development
Wo-Built Inc. - Innovative Design and Build

Green Renovations: Sharing Experiences and Lessons Learned

Green Renovations Lessons Learned
BILD Renovator & Custom Builder Council
October 11, 2011; 6:00 - 8:30 pm
Credit: BILDGTA.ca: Meetings & Events

Building, Industry and Land Development
Renovator & Custom Builder Council

Topic: Green Renovations
Lessons Learned

Join Building Industry and Land Development Association for this informative case study approach as panelists share their experiences on small, medium and large "green" renovation projects:

• Whole house "green" renovation
• The Green Home Makeover: Sustainable Neighbourhood Retrofit Action Plan (SNAP)
• Diagnosing and renovating Mansard and similar roofing

Speakers:
John Godden, Clearsphere Inc.,
Martina Ernst, Wo-Built Inc.,
Emilio Cosentino, Keystone Interiors Inc.,
Shannon Logan, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, SNAP
Greg Labbe and Don Noble, Greensaver.

When: Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Time: Pizza and Networking: 6:00 pm
Program: 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm

Location: BILD Awards Hall
Address: 20 Upjohn Road, North York, ON M3B 1Y2

For more information please contact:
BILDGTA.ca: Meetings & Events

Live Green Toronto: Wo-Built

Our Green Commitment
We are dedicated to being environmentally conscious and have embraced "Green Construction" in all our projects. We strive to be the leading design and build company that is sought after for its innovative design and quality construction and one that is recognized for using their projects as a means to help women, the community and the environment.

Our Special Offer for Members
Incorporate in your renovations the following: green roofs, solar, geothermal or heat recovery measures and save 5% of the retail costs.

Design in Motion … in a House!?

Jerome Olivet Visionary Design: Architecture: Jet House
Image Credit: Jérôme OLIVET Book: Architecture: Plant inspiration

Good Engineering and Beautiful Aesthetics Can Go Hand in Hand in Your Home.

In recent years, there has been an emerging school of thought in design that could be called "motion design" or even "design in motion." From computer animation to automotive, the focus is on designs that look good while moving, not just while standing still. In the automotive world, the approach evolved from ever-more intense aerodynamic testing for performance and fuel efficiency. In other words, it was a natural progression of an age-old tradition in design called "form follows function." When we consider design in motion as another example of form follows function, we can apply the concept directly to home design and layout — and no, we’re not talking mobile homes!

A house is in constant motion. It’s all a question of perspective and relativity. After all, in a wind tunnel test, a car stays in one spot: it’s artificially generated wind that’s really moving; and yet, its aerodynamics can be tested … that is design in motion. In much the same way, rooms, hallways, counters, closets — all these elements stay put. It’s the people living in and around them that move. The motion of a house relates to its occupants. So, if you really think about it, design in motion is perhaps the most relevant consideration when building a house, an addition or any major re-redesign project.

Here are some questions worthy of consideration: in the morning, how many people are there in the house getting ready within the same time-frame? What is the flow of people between bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen, laundry and hallways? Where are the “bottlenecks”? We live in Canada: does the home have an alternate entrance and/or mudroom where slushy shoes and snowsuits can be removed and stored away from the primary entrance (i.e. the one used by visitors and guests)? Speaking of guests, is there an office or sitting room relatively near the main entrance close to a powder room where surprise guests can be entertained without disturbing the rest of the household? Perhaps that same office can contain a sofa bed or futon to accommodate overnight guests (in which case it’s best the powder room also has a shower for them to use). Is there a handyman in the house? A gardener? How about a laundry room with a shower within easy reach of the garden, workshop, or wherever soiled people and their clothes enter the house?

Of course, people are not the only things that move in a house. Sound is also an element that is in motion; "sound carries." Anyone who has ever lived in a side-split or back-split arrangement will attest to a design which essentially turns the entire house into a single audio zone (and these are very common among the many "cookie-cutter" designs prevalent in the Greater Toronto Area and elsewhere in Ontario). The placement of rooms next to or above other rooms where "noise contamination" may take place is an important consideration. In some cases (positioning a baby room) you may want to hear every sound coming from the adjacent room. Of course, sound carries through houses in sometimes unanticipated ways. Duct-work can channel noise remarkably efficiently. A finished basement with ceiling vents connected to existing duct-work could inadvertently make a direct (and unfortunate) "audio pipeline" between the basement washroom and the main floor kitchen or living room.

Similarly, light is also an element in constant motion. Obviously, over the course of a day, daylight and shadow shift from one side of the house to the other. But in the evenings, artificial light from one space within the home can "flood" an adjacent space quite easily. There can be too much light or not enough given the activities in any particular room. Often, designer fixtures that "look good" in the showroom are sorely lacking in terms of providing adequate light. Finally, new digital dimmers and timers add a whole other dimension of motion—changes in lighting intensity over time.

The point is this: aesthetic considerations of design aside, a home must be lived in. Designing the layout and functionality of a house in motion will result in a more livable home. The key is to work with a designer and/or contractor who has the ability and the patience to take you through the process of understanding the numerous motions the house will go through to determine the best design.

If all this sounds too much like an exercise in engineering and too little like design, remember: good engineering and beautiful aesthetics go hand-in hand. Truly, having one without the other is not very practical when it comes to building anything that "must be lived with" (lived in). However, one thing is absolutely certain: having a home that just "looks good" at first glance will become very tiresome very quickly if it encumbers the natural flow of the people and daily life. Maybe that’s why so many people in Toronto are opting to build additions or have dramatic re-designs and re-builds done on their existing properties — what was aesthetically pleasing once must be brought up to speed of 21st Century living.

As for the "Aerodynamic House" in the image that opens this blog: in the not-too-distant future, global warming and more extreme weather patterns — particularly here in Canada — may indeed begin to play a more critical role in design in motion considerations as they relate to homes. But that, as they say, is a topic for another day.

Attila Lendvai
VP of Strategic Development
Wo-Built Inc. - Innovative Design and Build

links:
Jérôme OLIVET. La boutique

Jerome Olivet Visionary Design

gizmodo.com: home is where the art is: Jet House is a New Look on an Old Design
By Christopher Mascari

Cjacotguth’s Blog: Research: Aerodynamic House
By Charlotte Margareta Jacot Guth

luxist.com: The Jet House, Sleek Aerodynamic Living
by Rigel Celeste

Good Daylight Design Strategy for Your Home

Collage: Mirror, mirror on the wall,
What is the best light source of all?
- Daylight, sunlight is best of all!
Image Credit: MS Office ClipArt: Homes, Houses, Mirrors
2011 @ wobuilt.com

Mirror, mirror on the wall, what is the best light source of all? - Daylight / sunlight is best of all.

Wouldn't be great to have a magic mirror that can give a definitive answer all the time? Life would be so easy. But this was an easy question as the answer is undisputed. Generally, we humans love daylight and sunlight, it makes us feel more secure, safe, our productivity is up and our health improves. So it is absolutely important to include daylight/sunlight into our designs.

Now the question how to do this would stretch even the best magical mirror, since there are so many different things to consider:

• Is it used for lighting or heating?
• Are the windows used for views or sunlight penetration?
• Do you need even lighting or can there be highlights?
• What are the spaces used for?
• And many more...

Let's look at some of the components:

Daylight as a light source
Daylight is diffused light, that has less extreme brightness contrasts and thermal impacts, than direct sunlight. For working environments daylight is preferred, as it has excellent colour rendering, high even light levels that make tasks easier to perform, creates a visual comfort and allows energy savings. However, there is no drama in daylight and it provides little visual stimulation.

So a good daylight design will take natural visual variations into consideration. Maybe sunlight is reflected via light shelves to an area that is not necessary for tasks performance such as a ceiling or an end wall. Or the windows provide a view to the outside world. The challenge is to avoid glare, so that a comfortable working environment can be achieved.

Sunlight as a thermal source
However direct sunlight is perfect for passive solar design where a thermal mass such as a floor or a wall is heated up by the sun and acts as a heat sink. The heat, if designed properly, will be released during the cooler periods to heat the environment.

The two components are often in conflict with each other and a balance will have to be struck, even in a residential setting. Lighting and thermal design is not only for offices, malls, commercial and public buildings, but also has to be considered for a person's home. For example, glare in a kitchen would not do considering that sharp knives are used and glare could lead to accidents. Overheating in summer would be very uncomfortable. And view windows in a bathroom might not be appropriate.

Daylight will have to be introduced in a sensitive and effective method via skylights or utilizing external shading devices such as overhangs and trees. Trees, especially trees that loose their leaves in winter are very good sources of sunlight control as they provide shade in summer and let through light and heat in winter.

Daylight can also be introduced by using light tubes, which are coated on the inside with highly reflective material, which allows the light to travel longer to an area. Light tubes can bring light into basements from the roof, making the spaces more pleasant.

Daylight / sunlight is a renewable energy, it is available in abundance and if designed correctly will enhance spaces and make them more comfortable while saving energy.

Martina Ernst
President/CEO
Wo-Built Inc. - Innovative Design and Build

links:
wobuilt.com/blog: Illuminating with Presents from the IESNA
IESNA - Illuminating Engineering Society of North America

wobuilt.com/blog: Light – the Music of Architecture

bchydro.com: Make The Most Of Natural Light
Daylight is by far the best light source. It's free, sustainable and can give a sense of energy and well being. Some housing is not well designed to catch sunlight, but by making the most of the light that is available, you are likely to achieve some energy savings and create a more comfortable and healthy living space.

www.gia.uk.com: Natural Light Works

creativeapplications.net: DaylightCal visualises the duration, angle and quality of sunlight wherever you are.
Using weather forecast data, DaylightCal calculates the distribution of daylight for any location and date worldwide. Find out how much daylight you’ve got left today and how much to expect tomorrow.

omeonet.info: Light medicine of the future: Let there be light
By d.hagers

freelanceswitch.com: 10 Things You Can Do to Improve Your Home Office Cheaply
9. Improve the lighting
By Collis Ta'eed | The Working Day

useefficiency.eu: Educational issue: “Rule of thumb“ for students in architecture
"To include energy optimized building design from the beginning of a draft there are some simple rules architectural students can follow to avoid problems with the daylight, the ventilation and the protection against overheating."
Escrito por Sonja Schelbach, HCU-Hamburg

What to Do When You Outgrow Your House? Move or Be Moved?

Collage: Relax during a renovation? This could be you!
Image Credit: MS Office ClipArt: home, living room, couple, relaxing
2011 @ wobuilt.com

What to do when your family, tastes, and or other needs outgrow your current home: buy a new home, build a new home, or remodel your home. Explore different options to create your family dream home.

Many people believe there is only one way to "trade up" in the world of real-estate: to move. Fair enough: there’s an entire industry — and a very vocal one at that — focused on gearing us to think in terms of selling our home, finding a new home, getting a new mortgage, moving, etc. The fact that there are middle-men (i.e. from real estate agents to mortgage brokers) at every stage of this process all "taking their cut" is a little factoid of information rarely mentioned. Still, it’s an understandable approach to the dilemma of what to do when your family, tastes, and or other needs outgrow your current home. And certainly, one need only look around the Greater Toronto Area to see the real estate sales cycle in full swing.

Another popular route is to build a new home from scratch. In the contemporary scenario, this usually means a move to the suburbs (or "suburban hell" as I like to call it), where "reasonably-priced" lots are still available. Of course, from a GTA perspective, this means going to areas west of the city like Mississauga, Oakville, and Milton. Or, perhaps north to Brampton, Vaughan, Markham, or Newmarket. Possibly east to Scarborough, Oshawa, Peterborough. If you’ve ever wondered why all the houses in any particular subdivision in any of these cities all look the same (including older areas in Toronto, from downtown to Etobicoke to North York), it’s likely because all the designs came from one builder’s binder of cookie-cutter plans. If you ask me, cookies belong in lunch boxes, not neighborhoods. Besides, visit any decent bakery (i.e. in the city) and you’ll see how appealing a spread can be when there’s a good mix of decorative cookies on offer — a selection that’s a bit more creative than "chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin or peanut butter."

So what about the least well-known yet possibly most economical route? That is, of course, to build a dream home on the lot that’s available already underneath your existing home. The advantages are numerous. For starters, you don’t have to move to a different location. If you like your neighborhood, neighbors, location, etc. why pick up and transplant your family to a completely new one? Many people living in Toronto near the lake — East York and the Beaches, for example — want to stay in the area, what with the proximity of the Danforth, subway, etc. — and only need to upgrade their older house. Secondly, you already own the lot beneath your home (at least partially, if you still have some mortgage left to pay on it). At the very least, you will be able to leverage its current market value without having to go through the hassle of selling and the expense of paying an agent.

Presumably, you picked the property you live in for a number of good reasons. If some of your needs have changed over time, a simple addition might be just the thing. Of course, if your home choice was limited by your economic status at the time, perhaps you could consider something a little more involved than a simple addition: a complete re-design. It is a little-known fact that you can tear-down the vast majority of an existing home and build something almost completely from scratch in its place (maintain a few basic elements) and have it qualify as a renovation. This has significant benefits over building a house entirely from scratch. Plus, as already mentioned, your new dream home is built in the neighborhood you know and love. This option is especially attractive to anyone living in an older bungalow in East York, The Beaches, along the Danforth, Etobicoke, even Oakville. Lakeside properties that have houses which were designed to be "cottage-like" are now prime candidates to be transformed into lakeside dream homes — close enough to downtown Toronto, preserving the cottage feel, but with all the benefits of a brand new home.

The point is this: in today’s real estate market, you may be able to sell high, but that means you also have to buy high. Alternatively, you have to go where you can buy cheaper and be stuck in suburban hell in a home that looks like everyone else’s, while adding some extra time into your morning commute. Or, you can take advantage of low interest rates and rising property values to make an investment into your lifestyle and the property value of your existing home. We’re not talking about a "lipstick and rouge" job, either. With some professional design consultation and creative use of space, you might be amazed at the value a "complete renovation" can add to your quality of life — house and home.

In other words, why just move when you can be moved?

Attila Lendvai
VP of Strategic Development
Wo-Built Inc. - Innovative Design and Build

links:
moneysense.ca: MoneySense Magazine: Homes: Renovate or relocate
If you’ve run out of space at home, you have a big decision to make. Should you move? Build an addition? Raze and rebuild from scratch? MoneySense costs out the options.
By Bryan Borzykowski

moneycentral.msn.com: Is it time to remodel -- or buy a new house?
Keeping up a home for 30 years may cost you up to four times its purchase price. Is it smarter just to buy another home every 10 years? Here's how to decide.
By Liz Pulliam Weston

realestate.msn.com: Why build? Move an older house instead
Moving and fixing up a reclaimed home sounds like a real bargain. But it's not a simple job. Here's how two friends did it and came out ahead.
By Marilyn Lewis of MSN Real Estate

cmhc-schl.gc.ca: Renovation and Home Purchase Report - Major Market Highlights
"Forty-two per cent of households in ten Canadian markets renovated their home in 2010."
This publication highlights the key trends, analyses and statistics from CMHC's Renovation and Home Purchase Survey, conducted in ten major Canadian centres. The survey provides information on prior year's renovations in all ten centres. Intentions to buy or renovate a home are highlighted in five of the centres, so you can learn more about Tomorrow's Customers Today.

headstartforbaby.com: Can I Afford to Buy a Bigger House for My Growing Family?

Expanding Architecture: Design-Build and Social Mission

Collage: Our Busman's Holiday Inspiration:
Design Expo, Home Show, and Word on the Street
Credit: iidexneocon.com + fallhomeshow.com + thewordonthestreet.ca
2011 @ wobuilt.com

Our Busman's Holiday Inspiration: Design Expo, Home Show, and Word on the Street

I had a busman’s holiday over the weekend – IIDEX/Neocon Canada, the Toronto Fall Home Show and Word on the Street.

I am exhausted but inspired: so many great things for Wo-Built!!!! Maybe it was design, build and social mission days. The three pillars of our company.

On Friday I went to Canada's national design expo and conference, IIDEX/NeoCon Canada and I really enjoyed seeing so many great interior design elements, I hadn’t seen before. I loved ThinkGlass’s glass countertop, the new innovative LED light fixtures from Lumo: very European, some really cool signage from MediaGraph and the living wall systems by TropicsNorth, just to name a few. On a more practical note I was impressed by Evonik Industries acrylic building materials. Maybe something we will use for covering decks and patios as it is very versatile.

But the most interesting for me was the DIRTT’s (DIRTT = Doing It Right This Time) booth. We are very interested in using partitions in offices, but their system is much more versatile: it can be used for the residential as well as the non-residential projects. They had beds hanging off their partitions, a fire place, wine racks, shelving, a version of a living wall and many more practical items; so many I cannot remember them all. It was an impressive showcasing of their innovations, products, and trends.

The Toronto Fall Home Show on Saturday had a few surprises as well. One was the Lumon balcony glazing system, which enables enclosing existing balconies and patios and making them three-season spaces. Look out, we definitely will incorporate this into our designs where appropriate. Also kudos to my fellow BILD members who were there and either had a booth or showed their work at the BILD renovation booth. Great work!

But the most fruitful for our social missions was the Word on the Street festival. I had never been and was astonished at the selection of independent publishers. I got a range of books, from community organizing (Community organizing: a holistic approach, by Joan Kuyek) via green politics (The no-nonsense guide to green politics, by Derek Wall) to a comic book (This will all end in tears, by Joe Ollmann). Lots to read which might further Wo-Built’s causes. But the find I am most happy with: A collection of quotations by Frank Lloyd Wright on architecture, nature, and the human spirit.

A current personal favourite Frank Lloyd Wright quote on architecture is from 1957, maybe because it resonates with what we try to do for our clients and our community: "The mission of an architect is to help people understand how to make life more beautiful, the world a better one for living in, and to give reason, rhyme and meaning to life."

Maybe what I learned and still will absorb from this past weekend will bring us closer toward our goal to be the best builder while doing good.

Martina Ernst
President/CEO
Wo-Built Inc. - Innovative Design and Build