EPISODE 10: IT'S FINALLY HAPPENING - RENOVATING MY VICTORIAN HOME

Toronto home renovation - victorian style house - winckelman tiles - victorian mosaic tiles with Border design - bathroom renovations in Toronto - powder room ideas

We finally installed the Victorian mosaic tiles I ordered from Winckelmans in the powder room!

RENOVATING MY TORONTO VICTORIAN HOME - EPISODE 10!

I know it’s been a few months since I last released an episode of my home renovation series but that is not because Adam and I have been relaxing and enjoying the summer, quite the contrary! Since moving back into the house and getting ourselves settled in, we have had to put our bigger renovation plans on the back burner and switch gears to concentrate on planning our wedding and getting married in Italy!

If you missed our big news, this past September Adam and I got married in Tuscany at the beautiful San Galgano Abbey. We kicked off our trip with a whirlwind weekend in Florence with friends before heading to Tuscany to check into our wedding villa where we would be hosting the majority of our wedding event. On the first night we hosted a large welcome dinner under the stars for all our guests before getting married the following day in front of all our family and friends. It was such a beautiful wedding and reception - a total dream come true! After one week in Italy, Adam and I headed to Croatia for our honeymoon where we spent a few days at a luxury boutique hotel in Hvar before sailing around to a few Croatian islands and finishing up in Dubrovnik for the last couple nights.

modern victorian house - home renovations toronto - foyer tiles - winckelman tiles black and white victorian tiles with boarder design

My dreams of having Victorian Tiles in my house have finally come true!

Installation of My Victorian Mosaic Tiles From Winckelmans Tiles

Before leaving for our wedding, we were able to get a few things off our to-do list including the installation of our new Victorian mosaic tiles from Winckelmans Tiles that we had previously picked up from their distributor in Toronto, Deco Tile.

It felt so good to finally have my tiles from Winckelmans installed! Adam’s dad ended up helping me with the foyer install (making sure to add in some Schluter Ditra lining for extra waterproofing protection) while Duran from DuWolf tackled the powder room to ensure we could get both spaces done before we left. Although the sheeted tile format (which my Winckelmans Tiles came in) does make the installation process easier, it still takes a lot of thoughtful planning to make sure everything lines up properly and is measured and cut perfectly, so the install is no easy feat! In the end, both spaces turned out even better then I or Adam could have imagined and the black and white Victorian tiles with a matching boarder design turned out super sophisticated/elegant. I love how when you walk into the house the foyer plays off the black and white staircase in the background too which makes the whole entrance way feel cohesive and inviting.

There is still a lot of work we have to do to the powder room following the tile install on one of the walls and floor but I can already tell it’s going to look great once it’s done and the custom Victorian stained glass window I’m having made is installed. Stay tuned for the final look in the next episode!

Toronto home renoation - arched wine cabinet with fridge - compact wine fridge - at home bar cabinet with coffee nook - victorian cast iron radiator and herringbone floors with brass inlay

Our arched bar with wine storage is looking better than ever!

Installation of Our Wine Cabinet With Fridge for Our
Home Bar & Coffee Nook

Another job we were able to check off our to-do list before heading to Italy was the installation of our little arched bar/coffee nook!

Do you remember back in episode 6 when we started drywall and framed out an interior archway for a future little bar area with wine cabinet and wine fridge? Well the custom cabinetry we had ordered was finally ready for install! I went for a super simple design that played off the kitchen’s navy blue palette by having a small cubby with slanted shelves (perfect for storing wine bottles) made with a small drawer on top to hold bottle openers etc. We used the left over Calacatta Gold porcelain from the kitchen for a counter top and duplicated the natural oak shelves to add additional storage for liquor bottles and bar paraphernalia. All we had to do once the navy blue bar cabinet and shelves were installed was plug in our new dual zone wine fridge and Nespresso machine, and decorate! Adam and I saved a whole case of wine from our wedding that we are planning to stash away and open on future anniversaries so I’m really happy to have a nice space to store them. Not to mention a little area separate from the kitchen to mix cocktails for guests while hosting over the holiday season!

DID YOU KNOW the perfect wine fridge temperature ranges between 50 °F (11°C) and 65 °F (18°C) for red wine and 45 °F (7°C) and 50 °F (11°C) for white wine. Neither did I, I had to look it up. Also, needing to rotate your wine bottles every few months is a total myth. As long as they are stored on their side you’re fine! Learn something new every day! Haha!

Victorian homes - toronto home renoations - restoration of victorian windows - house restoration

The plastic sheet draped over the front 2nd floor windows was becoming a huge eye sore!

Restoration of Our Original Victorian Windows

If you’re new to my channel or blog you might have been wondering why there is a big plastic bag draped across the front second floor window of our house. Well, do I have a nightmare story for you!

The evening before Adam and I were set to start drywall there was a massive rainstorm that called our attention to the badly deteriorated and rotted state of our 2nd floor windows. The water from the rainstorm was just pouring into our main floor front room and with drywall starting the next morning, we had no choice but to temporary fix it by draping a large plastic sheet of vapour barrier over the 2nd floor window as a way to keep water off of it as much as possible. This temporary solution worked very well. Amazing actually! The leaking instantly stopped but living with a large plastic sheet on the front of our house was a huge eye sore I was getting sick of looking at. So when Adam and I got back from our wedding and honeymoon, I called our carpenter and asked him to come work his magic.

Restoration of our front windows took a couple days but our carpenter quickly identify the obvious culprit. He started with removing all the rotten wood before replacing it with new wood and sealing any remaining gaps around the edges with spray foam. He did a great job replicating the original Victorian trim work and mimicking the original style just as I asked, and even primed the window with some primer paint to seal it in preparation for painting and a fresh outline of caulking.

It felts so good to not only get that plastic sheet off the front of our house but checking this off our to-do list gave me the reassurance I needed to feel confident that this window will no longer be a problem moving into the winter months.


FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM @ISTHATSOH


Toronto home renovations - victorian homes - exterior house painting and restoration - victorian house gable restoration - exterior window trim painting

Giving the front of our house a little refresh!

Exterior Painting of Windows, Gable and Trim

After our carpenter wrapped up his work, Ariel and his painting crew came in to sand down and paint the front windows, gable, balcony and trim before sealing the windows off with some fresh caulking. Originally the gable, windows and trim was this dull grey colour and our front door and balcony spindles were black but none of it did anything to bring out the beautiful orange hue of the brick. I wanted something complimentary, that helped the house stand out and appear vibrant and glorious in its old age, and what better choice for that than orange’s most complimentary colour, blue! It’s my favourite colour after all!

So off I went to the paint store, with one small kitchen cabinet door tucked under my arm to find the perfect matching colour! Imagine my shock then to find out there is no Benjamin Moore colour that matches! The gentleman at the store ended up mixing the paint colour by eye and after a few small tweaks, we landed on the perfect formula! Thank god for paint snobs!

Now that the windows are restored and everything received a fresh coat of paint, the house is looking really sharp! I love how the navy blue paint accentuates the rich orange hue of the brick and how it changes colours (it sometimes almost looks black) depending on what time of day it is. To help underscore the navy blue trim we kept the front door, cast iron railing, 2nd floor balcony and eves/drain spouts black as a way to emphasize the difference in colour despite the navy appearing black at a quick glance.

Toronto home renovations - victorian homes - custom victorian stained glass window for powder room

Louis stopped by to drop off the completed stained glass window I had her custom make for my powder room!

My Custom Victorian Stained Glass Window Was Delivered!

Prior to leaving for the wedding, Louis had invited me to her studio in Etobicoke to finalize the design of the custom stained glass window she was making for the powder room. It was so cool to visit her studio and learn more about the stained glass classes she offers. The pieces she was working on for me looked incredible and exactly like the mock up design I had drawn for her months earlier. During my visit she showed me some final jewel options and glass colours she had selected, and asked me to choose what I liked the best before she began the welding phase of the production.

A few weeks later, while Ariel was still painting the house, Louis stopped by to drop off the finished stained glass window! IT LOOKED SO GOOD and I was so happy to see it installed and in all its glory in the powder room!


ENJOYING THIS CONTENT? CHECK OUT SOME OF MY OTHER EPISODES AND BLOG POSTS!


Home renovations Toronto - victorian homes - la cornue ranges - kitchen renovations toronto - herringbone floors with brass inlay - navy blue kitchen cabinets

Our La Cornue Cornufé range was finally installed!

Installation of Our La Cornue Range

It finally happened! After months of waiting for our new vent to arrive, two weeks ago we were able to get not only get it installed but we got our new La Cornue range installed too!

Originally, Adam and I had planned to have our stove installed in May when we moved in but the inspector saw the hole for the vent exhaust and said it was too big and not to code. Pivoting as best we could, we ordered a new vent that required a smaller exhaust hole but the kicker was we had to wait 16 weeks for it to arrive. In the meantime our new La Cornue stove lived in its crate in our dining room while Adam and I cooked all our meals on the BBQ.

After months of waiting our new vent arrived and we had our kitchen cabinetry maker from Domani Design Group come in to retrofit our range hood cabinet (because of course the new vent had to be a different size than our old vent) before having a professional appliance installer come in to finish the rest of the install.

By the way, if anyone is doing a kitchen renovations and needs a vent, we still have our old, unopened, Elica vent available for purchase! Model number is EAR140S4 if you want to check out the specs!

Now that our La Cornue stove is installed, Adam and I have been cooking up a storm. We love the duel electric ovens and powerful gas range. We also later learned that they discontinued making the La Cornue Cornufé range in the navy blue colour so it’s not even available for purchase anymore which makes me love it even more. I’m so excited to continue to play around with it over the holidays and feel way more confident about hosting family and friends for dinner now that we are not limited to just the BBQ. It’s going to make things so much easier and more enjoyable not to mention it looks like a piece of jewellery!

Overall, I am ECSTATIC about all the progress we’ve made on the house since moving back in. I even bought some lights on Black Friday which I can’t wait to arrive so I can install them! Christmas is also around the corner and I’m looking forward to getting our first Christmas tree and starting to host our friends and family for drinks and dinner.

Toronto home renovations - underpinning the basement - before

The current state of our basement - a sandbox!

2024 Plans: Tackling the Basement & Underpinning

In the new year Adam and I have plans to start tackling the basement which is currently a large sandbox. We want to do a big underpin in hopes of achieving an 8+ foot finished basement so it’s a bit more of a functional space and we can actually install our laundry machines (which is the last thing we need to install)! Until then they will continue taking up space in our living room. YAY! * eyeroll *

In preparation for the underpin (and before the ground froze) we had to cut away the bushes and smoke tree out front. Having to get rid of the smoke bush tree broke my heart, I loved that tree! Unfortunately it was so old, overgrown and wild that it produced less blooms each year and blocked all the light making it impossible to grow anything else. We have plans to re-landscape the front in the spring after the underpinning is done but for now we needed to prepare that front area for a demo bin.

Toronto home renovations - victorian homes - exterior window trim painting

The house after window restoration work and a fresh coat of black and navy blue paint!

Thank you so much for joining me today and for checking out my new Toronto home renovation series on Youtube. I am super excited to be modernizing a Victorian home while still keeping the charm of an old Victorian house. If you have any questions about my Victorian house renovations, what it’s like to live in Little Portugal, Toronto or recommendations for Toronto contractors, hit me up in the comments below!

Before I sign off, I’d also like to say a big thank you to Winckelmans Tiles and Deco Tile for partnering with me on this project. I’m so excited to be working with industry experts on our Toronto home renovations but want to reiterate that, like always, all opinions remain my own.

Until next time,

- Soheila

MORE BTS PHOTOS FROM THIS EPISODE


PIN THIS POST

Home renovations in Toronto - A Toronto Victorian Home - black and white victorian mosaic tiles from Winckelmans - powder room makeover

EPISODE 9: WE MOVED IN! - RENOVATING MY VICTORIAN HOME

IsThatSoh Kitchen - Victorian home with crown mouldings and castrad mercury cast iron radiator

After 14 months of renovations, we are finally ready to move back into our Toronto Victorian home!

RENOVATING MY TORONTO VICTORIAN HOME - EPISODE 9!

The moment we have all been waiting for! After 14 months of renovations, Adam and I have finally moved back into our Toronto Victorian home!

Shortly after returning from my wedding planning trip to Italy, our painter Ariel finished painting our house and packed up his stuff, which meant Adam and I could start focusing on cleaning the house and moving back in. In this episode we are going to be sharing the big reveal of our Toronto home renovation and everything we still have to do!

For those that are just tuning in, when Adam and I purchased this property as our first home, we knew it needed some work. The house had been divided into units with a ‘new-ish’ kitchen on the second floor and a very old, very small kitchen on the main floor.

Initially, Adam and I thought we would wait before doing any renovations; settle in, learn about the house, figure out its quirks, save a little money and then start the planning process. But soon after we moved in, we realized many of our appliances were broken and needed to be replaced. This ended up being the small nudge we needed to get the ball rolling. Seven months later (and just in time for Adam’s birthday), we received our building permit and were ready to get started!

P.s. If you are interested in seeing/revisiting what the house looked like prior to renovations, you can go check out my ‘pre-renovation house tour’!

moving day  - moving back into our victorian house

FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM @ISTHATSOH


Before we could think about moving back into the house we first had to give it a deep clean. After 14 months of renovations, the whole house was covered in dust (especially all of the stuff we stored in the basement) so we spent the first week cleaning every nook and cranny before packing up the car with our personal stuff and finally moving back in.

HERRINGBONE FLOORING

Seeing the house sparkling clean for the first time was magical but pull up the protective ram board to reveal my new white oak herringbone flooring from Chestnut Flooring with the added brass inlay border, was a dream come true.

It had always been my fantasy to have herringbone floors so when Adam and I realized the house needed structural work to reverse the sagging on the main floor, I was ecstatic about the possibility of having to redo the floors.

Traditionally, herringbone flooring was made of hardwood oak but these days you can get them in engineered oak and they come in many different sizes and colours. Narrowing it down to the appropriate size was exceptionally hard given the size of the space. Too large and you don’t notice them, too small and it’s all you notice. In the end, Chestnut Flooring helped us find the perfect size plank and colour to add warmth back into the space. Seeing them now span all the way from the front entrance to the kitchen crittall door at the back, makes my heart skip a beat.

OUR REFURBISHED CAST IRON RADIATORS

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it a thousand more times, ornate cast iron radiators are like jewellery for you home. If you love Victorian style houses as much as I do, you would understand my desire to want to keep traditional elements like these beautiful cast iron radiators even when undergoing an extensive renovation. Not only do I think they add a pop of glam to the main floor but they work incredibly well at reducing moisture and expelling heat during colder winter months. Now, having moved back into our house I really get to enjoy the beauty of my cast iron radiators and I can’t wait to create focal points around them.

If you love Victorian homes or are just looking to refurbish your radiators, I highly recommend checking out Ironworks Radiator Inc in Etobicoke. They have an extensive stockyard of Victorian radiators located at the back of their shop and their inventory is always changing. They also work directly with Castrad Radiators in the UK to import brand new cast iron radiators in various styles including more modern, sleek silhouettes like the two we have installed under the twin windows in the kitchen.


ENJOYING THIS CONTENT? CHECK OUT SOME OF MY OTHER EPISODES AND BLOG POSTS!


home renovations in toronto - herringbone floors kitchen with brass inlay

KITCHEN RENOVATION PROGRESS & UPDATES

Progress on our kitchen renovation has unfortunately come to a halt. Right before we were set to have the stove installed (our final piece of the puzzle) the inspector looked at the vent hole and said it didn’t pass code. Little did we know before buying our hood vent that a 10 inch duct would not pass code given the parameters of our lot. The good news is, we found something that can be retrofitted to our cabinet hood but the bad news is, it could take up to 10 weeks to arrive. In the meantime, my stove lives in the dining room and Adam and I have to use the bbq to do all our cooking.

Other then that though the crown mouldings from Parsiana Design and the navy blue kitchen cabinetry from Domani Design Group look spectacular. Every time someone walks into our house they always comment on how beautiful the kitchen mouldings look against the slim shaker cabinets and how the brass inlay boarder sparkles against the the white oak herringbone flooring. I am thrilled with how the kitchen is turning out and I honestly can’t wait to see it complete once our La Cornue stove is installed.

STILL SO MUCH TO DO!

In addition to our kitchen not being completely finished, there are still so many things that need to be done around here. The bar cabinets have been measured and we are waiting delivery and install. The powered room needs to be tiled, same with the front foyer. We still need to figure out what we want to do with our fireplace. The hidden linen closet on the second floor needs to be completed. The bathroom pocket door isn’t finish being installed and trimmed out nor has the underbelly and side of our new custom staircase, but I know we will tackle these items in time so I’m not going to start sweating the small stuff.

Adam and I also have plans to start renovating the basement in the fall after our wedding, which will include some underpinning so there is definitely no shortage of work around here!

MASTER BATHROOM RENOVATION REVEAL

Inspired by the marble checkered pattern seen in the hallways of Palace of Versailles and incorporating my favourite colour blue, our master bathroom is currently our only functional bathroom. Although not honed marble like my inspiration, I just love how the blue and white checked floor tiles turned out and how well they compliment the veined porcelain slabs we chose for the shower walls. To help further pull the room together the large white oak wall mount vanity with a white quartz counter top matched our shower curb perfectly and the chrome faucets, tub filler and shower fixture turned out to be the perfect ‘polished’ detail to bring the room together.

When Adam and I first moved back into the house the shower glass wasn’t installed so we were taking a lot of baths! We also had ordered two new wall hung arched medicine cabinets for over the vanity but quickly realized they would protrude to much over the faucet to look and feel right. Thankfully I found these beautiful irregular shaped mirrors with a bevelled edge online that once installed, gave a modern twist to an otherwise traditional Victorian style bathroom.

Two weeks after we moved in, our shower glass also finally arrived. Installation took a good part of a day but I have to say it was worth the wait. The glass walls go floor to ceiling and the door swings both inward and out. We went with Chrome hardware so everything matches the newly painted cast iron tub we originally had in the basement and I really think it gives our master bathroom this feeling of grandness it was missing.

ARRIVAL OF MY MOSAIC VICTORIAN TILES!

Within the first few weeks of moving in I also received the best news! The Winckelman Tiles I had ordered had finally arrived and their local distributor here in Toronto, Deco Tile had called me to let me know I can pick them up!

The octagon mosaic Victorian tiles I had selected were even more beautiful in person! Once the car was loaded up we headed over to Deco Tile’s showroom on Tycos Drive to select the perfect grout to match. Honestly, this part was quiet challenging because so many colours would have worked well with these tiles but in the end I settled on a warm off white called Biscuit.

I can not wait to install these tiles in the powered room and front foyer and think they will really compliment the black and white custom staircase we just had installed.

Thank you so much for joining me today and for checking out my new Toronto home renovation series on YouTube. I am super excited to be modernizing a Victorian home while still keeping the charm of an old Victorian house. If you have any questions about my Victorian house renovations, what it’s like to live in Toronto or need recommendations for Toronto contractors, hit me up in the comments below!

Before I sign off, I’d also like to say a big thank you to Domani Design Group, Chestnut Flooring, Parsiena Design, Ironworks Radiator Inc and Winckelman Tiles for partnering with me on this project. I’m so excited to be working with such great companies on our Toronto home renovations but want to reiterate that, like always, all opinions remain my own.

Until next time,

- Soheila

MORE BTS PHOTOS FROM THIS EPISODE


PIN THIS POST

EPISODE 5: THE BIG PUSH - RENOVATING MY TORONTO VICTORIAN HOME

The silicone mold made by Parsiena Design of my Victorian ceiling medallion

RENOVATING MY TORONTO VICTORIAN HOME - EPISODE 5!

For me, 2022 was a year of firsts. First time doing a home renovation. First time gutting a house. First time demolishing a wall, removing flooring, widening a staircase, doing structural work of any kind, and yet here we are!

A year ago, all the work we have done would have been outside my scope of knowledge. It’s amazing what you can accomplish with a good team of people by your side and I feel so blessed to have worked with such great crews on this project. I am so proud of all that we have accomplished together and without them I would have never gotten this far. So before I kick off this episode, I just want to acknowledge everyone who has supported me and this home renovation series thus far. Without you, it would never have worked and we would never have gotten this far. Thank you for one of the best years of my life. ♡

If this is your first time tuning into my new home renovation series and want to start from the beginning, check out Episode 1: Sledgehammer Therapy and keep up with upcoming episodes by subscribing to my YouTube channel!

Since the last episode, lots has happened at the house! At the end of summer, Adam and I had our roof redone! With five layers of shingles, including the original cedar shingles, the front half of our roof was in rough shape.

Our roof was in serious rough shape before we had it redone!

ROOF REPAIRS & MAINTENANCE

It’s unclear when the previous owners did something to the roof but judging from the state of it, it would only be a matter of time before it would become an issue. The peak was deteriorating and you could see a depression where the old chimney stack used to be. Considering how much effort and money we had already put into this project, we weren’t willing to take the risk of going through another winter without making sure it was sealed tight.

The whole process of removing shingles, repairing any rotten areas, waterproofing, and laying down new shingles took two days. Adding back the eves and aluminum capping took an additional few days but for the most part it was fairly painless.

The worst thing about getting your roof redone is all the debris. I had to make sure it all landed in my front lawn and didn’t damage my neighbours property. At the end of the job I made sure the crew took extra time to clean their properties and they did do a pretty good job. It’s been really nice getting to know my neighbours over the past year and a half (can you believe it’s been that long since we bought our first home) and it’s nice to see that everyone really looks out for one another. One of my neighbours has a snowblower and always does the sidewalks for us. Another always gives us grapes from their garden. Having great neighbours is gift and I lucked out with a bunch of beauties.

One unfortunate outcome that did occur from my roof being redone, was that our smoke bush took a major hit. Despite having cut it back, all the debris that was coming off the roof was falling on the smoke bush causing it to lose entire branches. I had neglected it over the summer and by September it was out of control. I noticed it didn’t flower very well this summer and my mom’s friend who is a horticulturalist advised me to prune it back. I guess the roofers kind of did it for me but I love that smoke bush and really hope it makes an awesome come back next summer.


FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM @ISTHATSOH


STRUCTURAL ENGINEER

Soon after the roof was finished we heard back from our residential structural engineer, K.H. Davis Engineering Consultants LTD who provided us with plans for the second floor.

When I first realized we would have to do structural work on the 2nd floor, my heart dropped. I was so worried about how long it would take and how much it would delay our plans. Turns out, when compared to the work we had already done it wasn’t going to be as complicated or extensive, which came as a huge relief. The new plans required us to install 4 new LVL beams (laminated veneer lumber) which we were confident we could do ourselves, and took us just over a week to complete.

Gearing up to install our fist LVL beam on the 2nd floor. Supports are up and the boys are already removing the top plate.

Most of the work was similar to what we had already done, except the first beam we installed actually had to be built in the air because it was so heavy! We would never have been able to lift it into place, and so we had to lift each piece it into position and connect them all once elevated. After that first massive LVL beam, things got easier. We built the beams on the floor and alleviated some of the lifts with a ‘ladder method’ I once saw our amazing residential structural contractor Raouf use in the basement with a steal beam.

Shout out to Raouf at Dynamic Design and Construction, we miss you and the crew!! We would have never gotten this far without you!!!

The last two beams were pretty simple to install and, much like we had done with the staircase header and floor joists, we connected all the joists that run perpendicular to the beam using joist hangers.

Once all the structural work was complete, Adam and I felt very accomplished. It’s crazy to think a year ago we had no structural or renovation experience whatsoever and here we are building our house from the inside out!

Parsiena Design in the process of making a silicone mold of my ceiling medallion!

MAKING A SILICONE MOLD OF MY CEILING MEDALLION

I know by now you must be thinking ‘Jeeze, this girl and her ceiling medallion’ (I know Adam is), but the original moldings and character of the house was a huge part of what made me fall in love with it in the first place. When Adam told me we would have to level the ceiling in the living room I protested, worried about damaging the almost 150 year old plaster ceiling medallion. I wouldn’t let them touch it without me first finding a solution to either remove it or have it replicated. Enter Parsiena Designs.

Parsiena Designs is one of Canada’s leading manufacturers of stone mantels and architectural elements. I first discovered Parsiena on Instagram and really wanted to work with them. They have a large catalogue full of beautiful medallions, friezes, trims, casing, panels and plaster crown mouldings, and I ended up picking one of their larger, more intricate crown molding designs for my kitchen! For the rest of the main floor, I chose another one of their more simple crown moulding designs, an egg and dart motif which echos the original plaster work found throughout the house.

I also learned that they can do plaster replication. I was so scared of what was going to happen to my ceiling medallion when we would inevitably have to take it down, and I thought a mold of it would be great ‘insurance’. In addition to the ceiling medallion, I also got the door crowns reproduced.

I am so excited to be partnering with Parsiena Designs on this project and can’t wait to see what the house looks like with my new crown mouldings! I think it’s going to really elevate the main floor and allow me to stay true to the original Victorian aesthetic while also providing the flexibility to modernize it.

After the mold was made, we miraculously removed the ceiling medallion. I was so nervous the entire time despite having a mold, but was still determined to do whatever I could to save it (the original is always better after all). Two hours and a miracle later we managed to get it down safely using a drywall lift, a foam pad (used to absorb some of the vibrations), a crowbar, and lots of patience. We were all surprised to learn in the process that it was actually 5 separate pieces instead of just one large piece and although one of the side pieces broke, I knew it was easily reparable and was so thrilled with the outcome.


ENJOYING THIS CONTENT? CHECK OUT SOME OF MY OTHER EPISODES AND DIY’S!


Renovating my victorian home - cast iron radiators - Ironworks radiators - painting a radiator

My newly refurbished, cast iron Victorian radiator being painted at Ironworks Radiator Inc.

PAINTING MY VICTORIAN CAST IRON RADIATORS

Remember this beauty? I first spotted her last summer while treasure hunting in the Ironworks stockyard.

Well in November I received a call from Jennifer at Ironworks Radiator Inc who told me that the ornate Victorian radiators I had purchased from her for refurbishment had been sandblasted and primed, and were ready for painting. It took me weeks to pick colours, but I finally landed on brass for the dining room and an antique bronze for the front foyer. I think both colours will go well with our incoming natural oak herringbone floors and french navy blue cabinetry as well as the brass hardware in the kitchen and the modern Castrad Radiators in bronze gold that arrived at the end of the summer.

I really love the look of ornate cast iron Victorian radiators. To me they are like jewellery, but for your home. Not only are they eye-catching but depending on the colours you pick, they can totally add a pop of glamour to a room. I just loved how these turned out and I can’t wait to have them installed in my home! Which colour is your favourite? Feel free to leave your answer in the comments below!

Framing the 2nd floor - pictured here 2nd and 3rd bedroom

FRAMING THE SECOND FLOOR


Once all the structural work was done on the second floor we could immediately start framing. Besides building the bulk heads on the main floor and one wall, Adam and I didn’t really have a lot of framing experience. Thankfully, Adam’s dad was able to lead the charge and show us how. Within a week we had the new second floor layout entirely framed out. Instead of having only one bedroom on the second floor we now had three and we were able to move the bathroom across the house so it could eventually act as a shared master ensuite.

Overall, the framing was easy and uneventful except for the fact that the new layout I had originally planned for was a little tighter than expected in reality. After mapping out the space, Adam and I realized that the closet necessary to house the laundry machines would have eaten up to much space into bedroom 2 causing it to be significantly smaller than bedroom 3. Adam was also worried about future repairs and having to move them around in such a small space so we both agreed that the easiest and best solution was just to have a laundry area down stairs in the basement for now and keep the bedrooms fairly similar in size. The small space we had left over will now become a ‘hidden’ linen closet - a project I’m excited to work on when we we move onto finishing.

Once all the framing was done we could finally start having all the other trades come through to install plumbing, electrical and heating. The last two weeks in November were crazy! Not only were the other trades able to get all the ‘guts’ in the house done, but we passed inspection and had our new window and back Crittall door installed!

INSTILLATION OF OUR NEW WINDOWS & CRITTALL DOOR

New windows have arrived (early too) and are being installed along with my new Crittall door .

The long awaited arrival of our back door finally happened! Adam and I originally placed our custom order for a new back door in the spring, expecting it to arrive mid summer. Here we were, well into fall, the weather is getting cold and I was super cheesed about how long it was taking. When our new Crittall door finally showed up I was still kind of sour, but what I didn’t know was that the manufacturer had sped up our window order which we had only placed a month prior (which wasn’t suppose to arrive until February) and the whole thing was getting installed in the same day. My whole mood did a 180°! All was forgiven and I was happy as a clam once again.

Plus our new Crittall door turned out amazing! Adam and I put a lot of effort into calculating the perfect glass size ratios for the opening and once it was installed, it was obvious all our hard work had paid off.

The ornate cast iron Victorian vent exchange I used to hide some water pipes with the help of some fancy carpentry work.

A LITTLE FANCY CARPENTRY

One small solo project I took on that I feel so proud about arose after our plumber Steve unknowingly hit a floor joist while running new water lines to the second floor. Having nowhere to go but around the joist and up, I had an opportunity to get creative with some fancy carpentry. Luckily, prior to the demo I made sure to save a few things that were part of the original house like this old vent exchange. I didn’t have any ideas as to what I would eventually use it for but clearly I’m a hoarder of old things and when this situation arose, I finally had the perfect reason to upcycle it. My background in design really came in handy for this little project and I was pretty proud of how it all turned out. All I had to do was build a box that could attach to the wall and be dry-walled in to look like it was meant to be there. The vent would fit inside it, blocking the lines while still making them accessible. Pretty cool, right?

Still smiling despite being incredibly itchy from all the Batt insulation work I’m doing

SPRAY FOAM INSULATION & MY DEAL WITH ADAM

In our relationship, Adam is definitely the spreadsheet guy. He’s the one who organizes our renovations expenses and makes sure we stay on budget. If I spring things on him like wanting new crown mouldings for the main floor, a compromise needs to be made. When planning for this home renovation we had set aside money for Batt insulation but was unaware that we would 1) have to use closed cell spray foam insulation on the 2nd floor ceiling because it is a flat roof (our inspector told us this) and 2) how costly replicating a ceiling medallion and putting in new crown mouldings would be.

So to help make room in the budget for these items, I told Adam I would do all the Batt insulation work myself. Boy did I have my work cut out for me. I had no idea how long it would take or how itchy Batt insulation makes my skin but I really wanted those crown mouldings so a deal was a deal. Although doing Batt insulation work is very easy, to do both floors took me more than a month because I could only do it in piece meal and only after the other trades were finished running electrical lines, PEX, and plumbing in those areas. By the end of it, I was so sick of dealing with insulation and being itchy all the time but I managed to get it all done and saved us a few thousand dollars.

When it comes to closed cell spray foam insulation you want to make sure you hire a trained professional with certified qualifications. Although a popular insulation method and one required by the Toronto Building Code for all non-vented roofs, if not done correctly you could experience toxic off-gassing. For this reason, we originally wanted to use Batt insulation everywhere but after our inspector informed us of the code, we had to compromise and do the 2nd floor ceiling. Thankfully, we were able to find a qualified company with great reviews to do it for us, but it did take some time and a lot of questioning. During our search though we did encounter a few shady companies, which is why I just wanted to take a moment to reiterate the importance of choosing a company wisely.

If you don’t want to wait for the next episode to catch a glimpse of what is happening behind the scenes you can always follow me on Instagram where I share up-to-date stories of my interior design and renovation progress!

Winter has arrived! First snowfall of the year!

Thank you so much for joining me today and for checking out my new Toronto home renovation series on Youtube. I am super excited to be modernizing a Victorian home while still keeping the charm of an old Victorian house. If you have any questions about my Victorian house renovations, what it’s like to live in Little Portugal, Toronto or recommendations for Toronto contractors, hit me up in the comments below!

Before I sign off, I’d also like to say a big thank you to Parsiena Design and Ironworks Radiator Inc for partnering with me on this project. I’m so excited to be working with local industry experts on our Toronto home renovations but want to reiterate that, like always, all opinions remain my own.

Until next time,

- Soheila

MORE BTS PHOTOS FROM THIS EPISODE


PIN THIS POST!

renovating my toronto victorian home - Victorian homes

EPISODE 4: HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM! - RENOVATING MY TORONTO VICTORIAN HOME

Preparing to demo the middle half of the 2nd floor

RENOVATING MY TORONTO VICTORIAN HOME - EPISODE 4!

Following the completion of the work we did in the back half of the house, Adam and I were definitely riding an emotional high. We knew that even a seasoned contractor would have found the task we had decided to take on to be challenging and the fact that we figured it out ourselves only fuelled our fire to keep going. There was plenty of work still to be done but nothing could have prepared us for what was to come.

Proceeding to lay down a new sub floor on the back half of the second floor, Adam and I still had to demo the walls, ceiling and floors in the middle half of the second floor. Originally we had only planned to widen the staircase in this area but now that we had pulled the second floor into Phase 1 of our renovation, this area would occupy our new hallway that runs along side the stairs as well as our new master bathroom. In order to prepare for framing the new second floor layout though, we would first need to finish demoing this area.


FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM @ISTHATSOH


BEFORE AND AFTER PHOTO’S FROM OUR SECOND FLOOR DEMO!

Chaotic doesn’t even begin to describe how this next task went. Adam and I waded through rubble of lath and plaster, drywall, steel mesh and insulation for hours. The room was so thick with dust we could barely see more then 10 feet in front of us. Thankfully we were prepared with protective Tyvek suits, commercial grade respirators, and lots and lots of garbage bags. In order to avoid the dust from going to other parts of the house we had barricaded ourselves in by first covering the staircase opening with plastic before laying down planks of wood across it and covering it with plywood. There was no way in or out, and Adam and I had to keep going until all the work was done. Six hours, 80 garbage bags, and what felt like 10 pounds of sweat later, we were done. Despite wearing protective gear my legs were black and my face looked like I had a charcoal mask on. We were filthy and completely depleted!

What we didn’t anticipate to find was that the ceiling joists in this section of the house actually run the opposite way as the joists in the rest of the house. This came as a complete shock to us and totally added an unexpected challenge. Unsure of how this would change our plans to frame out a new layout, we knew we would have to have our residential structural engineer to come back in and take stock of our new findings.

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER

Since the very beginning, our structural engineer Ken Davis of K.H. Davis Engineering Consultants LTD has been nothing but amazing. Not only does he have great credentials and has worked on numerous Toronto century homes before, but he has been tremendously helpful with answering all our questions. Whenever a problem has arose during our home renovation that has caused concerns or a need to pivot, he’s been the first one we call and has always found a solution that works for our budget. If you’re even thinking about removing a load barring wall in your house, trust me when I say you’ll want someone like Ken on your team.

As we awaited news from Ken, we still had a lot of work to do. We still needed to finish widening the staircase and level the floors in the middle section of the second floor and we still needed to finish framing the first floor including build bulkheads for our incoming kitchen cabinets. Compared to the joist work we had previously done these tasks were a piece of cake and I actually quite enjoyed learning how to properly frame out a house.

HARDWOOD FLOORING IN TORONTO

Chestnut Flooring Showroom is located at 8601 Jane St, Concord, ON L4K 5N9 Tel: (905) 761-6655

Although our Toronto Victorian home renovation did see yet another unexpected delay, it also gave us time to go shopping for additional flooring for the second floor. Prior to starting our home renovation and my new home renovation series on YouTube, Adam and I talked extensively about what our dream house would look like. One design feature that I was obsessed with incorporating into our renovation was herringbone floors throughout the main floor. Only once we started to visit showrooms and look for a good suppliers did we stumble upon Chestnut Flooring in Vaughan.

Chestnut Flooring is a family-owned, full service, one-stop-shop for all your flooring needs. They offer a wide range of flooring products including hardwood, engineered, laminate, carpet, vinyl and even tile from both well-known domestic and international brands.

Since Adam and I were very happy with the white oak herringbone floors we previously bought from Chestnut Flooring a few months earlier, it was a no brainier for us to pay their showroom another visit now that we needed floors for the second floor. Within an hour we were in and out of the showroom, having found numerous suitable option and given the helpful advice we had received from the co-owner Sherry. I have never been one to make a design decision quickly and even shocked myself with how fast I was able to make a decision. I guess when you know, you know, and being in good hands with a great supplier gave me the comfort I needed to not have to think twice.

Chestnut Flooring has a wide selection of hardwood flooring, engineered flooring, laminate, carpet, vinyl and even tile from both well-known domestic and international brands.

UPDATES ON MY CAST IRON RADIATORS

Following the pickup of our cast iron Victorian radiators for refurbishment, I heard from Ironworks Radiators Inc that one of our radiators did not pass its pressure test. Unfortunately, the ornate Victorian column radiator that we had found hiding behind a clunky rad cover on the main floor was missing a leg and where that leg used to be, was a tiny hole. In order to repair the radiator they would have had to saw it into three pieces, remove that cast iron column where the hole was and solder the remaining two pieces back together. Although Ironworks has successfully done this repair before, there was no guarantee it would work for our Victorian radiators so Adam and I decided that the safest approach to this problem would be to buy an additional vintage cast iron radiator from Ironworks Radiators Inc stockyard.

Ironworks Radiators Inc Stockyard - Located at 367 Bering Ave Etobicoke, ON M8Z 3B1 - By Appointment Only!

Located on the boarder of Toronto and Etobicoke, Ironwork’s stockyard is full of vintage radiators waiting to be refurbished! The owner of Ironworks Jennifer, has been collecting radiators for years often going into old homes and removing all the ornate radiators before they are demolished. She’s always adding new and unique finds and her inventory is always changing which makes each visit fun to her stockyard a fun little treasure hunt. Once there, not only was I able to quickly make a decision about which vintage Victorian radiators I wanted to purchase for refurbishment, but I also got to see a model of the two new Castrad radiators I was planning to purchase for under the twin kitchen windows. I would also come to realize later how helpful browsing her showroom and shop was when it came time to selecting custom colours for all the cast iron radiators I was purchasing! A decision I struggled with for weeks!!

PHOTO’S FROM MY VISIT TO THE IRONWORKS STOCKYARD

Well there you have it, our renovation continues to move ahead now that we have heard back from Ken regarding the second floor. Turns out we will need to do some additional structural work to the second floor, but it’s nothing that Adam, his dad and I can’t handle ourselves. Stay tuned for more on this in the next episode!


ENJOYING THIS CONTENT? CHECK OUT SOME OF MY OTHER EPISODES AND DIY’S


Home sweet Home! My smoke bush out front has grown out of control over the summer! I am looking forward to doing more landscaping and gardening next year!

If you don’t want to wait for the next episode to catch a glimpse of what is happening behind the scenes you can always follow me on Instagram where I share up-to-date stories of my interior design and renovation progress!

Thank you so much for joining me today and for checking out my new Toronto home renovation series on Youtube. I am super excited to be modernizing a Victorian home while still keeping the charm of an old Victorian house. If you have any questions about my Victorian house renovations, what it’s like to live in Little Portugal, Toronto or recommendations for Toronto contractors, hit me up in the comments below!

Before I sign off, I’d also like to say a big thank you to Chestnut Flooring and Ironworks Radiator Inc for partnering with us on this project. I’m so excited to be working with local industry experts on our Toronto home renovations but want to reiterate that, like always, all opinions remain my own.

Until next time,

- Soheila

A shot of the Toronto city skyline in the fall of 2022


PIN THIS POST!