Hyde Park, London Ont Renovation
1093 Gainsborough origanal front
1093 Gainsborough origanal west side
I once read that there are two types of books,(blogs) the first that is written for an audience and the second that is written for the benefit of the writer. I make no apologies for the part of this exercise that is for the latter. I (Jim Straughan) am the writer of this blog however the project is a family effort of my wife Heather who is a woman of amazing patience and fortitude ,my son Scott (check out his writing at http://www.ironteethserial.com/), Alex ( without whose help this renovation addition would not be possible), and Nick who is presently missing in action in South Korea teaching English. And our two dogs Bran and Fia who fearlessly protect and have learned not to hurt the hired help.
Hopefully the odd reader may find useful information from my experiences that may be of benefit (or warning) for someone thinking of undertaking a similar endeavor.
I would like to acknowledge those who helped in terms of expertise. I may also add a villains list. LOL If I were going to create a beware list ,perhaps close to the top would be the city of London building inspectors involved with our project.
Scott and Bob Condon of Condon Homes .
Hugh Money framer,renovator extraordinaire.
Ben Rapson from Rapson Electric
Jesse and Dago from Gorbel Drywall
Mike from Hydepark Plumbing
Stan Toombs ,carpentry
City of London zoning department, and water and sewer services.
Upper Thames conservation authority.
Josh Morgan Councillor ward 7 or north west London
The basic style of the home is a Gambrel roof, often referred to as a mansard roof. Below are some definitions of the two styles
Gambrel and Mansard .
Although it really is a hybrid in that it was built originally perhaps as a bungalow and then sort of grew into the existing unique structure in at least three stages with our extensive renovation and addition or rescue being the fourth stage .
A gambrel roof has two slopes, out of which one is steeper and the other is shallower. The named gambrel is derived from the back portion of a horse leg or ankle of a horse. The roof is commonly seen in houses and large farm buildings.
A mansard or mansard roof (also called a barn style ,French roof or curb roof) is a four-sidedgambrel-style hip roof characterized by two slopes on each of its sides with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper.