Peace Arch News, Tuesday, May 21, 2013 RenoNation
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A different kind of duplex
Abstract Homes and Renovation’s Sandro Stefanucci has a new spin on a classic duplex.
By Kerry Vital A classic duplex is easily recognizable, with its two single-family homes sharing a common wall in the middle. Vancouver’s Abstract Homes and Renovation is shaking up your perception of a duplex with their unique back-to-front design. Instead of having the homes side-by-side, the second home is attached directly behind the first one and accessed by a path
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A bathroom reno is more than paint By Maggie Calloway
of the Year. “This is such a proud moment for us as our goal and greatest reward is to always give our customers the best possible home buying experience,� says Portrait principal Robert Grimm. “Without the dedication and commitment of our team, and trade partners, this honour would not be possible,� says Portrait principal Harry Grimm. “We accept this on behalf of them and would sincerely like to thank them for their continued passion and customer-driven focus.� The other Grand Ovation Awards winners
The two rooms most likely to cement or reject the sale or purchase of a house are the kitchen and bathroom. They are also the most expensive to renovate. Unlike every other room in the house, there is so much going on in these rooms, including plumbing which is sometimes quite complicated, electrical, tiling and drains, just to mention a few. So when planning a renovation you have to get it right because mistakes can be costly. Buyers know they can renovate most rooms with flooring and paint but bathrooms take renovation to a whole new level of expense and your potential buyer is doing sums in their head to figure out how much tearing out and renovating is going to cost on top of the purchase price as they tour your house. There are many choices to make these days, which each come with consequences. Among the options are oversize steam showers, bathtubs carved out of a single piece of rock, marble floors and walls, double sinks; the list goes on. Not always taken into consideration when planning the renovation of an older home is weight. Homes built in years gone by may not be structurally sound
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Best Builders was the first People’s Choice Grand Ovation Award winner for their West Vancouver project, Sentinel. They were also the recipients of three other Ovation awards. Martin Knowles photo
Honouring the best at the Ovation Awards The Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association presents annual awards for residential construction. By Kerry Vital The Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association has honoured the best of the best in the Metro Vancouver residential construction industry at the Ovation Awards, handed out on April 20 in Vancouver. Now in their fourth year, the awards recognize builders, renovators and
designers for their achievements. This year, the GVHBA added a new category to the awards: the People’s Choice Grand Ovation Award. Its first winner was Best Builders’ Sentinel House, located in West Vancouver. Best Builders also won awards for Best Addition/ Conversion Renovation, Best Custom Home: $500,000 to $999,999 and Best New Kitchen: Under $100,000. Portrait Homes was the proud recipient of awards for Best Single Family Detached Home: Less than 2,000 square feet, Best Single Family Detached Home: 2,000 to 2,999 square feet, Best Marketing Innovation for Hampstead and the Grand Ovation Award for Single-Family Builder
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RenoNation Peace Arch News, Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association hosts glitzy gala in Vancouver “ from page.1 were Intermind Design for RenoMark Renovator of the Year – Small Volume, My House Design/Build Team for RenoMark Renovator of the Year – Large Volume, Tavan Developments for Custom Builder of the Year and Concert Properties for Multi-Family Builder of the Year. The My House Design/Build Team also won awards for Best Kitchen Renovation: $100,000 and Over, Best Renovated Room and Best Renovation $500,000 to $799,999. Intermind Design was itself one of the big winners of the evening, with awards for Best Accessible Renovation and Best Renovation: Under $250,000 on top of their Grand Ovation Award. Tavan Developments also picked up the award for Best Custom Home: $1 million to $2 million, while Falcon Homes took home awards for Best Custom Home: Over $2 million, Best New Kitchen: $100,000 and Over, Best Special Feature: New or Renovated and Best Interior Design Custom Residence: New or Renovated. Among the top renovators was G. Wilson Construction, who won Best Kitchen and Greatroom Renovation, Best Condominium Renovation and Best Renovation: $800,000 and Over. Other renovators who went home with an award include Level One Construction for Best Kitchen Renovation: Under $50,000 and Best Kitchen Renovation: $50,000 to $99,999, and Green City Builders for Best Bathroom Renovation: Under $35,000. For a full list of winners and categories, visit www.ovationawards.ca.
Rob Grimm of Portrait Homes, above right, says receiving the Grand Ovation Award for Single-Family Builder of the Year is a “proud moment” for the company. The My House Design/Build Team, left, went home with four awards themselves. Martin Knowles photos
A home for aging in place “ from page.1 down the side of the property. Located on Commercial Drive, space was at a premium on the lot, giving rise to this creative floorplan that gives each home 2,000 square feet of living space. “It doesn’t look like a duplex,” says Sandro Stefanucci, president and founder of Abstract Homes. “The aesthetics make a big difference.” Stefanucci and his wife Cheri live in one half of the duplex, and rent out the other half. The original purpose of that second half is to give his parents a home that they can live in for the long term. Thus, Stefanucci has included an elevator shaft in order to allow them to access all four levels of the home. That space is currently being used as closet storage. Other accessible features include doors that are three feet wide, in order to allow wheelchairs to fit through them. Grab bars and a roll-in shower in the ensuite bathroom are able to be installed easily. Stefanucci himself was born on the street, and the lot where the duplex now stands belonged to his family. His grandfather purchased the property in 1956, and Stefanucci was
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happy to be able to keep it in the family after his parents were forced to leave the neighbourhood as they aged. “The best use of the land was to build a new house,” he says, noting that the original house was not a heritage property. However, he ran into a few problems when demolishing and re-building. Among them was a long permit process and the challenges involved with removing a house that was so close to its neighbours. In the end the new duplex was worth all the trouble, and Stefanucci and his family are happy with the results. The duplex was the winner of the Georgie Award for Best Duplex in 2012, something that Stefanucci is very proud of. “It fits in with the other homes” on the street, he notes. “You can do your living on the first and second floor,” Stefanucci says, adding that the second floor is a master bedroom with ensuite. The laundry facilities are also on this floor. Stefanucci’s parents have not yet moved in, but he says the home will be there for them when they’re ready. In the mean time, he and Cheri are enjoying their home.
Sandro Stefanucci and his wife Cheri are proud of their back-to-front duplex, which looks like a regular single-family home from the front. Inside, both homes include alder cabinetry and other beautiful features.
Sales Director: Lisa Farquharson • 604-575-5364 • lisa@blackpress.ca Editor: Kerry Vital 604-575-5346 • editor@newlocalhome.com Writer: Maggie Calloway maggiec@blackpress.ca Advertising • Black Press National Sales • 604-575-5826 Contributing photographers • Martin Knowles, www.mkphotomedia.com; Rob Newell, www.robnewellphotography.ca RenoNation is published by Black Press Group Ltd., (Suite 309 - 5460 152 Street, Surrey, B.C. V3S 5J9) 350,000 copies are distributed free across Metro Vancouver. Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited.
Submitted photos above and left, Martin Knowles photo far left
Peace Arch News, Tuesday, May 21, 2013 RenoNation
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Spicing it up in a spice or wok kitchen By Kerry Vital We’ve all had a bad day in the kitchen, where nothing turns out right, things are burning and the scent of the food lingers for hours afterwards. With the recent trend in installing a spice or wok kitchen, those smells can be a thing of the past. Instead, you can lock them away behind a door and entertain in style without your guests ever finding out how much work went into the meal. “It’s usually the spice or wok kitchen where you do all the dirty work,” says Jasmine Jeon of Coast Appliances. “It’s only purpose is to cook food.” Inside, you’ll usually find a gas range and a hood fan, Jeon says. “Sometimes you’ll find a dishwasher, and occasionally ... a fridge. These kitchens aren’t built for the look.” Instead, most homeowners will have a “show” kitchen in the home as well. That is where you will find the high-end appliances, wall ovens and other gourmet accessories. “That kitchen will have the custom hood fan, the hidden fridge and everything else,” Jeon says. “It’s all for show. Quality and design are important.” When installing a spice or wok kitchen (the words are usually used interchangeably by builders and which one is used will depend on the homeowner), it’s important to keep a budget in mind. Because the appliances are meant to be utilitarian and are only seen by the person cooking, the look isn’t as important. “They are usually mid-range appliances” Jeon says. “KitchenAid and Frigidaire are popular. For those who really care, Wolf and Thermador” are often requested. Most wok or spice kitchens are long and narrow, Jeon says, though the size
can vary depending on the house and how much space the homeowner wants to devote to it. It is vital to have a fan in your wok or spice kitchen, as it will suck up the smells and prevent them from escaping into the rest of the house. Jeon notes that it’s rare to see anything other than a gas range in that kind of space, because most cuisines cooked in a spice or wok kitchen involve high heat. “An induction range is more expensive but similar to gas,” she says. “You won’t see an electric range in there.” There’s plenty to think about when you’re looking at installing a wok or spice kitchen, but its sheer usefulness makes it well worth it in the end. Cooking doesn’t need to be stressful, and having a dedicated space to leave all the dirty work behind is something that many homeowners will find important.
Spice or wok kitchens will often hold just a gas range and a hood fan, whereas you will find the high-end amenities such as wall ovens, top left, and custom hood fans, top, in the “show” kitchen. Martin Knowles photos
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RenoNation Peace Arch News, Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Finding some oldfashioned flair with stone By Maggie Calloway Building with stone has to be one of the oldest, if not the oldest, method of creating shelter. Anyone who has watched documentaries on Knowledge Network has seen proof of stone shelters built as much as six thousand years ago and more. In fact if it wasn’t for stone a lot of our early history would be lost in the mists of time. The same basic fact exists today; stone lasts where other materials such as wood have a limited lifespan. In Europe building with stone is the norm and stonemasons in Continental Europe have traditionally learned from fathers, uncles and pretty well everyone in the village from a very early age. If you married and left home everyone in the village gathered together to build the newly married couple a home and these homes are passed down through many generations. The satisfaction of taking the right While it can seem like an old-fashioned idea, Gregory Sorokin of stone, shaping it to fit and building a thing of Vancouver Masonry notes that adding stone can really enhance beauty knowing that your work will stand the the look of a home, whether it’s a chimney or a patio. test of time and give shelter to people through Submitted photos the generations must be immense. Life is a bit more structured now but the art of the stonemason, and an art it is, is still val“The advice I would give to a homeowner ued. Imagine building something you know, if left alone, will thinking of adding stonework to their home last for hundreds if not thousands of years. Not many profesis to spend some time looking at other homes sions can make that claim. to give them an idea about what they want, Gregory Sorokin is an owner of Vancouver Masonry who where they want it, what the purpose is, and learned his trade the old-fashioned way from his family and what kind of look do they want; what kind members of his community in Europe and it shows in both the of stone,” Sorokin says. “Budget of course is stunning designs and the care he takes with each project. important. Look through ... websites ... to get “Stone can really enhance a home with trim, a great chiman idea of what will work on their particuney, stone walkways and patios,” he says. “But remember all lar property and of course (a stonemason) stone is not the same; there is different stone for different purcan offer advice and suggestions. All this is poses and (a stonemason will be) very knowledgeable about very important because stonework can last what is the best for each project.” forever.” Is there anything other than stone that can turn an ordinary Making your home your own, distinct house into magnificent? Stone trim, walkways, retaining walls from your neighbours, and creating a beautiand a private patio can work magic. ful setting is definitely worth thinking about.
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Peace Arch News, Tuesday, May 21, 2013 RenoNation
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Lots of great design ideas available “ from page.1 enough to handle the weight of your wish list so factor in the cost of what may be considerable structural work before you can begin putting together your new dream bathroom. John Friswell of CCI Renovations is an award-winning contractor who has many years of renovations under his belt and there is very little he hasn’t had to deal with when it comes to renovations. He cites a recent renovation as a great example of what homeowners need to know. “My clients have lived in this home for a number of years so they knew exactly what they wanted, in fact the instructions to my company and the designer were to create a spa bathroom you would find in a high-end elegant hotel, and that is exactly what we did,” Friswell says. “It helped that we used the original bathroom footprint, 13’ x 13’; about 160 square feet, and in this case we didn’t need to do any structural work, which is not always the case. We had to be creative with the linear drain in the shower but everything else was fine.” The original bathroom, although badly dated, had good ‘bones’ which is a great help when renovating. The size was right for the new design which again is a bonus; removing walls to increase the size puts the renovation into a whole new category. The bathroom isn’t huge, but instead just the right size to make the placement of each unit work. The rim-less steam shower is large but not enormous and tucked in the corner so there is some privacy, and the two vanities, his and hers, are placed so that each person literally has their own space including storage. The female spot, the larger of the two, has a mirror that slides up to reveal storage, plugs for hair dryers, etc. This allows the positioning of the lighting to make sense, and not having to install electrical outlets in the wall of marble is a brilliant touch. “The drawers and cupboards all have precisely designed organizers. The walls are marble as are the floors. The wall towel rack is heated which is a treat and the towel bars underneath the vanities avoids towels on the counter,” Friswell says. “We built in the tall linen tower for towels, etc. rather than storage under the vanities which is a more elegant approach as Family Owned & Operated well as practical. We installed a window in the Since 1950 shower to provide light which we used to see years ago. Unlike then where there were always problems with rot and mildew, we didn’t use wood but marble so there will be no ongoing problems. The window was also important to Seed Blends for the Lower Mainland * Proven help bounce light around the room.” * Homeowners * Contractors * Landscapers There are lots of great design ideas in this bathroom and the desire of the clients for an * Sand-based Turf * Drought Tolerant elegant bathroom has certainly been achieved.
The old bathroom featured dated lighting, an old soaker tub and an old-fashioned vanity, left and below left. Now, the bathroom includes his-and-hers vanities and a gorgeous new tub made for relaxation, above and below. John Friswell of CCI Renovations says the homeowners were looking for a spa-like feel in their new space. Submitted photos
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