From dream to reality | A home for the growing family

Any renovation requires a good dose of planning and is the culmination of a long process. Once a month, we will showcase projects of various sizes, which could provide ideas.

Danielle Bonneau
Press

When they found out that they were expecting a third child, Marie-Michèle Asselin and Alexandre Turgeon decided to renovate their house in Pointe-Claire rather than move.

They love their neighbors, the spirit of solidarity that reigns in their street, as well as their neighborhood. They did not see themselves living elsewhere. House prices had also started to rise. The cost would have been the same whether they were expanding their home or buying a larger one.

They bought their house in 2013, won over by the warmth it gave off and the size of the land. Their eldest, Henri, was only 2 weeks old when they first visited it. Already, the house, built in 1954, barely met their needs with its two bedrooms and a small bathroom, upstairs, in the attic. Romane was added two years later. Adele’s arrival made them weigh their options.

“The size of the living room, kitchen and dining room on the ground floor suited us,” says Alexandre Turgeon. Our needs were really in terms of the number of bedrooms upstairs. ”

They therefore opted for a cantilever extension 30 ‘wide by 9’ long (9.1 m by 2.7 m), which extends beyond the back wall of the house, at the bottom. above the terrace, completely refurbished.

“We really like eating out,” says M.^me Asselin. The covered terrace allows us to be outside for three seasons, even when it is raining. We really won an extra coin. ”

The work took a long time to get started. A first entrepreneur failed them a week before starting. A second entrepreneur was recommended to them by an acquaintance, with whom fortunately everything went very well. When the project started in May 2019, Adèle was 1 year old.

Twice as big

The cantilever allowed them to double the surface area of ​​the upstairs space by adding a section measuring a total of 30 feet wide by 15 feet long (9.1 m by 4.5 m) . The old ceiling in the existing part has also been raised, replacing the roof. There are now four spacious and bright bedrooms with large windows.

So much the better, since the family has grown again. She now has four children: Henri (8 years old), Romane (6 years old), Adèle (4 years old) and Simone (1 year old). Romane and Adèle share the same room. For now, harmony reigns, say the parents. But there is a bedroom in the basement that can one day be used.

The new bathroom has a heated floor. She is unrecognizable.

“We went from a miniature bathtub-shower to a separate bathtub and shower,” says Marie-Michèle Asselin. There are two sinks and you can be several at the same time in the room. This perfectly meets our needs. ”

A bad for a good

The couple planned to keep some divisions upstairs. The discovery of asbestos, however, upset his plans. It was necessary to strip everything and start from scratch, in the existing part. Which was bad for good.

“This allowed us to put the divisions where we wanted,” says M^me Asselin. It also led us to completely insulate the floor the right way. We agree that the houses of those years were not very well insulated. ”

Nature, on the other hand, did not cooperate, delaying the installation and connection of the two separate roofs above the cantilever and the renovated section of the house. “We had to wait until there were three days in a row without a downpour,” recalls Alexandre Turgeon, who, with his wife, had to step up efforts to avoid water damage. “It was difficult, because May 2019 was very rainy. ”

Interventions on the ground floor were limited to the installation of a large French window in the living room, in place of the window which was there. The interior is now more illuminated and access to the courtyard is now direct, since the door leading to the rear was previously on the side of the kitchen.

“We didn’t touch the kitchen because it had been renovated a bit before we arrived,” says the owner. But this is the next step. As the kids get older, we realize that we are going to need more space in the kitchen. ”

“It will come,” she already knows.