Go with the flow

Gardening lessons learned in a wet year

Does the changing climate influence not only your plant choices but also your landscape design decisions and considerations for good drainage? To adapt to more frequent intense rainfall events, homeowners need to know where excess surface water flows on . . .

Posted: 2024-07-27

For your viewing pleasure

Renovation in condo unit requires careful planning

Things get trickier when a renovation is requested within a condominium unit. The condo board must first approve the renovation plan. And depending on the type of work being done, this can sometimes take a while. Once the project is . . .

Posted: 2020-01-18

Bungalow must be seen to be believed

Deckgg

From the curb, this tidy home on Carlotta Crescent in Charleswood looks pretty much like your standard bungalow built in the 1970s. Step inside, however, and it’s a whole different story. "The home has been completely remodelled, " says Brett Castelane of . . .

Posted: 2019-02-23

Squeeze play

Home gains space when design adjusted to fit on narrow lot

When you're a new home builder, challenges come in many shapes and sizes.Take lots, for example. They can be big, small or medium-sized. It's then up to the builder to come up with a home design that fits the lot . . .

Posted: 2014-01-18

One nail at a time

A home reno survival guide

Lola, my chihuahua, steps over a pile of pink insulation and around a patch of missing linoleum next to a small hole in the bathroom floor. Like her owners, Lola has adapted to the perils of home renovations. Unlike us, she's done . . .

Posted: 2011-02-26

Let there be light

Design, colour scheme combine for a bright outlook inside the house

Take a walk through any 10 show homes and it's likely eight of them will feature interiors with medium to dark colour schemes. That's exactly why Jason Arlt took a vastly different path when he designed 43 High Meadow Drive. "The big . . .

Posted: 2009-02-28

Grow your own mini-forest layer by layer

Two homeowners taking action to preserve and grow tree canopy

Dom Costantini and Darren Murphy have never met but both men have much in common. Both are successful business people – Costantini is a leader in the construction industry and Murphy is a pharmacist-owner who commutes back and forth . . .

Posted: 2024-02-17

Straighten up! There's no excuse for clutter

A tidy entry way is a warm welcome

There's a reason it's called the mud room. Kids track it in, along with leaves, pebbles and other debris from the yard. After they kick off their shoes, and throw coats, hats and gloves onto the accumulating pile, what you . . .

Posted: 2008-11-09

ASK THE INSPECTOR: Stucco may not be ideal for cottage application

QUESTION: Our cottage is finished with vinyl and the last two feet of pony wall is pressure-treated wood sitting on a concrete footing. We want to stucco the pony wall and I am wondering if one needs to use a . . .

Posted: 2010-07-03

Help your garden grow quite contentedly

Simple choices can make a huge difference

As gardening season begins, here are 15 ways to help your garden grow quite contentedly. 1. When purchasing garden ornaments, some gardeners make the mistake of inappropriate quantity and size. Ornament selections have a tendency to be too small, too big, . . .

Posted: 2008-05-11