Postcard 8

{Postcard 8} - "Is there another way to use my long driveway for storage?" - submitted by Aaron

{Postcard 8} - "Is there another way to use my long driveway for storage?" - submitted by Aaron

This design challenge hails from Halifax. Aaron demolished his 12'x22' delapidated garage this summer, but noticed how awesomely large his yard could be for his kids if he didn't rebuild it in the same place. He wonders if there is a way to rebuild something for storage and privacy while benefiting from a larger yard.

This design challenge includes:

• an already demolished garage
• an underused, 11 foot wide, ridiculously long driveway that is a pain to shovel in the winter
• the need to maintain the access through the backyard for oil tank refilling
• the need to store a snowblower, winter tires, bikes and a plethora of kid and yard equipment

Aaron is not concerned about keeping the garage for future resale, he'd rather have a bigger backyard and more accessible storage for the next decade.

Suggested solution:

In this schematic design, two smaller structures - joined by a gate - replace the garage. One is an 8'x8' shed, situated right adjacent to the wall of the house, between the side door and the first floor window. An overhang can be included in the shed's hipped roof to serve as a shelter for the side entrance (bonus!), as well as partially cover the walkway. Access doors to the shed can be on any of the three sides, depending on what needs storing. The second structure is a beefed-up fence to create privacy from neighbours and provide amble storage for yard tools and toys.

There are many benefits to re-imagining exterior storage space. 

Benefits include:

1. By locating the shed further along the driveway, there is still room for two cars but cuts down on a 150 sqft worth of winter shoveling. Score!
2. Two smaller structures (built at the same time over over a couple of summers perhaps), the square footage falls under 100 sqft (or 10sqm) which takes his build legally outside of building permit territory.
3. Aaron and his family can properly enjoy the large tree in the corner where the garage used to be...a place to build a treehouse or patio perhaps?

What has your garage done for you lately?

~Deborah

Scrappy Toys

Have you heard about loose parts play? If you've ever been to a playground like Dufferin Grove Park in Toronto, then you've seen how intensely kids play when they have the freedom to create their own spaces with wood, shovels and dirt. Messy? Oh yes. Risky? Debatable. Fun? Undeniably. Having loose parts in a school playground would basically be a (traditional) principal's nightmare!

Perspectives on outdoor play are changing. There is a re-emerging field of research called playwork, which links free outdoor play, child development and creativity. You may have seen glimpses of it in The Land movie, or read about it on Playgroundology, or even here and here.  One facet of playwork is based on the theory of loose parts, described by architect Simon Nicholson in the seventies. He believed that creativity was intrinsic to each child and wanted to developed ways to make play spaces more engaging for children. My kinda guy! Nicholson wrote:

"In any environment, both the degree of inventiveness and creativity, and the possibility of discovery, are directly proportional to the number and kind of variables in it" - Simon Nicholson (click here to read it yourself)

Scrappy toys like these fit well into playwork. They combine re-use of scrap building materials, outdoor play, risk (danger + play I will get to another time), gross and fine motor skill mastery, and result in engrossing creative play. It works for a range of ages because the complexity of the creations develop along with the child. At first, kids cobble things together without much planning. Maybe your kid ends up nailing a million nails into one end of a plank (ta da!) - just for the fun of banging - and maybe next time nailing is easier and another skill can be tested, and so the creation evolves. It takes time without parents hovering over kids to see a creation unfold, perhaps into WWII war ships like the passionate builder of some of the models here, or discard ideas completely and start anew. My in-laws were at the head of the pack in the seventies letting their kids do this (many of these boats were made by my spouse at age 9). No surprise there as they were educators and highly creative people themselves.

The next time you have a few scrap two-by-fours around from a home reno, try it out. A few hammers, lots and lots of nails of different sizes - and submitting to the fear of a bashed thumb- is all it takes. If it's not for you or your kids, donate your materials to Pop-Up Adventure Play or your nearest Habitat re-store.

Happy building!

~Deborah

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Postcard 7

{How to separate sitting space from play space for kids?} - Submitted by James

{How to separate sitting space from play space for kids?} - Submitted by James

James' backyard, like most backyards, has two personalities. The grown-up needs for entertaining, hanging out and gardening can conflict with kids' independent play and the inevitable scattering of toys. James wants to enjoy his backyard, have more privacy from neighbours but still maintain a kids' play zone. 

This outdoor design challenge includes:

• a zig-zag shaped backyard with lots of concrete
• three active boys who love sports and need some hard surfaces to play
• the need to maintain the access through the backyard to the basement apartment for tenant
• allowing intimate dining and kids play to happen side by side

The first suggestion would be to take up all necessary concrete and replace with grass or vegetation to help define the visual separation of the adult zone (green zone) and kids zone (hard surfaces for playing sports). Using the garage as an anchor point, you can build a moveable partition wall that first slides out on a track and includes a rotating half (with multi-directional wheel at the base) that can be folded in both directions to create "rooms". Each side of the wall can be clad with different materials and have multiple functions. 

Configurations for the room can include enclosed dining, a room and screen for outdoor movies (adult side) as well as playing/climbing wall, drawing or writing surfaces, and a cabana/fort (kids side). The cladding materials can be subtle and interchangeable, or quite sturdy to endure boisterous play.  When the partition wall is tucked back into it's 'closed' position, the kids can have the run of the place.  

What functions would you add to an moveable outdoor room?

~Deborah

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Do I Really Need A Building Permit?

Getting a building permit is seen to many homeowners as an unnecessary complication, a time waster or city money grab when planning a renovation. You've probably heard horror stories of renovations-gone-awry that go overbudget or get drawn out for years that may make you want to stick your head in the sand. Though not all home renovation requires a permit, here are six benefits to getting one when it calls for it:

1. Your neighbours can't rat on you. 

There is nothing worse than doing what you feel is harmless work on your home, only to be anonymously reported by a neighbourhood NIMBY, be scolded and slapped with fines and be forced to un-do the work. You can't get a permit after you begin work, that's even worse. It's like waving your arms saying yoo-hoo! I'm breaking the law over here! But come help me fix it! Just no. 

2. Permits ensure minimum standards. 

The Ontario Building Code Act and its regulations are minimum standards to follow. Cutting corners with permits and inspections means you can end up with work that is inadequate for fire protection, life safety, health, sustainability or durability. Your house is not just about you, it's about visitors and future owners too. You can tell yourself I don't need a railing on my stairs thankyouverymuch or I'm only going to punch a really small window through the wall except a child may visit your home and be injured, or a fire in your neighbour's house can spread to your house because you have too many unprotected openings. See? You can do better than the minimum. 

3. Avoid future real estate consequences when you go to sell.

Prospective home buyers can do a permit record search on your property and access any surveys or drawings on file. If the city doesn't list any permits for work that has clearly been done...aiiiiieee. Even getting home insurance on non-permitted work can get complicated.

4. Your designer and/or contractors are held to a higher standard of work.

When you hold a permit, you get backup. The city's building inspectors work for you! They provide extra sets of experienced eyes to check the drawings before you start and inspect at crucial stages during construction. Blindly trusting your contractor (or your FIL) to do things to code doesn't hold water because as the homeowner, you are ultimately liable for work done incorrectly and any impact to your home and your neighbour's home in the future. If you only need to do a little bit of work, you can always fast track your application.

5. It makes you take the time to plan your renovation and phase the work to fit your budget.

Taking some time with a qualified designer to draw out exactly what you want and can afford, being specific with the sizes of the spaces, how you plan to use them, materials and details, means not only will it turn out how you expect it to, but it also makes cost estimating for construction much more accurate.  Planning out the phases that work for you money-wise and time-wise means less stress and less uncertainty. 

6. It's the law!

This is not a benefit per se, but you'll be modelling good citizenship to your community. Whining they didn't get a permit, why should I? is like saying why do they get to litter but I have to put my trash in the garbage? Yeah, because that's what good citizens do. Laws protect us from doofuses.

Having said all that, not all renovation projects need a permit! Here are some of them:

• installing a skylight between existing joists/rafters
• decks under 0.6m off the ground (not attached to your house)
• insulating (Toronto specific)
• new cabinetry and built-ins
• fences 
• retaining walls under 1m high
• new detached accessory buildings under 10 square meters (like sheds or treehouses)
• upgrading your existing heating and ventilation system
• refinishing your garage
• refinishing your basement (not making it a dwelling)
• re-roofing and re-cladding
• replacing windows

PS: Feel free to share and tag a friend who's thinking of undertaking a home renovation (get to 'em early!).

~Deborah

Postcard 6

{Postcard 6} - "How can I design metal legs for an multi-use table to avoid knee knocking?" Submitted by Gary

{Postcard 6} - "How can I design metal legs for an multi-use table to avoid knee knocking?" Submitted by Gary

Gary is a woodworker and hobbiest furniture builder. He is building a large custom dining table out of rectangular slabs of wood and is stuck on how to fashion metal legs to support them and requested some design problem solving. He wants a small table for everyday family use, but the ability to have other narrower tables he can move around for bigger gatherings. He doesn't want the obvious pedestal styled bottom because he "thinks that the stability of the length would not be good if people lean on or put too much weight toward the ends."

This industrial design challenge includes:

• several identical 2'x4' wood slab table tops
• that need be able to stand on their own as side tables elsewhere in the home when separated
• be able to be joined together to form a large dining table
• allow for flexible dining seating with no 'knee knocking' on table skirts or legs

One idea is to make several L-shaped (extruded metal) legs that work by pivoting and latching in place. With four legs per table, each can be rotated out from a 'closed' pedestal position to several configurations. Latch holes can be drilled from the underside along the routered arc of the leg to enable latching into a traditional 'open' position at the corners, as well as to diagonally connect and support the adjacent table. The legs can be positioned to stay out of the 18 inches needed for knee clearance. Magnet and plates can be installed flush inside the edge of the table for added connectivity, and the adjustable 'toe' to the table leg can make up for any surface discrepancies.

~Deborah

{DREAM} - Laneways reimagined

DREAM is a series of posts about ideas that are a little OUT THERE, to inspire a re-imagining of the built environment around us. If we can't dream it, how ever can we do it?

Have you heard of David Suzuki's Laneway Project? It's led by an urban design and planning organization that aims to tap the potential of Toronto's underused laneways. They estimate that there are 2400 publicly owned laneways covering more than 250km of linear public space throughout the city. In partnership with residents and businesses, they use murals, green paving and community events to get people thinking and using these out of sight, out of mind spaces differently.

It begs the question: if residential streets are for driving and parking cars owned by residents, why are laneways used the same way? Isn't it redundant? With every square foot at a premium in Toronto, garages can be repurposed as flex space and buffer the public and private spaces of a neighbourhood. Let's go wild for a minute and dream about what car-free laneways could be.

First, let's rip up all the asphalt. Yes, just go with it.

Plant native grasses and wildflowers. Let them grow wild. Wait.

Carve out mowed paths, labyrinths, clearings. Explore. Breathe it in.

The laneway is a greenway now. A park. A garden. 

The opaque faces of garage doors open up to reveal covered porches and family rooms, workshops and makerspaces, studios, even outdoor kitchens.

The laneway is now a safer place to inhabit, socialize, to play and to grow. 

Host summertime movie nights in a clearing.

Pour a rink for wintertime skating.

Carve out vegetable plots with access to this new sunlight.

Invite in gleaners from Not Far From The Tree to harvest and share the bounty from sweet cheery, pear, apple and apricot trees, raspberry and serviceberry bushes.

Host a traditional tomato canning party and exchange the bounty.

Can you see a flock of chickens in there somewhere?

What would you dream up?

Remember to subscribe to Drôle House here! 

~Deborah

Postcard 5

{Postcard 5} "How can I make a narrow L shaped backyard into a fun family space?" - Submitted by Bessie

{Postcard 5} - "How can I make my narrow L shaped backyard into a fun family space?" - Submitted by Bessie

Bessie's challenge includes:

• a narrow, underused exterior space next to a single detached garage
• a desire for a flexible play space for kids
• a desire to enjoy more greenery and outdoor dining

In narrow outdoor spaces like the one in the original postcard drawing, every surface counts! This response sketch involves rebuilding the fence to include careful detailing like vertical or trough planting for herbs, as well as leaving gaps in the layout of large paving stones to support the roots of lush climbing plants. Together the new surfaces can transform the space into an inviting outdoor room. 

The new permanent bench affixed to the concrete garage wall can allow for better circulation around the table, as well as reduces the amount of chairs that need to be stored. The new bench can be designed not only to hold storage for toys and gardening supplies, but can also be made to adjust to a slanted position to allow for child sized painting, drawing and dynamic play. Including an optional beam or trellis structure across the entrance of the space creates vertical suport for interchangeable swinging and climbing elements for kids, can frame the room and provide place for lighting.

~Deborah

Simple Monkey Bar

I hate toys. No, that's not entirely true. I just wish they magically put themselves away, or repaired themselves when broken, or changed into something different once the kids got bored, or at the very least didn't scatter throughout the house like dandelion seeds. There are a few exceptions of course, but toys are generally two per cent useful and ninety eight percent clean-up. I wish there was a way to design them to invisibly blend into the background of the home. 

This is a simple monkey bar prototype inspired by website requests. Though chin up bars similar to this can be found pretty cheaply online, this prototype has three sets of cradles can be placed at any height along a wooden door frame to accommodate many users, from aged two to adult. Adjustable bars like this one, that can be put together in an afternoon, dismantled and stored in a jiffy, that even a young child can easily use and change, well, that is something worth trying out. 

This simple monkey bar is made of a cut galvanized steel fence post, anchored into it's plywood cradle with simple nut and bolt hardware. A stopper installed directly above the bar can be turned to 'lock' and 'unlock' it from it's cradle for added safety. The plywood cradle and latch are of 3/4" plywood, screwed through to the door studs. The bar can be stored away out of sight atop the door trim, where two drilled holes are concealed. 

If you'd like to know more, comment below! 

~Deborah

Postcard 4

{Postcard 4}- "How can I build flexible, multi-use play blocks in my backyard" Submitted by Karine

{Postcard 4}- "How can I build flexible, multi-use play blocks in my backyard" Submitted by Karine

Karine's challenge includes:

• designing multi function, durable exterior stools for sitting and playing on
• that can also be used to define an area of the backyard
• be moveable and stackable by children

The idea here is to make a multi-functional garden box stool that could be a more useful and durable alternative to the traditional crate. Material choices such as light weight half inch recycled plastic panels, marine plywood or engineered wood are definitely more durable and stronger than pine. The panels can be cut to five equal sixteen inch squares and attached into a cube with L brackets screwed to the inside. Offsetting all the edges, though limiting the strength of the box, does allow for easy grasping and stacking for kids, better drying for durability, and has the bonus feature of more easily being turned into a lantern. The garden boxes can be any colour, used as stools or stepping stones, made into walls and forts, be stacked as high as bar tables for outdoor parties, and by adding a battery or solar powered light fixture inside each, can glow from within.

~Deborah

Fence Bouldering Wall

Everyone knows which house is the fun house on the block, the place where all the neighbourhood kids gravitate to. Maybe they give out unlimited freezies in hot weather, maybe they have wicked game consoles, or maybe they have great toys or engaging play spaces. I'm not going to lie, I want to be that house. I like to keep 'em close, you know? Backyards can be wonderful semi-private zones for kids to spread out in, be loud in, or plot together in the corner all the while kept close enough to be supervised. What are you supposed to do if you have the world's tiniest-postage-stamp-of-an-urban-backyard? There are more surfaces available to play on than the grass, of course! 

This fence bouldering wall was designed to be a circuit or path that starts at ground level, travels along the garage wall, turns on to the fence, pauses at raised platforms at increasing heights, and ends in a treehouse in the centre of the yard. There is a variety of difficulty in this mini adventure playground, so not only is it cleverly off limits to toddlers, but there are real physical milestones for kids to reach as they test their abilities and grow into the space.  

The backyard is 18'x18' and features a mature cherry tree in the centre...not much room at all. The renovation was completed without removing the existing fence, merely beefing it up with strapping and re-cladding horizontally. The cladding is a combination of new cedar boards and the re-used pressure treated boards from the old fence. To give the old boards new life, the rounded edges were cut off for a cleaner look, primed and painted on all sides before being reinstalled horizontally. The bright orange bouldering holds (from mec.ca) add a pop of colour to the natural tones of the wood.

A look to the corner platform and gate. The reinforced corner stabilities the fence.

A look inside the fence at the vertical strapping and the green board of the neighbour's side.

Garage wall re-clad with old fence boards.

If you would like to know more about a step-by-step process to make your own fence bouldering wall happen, share this blog and let me know by posting a comment below. For more info on projects, Drôle House design services, e-manuals, resources and ideas, please click here to subscribe.

~Deborah