Tell us a little about you & where in the world you’re located?
I'm Leslie from Courtenay, British Columbia and my husband is Steven. We are recently (and happily) retired.

What kind of project were you working on?
A complete [down-to-the-studs, roof off] renovation & carriage home addition

What made you decide to start your renovation / remodel?
We bought the house knowing we would renovate. It was old and outdated but the location was exactly what we were looking for. We also needed a larger garage for my husband's vehicles so we built the garage and carriage house first to enable us to live in while we renovated the main house.

What are three things you wish you knew before you started?Know your lead times on all of your products and order the items that have the longest wait times. Things can fall through the cracks and easily be forgotten. Keep notes, receipts, etc. organized.Follow up with your team.

Before

After

What’s one piece of advice you would give to someone just starting their renovation & addition?
Remember to take time for yourselves. Once we were into the build, we found that we spent most of our time focused on the build and really nothing else. Take a day or so every week just to step back and enjoy life.

Who was your favourite hire and why?
It's so hard to answer that question. From our designer to our framers and the electrician, everyone we dealt with was awesome. We have gained so many personal friendships from this experience.

What people don’t realize about a home project is…
the amount of time it really takes out of your day.

How has your life changed since you finished your project?
We love being in our new space and finally able to relax and just enjoying life.

And finally, how was Homeowner HQ able to help you during your build?
With everything from the permits down to finding us the framer, Chelsey has been a great source of information and sounding board. We could not have done this job without her.

It's moments like these that remind us why we’re creating homes that perfectly match and support our lives. Thank you for allowing us to be part of your journey and congratulations on completing your complete renovation and carriage house addition. We hope this marks the start of wonderful memories.