Nicole Spiteri and Blair Johnson didn’t expect to spend 2020 getting chummy with metal fabricators or learning the fine art of pouring foundation—but sometimes that’s what happens when a real estate opportunity sweeps you off your feet.

The Toronto couple had been perfectly happy in their newly renovated downtown condo when Nicole stumbled across an opportunity on Instagram that was just too good to pass up: a retro, Victorian single-family home that was right around the corner. The titillating caption promised “laneway potential,” meaning there was the option to build an accessory dwelling on the same lot.

Nicole immediately dialed the broker, pretending to be her realtor boyfriend to snag an advanced showing. When she and Blair walked in, they fell hard for the residence and its promise. As soon as the paperwork was signed, the couple got to work knocking down the detached garage to build a laneway unit that they could rent out.

The main house is over 100 years old, so they decided on a dashing contrast for the laneway building. Toronto architecture firm Creative Union drafted up an ultra-modern, two-story, 850-square-foot structure to fit the bill, but the entrepreneurial couple had plans to tackle the construction themselves.

$5,697 Bathroom	$9,583 Electrical	$1,106 Entryway
$10,441 Excavation & Demolition	$9,539 Exterior	$669 Custom Railing
$11,417 Foundation	$21,321 Framing & Structure	$3,359 Cedar Siding
$7,382 HVAC	$17,162 Interior Details	$731 Soundproofing
$11,055 Kitchen	$538 Front Planters	$6,820 Miscellaneous Materials
$2,338 Miscellaneous Labor	$787 Other Appliances	$8,144 Plumbing
	$6,299 Windows & Doors
Grand Total: $134,388

Nicole’s a graphic designer whose mother was an interior designer; Blair owns a real estate brokerage. But even their combined knowledge didn’t prepare them for the monumental challenge ahead. “It was a huge learning process,” Nicole laughs. “We didn’t really grasp what we were getting into.”

Blair would soon find himself standing in a pit, digging a hole in the rain that was rapidly turning the soil into quicksand. A month later, he was on the roof, bleeding from metalwork cuts. Nicole, meanwhile, was spending hours upon hours scouring the Internet and hardware stores for great deals. It was an all-consuming undertaking.

Every step of the process presented a steep learning curve, such as figuring out where to source special-order bolts, a specific type of metal, or a 500-pound ceiling beam. Luckily, the pair was tenacious enough to push forward despite the uncertainty.

“I was calling metal makers and asking them to fabricate stuff for us,” says Nicole. “I was there so often they started to be like ‘Oh, hey, Nicole,’ when I walked in with sketchy drawings.”

They called on friends whenever they could; one contractor pal gave Blair a crash course in house framing and even bought him his own tool belt. Whenever they ran into a stumbling block—how do you install siding?— they turned to the Internet for advice. “We really Youtube-d half the house,” says Blair.

Part of the impetus for being so hands-on was to stay within budget. In the case of the siding, for example, pre-stained cedar was just too pricey, so they stocked up on cedar from the lumber yard and got to work on it with Home Depot paint themselves.

But beyond the finances, Nicole and Blair needed a way to get things done exactly the way they wanted, when they wanted. “There were so many times where we’d get a quote and find out, ‘Oh, it’s eight weeks to fabricate, but the inspector is coming tomorrow,’” recalls Nicole. “We just needed to take things on so we could go with the flow and make sure we were on time and on budget.”

“We identified what we were capable of doing, and just didn’t hire people to do those parts,” says Blair. Instead of enlisting an arborist to remove the roots of cherry trees that had been sawn down long ago—they were interfering with the foundation—the couple rented a tree stump grinder from Home Hardware, saving themselves about $3,000. In another instance, a contractor quoted $5,000 to rent a crane and obtain a permit to move a 500-pound steel beam. Instead, Blair enlisted some helpers from his office, some still in their suits, to use brute strength to lift it to the ceiling. Nicole clocked the process at 12 minutes.

For anyone building on a budget, every decision weighs time against money. Construction delays meant losing out on rental income, but doing things quickly could be costly or unwise. “We prioritized slowly, methodically going about making the right decisions and trying to not get taken advantage of,” says Blair. “We probably saved $100,000 just by being discerning.”

The build took a year, but the blood, sweat, and tears paid off. Nicole and Blair enjoyed the fruits of their labor with a month-long staycation in the unit before the first tenants’ arrival at the beginning of this year.

“It almost broke me, but I’m so proud I did it,” says Blair. “But I would never, ever do it again.”

More Budget Breakdown: A Couple Turn a Humdrum Home Into a Hygge Haven for $243K

Project Credits:

Architect of Record & Landscape Design: Creative Union Network / @creativeunionnet
Builder/General Contractor: Plan B Design and Build
Structural Engineer: Blackwell / @blackwellengineers
Cabinetry: Peter Cogionis
Interior Design: Homeowners