A North Haven exterior & deck renovation.

The before photo is not flattering, and that's rather the point. The board-and-batten cladding had been painted white and cream at some stage, and the paint had failed almost everywhere — peeling in long strips down the gable end, bare grey wood showing through, and dark staining where water had run off the balcony for years. The balcony itself wore a heavy wood rail with turned-square spindles, greyed and splitting; the front door was a sheet of bare plywood; and the foundation planting had gone to weeds.

It's a good, solid Calgary split-level with a generous front elevation. It just hadn't been given anything in a very long time. The structure was sound — the skin had simply given up.

The new elevation reads as three deliberate materials instead of one failing one: crisp white board-and-batten on the projecting gable, dark charcoal horizontal siding on the main volume, and a band of warm cedar-toned slats wrapping the entry. The heavy wood balcony rail became frameless glass, and the plywood door became a bright yellow one with a glazed sidelight.

Before After