No matter how short or long a time you spend in your Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County or Edmonton area home, there will come a time when you leave it.  If you live in it long enough, it will need to be refreshed, updated, and renovated.  The question is:   Do you renovate it just for yourself, or do you renovate with a sales target in mind?

 The best answer to this question is to think about both goals.  Renovate it for your own taste, pleasure and functional use, but don’t forget that your home will eventually go back on the market and may need to appeal to tastes broader than your own. If you’re looking to maximize the value in your home, both for your own use now and for future resale, what sorts of renovations are the best ones to undertake?

 Ergil & Jackson Appraisals Ltd. in their excellent Home Renovation Guide, 2010 edition, give this advice:

GETTING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR RENOVATIONS

According to the Appraisal Institute of Canada  and various professionals we’ve consulted, the following are a few things to keep in mind before you get started:

Invest in your kitchen!

About 10‐15% of the overall value of the home should be spent on the kitchen. If you don’t plan on selling for another 5 years, spending 15‐25% more on it today will give you about a 44% higher recapture depending on the quality of the renovations. For example, buyers need afunctionally designed, spacious, low maintenance kitchen. Scratch‐resistant, durable materials such as granite countertops and high‐quality appliances add tremendous value and have timeless appeal.

The bathroom is next!

You can expect up to a 60‐80% (and in some cases up to 100%) contribution to value on a well designed bathroom even if that requires a complete relocation of fixtures or walls. From floorto ceiling, new tiles, light fixtures and cabinetry to create one’s own personal spa is especiallyappealing. Luxury fixtures to enhance pampering may include water jets, soaker tubs and double sinks in the ensuite bathroom.

Don’t forget the floors and walls!

The buyer wants a home that’s ready to move into.  Smooth walls with quality, neutral paints will make spaces seem larger and will give you an 80‐110% recapture. Carpeting should be limited to bedrooms, if at all. Hardwood and tiles not only benefit in allergen reduction but add elegance as well.  Good flooring that flows from room to room and ties in with baseboards, cabinetry, walls and so on, can provide a 50‐75% better contribution to value than low‐cost, mediocre flooring.

Spend the money!

As the saying goes “You get what you pay for”.  Over the past year the cost of materials may not have increased dramatically but the cost of labour is certainly rising. Quality craftsmanship and insuring a job well done is key.  Nothing is more costly than having to do it twice or replace it early.  The importance of using the highest quality materials cannot be stressed enough.

Remember: High‐quality, easy maintenance, environmentally conscious products and timeless designs are all essential to ensuring value‐added appreciation with the best contribution to value possible.

Thanks to Ergil & Jackson for allowing me to quote portions of their document.  Please check out their full Home Renovation Guide for plenty of good information and advice.

Wondering what your home is worth in today’s market?  I’d be happy to do a free Home Evaluation for you.  Call me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here.

Is it a good idea to tackle major renovations just before you put your home on the market to make your Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County or Edmonton area home more attractive to buyers? 

Some time ago, I posted a blog entry on this topic (Should You Renovate Before You Sell?  Learn Which Home Renovations Give You the Best Return), giving some details about the costs of various renovations and how much, if anything, those renovations might add to the value of your home when it came time to sell.  This information came from Henderson & Butt’s excellent 2009 Home Renovation Guide.  Well, Henderson & Butt are now Ergil & Jackson Appraisals Ltd., and the 2010 edition of the Home Renovation Guide offers even more great information to help you keep or increase the value of your home.  Many thanks to Ergil and Jackson for allowing me to use information from their guide in my blog posts.

I’ve revised my original blog post to include more current information courtesy of Ergil and Jackson.  To view my revised article, please visit my new blog on Active Rain.   

Are there topics you’d like me to discuss in these blog posts?  I’d love to hear from you.  Call me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here.

Most of us don’t give much thought to the furnaces in our Spruce Grove, Stony Plain or Parkland County homes, as long as they keep us warm through the long Alberta winters.  An article in the October 29, 2011 edition of the Edmonton Journal, entitled “A new furnace can save money, and lives”, might just give you reasons to replace the old workhorse in your basement.

The article points out that, while the initial cost of the newer high-efficiency furnaces is a little steep [expect to pay around $5000 for the purchase and installation of a new, high quality furnace], you’ll save plenty of money over time.  A quote from the article:

“Natural gas prices have more than tripled in the past 10 years and many analysts are forecasting further price increases. Fortunately, the efficiency ratings of new furnaces have also been increasing. Most furnaces installed in the 1970s, ’80s and early ’90s, were only 60-to 70-per-cent efficient, and very old furnaces can be less than 50-per-cent efficient. A continuously burning pilot light can decrease these efficiencies by another five per cent. New furnaces are 90-to 95-per-cent efficient. They do not have pilot lights and can reduce your heating costs by up to 40 per cent.”

But it’s not just money you’ll be saving.  Older furnaces are not very good at filtering dust and allergens from the air in your home.  What’s more, older furnaces can emit dangerous levels of carbon monoxide within your home.

My assistant recently replaced the furnace in her 30-year-old Spruce Grove home and had this to say about the experience:  “We knew it was time.  We’d been reading and hearing a lot about how much better the new furnaces were.  Our old one was still pumping out the heat, with no trouble, really, but we knew it couldn’t go on forever.  What surprised us was how much better the air circulated through the house with the new furnace – far fewer cold spots.  We used to have to wrap up in blankets for TV watching in our basement family room, or turn on the gas fireplace, but no more!  The basement is as cozy as the rest of the house.  But what really sold us on the new furnace was something we weren’t expecting at all.  Our son always gets stuffed up and sneezy when he comes to visit because he’s allergic to cats, but the new furnace has taken all of that away.  Now, that’s impressive, and definitely made us happy about our purchase!”

It’s not too late to replace your old furnace before the really nasty winter weather hits.  Learn more about the benefits of the new high-efficiency furnaces by checking out “A new furnace can save money, and lives”.

Comments or questions about this article?  Call me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca or contact me here.

Where do you go to get information for renovation projects?  The television set in your home in Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County and the Edmonton area is probably not your first choice, but flipping through the channels these days reveals something surprising:  Among the many sports, movie and mainstream networks, there are a large number of worthwhile programs and even whole networks offering valuable information to homeowners.  Check out some of these offered in the Spruce Grove/Stony Plain/Edmonton area by Shaw Cable and TELUS Optik TV.  A little disclosure:  After you’ve checked them out, let me know what you think because I admit I haven’t seen most of them myself!

A & E

(Shaw 25, HD 233; Telus 170, HD 670)

$100 Makeover, Disaster Guy, Drill Team, Fix This Kitchen, Fix This Yard, Flipping Vegas, Flip This House, Hoarders, Sell This House

CBC  (Click on Find a Program)

(Shaw 4, HD 209; Telus 4, HD 618)

All for One With Debbie Travis, Steven and Chris

Discovery Channel  

(Shaw 32; Telus 200)

Canada’s Worst Handyman

DIY Network  (Click on Shows A-Z)

(Shaw 136; Telus 144)

A whole network of house-related programming, such as:  Decked Out, The Dirt on Gardening, Disaster DIY, DIY Hot List Kitchens & Baths, Dream House, Garage Mahal, Holmes on Homes, House Crashers, I Hate My Kitchen, Man Caves, Rehab Addict, Turf War, Wasted Spaces, Weekend Handyman, Yard Crashers, and many, many more.

HGTV 

(Shaw 19, HD 231; Telus 142, HD 680)

Too many shows to list them all here!  A few of the more popular:  Colin & Justin’s Home Heist, Debbie Travis’ Painted House, Gardening by the Yard, Holmes on Homes, Holmes Inspection, House Hunters, Property Virgins, Real Renos, Sarah’s House.  Many more.

OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network)

(Shaw 92; Telus 202, HD 651)

Divine Design, Home Takeover with Simon & Tomas

PBS

(PBS Spokane on Shaw 22, HD 204; Telus 23, HD 607 Seattle

PBS Detroit on Shaw 81

PBS Boston on Telus 54, HD 629)

HandyMa’am with Beverly DeJulio, The Perennial Gardener with Karen Strohbeen, The Router Workshop, This Old House, The Woodwright’s Shop

Slice  (Click on Shows)

(Shaw 33; Telus 141)

Family Renovation, House Poor, Shotgun Reno, Till Debt Do Us Part

TLC The Learning Channel

(Shaw 35, HD 236; Telus 140, HD 671)

Hoarding: Buried Alive, Home Made Simple, Kitchen Boss, Spouse vs. House

W Network

(Shaw 34; Telus 146)

The Agents, All for Nothing, Anna & Kristina’s Grocery Bag, Building Bryks, Candice Tells All, Colour Confidential, Divine Design, Grin and Build It, Help My House is Falling Down, Home Wreckers, Inside the Box, Love It Or List It, Making House, Million Dollar Decorators, My House Your Money, Property Brothers, Take This House and Sell It

Not strictly related to houses and real estate but still very much related to home, so we have to give an Honorable Mention to:

The Food Network 

(Shaw 29; Telus 143)

Ace of Cakes, Barefoot Contessa, Chef at Home, Eat Shrink and Be Merry, Family Restaurant, French Food at Home, Iron Chef America, Jamie’s Meals in Minutes, Restaurant Makeover, The Best Thing I Ever Ate, Tough Cookies, and much more!

This list isn’t intended to be comprehensive, but if I’ve missed anything that really should be on it, please let me know!

I’d love to help you find a house to turn into a home.  Call me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here. 

Summer in the Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County or Edmonton areas of Alberta is a great time to tackle projects to refresh your home or acreage.  Painting is one of the best things you can do because it adds value to your home without costing much money and is relatively easy to do.  This is especially important if you are looking to sell your home.   A fresh coat of paint is one of the few renovations where you have a chance to recover all of your investment.

If you’re a beginner, where do you start?  With so many brands, types and colors of paint to choose from, and so many books, articles and internet sites giving all kinds of advice, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.

An article that’s been sitting in my clipping file for awhile now is one of the best I’ve seen for a quick introduction to the mysteries of painting a room.  “How to paint like a pro” was published in the March 13, 2010 edition of the Edmonton Journal.  If you are a novice painter, I advise you to study every word of this article before you ever start thinking about finishes and colors!    

Then you may want to learn a little more about painting:

• One way is to check out the self-help section in a quality paint store or a large hardware store like the Home Depot.  Don’t be shy about asking the people working in these places for advice.
• A Google search on “How to paint a room” turned up a number of YouTube videos.
• Some other practical websites:

Bob Vila: How to Paint a Room

How to do IT: Painting a Room!

How to Paint a Room [from the About.com series of websites]

How to Paint a Room Like a Pro – Fine Homebuilding [series of videos]

Painting & Wallpapering – for Dummies [many articles from estimating how much paint to buy, to the proper use of a paint roller, and much more]

TLC Home “How to Paint a Room: Tips and Guidelines”

• The best way to learn to paint?  Just get in there and do it!

Comments or questions about this article, or any aspect of home buying and selling?  Call me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here. 

Plenty of people in Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County and the Edmonton area operate businesses out of their homes.  I’ve written before about the need to sometimes modify a home in order to pursue personal activities that go beyond what a standard house can accommodate (see my article entitled “Hobbies and Your Home” ).  I saw this principle in action recently.

Last Christmas, my daughter Devan gave me a gift certificate for a cooking class, and on Sunday June 12 the two of us spent 4 very enjoyable hours at the home of Kathryn Joel in southwest Edmonton taking part in the preparation of an Italian farmhouse feast.

Kathryn’s commitment to good food goes well beyond mere nourishment, as her website Get Cooking Edmonton.com  points out:

“Kathryn Joel is a passionate foodie whose love of cooking has taken her around the globe exploring diverse culinary traditions.  A graduate of Le Cordon Bleu London, she has acquired a wealth of knowledge and expertise of global cuisines and cooking methods.

 Kathryn has combined her culinary expertise with her commitment to uncomplicated, approachable cooking, by bringing Get Cooking to Edmonton.

 During her years working with food, Kathryn realized that with some basic cooking skills and a good local knowledge of where to source the right ingredients, anyone can bring flavours from around the world into their own kitchens.  And as a member of Live Local Eat Local Kathryn aims to support Edmonton’s local producers and suppliers by focusing on the use of fresh and local ingredients in her classes.”

Crostini with Roasted Sweet Peppers

Four other students joined Devan and me in listening to Kathryn’s passionate and rapid-fire explanations, stories and instructions, watching as bread dough was miraculously transformed into heavenly smelling and delicious tasting Crostini with Roasted Sweet Peppers and Foccaccia with Sage, and participating in the creation of a marvelous meal from appetizers through dessert.  My job was to stir the risotto (Risotto with Asparagus), a chore that required a little more patience than I have, so I was happy to hand my spoon off to another student.  I watched with some anxiety as Devan wielded Kathryn’s razor-sharp kitchen knives chopping the roasted sweet peppers.  We learned a number of cooking tips, like how to tell with the stretch test if bread dough is ready (you should be able to stretch the dough until it is nearly translucent but doesn’t tear), or the poke test (poke a finger in and the dough should spring back), or just where to break the tough end off an asparagus stalk, or how to keep the bright green in cooked asparagus by plunging it into ice water, or where in Edmonton and area to buy the best ingredients like the freshest chicken and highest-quality balsamic vinegar.

Risotto with Asparagus

After several hours, the feast was ready:  Crostini with Roasted Sweet Peppers; Caprese Salad; Foccaccia with Sage; Risotto with Asparagus; Chicken Roasted with Porcini Mushrooms and Potatoes; Strawberries with Balsamic Vinegar, and we were delighted to enjoy the results of our work, along with some very good wine.

All of this activity took place in Kathryn’s beautiful purpose-built kitchen, designed to accommodate up to 8 students around an enormous granite counter that housed a sink and fridge.  Her kitchen contained other items not normally found in an average kitchen:  2 ovens, a warming tray, a sub-zero refrigerator, and more.  I know that kitchens sell homes, and I know many buyers who would be thrilled to have a kitchen like Kathryn’s.  In her case, the kitchen is a requirement of her business, and just happens to also be an incredible addition to a lovely home.

Strawberries with Balsamic Vinegar

Operating a home-based business often means finding novel ways of blending home and work equipment and activities so that one doesn’t disrupt the other.  You may also find that your business requires special permits and licensing from your municipality, as well as special insurance.  Should you decide to renovate your space, as Kathryn did, to accommodate your business needs, you may want to consider the impact of such a renovation on the ultimate resale value of your home.  In the end, if your business is your passion, your home may naturally evolve into a unique extension of this.

For more information about Kathryn Joel’s cooking classes, or to book a class, visit her website.  

Interested in property that could accommodate your home-based business?  Call me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here. 

When it’s time to buy a house or acreage in Alberta, whether in Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County or elsewhere, do you choose a pre-owned home, or do you work with a builder to create a brand new model, modified to your custom specifications?  Whichever way you go, a great resource for all buyers, not just those thinking about building a home, is the Alberta New Home Warranty Program .

If you are looking to build a new home, this website can guide you through the entire process.   Click on sections entitled:

• Choose the Right Builder
• Understanding the Building Process (with emphasis on the building inspection)
• Your Warranty Coverage (explains the various consumer protections for new home buyers) and
• Finding Solutions & Settling Issues.

While the primary focus of this website is on brand new homes, all buyers can benefit from several of the publications:

• Clicking on Single Family Guidebook takes you to a publication entitled Your Purchase to Possession Guidebook.   This guidebook is loaded with details and answers every question a new home purchaser might have.
•  If your new home is a condo, click on The Way Home Condominium Guide for a road map to the purchase process from first notion, through construction, possession, and after you move in.
• The Care and Maintenance Guidebook provides a very comprehensive tour of the physical structure of a residence and what you can do to keep your home looking like new.
• For information on every aspect of the acceptable standards for “bricks and mortar” of home construction, click on the Workmanship & Material Reference Guide – great for new home buyers, but also an excellent resource for home renovators.

Questions or comments about this article, or about any aspect of purchasing a home?  I’d be happy to help.  Contact me here, phone me at 780-910-9669, or email me at barry@barryt.ca

Wherever we live, Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County or elsewhere, most of us have things we collect or activities we like to do in our leisure time.  These collections and activities often spill over into our homes, even if they are usually done elsewhere.  Without proper planning, this can sometimes be disastrous.  Think, for example, of current popular television programs on hoarding and decluttering.

If you have any sort of hobby, and you are in the market for a new home, it’s a good idea to give some thought about how that hobby will fit into the physical confines of the houses you look at, and what modifications you might have to make to a house in order to accommodate your hobby.

Let’s say you enjoy hiking and camping, or similar sports or activities that you normally practice away from home.  Where and how are you going to store the gear needed for these activities?

Maybe you are a serious collector of… well, almost anything!  Books, coins, model cars, sports memorabilia, dolls, antique furniture, teapots, clocks, insects….   More than three objects in any of these categories could rightly be called a collection.  The question for your home is where and how are you going to store and display your collection?

Or, maybe your hobby is some activity or craft you do, which may or may not result in a physical endproduct.  Some hobbies are fairly easy to fit into everyday life.  Gourmet cooking?  Your kitchen may be a little better equipped than the average but usually no major changes need to be made.  Enjoy reading, doing crossword puzzles, blogging, or watching vintage movies?  Again, easy to do at home without disrupting daily life.  Scrapbooking or sewing?  A table and a few storage containers in the corner of a guest bedroom will often be enough.

But suppose your hobby requires

• a great deal of space (think model trains or weaving or woodworking or restoring old vehicles)
• the use of toxic chemicals (oil painting or furniture refinishing)
• structural changes to your home (pottery making with a home kiln, perhaps, where special wiring might be needed, or collecting wine, where special lighting and temperature controls may be required)

Can hobbies of this type be accommodated in your home?  Yes, with a little forethought and planning.  A good rule to follow is to do what you must but always keep the end in mind.  That is, consider what you will need to do to return your home to its original condition should you give up the hobby or when it is time to sell your home.

I recently developed the basement of our Spruce Grove home.  I thought this would be a good opportunity to incorporate a salt water aquarium into our home.  There is just something about the choice of fish and corals and all the colours available in a salt water reef system.  A fragile system that does not forgive neglect or ignorance, it has very specific needs that include water temperature, lighting, chemical control (e.g. calcium, PH balance, ammonia, nitrates, magnesium, etc.), water flow, salinity, and more.  There can be costly lessons during the learning curve.  But if one is passionate about a hobby, the work and expense are eventually well worth it.

I brought in someone who is an expert in salt water systems and had him advise me on what was needed.  He suggested we add two dedicated electrical circuits to accommodate all the equipment, and a sink with hot and cold running water.  We built the tank into the wall so that it can be viewed from the family room.  All the equipment is located behind the main tank in an oversized closet just off the exercise room.  The system was installed so that it could easily be converted back to what the average home buyer would expect to find.  All that we need to do is remove the equipment, frame the opening where the display tank is, mount and finish some drywall, and no one would ever know there ever was an aquarium there. Except for maybe plumbing in the wall and a humidistat hooked up to an exhaust fan.

 It is worth remembering that when you modify your home to accommodate your hobby or business, you may have to remove all evidence of it ever having been there as it may be viewed as a deterrent or expense to prospective buyers.   

For most people, hobbies and interests are a special but integral part of their lives and need to be considered when shopping for a new home.

Comments or questions about this article or about Spruce Grove Real Estate?  Email me at btwynam@telusplanet.net, phone me at 780-910-9669, or contact me here.

Whether you live in Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County, the Edmonton region or elsewhere, you have probably heard the phrase “location, location, location” used in real estate and wondered why the need to state it three times.  It is repeated to emphasize its importance.  It is one of those things in real estate that just is, and when you ignore its importance you will likely regret it.

As a buyer myself, I ignored it twice in the last 30 years.  One of those times was when I remustered to a Structural Technician (changed trades) while serving in the Canadian Armed Forces.  My first posting was to Wainwright, Alberta where housing was pretty pricey, so we decided to purchase a major fixer upper in Czar, Alberta (200 people, 10,000 head of cattle), 50 km south of Wainwright.  My thinking was twofold:  we could buy a house a lot cheaper in Czar, and this would be good practical experience to experiment with my new construction trade.  We could add sweat equity to this house, making a really nice home and still be competitive with the Wainwright market.

My wife Paulette and I spent the next 3 ½ years gutting the house, including the interior walls, kitchen, basement, lighting, electrical…  In the end the house turned out beautiful.  But when we got posted to the north end of Vancouver Island, no one wanted to buy the house, because we could not compete with the buyers’ desire to live in Wainwright.  To make a long story short, we rented the house to the only person who applied, and that person trashed the house.  I took time off, came back to Czar, fixed the house up for sale and put it back on the market, selling it for what the market would bear. The lesson here:  Buyers will pay a premium to live where they want to live. 

“Location, location, location” usually means attractive neighbourhoods close to schools, hospitals, and facilities for entertainment, recreation and shopping.  It can mean proximity to a lake or backing onto a park, green space or golf course.  Homes in undesirable locations might be next to commercial/industrial buildings, beside railway lines, under flight paths, or in neighbourhoods with high crime rates.  Also included are economically depressed areas, where neighbours show zero pride of ownership in maintaining their homes and yards.

Although you will pay a premium to buy in a desirable location, the payback is well worth the extra cost.  Desirable locations sell quicker, usually appreciate at a greater rate, and are likely to sell before less desirable locations even when the market is slow.

From my past experiences, if budget is an issue (and when isn’t it?), I would settle for a smaller home located in a desirable location, later moving up to a larger home when I could afford it.

Looking for a great home in a great location?  Let me help!  Call me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here.

The single most valuable item most of us will ever own is our home, whether in Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County, the Edmonton area, or elsewhere.  It makes sense – and money, when it comes time to sell our property – to keep it up to date and in good repair.

Every home repair and maintenance job could be hired out to a professional tradesman.  Most of us don’t have the expertise or tools to tackle a job like replacing eavestroughs or reshingling the roof or repairing the springs on an automatic garage door opener.

But the average homeowner doesn’t always have to go to the trouble and expense of locating and employing a professional.  A little instruction and practice make many home improvement and repair jobs fairly easy and even fun to do.  One word of caution however:  If you do decide to do the job yourself, the finished product must look as though it was done by a pro!

Where do you go to get the information and help you need so you can do it yourself?

• Check out your local public library.  The do it yourself marketplace has exploded in recent years with a huge array of books, magazines and videos devoted to home improvement.  The library is a good place to find the best and most recent of these, and all for the low price of a library card.
• Visit a large bookstore like Chapters for even more information.  Flip through current issues of magazines such as
  • Canadian Home Workshop
  • Canadian Homes and Cottages
  • Canadian House and Home
  • Canadian Woodworking and Home Improvement Magazine
  • The Family Handyman
  • Remodeling Magazine
  • Renovation Style Magazine (from Better Homes & Gardens)
  • and many others
• See what cable television has to offer on networks like
  • Home and Garden Television and HGTV Canada
  • DIY Canada
  • Arts and Entertainment (A&E)
  • The Learning Channel (TLC)
• Attend home shows like the Edmonton Home and Garden Show,  the Edmonton Renovation Show or the Home and Renovation Show where you can connect in person with home improvement experts, as well as local contractors and tradespeople.
• Stores like Home Depot (Home Improver Club) routinely offer workshops on topics such as installing bathroom faucets, planting a garden, replacing countertops and the like.
• And of course there’s the internet, with thousands of websites and forums devoted to every home improvement topic imaginable.  Here are a few we like:
  • Ask the Builder
  • Bob Vila
  • Canadian Tire How To
  • Do It Yourself
  • Fix It Club
  • Handyman Club
  • HIP: Home Improvement Projects
  • Home Improvement
  • Home Renovation Guide
  • Home Renovations at About.com
  • Home Repair at About.com
  • Home Thinking
  • Home Time.com
  • Home Tips
  • My Home Improvement
  • Old House Web
  • Shell Busey’s Home Improvement Library
  • Start Remodeling
  • This Old House

Did we miss anything?  Do you know of a source of good information or website that we should include in this article?

Comments or questions are always welcome!  Phone me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here.