Client's goals
These clients already knew Roka: we had renovated their kids' bathroom and refreshed the upper floor of this same Lynn Valley home in North Vancouver. This time the problem was the carport entry level of their multi-level split home. The door opened into a small hallway with a dated powder room, a laundry area tucked at the back, and a large bedroom spanning the depth of the house beside it. None of it matched how the family used the home. The mudroom mattered most: it is the last thing they touch leaving the house and the first thing they touch coming home.
A proper mudroom at the carport entry, built for the family's daily in-and-out
A dedicated laundry room instead of a laundry corner
A full 3-piece bathroom for the guest side of the house
Right-sizing the oversized bedroom into a comfortable guest bedroom
Reclaiming a rarely used internal staircase as living space
Overview
Roka Projects rebuilt the carport entry level of a Lynn Valley split-level home in North Vancouver for repeat clients, trading a cramped hallway, dated powder room, and laundry corner for a layout that works: a mudroom carved out of the old bathroom, a rarely used internal staircase removed and its footprint turned into the new laundry room, the old laundry converted into a new 3-piece guest bathroom, and the oversized bedroom resized into a guest bedroom served by that bathroom. Along the way the crew uncovered rot from another contractor's failed repair, fixed it at its source, and the owners added an ensuite renovation while the wall was open. About four months of construction, around $165,000.
Scope of work
Mudroom built at the carport entry, carved out of the old bathroom, with custom millwork, shelving, and hooks
Rarely used internal staircase removed and the space reclaimed as the new laundry room, with sink and custom millwork
Old laundry room converted into a new 3-piece guest bathroom: new plumbing rough-in, Schluter-waterproofed shower, tile, and vanity
Oversized bedroom resized with a new framed wall, new door, finish carpentry, and carpet
Rot remediation on the exterior wall: source corrected, proper flashing and waterproofing by our roofing contractor, structural engineer review of the repairs
Ensuite renovated as added scope: tiled shower with a linear drain, new tile and vanity
Asbestos abatement of affected drywall and flooring by a certified contractor
Structural issues found along the way corrected
HVAC ducting rerouted; building permit and structural engineer review for the layout changes
New vinyl plank flooring and painting throughout the renovated areas
CHALLENGES & SOLUTIONS
Rot behind another contractor's failed repair
Challenge: opening the exterior wall revealed rot in an area a previous contractor had already repaired once. That fix never addressed the source, so it failed. The real problem was a bad flashing detail that had been pouring water into the wall.
Solution: We kept opening the wall until we could see the full extent of the rot, then fixed the cause before the symptom: our roofing contractor flashed and waterproofed the detail properly, and only then did we rebuild the structure. One of our structural engineers reviewed the existing framing and confirmed the targeted repairs restored everything.
The rot ran upstairs
Challenge: following the damage up the exterior wall led into the ensuite bathroom above.
Solution: We showed the owners what we found, and rather than closing up a repaired wall behind an old bathroom, they chose to renovate the ensuite while it was open. Repair and renovation happened in one pass instead of two, and the ensuite got a new tiled shower with a linear drain in the process.
Asbestos in the drywall and the flooring
Challenge: hazmat testing on this pre-1990 home found asbestos in the wall and ceiling drywall and in the flooring of the entry, bathroom, and laundry areas.
Solution: A certified abatement contractor remediated the affected areas before demolition, so every stage of the rebuild started from clean, cleared spaces.
Result
The carport entry now works the way the family moves: mudroom first, laundry in its own room, and a guest bedroom with its own new 3-piece bathroom where a cramped hallway and dated powder room used to be. Behind the finishes, the wall that had been quietly rotting under a failed repair is dry, flashed correctly, and engineer-reviewed. It is the second project Roka has completed in this home, and this one fixed the layout as well as the structure.
BEFORE photos
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