Toronto Renovation Stories & Expert Advice

Interior Design Show 2008

The Interior Design Show is on this weekend (February 23 and 24th, 2008) at the Direct Energy Centre at Exhibition place. If you’re looking for some inspiring decor ideas or just interested in the current trends in home interiors head on down and take a look.
For more information, click on the link below:

http://www.interiordesignshow.com/2008/

Labels: IDS 2008

Posted by Cathy
0 comments | Permanent Link

 

drywall horrors

Last summer we moved into a brand spanking new house. Until now, all of the houses we've lived in have been a minimum of 50 years old. In fact I got very used to hearing "wow, I've never seen plumbing/electrical work/heating and cooling systems like this," from the tradespeople. I was looking forward to a new home with all the modern conveniences including insulation, Energy Star appliances, high efficiency furnace and water saving toilets....I dream big, don't I?

After being comfortably settled into our new home for a few months, our contractor told us that some of the drywall needed attention. Apparently that bump in our stairwell wall wasn't exactly normal; drywall homes have straight walls. I was used to plaster walls which are often curved and bumpy, so I just thought it was normal. As the dry wall contractor showed me all the deficiencies the last team (now a defunct business) had left, the pit in my stomach grew. I knew that "nail pops" were a normal part of new build or addition (part of the "settling" that occurs once you're living in a house), but I had overlooked the taping ripples in the corners, the gouges in the skim coat and the evident joins between pieces of drywall in the ceiling (one ceiling was so bad they had to redrywall over it to get it smooth).

Now, if you're like me, you might be asking yourself why does it matter if gouges or tape ripples are showing? I could barely see them until they were pointed out to me. But it turns out that once you paint and it has even a touch of gloss in it or apply any colour darker than white, the deficiencies in the drywall become a beacon of poor workmanship. So we agreed to live through the dust and the inconvenience and have the walls redone -- at the builder's expense.

It took four weeks and we ended up moving out for ten days, but when it was over the walls really did look good...nice and straight and smooth. But it was a hassle for everyone.

Our "Hindsight" lesson:

We had decided not to do a home inspection before we'd moved in given that it was a new house. That was a mistake. An inspector would have caught this problem and the builder would have been able to fix it before we moved in instead of us having to live through it and their having to work around us and our furniture. My advice to you is even if you've bought a new home and you have a preinspection set up with the builder before you move in, hire an independent inspector and get a second opinion. It could save both of you a lot of headaches in the long run.

Labels: drywall, home inspections

Posted by Cathy
2 comments | Permanent Link

 

Contractor a no-show?

I received a call from Stanley Funes at the City of Toronto Licensing Department the other day. He'd come across our site and told me it was great and long overdue (hey, we think so too!). It turns out, there is a complaints department at the city for delinquent contractors in the remodelling, heating and plumbing businesses -- unfortunately the department is not as well known as it should be (I tried to look it up online without success). People only hear about the department through word of mouth.

If you're having problems getting your contractor to finish a job, there is recourse before taking him to court. The City of Toronto complaints department acts as a mediator between licensed contractors and clients, usually with a successful outcome. Stanley did tell me, however, that in cases where the gap between the contractor and client is too wide to bridge (usually over $10,000 in dispute), litigation tends to be the next step. Since the city has the ability to revoke a contractor's license if necessary, the contractor is motivated to negotiate with the client.

In the event that the contractor isn't licensed, the contractor will receive a fine from the city, and you, as the injured party will have done your job exposing them. I'm not sure how much more you will get out of them without pursuing legal action. However, writing a review on Homestars will help others avoid this contractor in the future.

The phone number for the complaints department at the City of Toronto is: 416-392-6148.
They handle complaints for licensed remodelling, heating and cooling and plumbing contractors.
In this case, "complaints" is defined as contractors not adhering to City of Toronto by-laws.

Labels: City of Toronto complaints department, general contractors

Posted by Cathy
3 comments | Permanent Link