Community Clean Up

Everyone is needed to help

Winter has been really hard on our little neighbourhood. And no one can wait until its warm enough to be outdoors and enjoying our community but the place needs a serious tidying up.

It looks like we'll be getting some dry weather next week so let's plan a firm day for our community clean-up.

WHEN: Sunday, May 4th at 1:00 pm.

WHERE: We'll meet in the park.

WHAT: Plan to pick up garbage. Denzil Minnan-Wong's office will supply gloves and garbage bags.

WHO: Everyone plan to be there.

Serious Roofing Issues

The following is a post from a neighbour who lives on Dallimore Circle. Please read.

They are going to have their roof replaced and suggest that anyone else who may be having problems to contact The Cutting Edge Roofing company for a possible discount.

I will also add that I have heard from other neighbours in the Camelot Townhomes and they have told me that they need to have their dryer vents professionally cleaned each year. The vent cleaner of choices is Magic Touch at 416.425.6864. Cleaning involves going onto the roof and cleaning the vent each year.

I know from our own personal experience in our townhouse (one of the English Lane Townhouses) that the dryer vent had blown apart in between the floor joists and had distributed dryer lint (think massive fire hazard) between the floors. We knew the dryer didn't seem to work properly and took several cycles to fully dry the clothes, but we only discovered the reason when we renovated.

Hello Neighbours,

We live in one of the townhomes on Dallimore Circle and, unfortunately, have recently learned of potentially serious issues with our roof. As you can see from the pictures, there are issues with leaking water and mold. We have had two different roofers investigate and both have reached similar conclusions about the causes.

First, it appears the original roof consists of shingles put down on plywood, without a proper ice guard, water barrier, etc. This causes snow melt and rain to seep through into the plywood underneath. Second, it appears that some of the connections to bathroom fan and dryer vent exhausts are not properly connected - this results in moist air flowing directly into the attic. Over time, both of these causes have lead to a build up of mold.

We are therefore proceeding with a new roof, including plywood underlay as well as reconnecting all vents to the exterior. We are planning to use Cutting Edge Roofing, but also had a good experience dealing with Metro Roofing. The contact details are below.
http://www.thecuttingedgeroofing.com/

http://homestars.com/companies/2777450-the-cutting-edge-roofing

http://www.metroroofing.ca/

http://homestars.com/companies/2715075-metro-roofing-inc

The estimate, including HST, for a standard roof replacement is $4585 and a complete roof replacement including all plywood and vent connection is $7830. If several houses go in, the price may be reduced. Robert from Cutting Edge Roofing says to contact them directly if you are interested and he will coordinate. Since all of the townhomes of Dallimore Circle and Haldenby Terrace are the same, the price should be the same or at least very close. Finally, we will re-post with an update on the colour and brand of shingles in case you wish to try to match in the future – for the record, our plans are to try to match as close as possible to the existing colour.

Small Space Oasis

Spring is finally here and we're all getting ready to go out-of-doors.

Space, or the lack of it, doesn't need to confine us. Small spaces can provide a heavenly escape from the turmoil of urban living. The townhouses in the English Lane and Camrost developments are perfect examples of tiny spaces that can be made BIG with the right choice of design elements. Many of our neighbours (your author included) spend most of their time outdoors as soon as the weather permits.

All of the photos above are taken in our neighbourhood. Our "backyard" is our outdoor kitchen, diningroom and entertaining space - all 15 ft x 20 ft. Summer here in Ontario is so short, we seldom use our diningroom for the duration of the season, even stretching into the Fall with blankets and sweaters. Whether your garden is for the pleasure of the neighbourhood, or it's your tiny private oasis to toast the sun going down, take the time to make it your space. Smaller city spaces, although small in square footage, have the capacity of offering the urban homeowner access to a precious and scarce commodity: personal space!