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Reno gone bad razed by city
Contractors in the basement 'undermined the foundation' of home
September 17, 2008
Emily Mathieu
STAFF REPORTER
By early morning it was obvious to everyone that the little green house didn't have a leg – or in this case a solid foundation – to stand on.
The two-storey house at 185 Coleman Ave., in the Danforth Ave. and Dawes Rd. area, was demolished by city workers yesterday after it was decided that excavations in the basement during the weekend had destabilized the walls and rendered the building unsafe.
"The building is in dire need of being taken down," said Jim Laughlin, deputy chief building official for the city, earlier in the day.
Contractors "were doing some work in the basement and undermined the foundation," he said, adding there was no city permit issued for the job.
The house has turned into a financial disaster for the owner, Jason Carey, and his wife Kyla Prashad, who had hoped to sell the home after renovations for between $350,000 and $400,000. The couple had already invested at least $50,000 in building materials into the renovation.
The demolition, originally scheduled to commence at 8 a.m., didn't kick off until close to 1 p.m. The assembled workers had to wait for Bell Canada to come and sort out details with the phone lines. The entire process –once Bell cleared the scene – took about two hours.
The couple was using a family member as a contractor, who has successfully dug out several homes including the one they live in. Carey said they had applied for the permit but were waiting for it to go through. "We are not going to dispute that the house could have been underpinned in a way that had been more safe," Prashad said. "We did file for a permit and we were under the understanding that once we paid for the permit, we were free to go ahead."
Carey said the city called them on Sunday to inform them a wall inside the basement had collapsed.
"Basically, things happened so fast," he said, adding that the couple didn't have time to arrange for an engineer to do their own independent inspection. "It's a big accident, it happened."
Carey said the couple had been renovating the house for more than a year. They said someone at the city told them they could be responsible for the demolition bill and that bill could top $100,000.
"Can you imagine spending over $100,000 in building a house and watch the city charge you $100,000 to tear it back down?" Prashad said.
Laughlin, who did not provide any estimate, said any figures would be extremely premature. He said he expects the site to be cleaned up by Friday.
Toronto Star
IMAGINE !
Everyone thinks they are Bob Vila nowadays. Let this serve as a warning to other potential DIYers !!
http://www.yourhome.ca/homes/article/500549
Reno gone bad razed by city
Contractors in the basement 'undermined the foundation' of home
September 17, 2008
Emily Mathieu
STAFF REPORTER
By early morning it was obvious to everyone that the little green house didn't have a leg – or in this case a solid foundation – to stand on.
The two-storey house at 185 Coleman Ave., in the Danforth Ave. and Dawes Rd. area, was demolished by city workers yesterday after it was decided that excavations in the basement during the weekend had destabilized the walls and rendered the building unsafe.
"The building is in dire need of being taken down," said Jim Laughlin, deputy chief building official for the city, earlier in the day.
Contractors "were doing some work in the basement and undermined the foundation," he said, adding there was no city permit issued for the job.
The house has turned into a financial disaster for the owner, Jason Carey, and his wife Kyla Prashad, who had hoped to sell the home after renovations for between $350,000 and $400,000. The couple had already invested at least $50,000 in building materials into the renovation.
The demolition, originally scheduled to commence at 8 a.m., didn't kick off until close to 1 p.m. The assembled workers had to wait for Bell Canada to come and sort out details with the phone lines. The entire process –once Bell cleared the scene – took about two hours.
The couple was using a family member as a contractor, who has successfully dug out several homes including the one they live in. Carey said they had applied for the permit but were waiting for it to go through. "We are not going to dispute that the house could have been underpinned in a way that had been more safe," Prashad said. "We did file for a permit and we were under the understanding that once we paid for the permit, we were free to go ahead."
Carey said the city called them on Sunday to inform them a wall inside the basement had collapsed.
"Basically, things happened so fast," he said, adding that the couple didn't have time to arrange for an engineer to do their own independent inspection. "It's a big accident, it happened."
Carey said the couple had been renovating the house for more than a year. They said someone at the city told them they could be responsible for the demolition bill and that bill could top $100,000.
"Can you imagine spending over $100,000 in building a house and watch the city charge you $100,000 to tear it back down?" Prashad said.
Laughlin, who did not provide any estimate, said any figures would be extremely premature. He said he expects the site to be cleaned up by Friday.
Toronto Star
IMAGINE !
Everyone thinks they are Bob Vila nowadays. Let this serve as a warning to other potential DIYers !!
