Narrow houses and the stairs that come with them
Most of the housing between Queen and Dundas went up as Victorian and Edwardian semis and row houses on lots barely five metres wide. Rooms are small, hallways are tight, and the staircase to the top floor was built for people carrying a good deal less than a boxed wardrobe. A fair amount of my work here is measured before anything is bought.
If a bed frame or a wardrobe will not go up in one piece, I build it in the room. If a sheet of drywall will not turn the corner at the landing, I cut it down on the porch first. Tell me the room and the floor when you ask for a quote and I will flag anything likely to cause trouble before the delivery van arrives.
Plaster, old framing and walls people want to hang things on
Century semis around here are plaster over lath on original studs, and those studs sit where the carpenter felt like putting them rather than where a modern bracket expects. Party walls between two halves of a semi are often solid brick. Neither is a problem, but each takes a different fixing, and guessing is how a mirror ends up on the floor.
Shelving in the alcoves beside a chimney breast is a standing request across Roncesvalles, along with television brackets, heavy artwork and closet systems in bedrooms with sloped attic ceilings. I check what is behind the surface first, then fix into something that will still be holding in ten years.
What people on and around Roncesvalles Avenue call about
Much of it is small and specific rather than big and dramatic. Grouping several items into one booking usually costs less than three separate visits, so save the list up and hand me the whole thing.
- Flat-pack furniture built in third-floor bedrooms
- Front porch railings, treads and porch light swaps
- Sticking basement apartment doors planed and re-hung
- Plaster crack patching and repainting in hallways
- Cabinet hardware and backsplash tiling in galley kitchens
- Under-sink leaks, faucets and toilet replacements
- Laneway garage doors, gates and fence panels repaired
Pricing, materials and the limits
Quotes cost nothing and commit you to nothing. Before a tool comes out you have a fixed price for the job or an hourly rate, agreed first, and I hold to it. Materials can come from me with receipts passed over, or I will fit exactly what you have already bought.
There is work in these houses I will not take on, and I would rather say so on the phone than halfway through the afternoon. Replacing an existing light fixture, dimmer, faucet or toilet is fine. New wiring, a panel, a gas line or anything structural in a house this age belongs with a licensed electrician or plumber, and I will tell you that plainly.
Everything gets swept up and the offcuts leave in my van, which matters more than usual in a house where the living room is also the hallway. If something is not sitting right a week later, call me and I will come back and put it right.
