The south end and its post-war houses
Ajax started in the nineteen forties around a wartime munitions plant, and the oldest streets still carry the names of navy crews. Houses from that period and the decade after are compact by modern standards: small bathrooms, narrow hallways, tight head height in the basement, light hollow doors. Modern fittings are often bigger than the gap they are going into, so a vanity swap or a shower head change starts with a tape measure rather than a shopping trip.
Walls down there vary from room to room. Plaster over lath in one, early drywall in the next, panelling with something else behind it in the basement. I check what is actually there before anything heavy goes up, because a fixing that holds well in one wall will pull straight out of another.
Semis, links and town homes
Semis, link houses and freehold towns make up a big share of this town, and their shape decides how a job runs. Staircases are steep and turn at a landing, so a wardrobe box that will not make the corner gets carried up in pieces and built in the bedroom instead. Rooms are narrow, which means furniture is better assembled in position than shuffled around afterwards.
Party walls need the right approach too. Mounting a television or a heavy shelf on a shared wall is normal work, as long as the bracket lands in framing or in masonry with the correct anchors, and as long as the noisy part of the job is kept to a sensible stretch of the day.
Down by the water and along the creeks
A long waterfront and two creek valleys run through Ajax, and both show up in the outdoor work. Wind coming off the lake finds loose fence panels, lifts gate hardware and works away at anything already tired. Ravine lots near Carruthers Creek and Duffins Creek stay damp for longer, so deck boards soften and posts give up sooner than they do further inland.
Repairs beat replacement more often than people think. If the posts and the frame are sound, a run of fence or a deck surface can be put right in one visit. If they are not, I tell you straight rather than patching over the real problem.
Kitchens, bathrooms and the jobs that lift a house
Houses on the north side went up through the nineties and two thousands, and their kitchens still work perfectly well while looking every bit their age. Plenty can change without a renovation: new cabinet hardware, a tile backsplash, fresh caulking around the counter and sink, a modern tap, a ceiling fitting that is not a frosted dome any more.
Bathrooms follow the same idea. Vanity, tap, toilet, mirror, and towel rails put back where they will actually hold, with the silicone renewed so the edges look clean again. Bigger projects are welcome as well, and those run over several days with the same quote-first approach.
- Interior doors eased, rehung and fitted with sound hardware
- Televisions and shelves mounted on party walls and masonry
- Vanities, taps, shower heads and toilets replaced like for like
- Fence panels, gates, deck boards and railings repaired
- Basement handrails, treads and loose spindles made solid
- Cabinet hardware, backsplash tile and fresh caulking fitted
- Flat-pack furniture built in narrow bedrooms and on landings
- Drywall and plaster patched, sanded and painted to match
