Working in the lakeshore towers
The Etobicoke condo strip along Humber Bay Shores and Mimico has grown quickly since 2005, and those buildings all have a process. The service elevator gets booked, management wants the contractor cleared before the day, and loading happens through a specific door at a specific time. None of that is difficult, but it has to be arranged in advance or the visit turns into an hour of waiting in a lobby.
Inside the units the work is fairly consistent. Concrete ceilings and shear walls take masonry anchors rather than toggles. Balcony doors on the lake side get a lot of wind, and their rollers wear faster than you would expect. Curtain tracks want fixing into the header above the window. The television wall is often the one drywall partition in the room, so where the studs fall really does matter.
North of the Queensway
Away from the water the housing changes. Alderwood, Long Branch and New Toronto are full of small post-war houses on narrow lots. Up through Islington Village, Princess Gardens and Markland Wood you find 1950s and 1960s bungalows and sidesplits on bigger lots, and around The Kingsway there are older brick homes with plaster walls and original trim worth keeping. Each of those asks for a different way of fixing something to a wall.
Basements are the other Etobicoke feature. Many were finished long after the house was built, so what looks like a solid wall turns out to be panelling on strapping with a gap behind it. I check before I drill rather than after.
The calls that come in most often
Across Etobicoke the same jobs repeat, whatever the building:
- TV mounting on concrete condo walls
- Balcony and patio door adjustments
- Flat-pack furniture built in tight condo bedrooms
- Faucet, shower head and toilet replacements
- Light fixtures, ceiling fans, dimmers and smart switches
- Drywall patching and painting after a move
- Baseboards, trim and laminate flooring
- Video doorbells and thermostats set up and connected
Several of those in one visit is normal, and usually the sensible way to do it. I would rather quote a list than a single item, and it keeps the number of trips down.
Where I stop and call in a licensed trade
Swapping something that already exists is my work: a light fixture for a new light fixture, a dead dimmer for a smart switch, an old faucet for a new one, a tired toilet for a modern one. That covers most of what people ask for around here.
New circuits, panel changes, gas appliances, structural alterations, roofing and heating systems are not. Those belong to a licensed electrician, plumber or the relevant trade, and I will say so before going any further instead of starting something I should not finish. Quotes are free with no obligation either way. I usually reply within one business day, and I work Monday to Saturday from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM, with Sunday by appointment.
