Working in the condo buildings
Downtown Burlington and the Lakeshore Road strip hold a lot of apartment and condo homes, and hanging something on a wall in one of them is a different job from hanging it in a house. Interior partitions are often steel stud rather than wood. Ceilings and several walls are poured concrete, which wants a hammer drill and masonry anchors, not the plastic plugs that came with the bracket. Balcony walls and slab edges are usually off limits under the building rules, so I check before drilling anywhere near them.
Buildings also run on their own timetable. Most want the service elevator booked in advance, several limit the hours work can happen, and some ask for documents from anyone working inside a unit. Find out from your concierge what is needed and pass it on when you book, and I will fit the visit around the building instead of the other way round.
Bungalows below the highway, subdivisions above it
South of the QEW you get post-war Aldershot streets and the wide 1950s and 1960s ranch bungalows through Roseland, Shoreacres and Elizabeth Gardens, with mature trees, original hardwood and plaster in a good number of them. Long low ceilings, solid doors, and cupboards built by somebody who did not own a level.
North of the highway it changes. Headon Forest, Millcroft, the Orchard and Alton Village went up from the late 1980s through the 2000s, so it is drywall, engineered joists and open-plan rooms. In the older homes I plan for surprises behind the wall. In the newer ones the surprise is usually a builder shortcut rather than an unknown.
Seasonal work near the lake and up the escarpment
Wind and freeze-thaw do most of the damage in this part of Halton Region. Gates drop and stop latching, fence posts work loose in the ground, deck boards cup and lift a fastener, and exterior door weather stripping flattens out until you can feel the draught with your hand. Those lists arrive every spring and every autumn.
Getting a gate squared up or a run of deck boards swapped before the ground freezes is far less work than dealing with it in March. The same goes for caulking around exterior doors and windows, which is a short job in October and a cold, miserable one in January.
What Burlington callers book me for
Most of this takes under a day, and several small jobs can be batched into a single visit.
- Mounting into concrete - televisions, shelves, mirrors and blinds in condo units
- Fixture swaps - replacing an existing light, ceiling fan, dimmer or smart switch
- Bathroom work - faucets, shower heads, toilets, fresh caulking and grab bar installs
- Doors - adjusting, hinges, handles, locks, weather stripping and screen repairs
- Furniture assembly - wardrobes, bed frames, desks and flat-pack storage units
- Flooring and trim - vinyl plank, laminate, baseboard and quarter round
- Outside - fence and gate repair, deck boards, railings and exterior caulking
Send a description with a few photos and you will usually have a price back without me driving out first. Before any work begins you get a fixed price or an hourly rate, agreed with you. Materials come with receipts, or you buy your own if you would rather choose the finish. The work area is left clean, and if something is not right afterwards I return and put it right. Anything needing a licensed trade gets referred on instead of guessed at.
