Oakville Homes

Mike Holmes – you either love him or hate him I guess. Most know Holmes from his on-going stint on HGTV and the promotion of “building homes right”. He also has a “House Inspection” wing under his umbrella as well. Yes, he might be getting business with people thinking he might show up but, through this aspect of his empire, he wants to ensure people get what they pay for and he has the organization to help out.

In building a house, one important step is to ensure you have the right trades working in harmony with each other in order to ensure a high quality house for you. Mike Holmes has set up an educational foundation to make this possible.

“The mission of The Holmes Foundation is to ensure that all residential renovation and construction in Canada is done right–the first time.

The Holmes Foundation will do this by partnering with schools, businesses and governments to raise the profile and reputation of all skilled trades in Canada, using Mike Holmes’ reputation to encourage young people to pursue careers in the skilled trades and to encourage employers to hire them.”

So, here we have someone who is putting his name on a product that strives for quality. I recently saw a Tweet regarding housing in the Calgary area. He has a segment of his organization called “Holmes Approved Homes“.

His organization works with local reputable builders to “ensure you get a “high-quality, durable and sustainable house”. His target is to ensure your home is built right from the ground up so that you move into the house of your dreams, not the horror house some of us have lived through.

Very high ideals and it will be interesting to see if this succeeds.

In Calgary, Avalon,Greenboro, Lifestyle and Taradar are putting the Holmes label on their homes and are working together with him in this project. As a fairly new home builder in Calgary, I would have thought Mattamy would have opted into this program. Based on the Mattamy ads, they too expect to build quality products. I guess not as high quality as those I have listed and aren’t eligible for inclusion in the project. Based on past performance, I kind of expect this.

.
.

February 4, 2011

Mike Holmes – not a fan of Mattamy I think.

Filed under: biosolids,ethics,home inspector,house inspector,Mattamy,Mattamy Homes,Milton,Oakville,Ontario,quality,sludge,Tarion — oakvillehomes @ 10:50 pm
Tags: dryer, duct, exhaust, fire, HGTV, Holmes Inspection, House Hunters, laundry, lint, Mike Holmes, Miltonsearch, mould, Peter Gilgan, Property Virgins, room, washer, water

If you are a fan of HGTV, you probably enjoy the real estate shows like “House Hunters” and “Property Virgins” where you get to watch people in search of a home. Another show is done by Mike Holmes, who does “Holmes Inspection”. I understand he recently did a show on a Milton, Ontario family.

And he was not impressed with their Mattamy built home.

Mentioned on Miltonsearch.com, it was pointed out that this couple first had their home inspected by a house inspector recommended by the real estate company. This is usually a no-no due to the potential conflicts of interest. I need not say more.

The article noted that Mike found issues with the duct work in the house. Seems that, “The range hood vented out to a location above the rear sliding doors of the home, which in itself was bad enough (vented air could easily be allowed to enter the home again through that door) without the fact that it was also covered up by the exterior siding on the home”.

Not stopping there, Mattamy was also able to accomplish another feat of craftsmanship.

“The dryer caused an even larger issue. The flexible exhaust line travelled through the ceiling of the garage and had become disconnected, blowing a massive amount of lint and moisture into that area over time, coating everything in cobweb-like lint, water and of course, mould. Not good. Even worse, the lint had also built up around a couple of pot lights and could easily have started a fire — not exactly what this, or any family wants to hear.”

And do you think Mattamy stopped at that point. No, they planned in a real future disaster. Something that would probably occur after the warranty period was over.

We all know that water flows downhill and seeks any way to do that. We also know that pipes fail, especially those rubber fittings we use on our washing machines. A laundry room is expected to be a little damp and one wonders why anyone would put a laundry room on the second floor without ensuring there was a drain for accidents. I mean, the person who does the laundry certainly loves that 2nd floor laundry room – beats the first floor or god forbid, a laundry room in the basement. Yes, back in the day, laundry rooms were usually in the basement, close to the drain. A pipe bursts and most of the water goes for the drain and only damages that which is between the source and drain.

Unlike our 2nd floor marvels of modern house design.

But then, whats a little water damage to the 2nd and 1st floor and maybe the finished basement. That’s what you have insurance for, isn’t it?

What, you think I’m being an alarmist?

The writer of this story on Mike Holmes and the Mattamy mistake found out the hard way.

I can’t say it better than she – “Coming from someone who has a second-floor laundry room — and a major flood which stemmed from that laundry room ($75,000 damage — thank you Mattamy and your cheap, faulty laundry sink tap sets), that was a nice touch.”

And a few people think I’m the only one who was shafted by Mattamy.

For the whole story, make sure you visit MILTONSEARCH.COM
.
.
.

.
.

Comments (3)

September 12, 2010

Mike Holmes – helping out “First Nations”.

Filed under: biosolids,ethics,home inspector,house inspector,Mattamy,Mattamy Homes,Milton,Oakville,Ontario,quality,sludge,Tarion — oakvillehomes @ 9:53 pm
Tags: A, Andy Shaw, First Nations, green, HGTV, Holmes, housing, kite, Mike Holmes, Toronto Star

Today, I found it interesting when I read the article about Mike Holmes joining with the Assembly of First Nations to build affordable green housing. After watching Holmes on his TV show, hopefully he will ensure the houses are built right in the first place.

I didn’t notice that Mattamy was helping in any way. Surprised they missed this advertising opportunity but then, maybe the First Nation people have read my blog and the other Mattamy complaints becoming common on the Internet. 🙂

I liked Holme’s quote in the Toronto Star (page A7, Sunday, September 12, 2010): “No one in Canada should live like that. It’s inexcusable to me. They asked for my help. And I said, ‘That’s easy’.”

Wish I’d known Mike when I bought my house from Mattamy, or at least, Andy Shaw. Maybe I wouldn’t have had to suffer the politically supported issues with my house.

And speaking of Mattamy – in the same issue of the Toronto Star there was a small Mattamy ad.

Shows a young girl with a kite and the statement read:

“Show Your Kids A More Natural Place To Live. Bring A Kite.”

Yes, don’t forget to bring that kite to the sales office when you buy that Mattamy surprise package. When you discuss issues with them like I did, then you can actually use it when they tell you to “go fly a kite“.

Comments (1)

Mike Holmes – I disagree that permits mean anything

Filed under: biosolids,ethics,home inspector,house inspector,Mattamy,Mattamy Homes,Milton,Oakville,Ontario,quality,sludge,Tarion — oakvillehomes @ 12:19 am
Tags: election, Gilgan, HGTV, Holmes, Mike, Mulvale, municipal, permit, Wellspring, workmanship

I just finished watching the HGTV show, “Holmes on Homes“, the show showcasing Mike Holmes unearthing shoddy workmanship in home renovations. In this episode, a very smart-looking house ends up being gutted due to poorly done renovations in the past (prior to this couple buying the home). The sad thing is, they relied on a house inspection by someone who I guess wasn’t overly qualified to do inspections.

One point Mike Holmes kept making in the initial inspection was “permits”. I know some see permits as a tax grab by the municipality while others state that a permit increases the possibility of quality work.

I’d like to agree but can’t totally. In my case, Mattamy Homes wired my furnace to the uninhabited home next door and a Town of Oakville inspector passed the furnace. Mattamy pointed out this permit when I questioned the legality of the furnace hookup and thus the house sale went through. Illegal wiring that certainly put my children’s lives at risk.

So, Mr. Holmes – so much for a permit being a guide to better construction.

When this issue was brought to the attention of the Town of Oakville and the then mayor, Ann Mulvale, nothing was really done. So, I guess in the Town of Oakville, at least, permits really don’t mean that much in the grand scheme of things.

But Mulvale did manage to get a worthwhile donation from Mattamy Homes for Wellspring.

I sort of wonder why she wants to be mayor of Oakville again and is running in this fall’s municipal elections? I wonder how much Mattamy Homes is helping in her campaign? Will permits mean anything in the future?
.
.
.
IN THE PREVIOUS OAKVILLE TOWN COUNCIL AND HALTON COUNCIL, WHO WAS IT THAT SUPPORTED THE DEVELOPERS? DO YOU WANT MORE OF THE SAME TO COME BACK AFTER 4 YEARS ABSENCE?

YOUR VOTE WILL DETERMINE JUST HOW BAD YOUR POCKETBOOK WILL SUFFER – TAXES HAVE STAYED THE SAME THIS LAST FOUR YEARS – REMEMBER THAT WHEN PEOPLE ASK YOU TO VOTE FOR THOSE WHO RAISED TAXES FOR DEVELOPMENT.