ASK THE INSPECTOR: Detecting the source of home's odour is difficult

QUESTION: Our home in River Heights was built around 1918. We have an awful sewer smell coming from the basement and are at a loss trying to figure out the cause. The smell gets worse during and after a heavy . . .

Posted: 2010-06-19

Sealing crawlspace prevents excess moisture

Question: I have recently acquired a house with a crawlspace about four feet deep. The crawlspace walls and under the floor have been spray-foamed, but with an open dirt floor. The crawlspace is currently not heated. As you can imagine, . . .

Posted: 2020-08-01

Architect looks to the past for green ideas

Miami architect Stephen Mouzon promotes a concept of New Urbanism that marries sophisticated green-building techniques with the lifestyles of our ancestors. That lifestyle is what he calls the original green, or before the thermostat age when comfort was not controlled by . . .

Posted: 2010-08-28

Test windows with garden hose to find leaks

Question: I have a newer window that leaks when there is rain and an east wind blowing onto the front of the house. The company that installed the windows has looked at it and said it is not the . . .

Posted: 2023-03-25

GOOD to GO

Waverley Heights bungalow move-in-ready

Young families looking for a starter home often experience two different schools of thought. The first entails buying a more "affordable" home (say, around $250, 000) that needs updating, and performing the required updates over a period of five years . . .

Posted: 2016-05-14

Crescentwood condo unique in the best way

Modern, open-concept home located in established neighbourhood

There are times when even the coolest of properties escapes notice. Case in point is 2 Arbuthnot St., a two-storey luxury condominium that’s located at the corner of Arbuthnot Street, Grosvenor Avenue and Wellington Crescent. Unobtrusively set back from the street amid . . .

Posted: 2019-10-26

Get professional opinion before removing wall

Question: I have a 1, 070 square foot house, with a cottage roof, built in 1960. I would like to remove the wall between the living room and the kitchen, which spans the front of the house. How do I . . .

Posted: 2016-04-23

Turnkey treasure

Move-in-ready townhome great for budget-minded buyers

To say the least, the phrase, “affordable starter home” has become an oxymoron, of late. And it’s something many young families searching for such a dwelling know from first-hand experience, as many such prospective buyers have a limited budget of . . .

Posted: 2026-01-10

Brisbane beckons

Kensington Homes design uses space well

It's amazing how one design feature can affect a home. In this case, the decision to angle the back wall of a dining room adds style and function to the room and the living room next door. "Angling the dining room's rear . . .

Posted: 2013-07-13

Modern updates bring new life to old charm

Renovations add value to home with plenty of space for the family

From the outside, 149 Brock St. looks to be the prototypical River Heights classic. With its Tyndall stone front steps, white-trimmed windows with carved brown shutters on either side and tidy stucco exterior, it doesn’t look all that different from neighbouring . . .

Posted: 2018-12-15