Fence installed & demolition inspection passed

City inspection came yesterday to check out the demolition and asked to have metal construction fence on the site. So I called up Quick Fence for fence rentals. They are very close to the building site around Warden & St Clair. The cost is $200 for the delivery and setup and $1 / foot / month for the rental. So this is what it looks like this morning. I’ve got the building permit posted. I’ve hung the mailbox up as well just in case.

Fence

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Demolition day 3

Day 3 of the demolition. Today all the foundation walls are dug up and all the concrete and brick are all hauled away.

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Demolition day 2

Demolition day 2 started out cold but at least unlike day 1 no rain is in the forecast.

The demolition crew used the smaller excavator to clear up some stuff on day 1. For day 2, they brought the big gun.

Demolition Day 2 - Excavator

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Demolition day 1

After nearly a year, the construction of my new dream home has finally begun. As with any construction project. Day 1 is demolition of the existing structure. Demolition is carried out by Tony Cantalena and his crew from Lanor Disposal Inc.

First order of the business is to get rid of all those ugly shrubs.

Demolition Day 1

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Natural gas disconnection

Today Enbridge finally came and disconnected my natural gas supply line and removed the meter. This is a very long process indeed. If I had to do this all over again, I need to call utility companies much earlier to get disconnection going.

Natural gas disconnected

Enbridge sent me a contract on September 18th informing me that the cost to cut off natural gas at main is $1300 + tax. I signed it and sent back to them on the same day. So today after 16 days, the natural gas is finally disconnected. Now Enbridge has indicated that it may take up to 44 days from the time request is received to the date work is completed. So I guess 16 days is a pretty good. But consider that I initiated the disconnection procedure on September 2nd, it took 32 days or just over a month to get natural gas disconnected. But looking at the brighter side, my house is finally ready for demolition.

Power disconnection

Without me even noticing it, Toronto Hydro crew came in the morning, cut the electricity from the house and removed my meter. Based on what my neighbour told me, apparently it took them just 5 minutes to cut the power line and remove the meter. Now that’s efficient. I signed the disconnection form on September 6th and they confirmed the request on September 9th. So it took 8 business days for Toronto Hydro to complete the disconnection work Now I’ll have to see just how long natural gas disconnection take.

Electricity disconnected  Electricity disconnected

Hot Water Heater Removed / Water Services Disconnected

Reliance wanted $775 + tax to cancel the contract and take away the water heater. And I’m sure someone tricked the previous home owner into signing that 10 year contract. But at least Reliance is efficient in termination. After I told them I will pay the termination fee, yesterday two guys came and quickly took away the hot water heater.

I also found that yesterday that the previous home owner has boxed in the water meter right at the floor and inside the wall so that you cannot have regular access to the water meter. So I took out my demolition tool and knocked out the wall a bit so today when the city come to take out the water meter, they have access to it. And took out the water meter they did. I did have to search on the ground with the guy for the street level water shut off valve. But it is quickly done and the termination fee will appear on my next utility bill from the city.

And here it is, the water meter removed. You can see how much I have to tear away. The previous home owner left only the water meter read out face accessible and boxed in all the rest. What a silly thing to do.

Water meter removed

Utility disconnection

Still no end in sight for the building permit. So I started with utility disconnections. So I have water, electricity, and natural gas to disconnect.

Water is easy, one call to the city’s water meter office, they scheduled me a date, someone will need to be on site to provide access to the water meter and that’s it.

For electricity, I called Toronto Hydro. They emailed me a form for me to sign and complete. Then they told me it is estimated that on September 19, they will be there to cut the power and remove the meter. There does not need to be anyone on site for this.

For natural gas I have two issues. First the hot water heater is rented from LiveClean which is later taken over by Reliance. Reliance told me that the previous owner signed a 10 year contract with LiveClean starting February 2012 and it will cost me a total of $700 + tax to terminate the contract and have someone come to remove the tank. To buy out the tank, it would cost me a whooping $1310 + tax. I looked up the hot water, and it isn’t even a high efficiency one. Just a normal power vented tank. So I’m cancelling the contract.

For natural gas distribution, I called Enbridge. The process is complicated. They will come and lock my meter in 3 business days and provided me with a final bill. Then they will send a quote in 10 days on the cost to cut off the natural gas service. And that it may take up to 44 days to get my natural gas service terminated. Really? 44 days? Had I known that, I would have applied for utility disconnection much earlier.

Building a tree protection barrier

So one of the requirement from the city for issuing the permit is to build a tree protection barrier around the protected tree. Like the one illustrated below. After some back and forth with the forestry department, it seems that all we need to do is to build a 4′ tall fence 6 m away from the tree using orange webbing.

Tree Protection Barrier

So together with my cousin we sent out to build the fence.

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Tree removal – Completed

The tree removal is actually completed by Davey Tree Expert back in March 19, 2013. But the snow hasn’t completely melted at the site and I wasn’t able to get a clear photo of what is looks like. Now that there has been a week of days where temperature is above freezing, the snow and ice finally have all disappeared. So I took a few shot of what the site looks like after the stump is removed.

Tree Removal

 

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