Storytime…
Did I ever tell you about the time Ben and I went for one of our home walk-throughs and looked up to find a giant hole in the roof of the house we were just about to close on?
Yep. That happened.
Our new home already came with a bit of a backstory. When we first found it, it had been sitting on the market for months… listed too high, clearly unoccupied, and gathering dust. The owners had moved out of the country for work and hadn’t really maintained it. The funny thing is, the owners before them had loved it deeply. They had put time and care into renovating the interior and creating beautiful landscaping. You could feel that history underneath the neglect… like the house was just waiting for someone to bring it back to life.
So when we did one of our final walk-throughs in September, we were excited. We stepped into the backyard, looked around at all the work we’d already envisioned doing… and then froze.
There was insulation scattered across the grass.
We looked up… and there it was. A hole. In. The. Roof.
Cue instant panic.
Within minutes, Ben (being the calm, capable restoration project manager that he is) started assessing the situation while I went into full call-everyone mode. We quickly learned from a kind neighbour that a raccoon had decided to move in while the house sat vacant… and she even had photo proof.
Inside, in the primary bedroom directly under the hole, we noticed fresh water stains that hadn’t been there during our original home inspection two months earlier. That’s when the reality set in: this wasn’t a minor issue. It had to be fixed immediately.
Ben called his friend Denis, who owns Fixed Contracting Services Inc., while I was on the phone with our realtor and lawyer. The only leverage we had was to make sure the sellers fixed it before closing… and fast. Rain was in the forecast that weekend, and we were closing on two homes the same day, so there was no wiggle room.
Thankfully, the sellers managed to get the repair done just in time.
Fast forward to this week… Denis and his team came by to inspect everything properly (Ben in the red jacket, of course, watching closely). I can’t tell you the relief we felt when they confirmed that the repair met their standards. The only additional issue was a skylight that needs replacing (not a huge surprise) plus a few loose shingles and vents to monitor.
All in all, the roof is solid, the raccoon is long gone, and we can finally exhale knowing our new home is officially on the mend.
It feels so good to bring this house (once forgotten) back to life again.
If you’re in the Toronto or GTA area and ever find yourself in a similar “uh-oh” moment (or need any restoration or repair work done), I can’t recommend Fixed Contracting Services Inc. enough. They offer 24/7 emergency services, are incredibly professional, and truly care about the quality of their work.
416-575-2979
www.fixedcontracting.com
Serving Toronto and the GTA.