Update on kitchen and ventilation projects from the Board of Directors
The Weekly May 28, 2023
The scope of the kitchen and ventilation project has now reached the medium rise. There are understandably many questions from members regarding the work. Help is available for any members who request it, in order to prepare their homes for entry by contractors. Please notify the office if you require assistance in moving furniture or heavy objects. Materials such as plastic sheeting and boxes are also available from the Co-op on request. Patrick Arendse, our capital projects co-ordinator, is available to answer questions at 647-225-5796 or patrick.woodsworthcoop@gmail.com
Members are encouraged to contact the office as soon as possible to order paint for the affected areas of their units. There will be a form to fill out, and the paint colour should match what it had been just prior to the work commencing. For ventilation, only the areas where the work was done will be painted by the contractors, but the paint must be available upon their completion of the unit. For the kitchens, the room as a whole will be repainted.
An ad hoc committee has been formed to assist with communication around the project. The Board is pleased to welcome Jill MacDonald and Daphne Dutton as members of this new group to support members during the renovation process. They are making themselves aware of current and emerging issues, and will be an added resource for members with questions relating to how to prepare and what to expect in your units.
The Co-op is purchasing extra fans and air purifying filters to reduce the amount of dust in units and hallways of the medium rise.
The workers are engaged in up to five units simultaneously. For ventilation, there are seven main stages to the project: unit preparation, (areas to be cleared and items packed away), drywall cutting, duct work, electrical work, inspection, drywall repair, repainting. For both kitchen and ventilation, members can expect up to two weeks for completion, or if at all possible, fewer than 3 weeks.. It must be stressed that during this period, workers may not be present for the full working day and there may be days in which they will not enter at all. This is because of the multi-step complexity of the project. On days that your units will not be entered, an effort will be made to notify you that morning, although this cannot be guaranteed.
A significant reason for the length of time to complete work in individual units is due to the schedule of the municipal inspectors. Winford and CMS, (performing and overseeing the work), are making every effort to inform the inspectors well in advance of the estimated date of completion in any particular unit. However, the precise dates and times of the inspections are not within their control, and this may delay the final steps of drywall completion and painting. Please understand that the inspections are mandated and not optional. The Board and CMS/Winford are advocating to the building municipality to exercise as much expediency as possible, given the significant disruption to people’s units.
You can expect an estimate of two visits from Patrick Arendse and attendant professionals for the ventilation project, and 3 for the kitchen renovation. An appropriate notice of entry (48 hours) is expected for these visits. This is in order to enable them to assess the needs of your unit before work commences, and to evaluate its progress/results. Patrick, in addition to the written notifications from the office, will inform you of what items need to be moved or protected.
Any valuables, such as trinkets or potentially fragile wall hangings or windowsill items, should be secured in advance. Vibrations from the work may dislodge them, so please be mindful of any objects of sentimental or monetary value.
You may be home during the work, but there will be a significant degree of noise and dust. The Penthouse has been furnished and equipped for your comfort and respite during the turmoil, replete with a fridge, stove, coffee maker, tables, chairs, wifi, TV, and an instruction manual on how to use them.
The Co-op has arranged for the professional service of air quality testing both prior to and subsequent to work being done. In a test performed in a unit post-renovation, there was no detectable level of asbestos.
There is a lot of information to digest, and we realize that the nature of this work being done in our homes can create a great deal of stress and uncertainty. We feel it imperative to stress though, that the workers be treated with the respect to which we are all entitled. Any remarks or other behaviour which is abusive in nature can result in a notice to appear before the Board or open the Co-op to litigation under the Human Rights Code. We realize that the majority of members have not and do not engage in such behaviour, but it is incumbent on the Board to formally state our position.