Row houses breaking building code

With building codes changing over the years, row homeowners  are realizing how dangerous their houses are. 

 Ontario building codes have changed significantly since the early 1900s. With the changes, older row homes are not up to code while the newer ones are safer according to Lori Lynn, homeowner on Monmouth street. 

Since 2009, more people are buying multi-family dwelling units than single-family homes. By 2013, multi-family dwelling ownership had peaked, selling more than in the past 36 years. While in 2014 single-family home ownership had reached its lowest point in 20 years according to Statistics Canada.  

 Lynn was an owner of one of these old–row homes, in the 1200 block of Monmouth. She lived there for 25 years and was happy with the house but said she knew it was dangerous if there were to be a fire.   

 “The attic across the entire row was open to the peak of the roof from a knee wall,” said Lynn. “This is incredibly dangerous in a fire scenario as evidenced in a row house behind us on Argyle…the entire row burned to the ground.”   

An entire building of six row houses on Argyle Road were involved in a fire in 2018 and all six were destroyed. The row of homes on Argyle also had a common attic with no fire walls.   

 “Fire codes and building codes have definitely changed since we started in 2004,” said Brent Klundert, owner of BK Cornerstone Design–Build. “There were several iterations of the Ontario building code that have affected the way townhomes have been built.”    

Klundert’s company has built over 300 units. His company uses sound insulation and drywall to deaden sound between units.    

“The fire separation walls we are doing now are different more so now because of new materials and better methods,” said Klundert.   

Today the Ontario building code is safer and requires a fire resistance rating of one hour, when the shared wall is on the property line. This means it takes the fire one hour to burn completely through the wall.  

According to the Ontario building code, the party wall on the property line must be made of mineral wool or noncombustible material. These building codes are enforced by the ministry of municipal affairs and housing.  

 Alyssa Ismail, real estate agent with Century 21, said fire and sound-proof walls are a main concern when showing duplexes or row homes to potential buyers.   

  “The fire–proofing and sound–proofing you would never be able to hear what is next door, the older styles ones didn’t have the same codes,” said Ismail. “Some people specifically ask for a town home cause of less maintenance.” 

Not only are there different building methods for the houses to be safer but also for making them quieter.   

 “The walls are very sound resistant but not completely soundproof,” said Klundert. “We use sound insulation and drywall to deaden sound between units.” 

On Argyle Road, on the once vacant lot where the row homes were burned down, there is now a new set of row homes with today’s building codes and new building methods.   

For more building code information, you can visit ontario.ca