Ajax Pickering Real Estate Blog

Inspection Insights

A typical fireplace consists of a firebox lined with firebrick (the area where the logs burn). The heat causes a draft that pulls the smoke up the flue, usually a tile or metal liner inside a masonry chimney. A damper regulates the draft and keeps air from escaping when the fireplace is not in use. A smoke shelf behind the damper prevents the outside air from pushing smoke into the house.

Gas Fireplace
This type of unit is mostly decorative and should always be operated with the damper open so carbon monoxide will vent up the chimney. A direct-vent version is available that does not require a chimney because CO is expelled out the rear.

Fireplace Insert
These units fit into an existing fireplace and work more like a wood stove. The space around the unit must be covered with sheet steel and sealed with cement grout or mortar. A flue liner must extend through the top of the chimney. This improves the draft, keeps the gases hotter (reducing creosote) and reduces the risk of flue gases seeping back into the house.

Wood Stove
A modern wood stove is more efficient than a heat-circulating fireplace. Advanced systems create conditions to burn combustible gases without the use of catalysts. With catalyst stoves, a ceramic honeycomb extracts heat from the flue gases. Pellet stoves use manufactured pellets that are fed into the combustion chamber.

Maintenance of a fireplace or wood stove:

* a stove will perform better if a one or two-inch layer of ash is left over the grates
* clean the chimney when creosote buildup reaches 1/8 inch, to prevent fires
* repair the firebox and masonry - any cracks wider than 1/64 inch pose a fire hazard

Safety Tips for Fireplaces and Wood Stoves

* Do not burn trash, Christmas trees, or wrappings.
* Do not burn pressure-treated or painted wood.
* Do not burn pine or other soft wood.
* Line old chimneys with tile or metal.
* Purchase only direct-vent fireplaces rated by the Underwriters’ Laboratories(UL), the American Gas Association (AGA), or the Canadian Gas Association(CGA).

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416-388-1960

Every 10 seconds or so, a burglar breaks into someone’s home or apartment. Statistics show it takes the average burglar as little as five minute to get in and out.

Here are some ways to make your home less appealing to burglars.

Keep your garage door locked.
That is where many burglars get into your home. Often, we worry about locking all the other exterior doors, and burglars know that. So they head to the garage first.

Know the surprising time.
Most home burglaries occur between 3 and 6 p.m. These burglars are usually older teenagers who strike after school, so make sure you lock your doors and windows during the day too.

Avoid the safety precaution that can invite burglars.
Large bushes and trees in front of your windows are an open invitation. You may think that you are making it harder for burglars to get into your house, but it just gives them privacy from neighbors while they break in. Instead, plant thorny, short, or slim bushes like cactus or pyracantha.

Know the biggest mistake people make.
Lock your door when you go to a neighbor’s house. Heading down the street for five minutes gives burglars all the time they need.

Install lights with motion sensors.
These lights usually cost under $50 and can reduce your risk of burglary by more than half. Burglars don’t want a spotlight, so the minute that light comes on, they’ll change their mind and go somewhere else.

Know where not to keep your valuables.
Burglars often hit just two rooms: the master bedroom for jewelry boxes and valuables, and the living room for the big stuff. Consider stashing valuables in the linen closet or family room desk. Most thieves won’t make time to look there.

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416-388-1960

Saskatoon, Regina prices up 50%

CBC News

Canada’s real estate scene is showing no sign of the weakness sweeping through the U.S. market, as sales and prices continue to rise.

The average resale price in 24 major markets jumped $5,000 from September to October, to $333,544, according to figures from the Canadian Real Estate Association.

That’s a rise of 10.6% from last October — the sixth month in a row of double-digit year-over-year price gains.

The country’s priciest real estate continued to be found in Vancouver, where the average resale price jumped $8,000 from September to reach $590,577 in October — up 7.8% from a year earlier.

Alberta’s cities used to post the biggest percentage price gains. But recently, it’s been Saskatchewan that’s been doing the booming.

Saskatoon’s average resale home sold for $255,614 in October — up a whopping 53.3% from October 2006. Regina’s increase was just behind — up 50.3% to $190,657.

Average resale prices hit record highs in the two Saskatchewan cities, as well as in Montreal and Toronto.

Toronto’s average price jumped $14,000 in a month to $394,583. A similar price rise took place in the Hamilton-Burlington, Ont. region.

Prices in every market except Windsor were up over last year. Windsor’s real estate market remains weak, with prices down four per cent year-over-year.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, sales rose 1.3% from September’s level, with more than half the markets reporting an increase in activity.

“Negotiations still favour the seller in nearly all major markets,” the Canadian Real Estate Association’s chief economist Gregory Klump said in a release. “This suggests resale housing demand remains on a strong footing, and that price increases will continue to exceed overall consumer price inflation.”

The Canadian Real Estate Association forecasts that average prices in 2008 will set new records in every province, despite a slowdown in sales activity.

The Canadian Real Estate Association’s figures are based on sales through the Multiple Listing Service system.

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416-388-1960