DaveT wrote:
Has anybody come across that Holmes on Homes show? It's a contractor (I
think he's in Toronto) who takes on homes with botched construction /
repair / redo jobs.

I always thought, in general, that there was more regulation in Canada
than in the US. One of the recurring points is that most home inspectors
aren't worth much. All the shows are on houses with debacles, but it
still makes you wonder.
Hi,
He is good guy in my book. When area was hit with big flood in 100 years
before last year, he came out and volunteered to fix one badly damaged
house.
Most problems occur for folks trying to save some money when renovating
house or building a new house. There are bad trade people, real crooks.
But if one buys a new home it comes with a 5 year warranty government
backed by law. If builder goes out of business in that 5 year period,
government takes care of the problem. They have pulled fund annually
collected from legit builders. In my case I had 5 houses built over the
years by a German fella. I could do any thing with shake of our hands
with him as long as he understand what I wanted. Previous houses all
sold to first buyer came around. On one house I got more than asking
price. Unique custom features and excellent workmanship counts a lot.
That guy is now retired. Moved down South, to Phoenix area.