Tom from Barrie

First view homeowners should be aware of a flagrant building code violations we observed that were committed by this builder. After hearing neighbors complain of cracked and broken ceramic tiles (one homeowner 3 times) we discovered that our ceramic tile we paid the builder thousands of dollars for, were not installed in accordance with the Ontario building code. The Ontario Building Code 9.30.6.4. requires a minimum mortar bed thickness of 12.5 mm not including the layer of adhesive. This is to prevent deflection of the floor structure that can cause tiles to crack and break. A portion of this code follows: 9.30.6.4. Ceramic tile applied to mortar bed with adhesive (1) When ceramic tile is applied to a mortar bed with adhesive, the bed shall be not less than 12.5 mm thick. Homeowners can easily check their tile floors by lifting the heating vents to see the profile of the floor structure. Typically a tile floor structure to minimum code has a 16 mm (5/8") sub-floor, 12.5 mm (1/2") mortar bed, 3 mm (1/8") compressed adhesive and 6.35 mm (1/4") thick ceramic tile (your own tile may vary in thickness). Based on this, our tile floors should have a minimum thickness of 37.85 mm or about 1 1/2". In fact, our tile floors for example are only 31 mm and 32 mm thick respectively. We have 6.85 mm of mortar missing leaving only a 5.65 mm mortar bed. We called the Barrie building inspection department and they observed the violation and issued an Order To Comply. Postscript: New concerns have been raised about roof venting or the lack thereof. There are some homes that do not have the required high space roof venting at all. Other homes with existing roof vents are not distributed uniformly on opposite sides of the building as required. Our roof venting is not in compliance with the building code because they lined up 5 roof vents all on one side of the roof when they should have distributed them evenly with 3 on each side. It is known that significant roof damage can occur such as wood decay, buckling roof sheathing and reduced life of asphalt shingles among other problems due to inadequate venting. The building code follows: Section 9.19. Roof Spaces 9.19.1.1. Required Venting (1) Except where it can be shown to be unnecessary, where insulation is installed between a ceiling and the underside of the roof sheathing, a space shall be provided between the insulation and the sheathing, and vents shall be installed to permit the movement of air from the space to the exterior. 9.19.1.2. Vent Requirements (1) Except as provided in Sentence (2), the unobstructed vent area shall be not less than 1/300 of the insulated ceiling area. (2) Where the roof slope is less than 1 in 6 or in roofs that are constructed with roof joists, the unobstructed vent area shall be not less than 1/150 of the insulated ceiling area. (3) Required vents are permitted to