Oakville Housing Inspections

Nearly all of Oakville's 180+ residences were recently inspected. Each was supposed to be evaluated for their appraised value before the flood versus the amount of damage each had. If the damage amount was 50% or greater, the home was considered suitable for demolition.

It was estimated about 60% or around 110 met the fifty percent damage threshold. About 50 mobile homes or manufactured housing units, every one in town, were considered destroyed.

My parents had a trailer next to the house my dad had put in place when my grandparents moved to town about 35 years ago. He had expanded it when they moved to a house in town and some of my sisters had moved in. The trailer, which was only used for storage now, didn't budge in the flood waters, probably because of the addition. Most of the others in town were moved from their pads by the current.

My sister and brother-in-law owned the mobile home shown below, though no one lived in it at the time of the flooding. It swung 90 degrees from its original position and leaned over. The metal panels on the side were ripped by the flow.

The town has received grants to remove all of the mobile homes. Property owners must sign documents for the process to start. There was a trailer park in the northeast part of town and all of the mobile homes have been demolished. The contractors are removing 2-4 of these per day.

My parent's house, the one we have been working on, is one that has been designated for demolition. We have yet to see the damage assessment so we don't know what has been determined to put it on the list. My sister and brother-in-law's house has also been designated for demolition, though it didn't have the order placed on the structure. I was told we could protest the assessment though we don't have enough information to consider at this time.

I spoke to one man whose son was repairing his house when it was tagged as unsafe. They were waiting for more information to determine what they would do.