Construction Archives | Page 3 of 4 | Sweat Equity – The Grimsby Homebuilding Co-operative 1953

A visit to the neighbours

Albertine would battle the red clay all the years of tending her magnificent vegetable garden.

Earth and mud everywhere

As some houses neared completion, the families began to move in. It must have been a challenge for Moms and Dads to keep their children safe and clear […]

Stuck in the mud

It was noted that a man who became stuck in the mud had to walk out of his boots and carry on “with one bare foot.”

Shingling in the Lakedale Co-op

Some jobs were simply backbreaking and others required skill. Sometimes work could be dangerous. Supervisors and inspectors were on hand, but men who had never done construction found […]

Shingling alone or together

Harold works on the roof of a 2-story building illustrating the challenges and dangers facing the builders. Fortunately there were contractors who over saw the day-to-day workings of […]

Teamwork was key

Working 30 hours on the co-op site per week, over and above their regular jobs, the builders focused first on grunt work. Eventually, they took on some of […]

North end homes, with the Niagara Escarpment to the south

Within view of both the Niagara Escarpment and Lake Ontario, this beautifully situated neighbourhood was aptly named Lakemount Terrace Subdivision. As houses passed inspection, the CMHC would release […]

Sweat equity begins with land clearing

The men were so anxious to begin the building phase, they cleared the land themselves. Later, they would mix their own concrete, haul and lay bricks for basements […]

Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) facing east, 1947

The QEW, built in the late 1930s and upgraded in the late 1940s, had sped up travel from Hamilton to Grimsby, but it was still a 25-minute commute. […]

Bob Walsh

Bob Walsh would become one of co-operative housing’s greatest advocates. On a visit to a co-op build site near Ottawa, he burned with the ideals of co-operation. Known […]

Father O’Brien and Father Sherlock

O’Brien and Sherlock had been introduced to co-operative methods a few years earlier, as students at St. Augustine’s Seminary, when Father Marrocco had come to lecture. After the […]

A Guide to Co-operative Housing: Chapter 8 Choice of Materials

Asphalt shingles are today the most popular type of shingle. Asphalt roofing felt underlies the shingles. Each strip of shingles overlaps the strip below by about six inches. […]