A Toronto family’s plans to create their dream home have come crashing down.
Part of the house they just bought on Roxton Road, near College Street and Ossington Avenue, collapsed Wednesday night while work was under way to dig out the basement.
The homeowners were not home at the time, but neighbour Tim Gray called 911 when he heard strange noises coming from the house.
“I just heard it started cracking and I could hear bricks falling inside, and I could hear metal shearing a bit,” he told CTV Toronto.
“I’ve built cabins and I know a bit about that stuff and I know that when you start hearing that stuff at 11 p.m. and there’s no one in the house, you’ve probably got a problem,” he said.
When police arrived, they were initially skeptical there was a problem. But about 10 minutes after their arrival, the side wall of the semidetached house came down.
Neighbours on both sides of the house were told to leave until it is safe again. There’s word now that the home attached to the damaged house has sustained serious damage as well.
This morning, the homeowners told CTV that they were undergoing a total renovation for which they had all the proper permits.
Construction workers working on the home interior said city building inspectors had been at the site Tuesday to check the underpinning and had not flagged any problems.
City inspectors were back at the site Thursday, and declared that no one can enter the site for now.
Engineers will have the final say on whether the house will need to be demolished. The homeowners say they have insurance.
With a report from CTV Toronto’s Austin Delaney
