A PRPTY Network resource

    Methodology, sources, scope and limitations

    What this site is built from, what its tools actually do, and where its usefulness ends.

    What this site is

    OldHouses.ca is a reference and question-generation resource for older Canadian homes. It helps buyers, sellers, owners, and their agents work out what to investigate and who is qualified to investigate it. It is not an inspection, an assessment, a valuation, a legal opinion, or an insurance determination, and nothing on it should be treated as one.

    No account is required, no form gates any content, and the tools run entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter into the risk profile or the worksheet is stored or transmitted.

    Evidence levels

    A house cannot be diagnosed from its age. Construction practice varied by region, by builder, and by budget, and most older homes have been altered since. Every claim on this site is therefore labelled with how much it can actually support:

    Commonly associated with this eraCommonly associated with this era
    The practice or material was in general use during the build period. It says nothing about whether it is present in a specific home.
    PossiblePossible, and worth checking
    Something about the situation — era, province, a described renovation, a missing record — makes this worth a specific question. It is a prompt, not a finding.
    ObservedObserved
    Someone has seen it — you, an inspector, a photograph. Observation establishes presence, not extent, condition, or consequence.
    Confirmed by a qualified professionalConfirmed by a qualified professional
    A licensed or certified professional, or an accredited laboratory, has documented it in writing. This is the only level on which decisions should rest.

    Sourcing standard

    Canadian primary sources are preferred. Where a rule is provincial, it is identified as provincial. A requirement from one province is never presented as a national one, and citations are not created where a source has not been consulted. Where this site cannot support a claim, the claim is removed rather than softened.

    • Health Canada

      Radon guideline and testing protocol, lead exposure guidance, asbestos in the home.

    • Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)

      Home inspection expectations, moisture and envelope research, maintenance and renovation guidance.

    • National Research Council Canada — codes

      National Building Code and National Fire Code history, and when requirements changed.

    • Natural Resources Canada

      Energy retrofit sequencing and home energy evaluation programs.

    • Provincial electrical, gas, and safety authorities

      Permit, licensing, and inspection requirements. These differ by province and are never presented here as nationwide rules.

    • Municipal heritage and building departments

      Permit history retrieval, heritage designation constraints, local bylaws.

    Scope and limitations

    • Geography. Canada. Climate, soil, code adoption, and enforcement vary enormously across the country; national statements are general by necessity.
    • Building type. Low-rise residential property, mainly detached and semi-detached homes built between roughly 1900 and 1990.
    • No cost data is published. Any dollar figure you see in a tool is a figure you entered. Older homes vary too widely for generic pricing to be honest.
    • No property-specific conclusions. The risk profile returns questions to investigate. It cannot and does not tell you what is in your home.
    • No insurance or lending determination. Underwriting rules are set by individual insurers and lenders and change without notice.
    • No legal advice. Disclosure obligations, contract conditions, and heritage rules require a lawyer or notary in your province.
    • Currency. Pages carry a last-reviewed date. Codes and programs change; verify anything time-sensitive against the primary source.

    What you will not find here

    No testimonials, star ratings, or reviews. No contractor endorsements or paid placements presented as recommendations. No statistics without a source. No superlatives about this site's own completeness. No countdown pressure, and no copy designed to frighten you into a purchase.

    Corrections

    If something here is wrong or out of date, tell us at info@prpty.ca and cite the source. Corrections are made to the page and reflected in its last-reviewed date.

    See also Privacy, Terms, and the full disclaimer.