The Ontario Real Estate Association represents over 45,000 brokers and salespeople who are members of the province’s 42 real estate boards. OREA serves its members through a wide variety of publications, educational programs and special services. The association provides all real estate licensing courses in Ontario.
OREA was founded in 1922 to organize real estate activities and develop common goals across the province. These goals included promoting higher industry standards, protecting the general public from unscrupulous brokers and salespeople, and preserving private property rights.
OREA continually strives to improve the image of REALTORS® by enhancing educational and professional standards. OREA develops and publishes standard forms, and supports educational and charitable causes through the REALTORS Care Foundation.
The Ontario Real Estate Association can be located www.orea.com
Categories: General Information
Tagged: Real Estate
By Carson & Dunlop Associates
While this issue is not at the centre of the unity debate, we in Ontario should realize that Canadians in the rest of this country think we’re a little nuts because of our fixation with brick houses. Our theory is that people in Ontario were raised on stories like the “Three Little Pigs”. We want a house that nobody can huff and puff and blow down. There’s Brick and Then There’s Brick
What most people in Ontario don’t realize is that there are two very different types of brick houses, brick veneer and solid masonry.
Solid Masonry
Solid masonry construction is also called ‘Solid Brick’, ‘Double Brick’, and sometimes ‘Brick and Block’. In its most common form, a solid masonry wall consists of an outer layer of brick and an inner layer of brick (a layer of brick is called a ‘wythe’ in masonry circles).
The reason why solid masonry is a more accurate description than solid brick or double brick is because the inner wythe may not be brick. Because the inner wythe will never be seen, concrete or cinder block is sometimes substituted for brick.
As a brick wall increases in height, there is more and more danger that the inner wythe will separate from the outer wythe. To hold the two wythe’s together, header bricks are installed, usually every six rows. From the outside, header bricks look like regular bricks except they are shorter. In reality, they are the same size as a normal brick, however they are installed sideways so that the end of the brick is visible from the exterior of the building. The header bricks act as a bridge between the outer wythe and the inner wythe and prevent the two from separating.
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Categories: Home Inspection Information
Tagged: Toronto Home Inspection
