UPDATE, May 4, 2026, 7:58 a.m. Houle has cancelled the work scheduled for today. It will be rescheduled, likely in late May or early June.
Houle Electric will be doing preventative maintenance work on Monday, May 4, 2026 in the 248 building, but this will require the power for all three buildings to be shut off, for what should be no more than four hours.
The official notice shows:
Disconnect Time: 9 a.m. Reconnect Time: 1 p.m.
It’s possible the work may not take the full time listed.
Again, all three buildings will have power shut off for at least part of Monday, May 4, 2026:
Here’s an update on the issue of water pooling during heavy rain in front of the 240 building, first covered here.
A pipe to nowhere
Council VP Jeff did more exploratory work in the area and uncovered some interesting things.
The first is a small pipe that goes from underneath the north planter in front of the building entrance to…nowhere.
It was apparently intended to feed into the drain shown in the shot below, but as you can see, it doesn’t line up with the drain at all (the other pipe partly exposed is tied to the irrigation system).
A pipe that doesn’t actually connect to the drain.
At its starting point, the pipe is not connected to anything and was 100% clogged full of dirt. Since this pipe is normally buried and does not connect to anything, it would have been impossible to keep it from clogging as designed.
The pipe ends somewhere in the narrow gap in the Allan blocks.
The solution: Giving the pipe a purpose
The solution to this was the following:
Install a larger piece of PVC pipe
Connect the PVC pipe to the drain
Extend the PVC pipe under the planter and connect it to a curved piece of PVC pipe that can collect and direct the water to the drain
Step 1: Connect larger PVC pipe directly to the drainStep 2: Direct the new PVC pipe through the planter and out to the other sideStep 3: Cap off the pipe before drilling holes and applying river stoneStep 4: The cap now has holes to allow water entry. River stone has been placed around the cap to allow water into the new PVC pipe
The other side: Strange connections
The pipe on the north side had additional holes drilled into it and was also capped off similar to the south planter. The area will be filled with river stone when complete.
River stone will be added.
The configuration of the above pipe is rather odd:
The end that points to the courtyard quickly dead-ends
The other end appears to run to the edge of the building, where it turns up and connects to a down spout. This means that water coming down the down spout will exit out onto the area in front of the 240 building–not ideal. Jeff thinks there may be a T-pipe that is buried under the planter that is intended to direct the water to the underground parking drainage. If this is the case, that T-pipe is likely plugged (and there is no way to access it without digging).
Generally, the construction of the pipes and drains in front of the 240 building was done in a haphazard manner. Drains should not be in the planters at all and obviously all pipes should connect, not just dead end. Jeff’s fixes should provide adequate relief when heavy rains occur, until proper drains and pipes can be installed as part of Phase 2 of the membrane replacement project.
The north planter, all tidied up and ready for the next big storm.
Earlier this winter, as water pooled outside the entrance to the 240 building, council opted to rent a pump to help drain away the excess water to avoid the possibility of it reaching the building.
With the current “atmospheric river event” in full swing today, water again began pooling outside the entrance of 240. I notified the council VP (disclaimer: The council VP is also my partner, so I’m allowed 24/7 access, heh) and he directed me to do two things (he was at work and not able to directly assist):
Use a mattock to dig around a small perforated pipe adjacent to the right planter outside 240 (as you look toward the building). This would provide some flow for the water and prevent flooding.
Purchase a pump similar to the one used in the previous water pooling, so council would always have one on hand in the event of an emergency.
I went to Princess Auto on foot and let me tell you, some of the puddles I encountered were big enough that the vehicles plowing through them were kicking up waves the size of a small house. It wouldn’t have mattered much in terms of getting wet, because the rain was continuous all day, just varying in intensity. I got thoroughly soaked, but got the pump!
I checked on the water level after returning and digging around the perforated pipe had allowed enough water to drain away to allow direct access to the building entrance, rather than having to approach from the sides to avoid the mega-puddle.
The pump was set up and in a short time it drained away the rest of the water. Council will continue to monitor the water levels tomorrow as the atmospheric river winds down.
I’ll talk a bit about a permanent solution to the issue below (and why it’s happening).
Some photos:
The water level as I initially encountered it.The perforated pipe after I dug out the dirt and gravel around it. It was originally completely submerged under water.The pump shortly after being set up.Approximately 15 minutes later, the water is pretty much drained away (and yes, the pump was moved, to allow optimal pumping to continue).
Why is this happening?
The 240 and 244 buildings both suffer the same issue–inadequate drainage. The 240 building, in particular, has no real drains at all around the entrance, so when we get a very intense amount of rain in a short period of time, it starts pooling up.
The same thing has happened with the 244 building. I took to referring to the giant puddle that would form in front of the entrance as “Lake Copperstone.” Previous councils apparently talked about looking into doing something about this, but nothing ever happened. Council VP Jeff took it upon himself to provide better drainage for the 244 entrance on his own, before he was on council, and now pooling is much less severe there than it used to be. But the main problem remains: When there’s a lot of water in a short span of time, it has nowhere to go.
Outside the 244 building, same day. Water pooling is much less here.
What’s the long-term solution?
Phase 2 of the membrane project should provide a permanent fix to this. As with Phase 1, new drains will be added in areas where it makes sense. For the water pooling issue, the ideal location of new drains will be between the planters in front of both buildings, with the paving stones gently sloping toward the drains to allow the water to naturally flow into them and away from the entrances. This work will be relatively easy to facilitate, because the affected areas will be open/exposed due to the Phase 2 construction. I do not know of an ETA on Phase 2, but it will likely happen as soon as it is feasible.
UPDATE: This post originally stated the work would be complete on March 18. It has been corrected to Thursday, March 19.
I’m a bit late on posting this, but several people have asked about it, so here is the update:
Crack repairs related to Phase 1 of the membrane project are currently taking place in the underground parking below the 244 building. A large area has been cordoned off and plastic sheets have been put up to contain dust and debris while the concrete slab is drilled. When drilling is complete, the crack will be filled with a concrete-like mixture that will prevent leaks from above.
The work should be completed on Thursday, March 19. Owners who had vehicles in the affected area were notified, I am not sure why a general notice of work was not made to all residents.
You can just see some of the plastic sheeting on the left side of the photo below, which shows the contractor’s vehicle.
The original crack was sealed from above with Kryton Krystol but was not covered in plastic and never cured properly. Rather than fixing it, Prostar and Strata Engineering opted to continue with work on the membrane installation, thus requiring the more expensive repair from below.
Here is a shot of the crack a few days after it was filled with the Kryton Krystol, from November 14, 2025. Most of the crack is submerged under rain water and the repair material is already breaking away.
Well, not that mighty. With the windstorm that blew through last night, some branches from the courtyard trees came down. Jeff and I took a saw to the largest and cut it into pieces, depositing them with the ex-birch tree. The branch pile will be cleaned up when a new landscaping contract is signed.
Just long enough to be awkward to move out of the way.
On February 26, Jeff and I began the task of cleaning the stairs leading up to the hospital path and lane. The stairs had been closed for about five months due to construction related to Phase 1 of the membrane project and had gathered a lot of grunge, debris and plant detritus.
I began with the first task–pulling out all the vine growth that had spread over the top stairs and landing. Fortunately, they are dry right now, so it wasn’t difficult to gather them and squish them into my litter bucket for disposal. After doing this, I did a sweep of remaining loose debris on the steps and landing.
Vines and leaves.
The stairs after initial sweep. Better, but not great.
We then took turns power washing the first two sets of stairs and the landing that connects them.
The stairs, after power washing:
The landing after washing:
By comparison, one of the areas we have yet to get to:
We hope to get the whole staircase done soon. It’s amazing what some TLC does for the look of the property!
