Homeowner
Post Move-In

Post Move-In GTA
Homeowner Responsibilities

Lease Homeowner Responsibilities

Protecting your investment

Follow these best practices to keep your new home in tiptop shape and protect your new home's warranty. Take control of condensation, understand proper seasonal maintenance, prevent heat and water damage, and care for interior features and finishes. 

Your participation in the warranty process is key

Completing your warranty forms

One of the first things you can do to protect your new home and its warranty is to follow the process laid out by Tarion by registering at MyHome at www.tarion.com. Your first obligation is to submit a list of items you may have noticed from living in your home between 25 and 30 days after your date of possession. Please also send a copy to the Minto Communities Warranty Team so we can schedule a work day. You will follow the same process again on your first and second year anniversaries.

Being available for scheduled repair days

Buying a new home is a significant financial investment but we also recognize the significant investment it is in terms of time. Minto Communities will work with you to schedule repair work days as conveniently as possible. We will coordinate to have as many Trades and workers in on the same day, to minimize the amount of time we are in your home. We do ask that you, or a trusted friend or family member, be home for these repairs, so that you can confirm they are completed to your satisfaction.

Learn More About

Inside Your Home

Outside Your Home

Preventing Damage To Your Home

Seasonal Maintenance Checklist

Critical Home Care Tips

Humidity control and ventilation

One of the most important things you can do to protect your home and its warranty is maintain proper humidity control for the current outside temperature. This is even more critical in a modern, new home that is built to Minto Communities' and the new building code’s air-tight and energy efficiency standards. Purchasing a couple of hygrometers and taking readings in various areas of your home can help you effectively monitor and adjust humidity.

Protecting your finishes and furniture

Maintaining the relative humidity in your home has many benefits, not only to your overall comfort, but proper humidity control can also extend the life of any wood products inside the home, such as furniture, cabinetry, and flooring. It is highly recommended, particularly during the winter months, that indoor relative humidity is monitored and that efforts are made to control the humidity levels by ventilating well; either by opening windows, using your range hood exhaust, investing in a dehumidifier, running bathroom fans and/or HRV. As a general guideline, it is recommended that relative humidity level of 35% be maintained; however, on extremely cold days, which are common in the Ontario winter months, the number should be lowered. Some wood products and hardwoods require slightly higher or lower humidity levels, as recommended by their manufacturer. Please contact the Minto Warranty Team for more advice.

Adjust your humidity according to the weather

Condensation and high humidity are a common cause of deficiencies in a new home and if the root cause of a deficiency is determined to be improper humidity, the item is not covered by your new home warranty. In the winter months as the exterior temperature drops and central heating is turned on in homes, moisture in the air condenses on cold surfaces such as windows and doors. Water droplets form on these surfaces and run down, which if left unchecked, can cause damage to window frames, drywall, flooring and interior trim. Damage resulting from condensation is also not covered by the home warranty, and if ignored can lead to fungal growth on wet surfaces. Water damage from condensation is unsightly, but in most cases, it can be easily repaired as long as any standing water is cleaned up and the surface is allowed to properly dry out

Outside Air TemperatureIdeal Relative Humidity (%)
Celsius (°C)Fahrenheit (°F)At an indoor temperature of 21°C (70 °F)
-24 -10 25%
-18 0 30%
-12 10 35%
-7 20 40%
0 32 45%

Outside Your Home

Lease

Watering your new lawn

Watering of new sod just after its installation is critical for your new grass to survive. In the absence of adequate rain, water new grass daily to promote root development. The optimum time for watering is early morning. To ensure that you are watering enough, lift a corner of the new sod. If the soil underneath is not soaking wet, more watering is required. After two to three weeks, the grass should be well established and should then only require watering depending on the amount of rainfall. If the sod begins to turn reddish brown, more frequent watering is needed.

Maintaining your grading and rainwater run-off

The grading or shape of your land on your lot provides positive drainage away from your home and into the storm sewer system. The grading must be maintained to prevent drainage issues on your lot, and the lots of your neighbours. Lot drainage systems such as swales, (shallow ditches) and catch basins are designed to direct water away from the home. Remove leaves and other debris from the catch basin covers in the spring and fall, as well as snow and ice in the early spring. This will ensure proper drainage.

Your property has been graded for proper drainage during a normal rainfall. Heavy or prolonged rains may result in some standing water pooling in depressions or on the road adjacent to the curb when the soil is saturated, for up to 48 hours.

Lease

Winterizing your water pipes

Exterior hose bibs and faucets need to be properly drained each year before the winter season to prevent freezing pipes. Winterize your pipes every fall, before frost occurs, as burst hose pipes or damage to exterior faucets are not covered under the new home warranty. Please contact the Warranty Team if you are not sure how to winterize your exterior faucets.

Preventing Damage To Your Home

Preventing water damage

Water damage is one factor of home care many homeowners don’t think about until it’s too late. It’s important to learn the signs of a potential water problem in your home so you can avoid costly repairs.

  • Never ignore a drip or drop. You should immediately attempt to find and stop leaks before they cause any damage
  • Do not leave standing water or wet cloths on a countertop, particularly on joints or near the junction of the countertop and back splash as this can cause water damage including swelling of the subsurface of the countertop
  • Wipe up spills on hardwood flooring before they are absorbed into the wood or become sticky
  • Remove spills from carpeting immediately to prevent spots and stains. If stains occur do not rub the carpet surface while attempting to remove them. Stains should be blotted out with cotton cloths or paper towels

Preventing heat damage

Homes are filled with large and small appliances that make life easier, however, heat from these appliances can cause damage to homes:

  • Take care when using heat-producing appliances (such as a toaster) below cabinets in order to minimize the possibility of damaging the cabinets due to excessive heat
  • Read the operating manual before operating a new stove or cooktop. Gas stoves have been known to damage laminate cupboards. Electric or gas range cooktops or appliance burners should not be operated without being covered with a pot or pan. Equally important, the doors of a stove or wall oven should not be left open for extended periods of time
  • Hot pans or activated electrical appliances should not be placed under wall cabinets or directly on laminated surfaces - use protective insulating pads

Protecting Your Home's Warranty & Lot Integrity

As part of Minto's commitment to the long-term health and performance of your community, every home undergoes an engineering review and certification to confirm that the grading and drainage on the property are functioning as intended. Grading refers to the shape and slope of the land around your home, which is designed to help direct water away from your foundation and neighboring properties.

This is why it is so important to allow your lot to settle naturally during the first year of homeownership and to avoid making changes to your lawn, driveway, or grading without the appropriate approvals and permits. These measures help protect your home, surrounding properties, and community infrastructure by ensuring drainage continues to perform as designed especially during periods of heavy rainfall, spring snowmelt, and seasonal weather fluctuations.

Lot Certification is the process of an engineer confirming that your property’s grading, drainage patterns, and other site conditions meet the approved engineering and municipal requirements.

Certification helps ensure that:

  • Water drains away from homes as intended.
  • Drainage swales and drainage systems function properly.
  • Adjacent properties are not negatively impacted.
  • Municipal requirements for community completion are satisfied.

Maintaining your lawn’s shape and slope as designed helps ensure your home's drainage system perform properly. This is a critical step in maintaining your warranty and preventing water damage to your home.

Proper grading and drainage help protect your property from issues such as:

  • Water pooling
  • Drainage concerns
  • Soil erosion
  • Damage to landscaping
  • Potential impacts to neighboring properties

If you are ready to make landscaping changes to your property, we urge you to seek proper municipal approval and permits prior to commencing any work to ensure you are not compromising water drainage to your or your neighbors’ homes.

Waiting at least a year also protects your grading warranty and allows the ground to naturally settle.

We understand that many homeowners are excited to personalize their outdoor spaces. However, certain landscaping and yard modifications can alter drainage patterns and may affect your homes final lot certification and water drainage. Before making significant changes, we encourage you to contact us for guidance.

Even small changes can sometimes affect how water moves through your lot and surrounding properties.

Examples include:

  • Changing the slope or grade of your yard
  • Adding hardscaping such as interlocking or additional walkways
  • Installing retaining walls
  • Adding raised garden beds and large amounts of soil
  • Building patios, decks, sheds, gazebos, or pools
  • Altering swales, slopes or drainage areas
  • Modifying drainage routes between properties

When you are ready to make these changes, please ensure you have the appropriate permits/approvals beforehand.

A drainage swale is a shallow, landscaped channel that helps direct water away from homes and toward designated drainage areas. Often, there are underground drainage infrastructure that supports the swale underneath these features making it particularly important not to dig or fill in your swale.

Swales are an important part of the community's drainage system often connect to your neighbors swale and should not be blocked or altered.

Yes. Water follows the path of least resistance. Changes made on your property can sometimes impact how water drains on neighboring properties or common areas.

This is why approved grading patterns are important for the entire community.

We recommend speaking to the municipality when considering making changes to your lawn or driveway and waiting at least a year for the ground to settle.

A quick review by a professional may help you avoid:

  • Unexpected drainage concerns
  • Additional costs
  • Rework
  • Voiding your new home warranty

We will provide you with a notice by email when your communities lot certification is completion.

Community completion timelines can vary depending on weather, municipal approvals, construction activity, and site conditions.

We want you to enjoy and personalize your property while also helping ensure that grading, drainage, the warranty and lot certification requirements can be successfully completed for the benefit of all homeowners in the community.

We're here to help

Just Tell us How

Your Customer Experience Coordinator can provide any answers or connect you with the right person to address any questions - during regular business hours.

416-596-3456

customerexperiencegta@minto.com

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