Neighbours of leaning north end Hamilton house told to leave indefinitely

A precarious new build in Hamilton’s north end has forced nearby neighbours out of their homes while crews scramble to stabilize the structure.

Seventy-four-year-old Dorothy Snapes has lived in her Ferrie Street home for over 47 years.

She says she can’t believe the house under construction next door is so unstable it could possibly topple over onto hers.

On Wednesday, she and her granddaughters who live with her were told by the City of Hamilton to leave.

“I don’t think they should be building something like [this] in the north end, I don’t know how they got the permit in the first place because it’s all out of character with the rest of the houses,” said Dorothy.

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The new structure towers over the adjacent homes — and is now precariously leaning to one side.

Just this past week, the City said an off-duty inspector noticed the problem, but it’s still not clear why the structure started shifting.

“Obviously there’s some significant deflection in the wall, some movement, some racking, movement of the first and second floors,” says Bob Nuntall, Hamilton’s Manager of Building Inspections.

“Racking really is a diagonal twist of walls and framing structures, so it was a bit of movement on the second floor that caused the main and second floors to start to lean.”

The situation is so critical that crews were on-site Sunday, working to stabilize the house.

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Part of Ferrie Street, between John Street North and Catherine Street remains closed and blocked by fencing.

Building permits issued in August of 2022 list the owner of the home as a resident of Mississauga.

Dorothy says they’ve yet to receive an update on when she will be back in her home.

“I have no clue and I’m not happy about it.”

At this time, there is no word on what will happen to the building after it’s stabilized.