Properties don’t become static investments after purchasing. Just as you have to do regular maintenance on a car, a home also needs regular maintenance to protect your investment.
This becomes even more critical when owners share the same building and land. Why? Because with a single family home, the land is worth more than the buildings on it, but that’s not true for a strata complex. In a townhome complex, the land value does not come close to the combined value of all the units. Thus, if the buildings are left to deteriorate so that they are no longer desirable, the entire complex loses heavily. In the worst cases, this leads to something known as “strata wind down” where the property is sold to a developer and the owners receive a fraction of what their properties would be worth had they kept up their regular maintenance.
Unfortunately, while reasonably good, Windsor Garden’s maintenance experience can be greatly improved.
The shortcomings may be partly due to the many changes of property management we’ve gone through. Each time there’s a new property manager, it becomes confusing as to what was previously done or talked about and what wasn’t. Unless council has their own maintenance calendar, the new PM won’t really know where the complex stands on maintenance issues.
Unfortunately we’ve also suffered from poor quality strata management at times. In 2024 the strata council only met twice all year! In 2023 there were only 3 meetings. You can’t expect to have the best maintenance when council doesn’t even hold meetings.
Here’s what needs to be done regularly
Here’s a list of most the things the strata needs to look after on a regular basis. There are others, of course, but they are not critical (think speed bump painting, electrical GTI replacement or sign replacement).
| Task | Schedule/Time of Year |
| Hydro Flushing | Annually |
| Pressure Washing concrete | Annually. Why? |
| Clean/Sanitize Playgrounds | 2 years |
| Pressure Washing Doors | 5 years. Why? |
| Soft Washing Siding | 5 years. Why? |
| Frame & Door Painting | 5 years. Why? |
| Gutter Cleaning | 2x annually, spring and autumn |
| Roof Cleaning | No more than 2 years |
| Window Cleaning | Annually, spring or summer |
| Dryer Vent Cleaning | Annually |
| Fire Inspection | Annually |
| Catch Basin Cleaning | Annually, early winter |
| Painting of Wood Stairs | 2 years. Why? |
| Replacing Wood Stairs | 10 years. Why? |
| Landscaping | Weekly. Why? |
| Tree Pruning | 5 years |
| Parking Lot Line Painting | 5 years |
Sadly, reviewing the minutes of strata council meetings since 2022, a number of these things were not being talked about. That doesn’t necessarily prove they weren’t being done. But it does mean there was no proper procedure or documentation in place to confirm to owners that these things are being taken care of.
Many of these maintenance tasks were not done at all, or only done in a reactive way rather than following a proactive plan. The habit of past council was mostly to respond to issues that came up and were in desperate need of attention, rather than looking ahead to how we can avoid those demanding and costly situations through proper scheduled and documented maintenance.
Here’s what was done in the past:
Hydro Flushing: November 2025, by new council. No record exists of previous work since 2022, though it was most likely done during those years.
Pressure Washing Concrete: March 2026, by new council. No record exists of previous work since 2022. Instead of once a year, it looks this has only been done twice in four years.
Clean & Sanitize Playgrounds: Some playground areas look as if this has not been done in 30 years! There is no official record of any professional cleaning of playgrounds. Assigned by new council March 2026 to be done in April.
Pressure Washing Doors: Assigned March 2026, by new council. No record exists of any previous work.
Soft Washing Siding: Partial complex cleaning was completed October 2022 by Black Bear Maintenance. Due to budget limitations, only the worst buildings were addressed. October 2023 meeting minutes claim that CleanTech completed some form of “exterior cleaning,” but no evidence of cleaning existed after examining siding at the time. Siding throughout complex looked identical to how it looked in 2022. What exactly did CleanTech do, if anything? It’s a mystery.
Frame & Door Painting: 29 doors were selected for painting in July 2022. New council is requesting quotes for more painting in 2026.
Gutter cleaning: This was scheduled for November 2021 but was canceled due to weather. No record of when it was actually completed thereafter. Another cleaning was completed in November 2022. Quote was requested in October 2023 but no evidence exists that it was done. Council meeting minutes from January 2025 indicate that this was done by then. Thus, instead of twice a year, it looks like this was done twice in four years! No wonder our gutters are overflowing everywhere.
Roof Cleaning: November 2025 by new council. No record exists of previous work since 2022.
Window Cleaning: No record exists of previous work since 2022, though memory recalls that it was done at some point since, but done very badly, leaving the windows in worse shape than before the cleaning.
Dryer Vent Cleaning: Quotes were requested April 2023 due to fire violation warning. This work was completed June 2023. Completed again November 2025 by new council. No record was found to indicate whether this was done in 2024.
Fire Inspection: Although this appears to be done annually (it’s requested directly by the Richmond Fire Department), it is rarely documented in the minutes. It really should be.
Catch Basin Cleaning: June 2023 and again November 2025 by new council. No record exists of getting this done in 2024.
Painting of Wood Stairs: There is no actual documentation of this being done, with no record of which units were assigned or painted. However, we know from visual inspection that the stairs of council president Marc Lambert and those of Electrical Room 8 and Unit 86 were painted in 2024. New council has developed a plan for painting the stairs for units 92 and 23, which were rebuilt but not painted.
Replacing Wood Stairs: Some stairs were replaced in 2024, including those of council president Marc Lambert in unit 85, as well as unit 86, unit 92, unit 23, and Electrical Room 8. There is no record of how these were selected, specific quotations from the contractor, or any documented plan from that time period. The new council is putting forward a comprehensive plan to owners for replacement of additional stairs over the next few years.
Tree Pruning: Quote requested October 2023, not sure if ever done.
Parking Lot Line Painting: This was done in June 2023
As you can see, there has been no comprehensive calendar-style schedule in place ensuring that these maintenance items are actually being done on a consistent basis. Far too many things were not being thought about until they became urgent.
To make it even more challenging, many things were not documented in strata council minutes so that owners can be confident that these maintenance items are being done. This needs to change going forward.
I would personally like to see a proper maintenance calendar with month-by-month assignments, so that council can ensure that all maintenance events are done on a consistent schedule, and so that owners can hold them accountable when the calendar is not being followed. In addition, all maintenance items on the calendar should be properly documented in meeting minutes.
Strata Maintenance Calendar
Here’s a big picture view showing what an organized approach might look like over the next four years:
🟩 2026
🌸 Spring
- Pressure Washing Concrete (done)
- Clean & Sanitize Playgrounds
- Gutter Cleaning (restart proper cycle)
- Window Cleaning
- Dryer Vent Cleaning (Done)
- Fire Inspection (Done)
- Pressure Washing Doors (start 5-year cycle)
☀️ Summer
- Catch Basin Cleaning (move to proper early winter later years)
- Painting of Wood Stairs (start 2-year cycle for all units)
- Frame & Door Painting (restart 5-year cycle – partial rollout)
- Tree Pruning (reset baseline – overdue)
🍂 Fall
- Gutter Cleaning (2nd annual cleaning)
- Soft Washing Siding (FULL reset – overdue since 2022 partial)
- Roof Cleaning (last done Nov 2025 → not required until 2027)
❄️ Winter
- Hydro Flushing (due annually after Nov 2025)
- Catch Basin Cleaning (shift to correct early winter schedule)
🟦 2027
🌸 Spring
- Pressure Washing Concrete
- Gutter Cleaning
- Window Cleaning
- Dryer Vent Cleaning
- Fire Inspection
☀️ Summer
- Painting of Wood Stairs (continuation cycle)
- Frame & Door Painting (continue phased approach)
🍂 Fall
- Gutter Cleaning
- Roof Cleaning (2-year cycle from Nov 2025)
❄️ Winter
- Hydro Flushing
- Catch Basin Cleaning
🟧 2028
🌸 Spring
- Pressure Washing Concrete
- Gutter Cleaning
- Window Cleaning
- Dryer Vent Cleaning
- Fire Inspection
☀️ Summer
- Painting of Wood Stairs (cycle repeats)
- Replacing Wood Stairs (begin structured replacements from 2024 baseline)
🍂 Fall
- Gutter Cleaning
❄️ Winter
- Hydro Flushing
- Catch Basin Cleaning
🟥 2029
🌸 Spring
- Pressure Washing Concrete
- Gutter Cleaning
- Window Cleaning
- Dryer Vent Cleaning
- Fire Inspection
☀️ Summer
- Painting of Wood Stairs
- Replacing Wood Stairs (continuation)
🍂 Fall
- Gutter Cleaning
- Roof Cleaning (2-year cycle from 2027)
❄️ Winter
- Catch Basin Cleaning
- Hydro Flushing
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