01 / Local knowledge

Iroquois Falls — the Houses the Mill Left Behind

Iroquois Falls was built by Abitibi Power & Paper starting in 1912: a planned company town with the mill on the river, the company houses laid out on garden-city lines, and Ansonville growing up beside it for the workers the company didn't house. For a century the mill was the town. In December 2014 it closed for good.

What that left is a town of 1910s–30s company housing — solid, small, plaster-walled, originally heated by boilers with asbestos pipe insulation, later topped up with vermiculite in the attic — that sold, after the closure, for prices that made news across the province. A lot of it has since been bought by people who are renovating it, and a lot of those renovations have found what's in it.

02 / Local knowledge

Cochrane and the Corridor

Cochrane is a railway town — the junction of the old Temiskaming & Northern Ontario and the National Transcontinental, and the southern end of the Polar Bear Express to Moosonee. Burned in 1910, 1911 and the Great Fire of 1916, it was rebuilt each time with the products of the moment, and the older housing along the lake and the rail yards carries the 1920s–40s package. The post-war expansion added the stipple-ceiling-and-vermiculite generation.

Matheson, Ramore, Val Gagné, Holtyre and Porquis Junction are smaller versions, and the camps on Lake Abitibi, Frederick House and the Cochrane-area lakes are the seasonal one. Smooth Rock Falls and points west are on the Kapuskasing page. Learn more →

03 / Local knowledge

What We Handle Here

  • Pipe and boiler insulation in the Abitibi company houses and Cochrane's pre-war streets — the most reliably asbestos-containing material in the district. Learn more →
  • Vermiculite attic removal — added to the old houses through the 60s–80s, original in the post-war ones. Learn more →
  • Plaster, stipple ceilings, joint compound, floor tile and mastic.
  • Pre-renovation and pre-purchase testing — for the Iroquois Falls houses in particular, the survey should come before the offer if you can manage it. Learn more →
  • Designated substances surveys for former mill-related and commercial buildings. Learn more →
  • Oil tank removal at older homes and camps. Learn more →
  • Mould in basements and closed-up camps. Learn more →

04 / Local knowledge

What It Costs Here

Scheduled from Timmins, so travel is a factor but jobs group naturally with the Porcupine. Testing $400–$800 all-in; small contained removal roughly $2,000–$5,000; a typical attic of vermiculite roughly $6,000–$13,000 with re-insulation separate. In Iroquois Falls especially, whole streets have the same problem — grouped jobs get scheduled sooner and priced better.

Bought an Iroquois Falls house? Test before you gut it — Call +1 289-805-3319

Call +1 289-805-3319 ↗

05 / Common questions

FAQs

We bought one of the old Abitibi company houses. Is asbestos a given?

The original pipe and boiler insulation, if still in place, effectively yes. Plaster and flooring vary. Check the attic for vermiculite. These are compact houses, so a full pre-renovation survey is quick and tells you exactly what the abatement scope is before you plan the gut.

How long will we wait for a crew in Cochrane or Iroquois Falls?

Removal is scheduled with the Timmins runs — plan on a few weeks and mention any flexibility. Testing can usually be arranged sooner. Several houses on one street with the same attic is the fastest way onto the schedule.

Do you cover Matheson, Ramore and the Lake Abitibi camps?

Yes, from this page, with a travel line for camps and the smaller communities. Smooth Rock Falls and west are on the Kapuskasing page.