Take It From The Top 

Take It From The Top (2009 - 2015)

The exterior of our Church is basically constructed of bricks and stone on the walls. The roof structure has a flat roof portion. Sloping roofs were covered with asphalt shingles and towers were clad in green-coloured copper. The Property Committee retained a consulting engineer named IRC Building Sciences Group Inc. to examine and prepare a report on the total exterior condition of the whole church structure in October 2012. Their first recommendation of the report was to replace the flat roof section. It is quite a large area which can only be seen from an aerial view or from the top floor of City Hall, located across the street (Dufferin Avenue). I contacted three roofing companies for their quotations. With Elders’ approval, the contract was awarded to Temple & Gooder Roofing Corporation. The job was completed on time in 2013 and approved by our engineer, D. C. Buck Engineering.

During one of our monthly Elders’ meetings, much discussion ensued after I gave a report on the overall condition of the exterior of the Church building. IRC Building Sciences Group Inc., whom I previously mentioned, had prepared an extensive report on the total condition of our church in February 2009. My report identified several areas of concern which included all the sloping roof areas, all copper on the three towers, gutters and downspouts, the main brickwork that—while very stable—needed repointing to many areas of the brick facades. In short, I reported that all our recent important improvements had concentrated mainly on the interior of the Church building and very little on the exterior of the building.

The Property Committee was instructed to develop a plan to address this situation and come up with a proposal. In short, this proposal was approved and Take It From The Top (TIFTT) became the campaign mantra for restoring Metropolitan United’s roof. In 2014 I asked one of my grandsons, Braedan Lee, to produce a promotional video for this project. Check out his very successful video at Take It From The Top- Metropolitan United Church - YouTube  The congregation of Met United, while not as large as it once was, was still able to embrace change, and again rose to the occasion by raising large amounts of money to get this large project underway.

The successful bidder on the project was a company named Roof Tile Management (RTM); Rick Mathers was the President. This company had all the specialists and expertise to undertake this heritage restoration project. The work in the summer of 2015 included a brand-new slate roof over 80% of the roof areas. One portion of the roof at the south end of the Church building was not included as the existing shingled roof there was still in excellent condition.

In the summer of 2015, the main tower which was completely surrounded by scaffolding was re-coppered, brickwork was repointed, stone facings were repaired, and all woodwork was sanded and repainted. I have included in this report many pictures. John Lee and myself are the only Met United people, I believe, to stand and touch the highest point of this beautiful tower.

There is still much exterior work to be done. While I may not be involved, I am absolutely certain that this work will be completed. Why am I so sure? Because the congregation at Metropolitan loves their church and has faith in Christ that He will lead us and show us the way.