Home reno program filling up

RAFAEL BRUSILOW, FOR METRO CANADA

January 13, 2009 01:00

If you’ve always wanted to learn how to renovate a house, a new program at Humber might be for you.

Hoping to capitalize on the home renovation industry, the Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning will offer a Home Renovation Technician diploma program at its Toronto and Orangeville campuses starting in September. 

The intensive one-year program will run a full 12 months through the summer of 2010, letting students complete the equivalent of four semesters of study in three semesters — essentially doing a two-year diploma in one year.

“It’s for people who want to build things — it’s designed to provide them an opportunity to get their hands dirty,” said Joe Andrews, director of Humber’s Orangeville campus. 

Guy Morrison, co-ordinator of the program at Humber, says students will get to put their renovation skills to the test in a real-world setting as Humber is building two houses in a special warehouse near campus. 

“When students will install a kitchen or a bathroom, they’ll actually do it in a real house, so it’s a lot more realistic,” Morrison said.

With decades of renovation experience himself as a carpenter and electrician, Morrison says the thrill he still gets out of doing a renovation work boils down to the knowledge that you’ve done a good day’s work.

“The satisfaction of seeing the finished product and knowing that you did it — that’s something I still don’t know how to describe, but it’s a good feeling,” Morrison said.

Humber is taking 20 students for the program at the Orangeville campus and 20 at its Rexdale campus in Toronto in September and 40 more Toronto students in the spring of 2010. 

Spots are filling up quickly, so Morrison suggests getting in touch with Humber before the end of January if you’re interested. 

You can find out more about the program at www.humber.ca or contact Guy Morrison directly at guy.morrison@humber.ca.