Harbour Chines

Harbour Chines is a quiet, established, entirely detached neighbourhood in the northwest of Coquitlam, running up against Port Moody along St. Johns Street. It is characterised by mature landscaping, lots that are noticeably larger than the city average, and a slope that gives many properties views north to the mountains and out over Burrard Inlet.

It is one of the more stable parts of Coquitlam, in the sense that people tend to stay. Turnover is lower than in the Town Centre or Burquitlam, and the streetscape reflects decades of individual maintenance rather than a single build-out.

The housing

All detached, and generally large houses on expansive lots. On the build era, sources genuinely disagree: some place Harbour Chines in the 1950s, others describe the detached stock as spanning the 1960s through the 1980s. The honest answer is that it spans a wide range, and the age of any individual house needs to be confirmed on title rather than assumed from the neighbourhood.

Location and access

Como Lake Avenue is the main east-west route through the area and the easiest way out to both Lougheed Station in Burnaby and Coquitlam Central. Mundy Park, one of the larger urban forests in the Lower Mainland, is close by.

What to check before you buy here

• Confirm the actual build year. Given the spread here, the era of the specific house drives everything below. Do not rely on the neighbourhood reputation.
• Buried oil tanks. Homes from the pre-1960s era were often oil-heated. A decommissioned or undiscovered tank is an environmental and cost question, not a cosmetic one. If the house is genuinely from the 1950s, treat this as likely rather than possible.
• Aluminum branch wiring. Common in Canadian homes built from the mid-1960s through the mid-1970s, and a standing insurer question.
• Poly-B plumbing. Grey polybutylene pipe went into Lower Mainland homes built roughly between 1978 and 1995. It degrades from the inside against chloramines in Metro Vancouver treated water, usually with no visible warning, and insurers now price or decline for it. Confirm whether it is present and whether it has been replaced.
• Slope and drainage. Perimeter drains, grading and retaining structures deserve real attention on sloped lots. Water management is the recurring issue. Many Harbour Chines lots are on the slope that gives them their views, which makes drainage and retaining walls a primary inspection item rather than a secondary one.

Thinking about buying or selling in Harbour Chines?

Kristy Mattiazzo works throughout Coquitlam and the Tri-Cities. Get in touch to talk through whether this is the right pocket for you, or to find out what your home here is worth in the current market.

For the full picture of how Kristy works with buyers and sellers across the city — her process, her staging background and the questions she gets asked most — see her Coquitlam Realtor page.