Whole-home renovations in Richmond Hill
Lots have the width for a crane and a bin, and the mature trees on older streets are protected, so the site plan works around them. The house is stripped to the studs where the plan changes, the structure and the services are rebuilt, and the finishes go in last, with the schedule written into the contract and daily photos while it runs. A whole-home renovation rebuilds a house around the family living in it now: walls out under steel, the kitchen where it should be, bathrooms added, mechanical and electrical replaced, and finishes from a catalogue you keep.
Richmond Hill, on the ground.
Richmond Hill is older streets around the Mill Pond and off Yonge, 1970s and 1980s subdivisions, and moraine lots at the north end, mostly on 50 and 60 foot lots. That is the stock where a whole-home renovation in Richmond Hill makes sense: a house worth keeping with a plan that no longer works. The Richmond Hill brief is usually a second storey on a bungalow off Yonge, a rear addition on a 1980s house, or a custom home where a bungalow has run its course.
Read more about building in Richmond Hill or the full whole-home renovations page.
On the drawing.
A measured survey of the house and a redesigned plan with a rendering of the finished space
Engineered drawings for every wall that comes out and every beam that replaces it
Building permit filed and followed by us
Strip-out to the studs where the plan changes, with dust walls where you are staying
Structure, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, insulation, drywall and finishes by our crew and our trades
A deficiency walk with the list closed before the last payment, and a written warranty
Paper first.
A whole-home renovation needs a building permit wherever structure, plumbing or the envelope changes, with engineered drawings for every wall that comes out. The City of Richmond Hill issues the permit, and moraine lots at the north end add the conservation authority and the Moraine plan to the review.
- A building permit is required where structure, plumbing or the building envelope changes, which a whole-home renovation nearly always does.
- Every load-bearing wall that comes out needs engineered drawings as part of the permit.
- Electrical work is inspected under the Electrical Safety Authority's permit, pulled by the licensed electrician.
- Heritage listing adds a review of anything visible from the street.
The paperwork wall: WSIB, insurance, licences, the HCRA status and the warranty, on one page and dated.
| Driver | What we look at |
|---|---|
| How much of the plan changes | Moving a kitchen and adding a bathroom moves plumbing and structure; refinishing the same plan does not. |
| Structure | Every load-bearing wall that comes out is a beam, posts and footings sized by the engineer. |
| Mechanical and electrical | Whether the furnace, the panel and the plumbing stack are replaced or extended. |
| Finish level | Kitchen, bathrooms, flooring, millwork and stone chosen from the catalogue. |
| If you stay | Working around a family in the house is slower than working in an empty one, and the schedule reflects it. |
No price per square foot on this site. The measured survey and the drawings set the number, and the number holds because of them.
Sometimes, if the work can be staged floor by floor with a kitchen and a bathroom kept in service. Often moving out is faster and costs less. We tell you which at the site walk.
Yes, wherever structure, plumbing or the envelope changes, which it nearly always does. the City of Richmond Hill issues it, and we prepare the drawings and file it.
The Moraine plan and the conservation authority both review what can be built and how the site drains. That review comes before the permit, so we add it to the schedule from the start.
Usually, with reinforcement the engineer decides from a test pit. The lots off Yonge and around the Mill Pond have the width for a crane, and a second storey keeps the footprint and the mature trees.