Whole-home renovations in Scarborough
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. Scarborough is mostly 1950s to 1970s bungalows and side-splits on 40 to 50 foot lots, the easiest houses in the city to add a floor to. That is the stock where a whole-home renovation in Scarborough makes sense: a house worth keeping with a plan that no longer works.
Scarborough, on the ground.
Driveways and side yards are wide enough for a crane and a material drop, so less is carried by hand than in the old city. 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.
Read more about building in Scarborough 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. Permits come from Toronto Building; Scarborough has had no separate office since amalgamation in 1998, and lots near the Bluffs add a conservation 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 Toronto (Toronto Building) issues it, and we prepare the drawings and file it.
Most can, with new footings at the corners or a steel frame to carry the load, which the engineer decides after looking at the foundation. We open a test pit at the site walk stage so the answer comes before the drawings, not after.
The City of Toronto. Scarborough has been inside the City since 1998, so the application goes to Toronto Building.