About First Place Homes

Harvey Minuk started First Place Homes in 1997. Twenty-nine years later the company still runs the same way. Harvey quotes the job, Harvey runs the job and Harvey checks it before it closes. Same phone number the whole time.

More than 100 Toronto homes since then. Most of them century houses in the east end and the west end, owned by people who are staying in them, which changes what is worth building.

Harvey is on the job

At most renovation companies of any size, the person who prices your work is not the person who builds it. A salesperson quotes, a project manager takes it over and a site supervisor you have not met makes the decisions that show up in the finished room. Every handoff loses something and the thing it usually loses is the reason a detail was priced the way it was.

At First Place Homes that is one person. Harvey walks the house, writes the quote, opens the walls and is there when the surprise turns up behind the plaster. You get his number at the first meeting and you keep it after the last invoice.

This is also why our calendar books out and why we run a small number of jobs at a time. If you need a large project started next month, a bigger firm with a full-time site supervisor may suit you better and we will tell you that at the first meeting.

Credentials

• City of Toronto licensed renovation contractor. Licence number available on request.
• Certified Passive House Tradesperson. Formal building science training in insulation, air sealing and ventilation.
• Established 1997. More than 100 Toronto homes in 29 years.
• All labour and materials supplied. Permits prepared, submitted and coordinated with your municipality.
• 1-year workmanship warranty, plus every manufacturer warranty passed to you with the paperwork.
• Free consultation by phone or video, then a site visit.
• 3D renderings for kitchens and bathrooms before anything is ordered.

What Passive House training changes in a century home

Most general contractors in Toronto have not done this training. It is building science: how heat, air and moisture move through a wall.

In a 1920s semi it shows up in ordinary ways. A room that holds its heat in February. A house that is quieter through the year. A gas bill that stops climbing. The work behind those results is unglamorous. Air sealing goes in ahead of insulation, because insulating over a leaky assembly pushes the dew point into your wall and grows mould where you cannot see it. Below-grade walls get built so they can dry. Exhaust fans get ducted outside instead of into the attic and fresh air gets planned for once the house is tightened.

We measure that part of the work instead of guessing at it.

Cost against value

Harvey has talked people out of work that was not worth their money. That is what most of our clients say brought them back.

The advice usually sounds like one of these:

• Keep the cabinet boxes. Change the doors, the counter and the hardware and put the difference into the roof that is due in two years.
• Fix the water before you finish the basement. A finished basement built over an unresolved leak gets torn out.
• Skip that wall. It costs real money to move and it buys you very little once the furniture is in.
• Do the second bathroom now while the walls are open, because doing it later means opening them again.

Every job is priced from a walkthrough and put in writing, itemized for labour, materials and permits. If we open a wall and find something behind it, you see the problem before you see the bill.

What we build for

Comfort. A house that holds its temperature room to room and stays quiet.

Durability. Waterproofing that is continuous, structure that is sized to the load it carries and details built so they still work in year fifteen.

Efficiency. Insulation and air sealing done in the right order, measured rather than assumed.

Finishes matter and we build good ones. They sit on top of those three.

What clients say

"Each of my renovations has been seamless. Not only have I trusted him with my own homes, I now use him with my interior design clients!" Alstair R., interior designer

"Harvey and his team at First Place did some amazing job. They were professional, on-budget, and most importantly on time!" Tama S.

Recent work is in the photo gallery.

Get a free consultation

Tell Harvey what the house is doing wrong. He will give you a straight read on scope and a range before you spend anything, including the parts we would tell you to skip.

Book a free 15-minute call with Harvey or contact us. Call Harvey at (416) 489-4083.