Condo and Townhome Renovation in Toronto
A condo renovation is a construction job wrapped in a set of building rules. The work inside the unit is familiar. Getting permission, getting material up the elevator and finishing inside the hours the building allows is the part that catches people out.
We have renovated condos and townhomes in Toronto since 1997, alongside our house work. Harvey handles the building paperwork himself, because a rejected application costs weeks that nobody planned for.
The building approves the work before you start
Most Toronto condo corporations require a renovation application before anything is demolished. What the property manager usually asks for:
- A description and drawings of the work, including anything touching plumbing, electrical or the slab
- The contractor's name, licence and references
- A certificate of insurance naming the condominium corporation as an additional insured, at the limit the rules set
- A WSIB clearance certificate
- A schedule with start and finish dates
- In many buildings, a signed indemnity agreement and a refundable deposit against damage to common elements
Approval time varies by building and by how often the board meets. We start that paperwork alongside the design so the approval and the materials arrive together.
Elevators, working hours and noise
The service elevator gets booked, padded and taken out of general service for a window. Deliveries and disposal happen inside that window, through the loading dock, on the route the building specifies. Some buildings release it on certain days only.
Working hours belong to the building too. Most Toronto corporations allow weekday hours and restrict noisy work in the evening and on weekends. Demolition, tile cutting and anything into concrete usually sit inside a narrower window again and some buildings require notice to the neighbouring units first. We sequence the job so quiet trades keep moving on the days loud work is off the table.
Common elements stay protected
Corridor carpet, lobby floors and elevator cabs get protected before the first load moves. Dust control goes up at the unit door. Debris leaves on the building's designated route to its designated bin or off site, never into the residents' garbage. The corridor gets cleaned at the end of every day. That protection is what the deposit is against and it is the fastest way to lose a board's goodwill on a job with six weeks still to run.
What is your unit and what is the corporation's
Your declaration draws that line and it varies building to building. In general the corporation controls the windows, balconies and terraces, exterior doors, the building exterior, the HVAC risers and fan coil equipment and the vertical plumbing stacks. Your unit is the finishes inboard of all that.
What it means in practice:
- No exterior changes. Balcony enclosures, window replacement and anything visible from outside belong to the corporation.
- Work on a stack or a riser gets scheduled with the building, because shutting one down affects every unit on that line.
- Many buildings restrict changes to fan coil units and their thermostats.
- The unit entry door is often a fire-rated door owned by the corporation.
We read the declaration with you at the first meeting, before the design is finished.
Concrete decides the plan
The floor is a structural slab, so nothing gets buried in it.
A drain cannot be moved by dropping a new line into the floor. Relocating a toilet, adding a shower drain or moving a kitchen sink is limited by where the existing drains sit and how much fall you can build above the slab. The options are a raised floor section, a linear drain or a pump and each has consequences for thresholds and door heights that belong in the design rather than in a surprise on site.
Fixing into the slab is controlled as well. Many Toronto towers are post-tensioned, with cables running inside the slab, so core drilling requires scanning and written approval. We assume that as the starting point and confirm it in the application.
Flooring and sound transmission
Condo declarations set sound requirements for hard flooring, usually an acoustic underlay of a specified rating under engineered wood, laminate or tile. Many buildings want the product specification sheet submitted with the renovation application and some also limit how much of the unit floor may be hard surface.
Worth getting right the first time. A noise complaint from the unit below can end with a finished floor coming back out at your cost.
Small footprints are worth designing properly
In a condo every inch has a job. Cabinetry gets built to the room rather than shimmed to fit. Storage runs full height. Doors get hung to swing where they will not collide. Lighting gets layered, because most units take daylight from one wall.
You see a 3D rendering of the kitchen or the bathroom before anything is ordered. That matters more in a small unit, where there is no spare room to absorb a mistake.
Townhomes
Townhouse renovation in Toronto splits two ways and the split changes the paperwork.
A freehold townhouse is renovated like a house: a party wall on one or both sides, a City of Toronto building permit and no board to satisfy. A condominium townhouse or a common element townhouse has an owners' corporation that controls the roof, the exterior, the windows and often the front door. Rear additions and basement work there need the corporation's approval as well as the city's.
Either way the geometry is the same. A narrow footprint with the rooms stacked over three or four levels, which puts a premium on where the kitchen sits and how the storage is planned.
"Through the years, I have used Harvey and the First Place team for my house, townhouse, and condo renovations." Alstair R., interior designer
Finished condo kitchens, bathrooms and a Toronto townhome are in the photo gallery. See also kitchen renovation in Toronto, bathroom renovation in Toronto, and the Toronto home renovation hub.
Condo renovation FAQs
Do I need a permit to renovate a condo in Toronto? You need two approvals and they are separate. The condominium corporation approves the work through its renovation application. The City of Toronto issues a building permit where you add or relocate plumbing fixtures, alter a wall that forms part of the structure or a fire separation or change a unit's layout. Electrical work needs an ESA inspection either way.
Can I move the plumbing in a condo? Within limits. The floor is a structural slab, so no new drain line can be buried in it. How far a toilet, shower or sink can move depends on where the existing drains sit and how much fall you can achieve above the slab. We measure that before the layout is fixed.
How long does a condo renovation take? Design runs 2 to 4 weeks and construction runs 4 weeks to 4 months depending on scope. Add the building's approval time and the elevator booking on top. Restricted work hours are why a condo kitchen takes longer than the same kitchen in a house.
What insurance does my condo board require? Almost every Toronto corporation asks for a certificate of liability insurance naming the corporation as an additional insured, at a limit set out in the building's rules, plus a WSIB clearance certificate for the contractor. We supply both with the renovation application.
Get a free consultation
Send us the unit plan and your building's renovation rules if you have them. Harvey will tell you what the building will allow, what the slab will allow and what the room can realistically become.
Book a free 15-minute call with Harvey or contact us. Call Harvey at (416) 489-4083.