High Park Home Renovation

A High Park rooming house rebuilt into a family home with a three storey addition and a separate basement apartment. From First Place Homes, Toronto, est. 1997.

The problem

A former rooming house, unsafe and uninsulated, with poorly constructed floor joists and an attic that somebody had turned into a bedroom. The basement was badly lit and its floor was a slab of concrete poured unevenly. The main floor was cut into a series of rooms that blocked any movement from the front of the house to the back.

The solution

A three storey addition, with a separate entry from the rear yard down to a one bedroom apartment in the basement. A custom kitchen with the sink set to overlook the rear yard. Three full bathrooms, two on the second floor and one on the third, plus a powder room on the main floor.

This is the job to look at if you are weighing an addition against moving or wondering whether a basement can carry a legal apartment. It answered both questions in one house.

Related: home additions, basement renovation in Toronto, home renovation in Bloor West Village