Renovation Costs in Toronto: 8 Hidden Factors That Impact Your Budget
Unlike building new homes it’s nearly impossible to calculate an accurate square foot price for renovations. Every home and client we have worked with in the last 23 years has been unique. Every renovation project requires a great deal of effort, research and attention to prepare an accurate estimate. Even then, every estimate is a guess based on historical data.
If you ask 5 different estimators to quote on the same project, with the same information available their estimates will be different.
We will attempt to give you a rough idea of what it typically costs to renovate a home today and explain what factors may influence the price.
Feel free to skip these explanations and scroll down to the bottom if you just want to see the numbers.
The cost of a home renovation depends on several elements, including:
2. Phases and Duration of the Renovation
3. Material and Fixture Quality
6. Site Accessibility and Logistics
8. Design and Pre-construction Planning
Let’s look at each element separately.
1. Age of the Home
Obviously the older the house the more challenging it is to modernize it.
Back in the day there were no strict standards, and each house was built in a unique way. That’s why we often find surprises or something unexpected when we work on a 100-year-old home.
Because of this, remodeling an older home will be more expensive than renovating a 15-20 year-old home. Additionally, older homes that were billed prior to 1985 may contain hazardous materials like asbestos, lead or mold that need to be remediated before renovation work can even begin.
Another challenge that older homes pose is that most Canadian homes were built with wood, which is not uniform and is rarely straight and even. Older homes have crooked walls and floors that are not square, plumb or level. It is a lot more challenging to bring those things to today’s standards, straighten up the walls and floors and beams and make everything plumb, level and flat.
Another challenge is that a renovator needs to be very careful when energy exchange is altered. Insulating an older home is tricky and requires detailed knowledge and experience. Super Insulating an older home can often do more harm than good if extra care is not taken, which will end up costing more in the long run.
2. Phases and Duration of the Renovation
The shorter period of time necessary to complete a project the less costly it will be.
Breaking down a big project into smaller phases (phase 1, 2, 3 etc.) is another way costs will be increased.
If you break down the bigger job into smaller jobs that could not be done simultaneously or that had to be completed one after another it’s going to be more costly than doing it all at once.
We call this the “Costco effect”. It typically costs less to buy bulk at Costco, as opposed to buying one piece at a time at Longo’s. A similar idea applies to renovations – if you do the big job, all the small, individual elements of the job become a little bit less expensive than if you did them individually, piece by piece , at different times.
This is due to the logistics. For instance if you decide to renovate Kitchen first and then later do the Bathroom we may have to bring 2 waste containers instead of one.
For example, each time we bring the waste container, a cost is incurred. So you would pay the cost of the waste container for each individual phase of the renovation (The waste transportation cost would be 3x the cost if you have a 3 phase renovation!) If you complete the renovation all at once, you will only pay once for the waste transportation.
Another example is if you decide to renovate or update your staircase first and after that, remodel the bathroom upstairs.
If we were renovating the bathroom at the same time as the stairs, we would start with the bathroom, eliminating the need to protect the stairs during the renovation. However, if the stairs must be completed first and the bathroom afterward, we would need to protect the stairs from potential damage caused by construction traffic during the bathroom renovation. Protecting the stairs requires skill, knowledge, and time, which adds to the overall cost of the project. This additional expense could be avoided if the project was not divided into phases.
So, the longer it takes to build a project the more expensive it will be.
3. Material and Fixture Quality
There are many fixtures and finishes available today on the market. Choices feel unlimited for many different items like faucets, light fixtures, tile, stone, trim, doors, flooring, windows, millwork, paint types, etc..
We can buy a toilet today for $100. It will do the work, but we could also buy a toilet for $14,000 and many options in between.
A Bathroom Vanity could cost $600 and it could cost $6,000, and anything in between.
A kitchen faucet may cost $250 or it may cost $3000 with countless options in between.
Fixture costs will vary depending on the quality of the material and the finish, the brand name, functionality and built-in options, design and esthetics. Price may even vary depending on the colour. Typically, when it comes to faucets for example, coloured fixtures like gold, brown or black are more expensive than let’s say Chrome.
4. Home Occupancy
This really depends on how much work needs to be done by the renovator to minimize the disruptions and inconveniences that renovations may bring.
For instance, If a homeowner has children and pets, special protocols will need to be put in place for their pets not to run out into the street, not to step into a freshly set mortar and damage the work or, get hurt.
If a homeowner stays in a certain area of the house, there may be a need to isolate and separate the work area from the livable area with a zip wall system, or with a HEPA filter machine that will recycle the air and not allow dust to get into a livable area. Sometimes the renovator has to install a negative pressure fan ducted to the outside to minimize the dust to protect clients who have allergies or health issues.
Another reason special protocols would need to be put in place would be if the homeowner works from home and interruptions to Internet and power must be avoided. Therefore electrical work needs to be scheduled carefully, and down precisely to a Tee.
If a homeowner has small kids uninterrupted access to water is essential. This would minimize the available water shut-off times, and for a plumber to conduct the work. This would obviously require more resources and make the project more complicated.
Cleaning procedures will definitely need to be different if the homeowner stays in the house. For example, in our company we have a policy to use a vacuum and to remove floor protection at the end of each day if the homeowner stays in the house. We typically broom sweep only if the house is vacant using vacuum only as necessary.
The more complicated a project is, the more planning and coordination renovators need to do to minimize disruptions for the homeowner, which can drive up costs.
However, if the homeowner moves out during the renovation, it allows the work to proceed more smoothly, potentially lowering the overall cost of the project.
5. Permits and Inspections
It’s necessary to determine whether permits and inspections are required from the city building department.
If a renovation project requires a building permit, it will be necessary to prepare the application, drawings and information about the project in a specific way that is required by the city, which is not necessarily easily readable or understandable by the homeowners. That’s one thing that will require extra work and therefore extra money.
After permits are obtained, your contractor’s work will need to be inspected at different phases by the municipality building department inspectors. Sometimes it could be 1 person, sometimes it could be several inspectors at different phases of the project. For instance: framing and structural work could be inspected by one inspector, hvac (heating and ventilation) could be inspected by another inspector, plumbing could be a separate inspector and insulation could be another inspector depending on the project and the municipality.
Sometimes it may be one inspector for all of these, at times it could be all 4. So, that adds to the work: coordinating these inspections, arranging for them, Calling inspectors and leaving voicemails, etc.
When inspectors come, they don’t usually provide a specific time of when they will arrive. They give wide windows of time, meaning that a renovator has to wait for the inspector to show up during that time window on the job site. Once the inspector is there, the renovator would walk him through the job, review permit drawings, answer questions and provide any additional information required.
This makes the project take longer to complete,and requires additional management and coordination. Also, in the event the inspectors do not show up, everything starts over again, and more time is spent.
Inspectors have the authority to interpret the building code and each inspector may interpret it differently. We’ve had occasions when different inspectors on different job sites would ask us to do the same thing in a different way.
Sometimes inspectors request things to be done that may not necessarily come from a common sense point of view. For example, one young inspector asked us to redo plumbing venting for a new toilet 3 times, each time apologising for the wrong direction given on their part..
Obviously, things like this are unexpected and will make the project more costly.
Quite often inspectors request sign off letters from engineers. Sadly, at times not to protect the homeowner but instead to protect themselves.
This also costs money because it requires a site visit from the engineer, and a stamped letter or a report.
Despite this additional cost and time delays we do recommend all our clients obtain building permits before construction starts. This is the right thing to do. It provides documentation that may be useful when selling the house or undertaking another renovation project in the future. It also protects the homeowner because someone independent is inspecting your renovator’s work. Many inspectors are very helpful, especially when it comes to complex structural and mechanical issues.
In a nutshell, it may not be in your renovator’s best interest to pull Building permits because no one likes to have their work inspected and scrutinised but it is in your best interest to have them because they protect you, the homeowner against shady workmanship and legal issues.
6. Site Accessibility and Logistics
When you’re planning a renovation, it’s easy to think about the obvious tasks and overlook the little things that can really add to the cost and time. Even if the job seems straightforward, there are often hidden challenges that can make it more complicated. It’s important to keep these in mind so you can set realistic expectations and avoid surprises along the way.
Imagine painting an empty Master bedroom. It’s fairly easy to paint the walls, baseboards and ceiling in the room.
Now let’s imagine this room is full of furniture.
It has a bed, night tables, a dresser and a mirror attached to a dresser.
There’s a built-in closet and a bunch of pictures on the walls, and a ribbon of old wallpaper next to the ceiling.
There is also brand new hardwood flooring that needs to be protected during painting.
How easy is it to paint this same room now?
Painting this room now may cost twice or even 3 times more than if it was empty. This type of logistical complexity can make a big difference in price even though the total area of painting is the same.
Now imagine that we need to paint 3 rooms, but we have to do it one room at a time instead of painting all three at once.
It would be much cheaper to paint 3 rooms at the same time than having to do it one after another.
Here’s why. Before we take out our paint rollers and brushes, we patch the holes and cracks first. After patching and caulking is done we prime those patches with a coat of sealer. In order to patch the holes, we need to take out our patching & caulking tools and mix some patching compound. After that we need to wash our tools and put them away.
So, if we have access to all 3 bedrooms we can do it all at once, but if we do not have access to these rooms we will have to repeat the operation 3 times on three different days (take out tools, mix some compound, patch, prime, wash the tools).
The volume of work is still the same. It’s still three bedrooms, but without access to all three rooms at once, the amount of logistical work that the renovator has to perform is three times more, which of course will make the project more expensive.
Another factor affecting cost is accessibility:
- How easy is it to get to the workplace?
- Is there vehicle parking nearby?
- Is there a driveway where a dumpster can be parked?
- Is the driveway new? Does it need to be protected?
- Where can materials be stored? Do they need to be moved around?
Any accessibility issues will add to the costs of the project.
7. Quality of Workmanship
Many believe that all renovation companies are equal in terms of quality of workmanship.A carpenter is a carpenter, a tiler is a tiler, plumber is a plumber no matter what company they work for.
If that was the case then all quotes from different companies would be equal but, it’s never the case. Prices are all over the map! This is what we have heard from many of our clients over the years.
Do you think there would be a difference in workmanship between a subcontractor working on a piece-of-work basis and an employee working on a fixed salary? (a piece-of-work means that a subcontractor will get paid the same amount regardless of how long it would take and sometimes regardless of the materials used, especially the ones that are concealed).
Years in the industry have shown us that despite the subcontractor’s skill he/she is incentivised to get the job done faster and go to the next one because they work on a piece-of-work basis.
The more jobs done within a time period, the more money they make..That’s the formula and it unfortunately often translates into poor workmanship.
We have found that if the work is done by an employee who is not incentivised by getting the job done faster, it gets done better. An employee takes the time to get the job done right because there is no incentive for him/her to rush to the next one.
In case of a warranty issue, do you think it would be as easy to bring back a subcontractor who has commitments to other clients as opposed to an employee of a company?
On top of this is quality control. Does every contractor have a system to deliver good results consistently? Are there checklists, protocols, inspections that are conducted after each step?
Does every company have a culture of updating skills, attending workshops and learning new tricks of the trade? Ha, far from it! Try to teach an old horse a new trick! Many contractors feel they know it all already!
Obviously, companies that do have these things in place would have to cost more, not because they are greedy but because they invest in training, resources and systems that would produce better results, and happier, more satisfied clients.
8. Design and Pre-construction Planning
This is a huge factor on the price of the project. Renovation prices will vary drastically depending on how well the design and planning is executed.
When we hear from a potential client saying that they have completed design, we have many questions to ask, just a few being:
- Were structural and mechanical elements of the house inspected?
- Were measurements taken correctly using laser technology?
- Was the interior design done well, covering space planning, elevations, details, specifications, electrical and mechanical layouts, material schedules?
- Is every aspect of the project designed clearly?
- Are drawings detailed enough to show every element of the project?
- Were all finishing materials & fixtures selected? Are they all available for construction?
More often than not when we ask our clients these questions, we hear – “Nope!”
Different companies assume different things when they say they provide Design.
There are no two companies that would provide the same amount of information and documentation for a project.
The remodeling industry overall is probably one of the most unregulated industries. Everyone is different and everyone has their own standards.
So, if someone says they offer Design, the next question homeowners should ask – What is included in the design?
We have worked with so many architects and designers over the years and have seen so many different approaches, drawings, specifications and most importantly LEVELS OF DETAIL.
It all comes down to detail. The more the detail, the less mistakes made during construction, the cheaper the project cost, and the faster it gets done.
There is never too much detail in construction drawings, only not enough.
In our opinion, a well executed Design must provide a platform where the homeowner’s thoughts and ideas are translated into a language that renovators can understand, so that they can build exactly what the homeowner wants.
Needless to say all drawings must have correct measurements. It’s a no brainer but we have seen so many issues on a construction jobsite only because measurements were off by a few inches.
Ideally all design drawings should include various floor plans (a floor plan is a look at your house without a roof from 4’ above your floor) showing the scope of work for:
- Demolition
- Proposed space layout
- Lighting & Electrical placement
- Plumbing & HVAC
- Floor and Walls Finishes
- 3D renderings
Besides the floor plans, there must be:
- Clear elevations of each side of the space (it’s a view when you stand on the floor and look at one wall at a time),
- Section views (a view of a cut through a space, material or fixture)
- Details (an enlarged view of a small piece of a bigger element or material).
Additionally, there should be a comprehensive list of all the fixtures and materials like: tile, grout, flooring, trim, doors, hardware, lighting and plumbing fixtures, paint colours, etc.
This list must have manufacturer’s names and model numbers to avoid any confusion and price creeps.
The drawings must clearly show how these fixtures and finishing materials must be installed. Imagine yourself standing behind the tile setter’s back and telling him where exactly to place each tile with an ornament on it or telling him where to start and cut the tile so that the grout joint is running exactly where you want.
Would this make his job easier and faster and save you money or the other way around?
Well executed design drawings must be prepared with value engineering in mind. It’s easy to design a beautiful space on paper but all homes have their limitations. It’s important to know them when designing. As such, it’s important to conduct home inspections of structural and mechanical elements during the design process to fully understand the specific limitations of the project.
For example, our clients may ask us to remove a wall and create an open concept Kitchen. There are different ways to accomplish this. Sometimes, removing the wall will trigger the need for a new concrete foundation in the finished basement to support the new beam that replaces the wall. Sometimes this wall may host a number of things like drain stack, heating duct, water supply, central vac, etc that needs to be re-routed somewhere else. It’s fairly easy for a designer to move it on paper but it may cost a lot of money in reality!
At times, we can remove 80% of the wall instead and achieve the desired look and feel of an open concept but avoid the disruptions in the basement and allow our client to save a lot of money. Instead of moving the wall we can move the kitchen, instead of moving air-return inside the wall we can provide a new one, etc.
This would be only possible if the Design process included thorough home inspections conducted by specialists to see what options we have and to make sure that what is designed is the most efficient way of doing it on the job site.
All these factors will affect the overall price of a project.
Renovation Costs Per Square Foot:
The Numbers:
In general, renovating a 20-50 year old house that is between 2,000 and 4,000 square feet may cost between $150 to $220 per square foot.
Typically this would include updating all interior finishes and fixtures, possibly moving some walls, a new kitchen, new bathrooms, new flooring, trim, doors, new windows, popcorn removal, new fireplace with a feature wall, a new laundry room, updating staircase, updating lighting, updating closets and painting.
So that means that to renovate a 2500 square foot home it typically costs anywhere between $375,000 and $550,000 plus HST.
Additions, extensions, landscaping and exterior facade work will be additional and may vary drastically depending on complexity, volume and quality of materials and craftsmanship.
The older the house and the smaller the size of it the higher the price per square foot. For example, to renovate the main floor of a 100 year old home which is 700 sq.ft. may end up being more than $300 per sq. ft or more than $200,000.
Conclusion
So, there you have it – figuring out the cost of a home reno is no piece of cake. Unlike building a brand-new home, every house and family needs are unique. From its age and structure to your personal style, there’s a million things that can impact the price tag.
We’ve given you the lowdown on some of the biggest factors that can affect the cost, but remember, this is just a general idea. Every reno is different, so it’s tough to nail down an exact price without diving deep into your specific project.
To avoid disappointment down the road, we recommend clients use our design and pre-construction services to determine a firm fixed cost.
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