Home Renovation Service
Home Renovation in Willowdale
Willowdale East · Willowdale West · Lansing · Yonge & Sheppard
Willowdale: original bungalows next to new custom houses
Willowdale was mostly 1950s brick bungalows on 50 ft lots. Over the last thirty years many of those were torn down and replaced with large custom houses, and the condos along Yonge between Sheppard and Finch went up at the same time. Walk any street east or west of Yonge and you will pass a 1,100 sq ft bungalow, a 4,000 sq ft house with a two-storey foyer, and another bungalow, in that order. So the calls we get split three ways. Original bungalows need a full interior renovation and often a basement unit. The 1990s and 2000s custom homes need kitchens and ensuites that have aged badly: cracked grout over failing membranes, glossy maple cabinets, jetted tubs nobody uses. Condos near the Sheppard-Yonge and Finch stations need kitchen and bathroom work inside board rules. Each of those is a different budget and schedule, and we price them that way rather than per square foot.
Price ranges: North York · cost guide
Proof of work
Recent projects in North York, near Willowdale
We have not yet published a project in Willowdale itself. These are the 2 projects we completed in North York, the city Willowdale sits in — the same crew, the same drive. View all projects.
Willowdale’s three kinds of house, and where they sit
Original bungalows
One-storey brick houses with a full basement, many still with their first kitchen layout. We take out the wall to the dining room, rebuild both bathrooms, and turn the lower floor into a separate unit with its own entrance, kitchen, and bathroom under a permit.
1990s–2000s custom homes
Large two-storey houses with big kitchens and ensuites that now look their age. Cabinets, stone, and showers are replaced, usually while the family keeps living upstairs, so we seal off the work zone and run a temporary kitchen in the basement or dining room.
Yonge Street condos
Towers between Sheppard and Finch. Kitchens and bathrooms redone with board approval, booked elevator time for every delivery and debris run, and rated acoustic underlay under any hard floor that replaces carpet. Most buildings also want plumbing shut-offs scheduled with the superintendent days ahead.
Lansing and the streets west of Yonge
The most mixed blocks in the area, where originals and rebuilds alternate lot by lot. Bungalow owners here often want a top-to-bottom interior and a lower suite, and ask for a fixed number to weigh against selling to a builder.
Willowdale East toward Bayview
More 1960s two-storey houses alongside the custom rebuilds. Typical scope is a kitchen with a larger island, a main-floor powder room moved or enlarged, and the upstairs bathroom rebuilt with a curbless shower. Oak stairs that were carpeted get new treads and a cleaner railing.
Redoing the kitchen and ensuite in a 1990s Willowdale custom house
These houses were built big and finished fast. The kitchen is usually generous but cut up by a peninsula and a desk nook, the cabinets are glossy maple or thermofoil, and the ensuite has a jetted tub, a small glassed shower, and grout that has been patched more than once. We demolish the kitchen and the ensuite together so one crew handles both. In the shower, we often find the membrane failed years ago and the subfloor under it is soft; that gets cut out and replaced before anything new goes in. The kitchen gets a single long island where the peninsula was, and the tub gives way to a larger walk-in shower. Stone is templated after cabinets are set. With a family living upstairs, plan on ten to fourteen weeks.
People also ask
Home Renovation questions - Willowdale
What drives the cost of a home renovation in Willowdale?
Which of the three Willowdale house types you have. An original bungalow with a basement unit is a full-interior budget. A 1990s custom home is mostly cabinetry, stone, and large showers, so finish choices drive the cost. A Yonge Street condo adds board rules and elevator bookings to the schedule. In the big houses, the hidden cost is often a failed heated floor or steam shower, or stone that has to be cut out in pieces.
Should I renovate my Willowdale bungalow or tear it down?
That is a planning and real-estate decision before it is a construction one, and we are not the right people to make it for you. What we can do is give you a fixed price for a full interior renovation and a basement unit, so you can compare it with the cost of a rebuild and decide on real numbers. Many owners take our quote to their architect or agent and make the call from there.
Do you renovate condos near Yonge and Sheppard?
Yes. Most of the towers along Yonge have an alteration agreement the board signs before work starts, set hours for noisy work, and rules on hard flooring. We prepare the drawings and insurance paperwork, book the service elevator for each delivery, and use rated underlay where it is required. See our North York condo renovation page for how board approval, elevator bookings, and acoustic underlay work in those buildings.
Let’s talk
Contact Osoba Renos & Design
Planning a home renovation in Willowdale? Book a free in-home estimate.
- Phone647-562-4275
- E-mailosobarenos@gmail.com
- Service areaMississauga & GTA