Kitchen renovation in Mississauga

Kitchens in Mississauga homes

Mississauga’s houses were built in waves, and each wave left a recognisable kitchen. Knowing which one you have tells you most of what the renovation will involve.

Post-war bungalows and splits: Applewood, Cooksville, Lakeview

Houses from the 1950s and 1960s have compact kitchens closed off behind a wall, often with a doorway at each end. The room is too small for the way people cook now, but the fix is usually simple in principle: take down the wall to the dining room and let the kitchen use both spaces.

That wall is often structural, and in a back-split or side-split it may also carry plumbing or ducts from the level above. Those are the things we check before drawing anything.

1970s and 1980s family homes: Erin Mills, Meadowvale, parts of Streetsville

The typical layout is a U-shaped or galley kitchen with a breakfast nook, next to a sunken or separate family room. Cabinets are original or were refaced once. Bulkheads above the upper cabinets hide ducts or, just as often, nothing at all.

Common projects here are removing the bulkheads for taller cabinets, replacing the peninsula with an island, and opening the kitchen to the family room.

Lakeside neighbourhoods: Port Credit, Mineola, Lorne Park, Clarkson

Older houses on larger lots, many already extended. Kitchen projects here are more often premium-tier: a new layout, custom cabinetry, large windows or doors to the garden, and sometimes a rear addition to hold it all. Port Credit also has a heritage conservation district, covered below.

Newer subdivisions: Churchill Meadows, Lisgar

Open plans and reasonable layouts, with builder-grade finishes. Most projects replace cabinets, counters, and lighting within the existing footprint, which keeps both cost and time down.

City of Mississauga permits for kitchens

The City’s page on when a building permit is required is specific.

No permit needed:

• replacing or installing cabinetry or cupboards,
• replacing a plumbing fixture, such as a sink, in the same location.

Permit required:

• adding, removing, or relocating a plumbing fixture such as a sink,
• installing, replacing, or repairing plumbing drainage,
• new or enlarged doors and windows,
• kitchen exhaust, which appears on the City’s permit list, and
• structural alterations.

So a kitchen in the same layout generally proceeds without a building permit, while moving the sink to an island or taking out a wall means an application with drawings. We prepare the drawings and manage the application. Electrical work is inspected separately through the Electrical Safety Authority.

Heritage and conservation land

In the Old Port Credit Village and Meadowvale Village heritage conservation districts, exterior alterations need heritage approval from the City. A kitchen inside the existing walls is not usually affected; a new window or addition can be. Lots backing onto the Credit River valley may also need Credit Valley Conservation’s sign-off for additions.

How the project runs

1. Phone conversation, then a free site visit at your Mississauga home.
2. Budget and design. We agree on a realistic budget and design to it from your mood board and inspiration photos.
3. 3D rendering, on request, so you can see the kitchen before committing.
4. Approval. Your old kitchen is still in place and usable.
5. Demolition and preparation start 7 to 9 days after design approval.
6. Cabinets in one day; countertops and everything else the next day.

In total, you are without a working kitchen for 2 days.

The full picture of what a kitchen renovation includes is on our main kitchen renovation page, and our kitchen renovation cost guide explains the price tiers below.