Home renovation in Oakville

Renovating in Oakville

Oakville is where many of our clients live, and it is a town of very different houses depending on which side of the QEW you are on and how far north you go. What a renovation involves, and what it uncovers, follows the age of the house.

Oakville’s housing, area by area

South of the QEW: Old Oakville, Bronte, Eastlake, and southwest Oakville. The oldest housing in town is here, from nineteenth-century homes near the harbour to mid-century bungalows, side-splits, and ranch houses on wide lots. Renovations in these houses often mean opening up a closed main floor, and they are the ones most likely to turn up older wiring, plumbing, and insulation once walls are open. Many original houses in this part of town have also been replaced with new custom homes, so a renovated older house sits beside much larger neighbours.

College Park and Falgarwood. Largely built in the 1960s and 1970s. Typical projects are kitchens that have been updated once already and are due again, main bathrooms with original tubs and tile, and basements with panelling and drop ceilings.

Glen Abbey and River Oaks. Developed mostly from the late 1970s through the 1990s. These are two-storey family homes with separate kitchens, formal dining rooms, and builder-grade oak cabinets. The most common request is a larger kitchen opened to the family room, followed by ensuite bathrooms.

Iroquois Ridge, West Oak Trails, Joshua Creek, and Clearview. Mostly 1990s and 2000s construction. Structure and services are generally modern, so projects here are usually about finishes and function: new kitchens, upgraded bathrooms, and finished basements.

North of Dundas, including Palermo. The newest homes in town. Work here tends to be basement finishing and upgrades to builder finishes.

These are general patterns. We confirm what your house is made of at the free site visit.

Permits: the Town of Oakville

Building permits in Oakville are issued by the Town’s Building Services department. The Town’s guidance on interior alterations says a permit is required for changes that are not decorative, such as:

• removing walls, especially load-bearing walls,
• adding windows or enlarging existing ones, and
• adding or relocating plumbing fixtures.

Replacing existing cabinetry, sinks, faucets, and toilets, and cosmetic changes to surfaces, typically do not need one. Finishing a basement does need a permit, and a basement bedroom needs an egress window or door.

When plumbing fixtures are added, the Town also asks for a water service sizing form. Where a load-bearing wall is removed, the application needs engineered beam details and framing plans. We prepare these as part of the project.

Heritage districts

Oakville has four heritage conservation districts: Old Oakville, First and Second Street, Trafalgar Road, and Downtown Oakville. If your home is in one, or is individually designated, changes covered by the district plan need heritage approval from the Town before a building permit can follow. Window and facade changes are the usual triggers. Interior work such as a kitchen is often unaffected, but it is worth confirming early.

Creeks, ravines, and the lake

Sixteen Mile Creek, Bronte Creek, and the Lake Ontario shoreline run through Oakville, and land near them is regulated by Conservation Halton. Interior renovations are not usually affected. Additions and anything that changes the footprint of a house near a valley or the shoreline can need the conservation authority’s approval as well as the Town’s.

What we do in Oakville

• Kitchen renovation in Oakville
• Bathroom renovation in Oakville
• Basement renovation and legal basement apartments
• Full home renovation and home additions
• Condo renovation and commercial renovation
• 3D renderings before any of it starts

For how a project runs from first call to final day, see our process. For the rules across the province, see our guide to renovation permits in Ontario.