Beaches Home Renovations
If you live in the Beaches area of Toronto, you have probably thought about doing a home renovation at one point or another. Wondering what could be done to help you make the most of what you have and keep you in one of the nicest areas to live in Toronto for as long as possible. Beaches homes usually contain a laundry list of potential renovation projects, much like any home throughout Toronto. However, a few key factors only apply to homes on the Beaches. Therefore, I thought it might be helpful to focus on some of these factors so that you can make sure they are included in your next Beaches home renovation budget.
Beaches Home Renovations Considerations
Parking
Given the Beaches is such a popular place to not only live but also to visit. You can almost guarantee that parking will be in short supply, especially during the busy renovation season. This has always been a problem with any Beaches home renovations we have dealt with. It doesn’t make the job any more manageable when getting material into a small rear yard to build an addition, and the street is full of cars. Ensure your contractor understands this challenge because we have had to block traffic to unload and park most of our vehicles off-site and walk to and from the project on many projects. Sometimes as far as two blocks away. At the very least, this can slow down progress and potentially have extra charges back to you. The parking cops have no mercy, and those tickets can pile up fast. Ensure your Beaches home renovations budget includes a good parking strategy so you can stay one step ahead of this potentially troublesome problem.
Water
Although living close to a lake is excellent, it has a problem with rainwater. Especially if you live south of Queen St., where streets become rivers and sewers fill up fast. Given many beaches and home renovations, work revolves around improving basements. Always make sure to plan on having good foundation waterproofing installed and that you have a working weeping tile and sump pump to remove the water if it does get in. During the average rainstorm, I have witnessed close to 6″ of water rolling down the streets. You can imagine the extraordinary pressure on your foundation, especially if it is not correctly waterproofed. The other moisture that can be a problem in your Beaches home renovations is the sewers backing up and overflowing into your basement. Always allow for a back-flow preventer valve to be installed in your basement drain. This one thing alone could save you thousands of dollars in damage.
