High Park Home Renovations

Woodsmith Construction Project Journal: High Park Home Renovations

 High Park home renovations aren’t like any other home renovations in Toronto. This beautiful area of Toronto has so much to offer for anyone that chooses to live there. Whether it’s the shops on Roncesvalle or a walk in High Park itself. There is always something to do and see.  We have had the great fortune to have worked on many homes in and around High Park, over the years. Our experiences have always been good ones but there are a few things we have learned along the way. Some of them might just prove to be helpful to you with your next renovation project. Most of  the High Park home renovations that we have done, fall into two categories. The first is the open concept first floor. While also trying to squeeze a decent bathroom in on the second. The second category, is the full third floor master suite. Each project can have massive resale benefits along with also really helping the comfort level of living in the homes.   

Open Concept

With the open concept High Park home renovations we have done. I would say the main stumbling block is usually the outdated and undersized mechanical systems in the home. HVAC is usually an old gravity fed systems that does little in the winter and less in the summer. The plumbing is a web of copper that no one knows where it goes. The end result is that a shower on the second floor will come to a sudden end once the kitchen sink on the first floor is turned on. Always make sure you when you try to open up an existing ground floor, that you think about the rest of the home’s mechanical systems and how they might be affected or the fact that this would present a great opportunity to fix them.  You want to always use your budget money to get as much bang for your dollar as possible. Sometimes when it comes to these sorts of things a little bit extra money can bring you a whole lot of piece of mind. 

Third Floor Master Suite

Now this is by far one of the most popular of the High Park home renovations. Mainly because people seem to think they can live in the home while it is being done and that none of the rest of the home will be affected.  Please always remember, no matter what anyone might tell you. Major construction like and third floor suite will always affect the rest of the home. If you choose to live in the home during construction, plan for disruption and dust in your life. I always recommend for my clients to leave while the major demolition and framing is on going and if they must return after things have been put back together.  Any home renovation is a challenge to live in and it is alwasy a good idea to allow some vacation time into your budget to give you that much needed break from the daily construction site your home will be.