Renovating on a tight Toronto lot: access, neighbours and trees

On a big suburban lot, the hardest part of a renovation is usually the design. On a 25 foot Toronto lot, it is often logistics. Where does the dumpster go? How does a sheet of drywall get to the basement when the side yard is 30 inches wide? What happens to the neighbour's driveway when the concrete truck shows up?

None of this is glamorous. All of it affects your schedule and your relationships on the street, so we plan it before we price anything.

Getting in and out

The first thing we walk on a Toronto site visit is the path material will take. Front door, side gate, rear lane. We measure it. A basement renovation can involve hundreds of sheets of drywall, a few tonnes of debris and sometimes a new beam that comes in one long piece.

If there is a laneway behind the house, it can be a gift. Deliveries and debris go out the back, the street stays clear and nobody parks a bin on your front lawn. Lanes are narrow though, and shared, so we time big deliveries for when they cause the least trouble.

If there is no lane and the side yard is tight, we plan for it. Smaller deliveries more often. Debris removed in bags instead of a bin. It costs a little more in labour. It costs a lot less than a damaged fence or an angry neighbour.

The bin and the street

A roll-off bin on the street usually needs a permit from the City, and there are rules about where it can sit. On a front pad or driveway it is your property, but it still blocks your car for weeks. We talk through the options early so the bin is not a surprise on day one.

Talk to the neighbours before we start

On a semi or a row house, your renovation is also your neighbour's renovation for a while. They will hear the saw. They may share a wall that gets drilled near. We suggest a short note or a knock on the door before we start, with our contact number and the hours we work. In our experience it heads off most complaints before they begin.

If work involves a shared wall, a shared drain or anything on the property line, that conversation needs to happen early and in writing.

Trees you cannot touch

Toronto protects a lot of private trees, not just the ones on City land. Removing or injuring a protected tree often needs a permit, and "injuring" can include digging inside the root zone. That matters for a rear addition, a new deck footing, an underpinned basement walkout or even a trench for a gas line.

We look at every significant tree near the work area during design, and where a permit or an arborist's report is needed, we plan for it in the schedule. Tree protection hoarding has to go up before work starts and stay up until it ends.

Ravine lots

If your property backs onto one of the city's ravines, there may be extra rules about grading, removing vegetation and building near the slope. We check whether a lot is regulated before we draw anything, because it can change what is possible behind the house.

Inside is easier, mostly

Kitchens, bathrooms and basements are where most of our Toronto work happens, because they add value without needing more land. Basements in older Toronto houses come with their own list: low ceilings, old foundations and drains that have been there since before anyone reading this was born. Those are all solvable. They just need to be found during design, not during demolition.

The short version

Plan access before design is finished. Tell the neighbours. Check the trees. Confirm whether you are near a ravine. It is unexciting work, but it is what keeps a city project on schedule. See more about our work in Toronto, or how our process handles all of this before the first day on site.