Interior Renovations · Richmond Hill, York Region
Home renovation in Richmond Hill: kitchens, bathrooms, open main floors and the beams that let a load-bearing wall come out. Most houses here are 1980s to 2000s subdivision builds, the village lots near Mill Pond are older, and we measure each one as it stands before the permit set goes to the City of Richmond Hill Building Division.
What’s included
Most interior work we build starts with a wall someone wants gone. The rest follows from that: the beam, the systems behind the drywall, the finishes, and the inspections in between. In Richmond Hill the package goes to the City of Richmond Hill Building Division, and it is drawn to that department’s checklist.
The wet rooms
New layouts, plumbing moved to suit them, and the ventilation and electrical brought up to code while the walls are open.
Rooms combined
Combining rooms, widening openings and moving a stair so the main floor works as one space.
Engineered in-house
The beam, its posts and the footing under them designed and stamped by our P.Eng, with shoring in place before a stud is cut.
Behind the drywall
Systems updated while the walls are open: supply and drains rerouted, ducts resized, circuits added.
The package
Find your situation below. If it’s there, this is the service, and the card underneath is everything you get from our one office.
06 common situations
07
items in your package, all from one P.Eng and BCIN team.
Drawn & stamped in-house
How it runs
Four steps, one contract. The office that draws the beam is the one that installs it.
We look at the house, listen to what you want changed, and tell you which walls carry load and what the permit will cover.
Layout, structural and mechanical drawings come from one office, then go to the city. We answer examiner comments at no extra charge.
Our crew does the demolition, structure, rough-ins and finishes. When something unexpected turns up behind a wall, the engineer decides on site.
Framing, plumbing, electrical and final inspections are booked as each stage is ready. You get the closed permit with the keys.
Case files
Open any file for the scope, the disciplines involved, what we delivered and what the owner came away with.
A compact two-storey suite in a Toronto backyard. Architectural and structural drawings, zoning review and a framing package that makes every square foot count.
Delivered
New living space on a lot the owners already had.
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Structural walls came out and rooms were added to open the plan. Beam and column design, permit drawings and renovation coordination through to final inspection.
Delivered
An open layout where the load-bearing walls used to be.
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A code-compliant second unit with its own entrance, fire separations between the units, HVAC design and the full permit package.
Delivered
A legal second unit that brings in rent and adds property value.
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A new build taken from the client’s sketch to occupancy, with the architectural, structural and mechanical design done by one team.
Delivered
Built to the client’s own plan, with one team answering for every discipline.
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A two-storey garden suite laid out to get the most usable space from the footprint, designed and permitted as a rentable unit.
Delivered
Rental income and a higher property value.
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A dental office converted into a supermarket. Interior renovation, a new plumbing system and fire separations upgraded to the Ontario Fire Code.
Delivered
A dental office reopened as a supermarket, compliant with the Ontario Fire Code.
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A custom covered porch that turns the front of the house into usable outdoor space. Addition design and structural drawings for the permit.
Delivered
More usable outdoor space and added home value.
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Site grading to manage drainage and prepare the land for a new driveway, drawn as a grading plan for the site alteration permit.
Delivered
Drainage handled and the land ready for a new driveway.
Start a project like thisPhoto plates
Additions, basements, kitchens, new builds and commercial fit-outs. Drag a row to scrub through it, or open any photo full size.Tap any photo to see it full size.
21 platesResidential, commercial & new build
The drawing set
Framing schedules, wall assemblies, dimensions and a city review stamp, as issued. Client title blocks are trimmed off to protect the people we drew them for.
Drawing set
Sheets in this set
Sheet title
Existing basement plan
The existing house recorded before any design: beams, joists and bearing walls.
Drawing no.
2 of 5
Service area
From the office we cover the whole GTA, north to Barrie and Orillia, east to Peterborough and Cobourg, west to Kitchener and Brantford, and down through Niagara.
46 across 8 regions
York Region
Toronto & Peel
Halton
Durham
Simcoe & Dufferin
Waterloo, Wellington & Brant
Hamilton, Niagara & Haldimand
Kawarthas & Northumberland
Past the 90-minute line
We've also completed projects in London and Strathroy. Farther out than that? Call (416) 990-9179 and ask.
Permits filed with municipalities including
Before you call
Anything we haven’t answered here, we’ll answer on a call. The first consultation is free.
(416) 990-9179Yes, once walls or plumbing move. Richmond Hill sits inside York Region, but the City of Richmond Hill Building Division issues the building permit and inspects the work, so that is where we file it.
Not for work inside the existing walls. Our Richmond Hill page names the conservation authority that covers your lot.
Yes. We take on interior renovations across Richmond Hill, including Oak Ridges and Mill Pond, about half an hour from our Richmond Hill office. The first consultation is free, by phone or on site.
Three things to start: property address; photos of the rooms you want to change; and any existing drawings or a previous permit. Send those and we tell you what the City of Richmond Hill Building Division will ask for before we quote.
Mostly what the basement is going to be. Space for your own household comes down to framing, insulation and finishes, plus plumbing or structure if a drain or a post has to move. A rental unit counts as an additional residential unit under By-law 143-24, so it takes its own building permit from the City of Richmond Hill Building Division and the fire separation and exit work a second unit needs. We price it after the first visit, which is free.
Not often, while the work stays inside the walls you already have. It matters once a renovation adds a unit or changes how the house is used, and then the first job is finding which by-law governs the lot: the Ontario Land Tribunal approved CZBL 93-25 only in part, some areas are still under appeal, and lots it does not cover stay under the earlier by-laws. A new unit also has to meet By-law 143-24, so we check both before the layout is drawn.
It can for anything that shows from the street. The Gormley Heritage Conservation District covers the old village core of Gormley and has been designated under the Ontario Heritage Act since 2009, so a new window, a wider door or a changed porch there is something we raise with the City before the elevations are drawn. Inside the district or out, the building permit itself comes from the City of Richmond Hill Building Division.
Usually. In a 1980s to 2000s subdivision house, the wall between the kitchen and the family room may carry the floor above, and if it does, our P.Eng sizes the beam and posts that take its load down to the foundation. That is structural work, so it goes on a building permit from the City of Richmond Hill Building Division before the wall comes out.
Yes, at the free first consultation, before your offer is firm. We walk the house and point out which walls carry load and where a kitchen or bathroom can move, which plays out differently in a 1980s to 2000s subdivision house than on one of the older village lots near Mill Pond. If a rental unit is part of the plan, we also confirm the lot is on municipal water and sewer, which By-law 143-24 requires.
Often, where the grade allows it. A walkout reshapes the yard, and Richmond Hill’s Site Alteration By-law 47-25 covers residential regrading, so the application carries a grading plan, which our engineer draws. If the lot is inside a TRCA regulated area, or under the LSRCA in Oak Ridges or Lake Wilcox, that authority’s permit comes before the building permit too.
Searched & answered
Short answers to the interior renovations questions people search most, and the broader topics they lead to.
Not covered here? Book a free consultationIt takes out or widens the walls between rooms, most often between the kitchen, dining and living areas, to make one open main floor. A wall that carries the floor above can still come out once a beam is sized to carry its load. Fine Engineering designs the structure and builds the opening.
The price follows what the basement has to become. Open space finished for the house is mostly framing, insulation, drywall and floors. A bathroom with no rough-in under the slab adds plumbing, and moving a post adds structure. A second unit costs more again, with the fire separation, exit and 1.95 m ceiling a suite needs. Fine Engineering prices it from what the first site visit finds.
Start by settling what the space is for, because that decides the permit. Living space for the household usually needs none unless the plan changes the structure, the plumbing or the heating. Any of those, or a second unit, goes on a building permit first. The layout then works around the posts and drains already there. Fine Engineering draws that layout and files the permit.
Usually a whole floor, or the whole house, taken back to the framing and rebuilt: a new layout, structural changes where walls move, plumbing and ducts rerouted and new wiring, then insulation, drywall and finishes. Fine Engineering starts from the house measured as it stands, so the new plan fits the framing already in place.
Once a complete application is in, Ontario’s Building Code gives the municipality 10 business days to issue a house permit or refuse it with reasons. Larger and more complex buildings get a longer period. The count only starts when nothing is missing, so an absent sheet or an unresolved zoning issue holds it back. Fine Engineering checks zoning and code before anything is submitted.
The application form, the drawings the Building Code calls for, and every other approval the project depends on. Zoning counts as applicable law, so a needed minor variance has to be granted before the permit can be issued, and a lot in a conservation authority’s regulated area may need that authority’s permit first. Fine Engineering assembles the whole package, with the designer’s registration details on the drawings.
Good to know
In Richmond Hill the reviewer is the City of Richmond Hill Building Division. Every Richmond Hill lot sets its own terms: the framing and drains of the house on it decide how far a renovation can go.
We walk the site with the survey, usually within a day or two of the call, before anything is drawn, then file the interior renovations package to the City of Richmond Hill Building Division’s own checklist.
Richmond Hill mixes single-detached subdivisions from the 1980s to 2000s, with older village lots near Mill Pond seeing custom rebuilds, so two kitchens a few streets apart can be different jobs. A village house is measured as it stands, and any hidden framing is opened up. Our record here includes a 2,700 sq ft full-home interior renovation, where structural walls came out and rooms were added to open the plan.
An indoor job can still reach a tree. The bin on the driveway, drywall stacked on the lawn and the trench for a new drain all sit over roots, and Richmond Hill’s Tree Preservation By-law No. 19-25 asks for a permit before a private tree 15 cm or more across at 1.4 m above the ground is injured, not only before it is removed.
We decide where the bin and materials go before work starts. If a drain trench cannot miss a protected tree, we apply for the tree permit first.
Once a basement is laid out to be lived in separately, with its own kitchen and entrance, we plan it as a second unit, and in Richmond Hill that brings in By-law 143-24. The by-law lets a lot hold up to three units on top of the main house, so the renovation can be the first of several.
Each one needs a building permit, the lot needs municipal water and sewer, and the unit needs the fire separation and exit the Building Code sets for a second suite.
Contact us
Tell us what you want changed and we’ll tell you what it involves, on a free first call.
First consultation free(416) 990-9179