Home Additions in Toronto and the GTA

Where to Start with a Home Addition

Out of room but not ready to move? A home addition gives your house square footage it never had: a second storey over a bungalow, a rear addition behind the kitchen, or a side addition where the lot allows it. Every project starts with a free photorealistic 3D design and a fixed price, so you see the finished house and know the number before anything is built.

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Building Up or Building Out?

The two are not interchangeable, and the lot usually decides. Building up means taking the roof off and framing a new floor on the existing walls, which adds the most space without giving up any yard. Whether it is possible comes down to what the foundation and the walls below can carry, and that is the first thing a structural engineer checks.

Building out means a new foundation behind or beside the house. It keeps everything on one level, which suits anyone who does not want more stairs, and it is the usual answer when the kitchen or the family room is the room that has run out of space. It costs you yard, and on narrow lots the side yard setbacks decide how far you can go.

If what you actually need is more usable space rather than a bigger house, a finished basement is cheaper square footage, and we will tell you that at the assessment instead of selling you an addition. And when the addition comes together with reworking the rest of the house, that is a full home renovation, and both run under one contract with one team.

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Permits, Zoning and the Committee of Adjustment

This is the part that stops most additions before they start. An addition needs stamped drawings from a structural engineer, a building permit, and it has to fit what the zoning allows on your lot: height, setbacks, and how much of the lot can be covered. When the plan does not fit those rules, the route is a minor variance through the committee of adjustment, which is a hearing, not a form you file.

We arrange that whole process: the engineer, the permit drawings and the submission, and the variance application when the lot needs one. You will know at the design stage whether your addition fits the rules as drawn or needs the hearing, instead of finding out after the drawings are paid for.

What’s Included in the Service

• Structural engineering and permit drawings
• Zoning review, and a minor variance application when the lot needs one
• Foundation work for rear and side additions
• Roof removal and full framing for a second storey
• New windows, roofing and exterior finish matched to the existing house
• Plumbing, electrical, heating and ventilation for the new space
• Insulation, drywall, flooring and finishing
• Bedrooms, bathrooms and closets inside the addition
• Photorealistic 3D design and a fixed price approved before construction

Why Choose Us

• End to end: design, engineering, permits, build and handover
• 5-year warranty on workmanship and materials
• Fixed price approved before work begins, no changes unless the scope changes
• Experience with full second storeys, not only small bump-outs
• One project manager from the first drawing to the final inspection

How It Works

1. Free consultation and a structural assessment of the house
2. 3D design, engineering and a transparent cost estimate
3. Permits, and the committee of adjustment where the lot needs it
4. Construction with daily progress updates, final inspection and warranty activation

How We Price a Home Addition

Home additions start at $250 per square foot, so a 600 square foot second storey lands around $150,000. Square footage is the main driver, and after that it is the structure: what the existing foundation and walls can carry, whether the roof comes off, and how much of the heating, plumbing and electrical has to grow with the house.

Your price is fixed after an in-home assessment and the 3D design, and it does not change unless the scope does. For a full breakdown across services, see our renovation cost guide for Toronto.

Thinking about adding on? Book a free consultation and we will start with a 3D design of the finished house, or call us at (647) 649-9404.

Home Additions Across the GTA

We build additions throughout Toronto and the GTA, including North York, Vaughan, Oakville and Burlington, where lot sizes and zoning rules change from one municipality to the next. See a finished one: our Downsview project is a full second storey framed on an existing bungalow, with the exterior finished so that nothing about it reads as an addition. Browse our recent projects for more.

Frequently Asked Questions