Large-format tile going down in Corktown. The thinset was combed with a notched trowel, and each heavy tile was lowered straight into the bed with a two-handed suction carrier so it landed tight against the tile already laid.
This is one of the few parts of Toronto where a nineteenth-century rowhouse and a building finished last year share a block. In the old stock you find plank subfloors below the 19 mm minimum, joists at irregular spacings, floors that have been sanded more than once, and stairs that are steeper than anything built today. In the new infill you find a flat slab or engineered joists, a floor that has not moved yet, and a builder-grade finish that many owners want replaced. Nothing about one predicts the other, which is why a Corktown quote always comes after a visit rather than a phone call.
Original boards refinished, or an overlay before new hardwood goes down.
Builder-grade floors replaced, slabs checked for cure before glue-down.
Treads and risers refinished at $80 to $200 per step, matched to the floor.
Everything about the method follows from it, and the street gives no reliable clue.
A floor sanded twice already may have nothing left above the tongue.
Irregular in the old stock, and frequently thinner than the 19 mm we want under new hardwood.
Older staircases here are steep with narrow treads, which changes how they are refinished and what they cost.
A great many houses here are an original front with something added at the back, and the junction is where the flooring decisions concentrate. Additions sit on different framing, frequently at a different height, and the transition has to be planned rather than improvised at the doorway. Small differences get levelled out. Larger ones get a deliberate threshold placed where it reads as intentional. Either way it is decided at quote stage, because it affects how much material and how many transition pieces you buy.
Reviews collected directly from clients.
We had several damaged floorboards that needed repair. The team matched the new boards closely with the existing flooring and completed the work with excellent attention to detail.
We chose Ontario Flooring for luxury vinyl plank installation in our basement. They prepared the subfloor properly, explained the process clearly, and delivered an even, durable finish.
Yes, with preparation. The usual requirement is a plywood overlay over the original plank subfloor to bring it up to something a modern floor can be fastened to. That adds height, so doors and stairs get adjusted, and it is planned rather than improvised.
Very often. Early softwood and oak boards that have survived this long carry a character no new floor reproduces. The question is purely whether there is thickness left to sand, and one look at a board edge answers it.
Much less of it. A new build usually has a flat, sound substrate, so the preparation lines shrink or disappear. The main check is slab cure if it is concrete, because a slab under 30 to 60 days old cannot be tested meaningfully.