Renovation in Montreal.

The buildings here

Plexes, duplexes, triplexes, tower condos, greystone apartments, townhouses. Montreal's housing stock has one characteristic that changes everything: almost everything we open is holding something up above it.

In a suburban single-family home, a load-bearing wall supports a floor and a roof. In a Montreal plex, it supports units lived in by other people. It isn't the same conversation, nor the same job site.

Add the age of the buildings. A large share of the buildings we open have been modified once or twice since construction, without it being documented anywhere. The on-site survey therefore isn't a formality, it's the first real step of the project.

Montreal's own constraint

The permit is requested from the borough. Every borough has its requirements, its lead times and its way of reviewing a file. An identical project doesn't move at the same pace in Rosemont, in Verdun or in the Sud-Ouest. It's a schedule item that has to be managed actively, otherwise it grows on its own.

The load travels far. In a plex, underpinning often runs through several units before reaching a support able to receive it. That means working in other people's homes, with their consent and on their schedule.

Access to the mechanics goes elsewhere. In towers and condos, ducts are normally reached through the ceiling of the unit below. When that access isn't granted, another path has to be found, or the plan has to give up what it called for.

These three elements are why a good share of Montreal projects get turned down before reaching us.