Renovation in Montreal
Our workshop and our tradespeople are from here.
The buildings here
Plexes, duplexes, triplexes, tower condos, greystone, townhouses. Montreal's housing stock has one trait that changes everything: almost every wall we open is holding something up above it.
In a suburban bungalow, a load-bearing wall carries a floor and a roof. In a plex, it carries your neighbours' homes. It isn't the same conversation, nor the same job site, nor the same precautions.
Add the age of the buildings. Most of the buildings we open have been modified once or twice since they were built, with no plan keeping any record of it. Taking the measurements on site is therefore never a formality: it is the first real step of your project.
What we're asked for most
Opening a load-bearing wall to bring the kitchen and the living room into one volume. Merging two units under one address. Redoing a bathroom on a concrete slab that may not be drilled. Fitting out a basement in a building whose foundations predate modern drains.
Montreal's own challenge
The permit is requested from the borough, and every borough has its requirements, its lead times and its own way of reading a file. An identical project does not move at the same pace in Rosemont, in Verdun or in the Sud-Ouest. It is a schedule item we follow actively with your architect, otherwise it grows on its own.
The load travels far. In a plex, underpinning often runs through several units before finding a support able to receive it. So we work in your neighbours' homes, with their consent and on their schedule.
Access to the mechanics goes elsewhere. In a tower, ducts are normally reached through the ceiling of the unit below. When that access is refused, another path has to be found.
Those three elements are why so many Montreal projects reach us after someone has told you it couldn't be done.
So, what are we working on?
Eight questions, two minutes. We call you back to talk it through, and we tell you frankly whether it's a project for us or whether you'd be better served elsewhere.