What Should I Renovate First in an Older Home I Just Bought in Toronto?

Quick answer: In an older Toronto home, renovate in this order. First, deal with anything structural, like foundation cracks, a failing roof, or drainage problems. Second, replace unsafe electrical, especially knob and tube wiring and undersized 60 amp panels. Third, sort out plumbing, including galvanized pipes, lead water service lines, and old clay sewer connections. Fourth, fix moisture and insulation issues. Kitchens, bathrooms, and cosmetic upgrades come last, no matter how tempting they look on day one.

That order matters more in Toronto than almost anywhere else in Canada. A huge share of homes in neighbourhoods like Riverdale, The Junction, Cabbagetown, High Park, and the Beaches were built between the 1880s and 1950s. They have great bones and terrible secrets. If you renovate the pretty stuff first, you often end up tearing it out later to reach the wiring and pipes behind it.

Here is the full breakdown, including what each stage typically costs in the GTA and what you can safely leave for year two or three.

Step Zero: Inspect Before You Renovate Anything

Before you book a single contractor, spend a bit of money learning what you actually bought. A standard pre-purchase inspection is a starting point, not a full picture. In a century home, it is worth adding:

• A sewer camera scope (roughly $300 to $500). Many older Toronto homes still drain through original clay pipes that tree roots love to invade. A blocked or collapsed lateral can flood your basement and cost $10,000 to $25,000 to replace. You want to know before you finish that basement, not after.
• Asbestos and vermiculite testing (roughly $400 to $800). Homes built before the 1980s often have asbestos in plaster, duct wrap, floor tiles, or attic insulation. Disturbing it without proper abatement is a health risk and a legal problem.
• An electrical assessment by a licensed electrician, including a look inside the panel and behind a few outlets for knob and tube wiring.
• A structural engineer’s opinion if you see stepped cracks in the foundation, sloping floors beyond normal century-home charm, or doors that will not close.

Budget a few thousand dollars for this stage. It is the cheapest insurance you will ever buy on a renovation, and it tells you exactly where your money needs to go first.

One more tip: hold back 20 to 25 percent of your total renovation budget as a contingency. Older Toronto homes almost always hide at least one surprise behind the walls.

Priority 1: Structure, Roof, and Water Coming In

Nothing else you renovate will last if the shell of the house is failing. Handle these first:

Foundation. Many older Toronto homes sit on rubble stone, brick, or early poured concrete foundations. Hairline cracks are usually fine. Horizontal cracks, bowing walls, or active water entry are not. Repairs range from a few thousand dollars for crack injection to $50,000 or more for underpinning.

Roof. If the roof is at the end of its life, replace it before doing any interior work. A new asphalt roof on a typical Toronto semi runs about $8,000 to $20,000. One leak can ruin brand new drywall, insulation, and flooring below it.

Grading, gutters, and downspouts. This is the least glamorous item on this list and one of the highest returns. Redirecting water away from the foundation costs hundreds, not thousands, and prevents the basement leaks that plague older homes across the city.

Exterior waterproofing. If the basement leaks now, waterproof before you insulate or finish anything down there. Expect roughly $100 to $300 per linear foot for exterior waterproofing in Toronto, depending on access and depth.

Also Read: What to Expect Behind the Walls When Renovating a Century Home in Toronto

Priority 2: Electrical

This is the item that surprises most new owners of older Toronto homes, because it affects more than safety. It affects your insurance.

Knob and tube wiring. Common in homes built before about 1950, and still hiding behind plaster in thousands of Toronto houses. Many insurers will refuse to cover a home with active knob and tube, or will only offer short-term coverage on the condition you replace it. If your inspection found any, this jumps near the top of your list. Full rewiring of a typical older Toronto home usually costs $15,000 to $30,000, and it is far cheaper to do before you renovate finishes than after.

Aluminum wiring. Found in some 1960s and 1970s homes. It can be made safe with proper connectors, but insurers will want documentation from a licensed electrician.

Panel upgrades. Many older homes still run on 60 or 100 amp service. Modern life, with EV chargers, heat pumps, and induction ranges, generally calls for 200 amps. A panel and service upgrade typically runs $2,500 to $6,000.

All electrical work in Ontario must be done by a Licensed Electrical Contractor with a notification filed with the Electrical Safety Authority. Keep every certificate. Your insurer and your future buyer will both ask for them.

Priority 3: Plumbing and Sewer

Three things to check in roughly this order:

Lead water service line. Homes built before the mid 1950s often still have a lead pipe bringing water in from the street. You can check the pipe where it enters your basement, and the City of Toronto offers a priority water service replacement program that lets you coordinate replacing the private side when the city replaces its side. Do not put this off if you have young kids drinking the water.

Galvanized steel supply pipes. These corrode from the inside, choke your water pressure, and eventually leak. Replacing them with copper or PEX during an open-wall stage of renovation is far cheaper than doing it later.

Clay sewer lateral. If your camera scope found root intrusion or cracks, deal with it before finishing the basement. Trenchless lining is often possible and less disruptive than digging. While you are at it, consider a backwater valve. The City of Toronto offers a subsidy of up to $1,250 through its Basement Flooding Protection Subsidy Program for installing one, and given how our summer storms have been trending, it is money well spent.

Priority 4: Insulation, Air Sealing, and HVAC

Most older Toronto homes leak heat everywhere. Empty wall cavities, uninsulated attics, original single-pane windows, and a 20-year-old furnace add up to painful winter bills.

Once the structure and systems are sound, this is where your money starts paying you back every month:

• Attic insulation and air sealing is usually the best dollar-for-dollar upgrade, often $2,000 to $5,000.
• Wall insulation can sometimes be blown in from outside without gutting rooms.
• Heating and cooling. If your furnace or boiler is near end of life, look seriously at a cold-climate heat pump. Ontario’s Home Renovation Savings Program currently offers rebates on heat pumps, insulation, and other efficiency upgrades, so check what you qualify for before you buy equipment.
• Windows matter, but they are expensive relative to the energy they save. Replace rotten or broken ones now and treat the rest as a phase-two project unless the budget allows.

Priority 5: Now the Fun Part. Kitchens, Bathrooms, and Finishes

Here is the honest truth: the kitchen is usually the room new buyers want to renovate first, and it is almost always the wrong place to start in an older home. A beautiful new kitchen sitting on top of knob and tube wiring, galvanized plumbing, and zero insulation is a renovation you will partially redo.

Once the house is safe, dry, and efficient, renovate the spaces you live in most:

• Kitchen. In Toronto, expect roughly $20,000 to $80,000 or more depending on layout changes and finishes. Custom kitchens are consistently one of the strongest factors in resale value here.
• Bathrooms. Typically $10,000 to $60,000 depending on scope. If you are opening walls anyway during your plumbing work, renovating a bathroom at the same time saves real money. Our guide on key considerations for a successful bathroom remodel walks through the decisions that matter most.
• Basement. Finishing a dry, waterproofed basement adds serious living space, and a legal basement apartment can generate $1,800 to $2,400 a month in rent in Toronto. See our basement renovation services in Toronto for what is involved.
• Flooring, trim, and paint come last, after every trade that could scratch, dent, or drip on them is done.

What NOT to Renovate First

A few things new owners commonly regret prioritizing in year one:

• Cosmetic kitchen or bath updates before systems are sorted. You will open those walls again.
• Finishing the basement before waterproofing and scoping the sewer. This is the single most expensive mistake we see in older Toronto homes.
• Major additions before you understand zoning, setbacks, and whether the home has any heritage designation under the Ontario Heritage Act. Heritage status can limit what you can change and adds approval time.
• New flooring before rewiring or replumbing, since trades may need to cut into it.

Do You Need Permits?

In Toronto, yes, for most of the work above. Structural changes, additions, new plumbing and drain work, underpinning, and creating a basement apartment all require building permits. Electrical work needs ESA notification. Cosmetic work like painting, flooring, and cabinet swaps generally does not. Permit timelines vary from a couple of weeks for simple projects to several months for complex ones, so build that into your schedule. Skipping permits can stall a future sale and void insurance claims, so it is never worth the shortcut.

A Realistic First-Year Budget

Every house is different, but for a typical older Toronto semi that needs the works, a rough planning picture looks like this:

Full renovations of older Toronto homes commonly land between $150 and $400 per square foot once everything is included. For a detailed breakdown of where that money goes, read our home renovation cost guide for Toronto.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I renovate the kitchen or the electrical first in an old house?

Electrical, every time. Rewiring means opening walls and ceilings, so a new kitchen installed first would get damaged or partially removed. Insurers may also require knob and tube replacement before offering full coverage.

Can I live in my Toronto home while renovating it?

Usually yes for staged work, though a full gut renovation with rewiring and replumbing typically means moving out for a few months. Staging the work floor by floor is possible but adds time and some cost.

How long should I wait before renovating a home I just bought?

Fix safety, water, and insurance issues right away. For layout changes and cosmetic work, many designers suggest living in the home through at least one season first, so you learn how light, noise, and traffic flow actually work in the house.

Is it worth renovating a 100-year-old house in Toronto?

Generally yes. Land value in central Toronto is high, and a properly updated century home combines character that new builds cannot match with modern comfort and efficiency. The key is doing the work in the right order so you never pay for the same square footage twice.

Do older Toronto homes qualify for renovation rebates?

Often, yes. Ontario’s Home Renovation Savings Program offers rebates on insulation, air sealing, heat pumps, and other efficiency upgrades, and the City of Toronto has subsidies for basement flooding protection. Check current program rules before starting, since offerings change.

Plan the Order Right and Everything Gets Easier

The pattern behind all of this is simple. Work from the outside in, and from the bones out. Structure, then systems, then comfort, then beauty. Do it in that order and every dollar builds on the last one. Do it backwards and you pay twice.

If you have just picked up an older home in Toronto and are not sure where your own priority list should start, it helps to walk the house with people who open up century homes every week. The team at Senso Design has spent more than 20 years renovating older homes across Toronto and the GTA, handling everything from permits and rewiring to whole house renovations and custom kitchens under one roof. A free consultation is an easy first step, and it might save you from the most expensive mistake in old-house renovation: doing the right things in the wrong order.