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Home renovations in Waterloo
Waterloo is home. Our shop is at 6 Colby Court, and many of our longest-standing clients and trade partners are here. We renovate across the city, from century homes in Mary-Allen and Uptown to the family neighbourhoods of Beechwood, Laurelwood, Lakeshore and Eastbridge.
What we renovate in Waterloo
The same six services we offer everywhere, delivered by the same crews.
Kitchen renovations in Waterloo
Custom cabinetry, new layouts, lighting and stone. The room everything else revolves around.
Bathroom renovations in Waterloo
Spa-calm ensuites, hard-working family baths and powder rooms with personality.
Basement renovations in Waterloo
Family rooms, offices, gyms and legal secondary suites built dry, warm and bright.
Home additions in Waterloo
More room without moving: bump-outs, second storeys, sunrooms and in-law suites.
Whole-home renovations in Waterloo
Open the plan, rework the flow and bring an older house up to how you live now.
Renovate-to-sell in Waterloo
Targeted upgrades that help a home list higher and sell faster, including our buy-and-sell model.
Waterloo homes we know
Nearly two decades in the region means we have usually renovated a house like yours before.
Uptown and the older core
Mary-Allen, Uptown, Westmount
Character homes with small kitchens and single bathrooms. We add ensuites, open the back of the house to the garden and keep the original details that give these streets their charm.
1970s to 1990s family homes
Beechwood, Lakeshore, Lincoln Heights, Colonial Acres
Large lots and solid construction with dated plans. Kitchen and family-room reworks, staircase replacements and primary ensuites are the usual scope, often with a rear addition.
Newer subdivisions
Laurelwood, Clair Hills, Vista Hills, Eastbridge, Columbia Forest
Basement finishing, built-ins, mudrooms and kitchen upgrades beyond builder grade. Many basements here become legal secondary units.
Near the universities
Northdale, Lakeshore North, University Downs
Secondary suites and durable finishes for rental and multigenerational use, built to the City of Waterloo’s requirements for legal units.
Permits, suites and the Waterloo rules
Every city in the region runs its building department a little differently. Here is what matters in Waterloo.
Permits in Waterloo
Applications go through the City of Waterloo's building permit portal. Waterloo reviews house renovations in 10 business days and secondary units in 15, once the application is complete, and flags anything missing within 2 business days. Waterloo requires a permit for adding or removing walls and for interior demolition, for changing insulation, and for adding fixtures even at an existing rough-in. Electrical work is permitted and inspected by the Electrical Safety Authority, not the city.
Waterloo has one heritage conservation district, MacGregor Albert, where most exterior changes need a heritage permit. Routine maintenance such as re-shingling usually does not.
We prepare the drawings, submit the application and book every inspection. See our permit guide for the full list of what needs a permit in each city, with 2026 fees.
Basement apartments and additional units in Waterloo
- Waterloo calls them additional residential units (ARUs) and, since a December 2024 by-law change, allows up to four units on most residential lots, combining up to three additional units in the house and a coach house of one or two units within that total.
- Parking: two spaces in total for a lot with two or three units, three for four units.
- A rental licence is required before a tenant moves in. The new Rental Housing Licensing By-law took effect July 1, 2026, and covers basement and secondary units, renewed every year.
- The City's ARU Grant, first come while funds are available, offers up to $20,000 for an interior unit (up to 50% of costs) if rent stays at or below 80% of average market rent for five years. Construction cannot start before approval.
Details, code requirements and grants are in our basement apartment guide. Rules checked October 2026.
Recent work
Rooms from RTC projects across Waterloo Region.
From a client
Waterloo questions, answered.
If yours is not here, the fastest answer is a phone call to (519) 897-1561.
Where we work.
Our shop is at 6 Colby Court in Waterloo, which puts most of Kitchener within fifteen minutes and Cambridge within half an hour. Close enough that the crew who starts your project is the crew who finishes it.
Planning a renovation in Waterloo?
Tell us about the room, the house and what is not working. We will come back to you to arrange the next step, which is a free site visit and a written proposal.
Fully insured, bondable and WSIB covered. Building in Waterloo Region since 2007.
