High-end renovations and custom work from a builder who knows these streets.
SevernWoods renovates and builds homes in Forest Hill. We handle the drawings, the permits, the structure, the trades, and the finish work. And we tell you what it will cost before you commit to anything.
Forest Hill houses are large, solidly built, and old. Most were laid out for a way of living that no longer matches how families actually use a home. The kitchen sits off on its own. The primary bedroom feels small. The wiring and plumbing have been patched instead of replaced. The basement is deep but nobody goes down there.
Fixing that properly takes more than new finishes. It takes structural work, new mechanical systems, better insulation and windows, and a layout that makes sense. SevernWoods has been doing this kind of high-end work across Old Toronto for two decades.
We also know what slows a Forest Hill project down. Heritage listings, minor variances, and tree permits all sit in front of construction, not beside it. We sort those out early so your schedule holds.
Forest Hill is not one kind of house. What you can do, and what it will cost, changes depending on where you are.
From Eglinton Avenue West down toward St. Clair, along Spadina Road. Mostly Georgian, Tudor, and Colonial homes built between the 1910s and 1940s in brick and stone, with high ceilings and deep basements.
Opening up these houses means proper steel and careful load transfer through masonry walls. Original trim, stairs, plaster, and window proportions are usually worth matching rather than replacing. Once the walls come off, SevernWoods often finds old knob and tube wiring, undersized electrical service, and cast iron drains.
North of Eglinton, built out mostly in the 1940s and 1950s after the old Belt Line corridor and light industry made way for housing. Mid-century homes, lower rooflines, simpler detailing, more consistent lots.
These houses take well to a full transformation. The structure is usually more forgiving, you can often gain ceiling height during reframing, and there is real room for a rear or third storey addition. A lot of the boldest work SevernWoods does in Forest Hill happens up here.
Properties along the western edge back onto or sit near the Cedarvale Ravine. Beautiful lots, and the hardest ones to build on. Grade, drainage, retaining walls, and vegetation are all regulated separately from your building permit.
If you are ravine adjacent, get that checked before design starts. It affects your footprint, how you excavate, how trucks reach the site, and how long the job takes.
This is where Forest Hill projects lose the most time, and where the rules are most often misunderstood.
Unlike Rosedale or the Annex, Forest Hill has no Heritage Conservation District under Part V of the Ontario Heritage Act. There is no district plan covering every house and no automatic heritage permit for exterior work.
That gives you more room than your neighbours a few streets east, but it is not a free pass. Individual houses can still be on the City of Toronto Heritage Register, or designated on their own under Part IV. Listed properties get a waiting period before a demolition permit is issued. Designated properties need heritage permit approval to change the exterior. SevernWoods checks your property’s status before anyone draws anything. If it is designated, see our heritage renovation service.
Forest Hill is mostly zoned Residential Detached, with generous lot coverage and height limits left over from the old village standards. That is why plenty of renovations here go ahead as of right.
You need a minor variance when the project goes past permitted lot coverage, setbacks, height, or floor space index. Rear additions, third storey additions, and bigger garages are the usual triggers. A Committee of Adjustment application adds months at the front end, so SevernWoods checks zoning early and tells you straight whether it is worth chasing.
Almost nobody thinks about this until it is too late, and it is the single most common reason a Forest Hill site sits idle.
Under the City of Toronto Private Tree Bylaw, you need a permit for any work that could damage or remove a tree 30 centimetres in diameter or larger on private property. Forest Hill’s mature canopy means nearly every lot has at least one. Digging for an addition, a lowered basement, a pool, or a new driveway usually lands inside a protected root zone.
If your lot is in a ravine or natural feature protection area, which covers much of the Cedarvale edge, it is stricter again. Every tree is protected regardless of size, and you need permission to place fill, change grade, alter drainage, or build retaining walls and structures. Replanting and deposits usually follow.
SevernWoods gets the arborist report and tree protection plan going early, and plans site access around the root zones instead of finding out at excavation.
Forest Hill falls under Toronto Building like the rest of the city. Structural work, additions, underpinning, and basement conversions all need permits, and review happens before construction starts.
Interior-only work with no structural or heritage triggers moves quickly. A project with an addition, a variance, a heritage permit, and a tree permit needs those tracks running at the same time wherever possible. Knowing how to sequence that is one of the more useful things SevernWoods brings to a job.
A full rebuild of the inside of your house: layout, structure, systems, and finishes. This is the bulk of what SevernWoods does in Forest Hill. See our whole home renovation service.
Rear extensions, third storey additions, and side infill that look like they were always there. Forest Hill lots often allow more square footage than owners expect. See home additions.
For listed or designated properties, and for owners who want original detailing kept and repaired rather than ripped out. See heritage home renovations.
The outside stays, the inside changes completely. A good fit for older Forest Hill homes with too many small, closed-off rooms. See interior reconfiguration.
Some Forest Hill properties are worth more as a new build than a renovation. SevernWoods designs and builds custom homes from the ground up. See our work as Toronto custom home builders.
Extra living space at the back of the lot for family, guests, or a home office. See laneway and garden suites.
Whole home renovations in Toronto usually start around $275 per square foot and can pass $450 per square foot. Forest Hill projects tend to sit in the upper half of that range, because the houses are bigger and the approvals are more involved.
What moves the number most:
SevernWoods gives you real numbers early through a fixed fee design phase and open book trade bids. For ranges by project type, get our Toronto renovation cost guide.
Toronto renovation cost guide
We sit down with you and your architect to go through what you want, what matters most, and what you are prepared to spend. We check heritage status, zoning, and trees up front. No architect yet? We can introduce you to architects we work with regularly.
Once drawings are moving, SevernWoods prices the work properly, looks for savings that do not cost you quality, and prepares permit and variance submissions. This is our pre-construction planning stage, and it is where most problems get solved before they cost anything.
Approvals in hand, we build. Scheduling, trades, quality checks, site protection, and weekly communication are all handled by our team. See our full process.
Work of similar scale and finish across Old Toronto:
The same numbers we walk clients through in person: real budget ranges for heritage work, additions, finishes, and contingency, pulled from two decades of SevernWoods estimating.
Forest Hill sits in the middle of our service area. SevernWoods also works in Cedarvale, Upper Village, Casa Loma, South Hill, Summerhill, Rosedale, Moore Park, Lawrence Park, Lytton Park, the Annex, the Beaches, Riverdale, Leslieville, High Park, and Baby Point. See all neighbourhoods we serve.
Usually not. Forest Hill has no Heritage Conservation District, so there is no blanket rule the way there is in Rosedale or the Annex. But individual houses can be listed on the City of Toronto Heritage Register or designated under Part IV.
Listed properties get a waiting period before demolition. Designated ones need approval for exterior changes. SevernWoods checks your address before design starts.
It depends on the size. Forest Hill’s Residential Detached zoning is fairly generous, so many projects go ahead as of right.
You need a Committee of Adjustment application if you exceed lot coverage, setbacks, height, or floor space index. Rear and third storey additions are the usual triggers.
Whole home renovations in Toronto generally run from about $275 to over $450 per square foot.
Forest Hill sits in the upper half of that range because the homes are bigger and the approvals more involved. Structural work, custom millwork, and mechanical replacement move the number the most.
Typically 10 to 16 months for a whole home, depending on scope.
SevernWoods usually delivers up to 25 percent faster than the industry average thanks to how much we sort out before construction.
Add time up front for permit review, and more if you need a variance, heritage permit, or tree permit.
Not for a full renovation. There is too much structural and mechanical work happening.
For a single floor or an interior reconfiguration, staying is sometimes workable. SevernWoods will tell you honestly which situation you are in.
Possibly, if you do not plan for them.
Toronto requires a permit for work that could damage or remove any private tree 30 centimetres in diameter or larger, and most Forest Hill lots have one.
Near the Cedarvale ravine, every tree is protected no matter the size. SevernWoods starts the arborist report early so this never becomes the reason your site sits idle.
Both. SevernWoods has worked alongside independent architects for years.
If you would rather have one team, our design build option puts design, budget, and construction planning together, which means fewer surprises and earlier cost certainty.
Yes. SevernWoods works across Forest Hill South, Forest Hill North, the Upper and Lower Village, and the Cedarvale edge.
Yes, and it is a big part of what we do.
Air sealing, better insulation, high performance windows, heat recovery ventilation, and correctly sized heating and cooling can all improve efficiency without wrecking the character of the house.
A conversation about your house, what you want to do, and what approvals your property needs.
From there SevernWoods moves into feasibility and a fixed fee design phase, so you have real numbers before committing to construction.
Tell us about your house and what you want to change. SevernWoods will tell you what is possible, what it costs, and how long it takes. Request a consultation or call (416) 483-2941.
