Serving The Annex Victorian-era houses Multi-unit conversions Written quotes

Flooring Contractors in The Annex, Toronto

Toronto Flooring Contractors provides flooring installation, hardwood refinishing and repair to homeowners across The Annex.

Most Annex houses date from 1880 to the early 1900s, and many now hold several units, so floors have to suit the house and stand up to tenants.

Original hardwood refinished and repaired

Durable floors for rental units

Stairs and shared hallways

Get an Annex Flooring Quote

Tell us if it is a single home or a multi-unit house, and which floors.

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1880-1900s Main building years in The Annex

1994 East Annex HCD designated

$100-$200 Stair refinishing per step

$150-$350 Hardwood board replacement each

Annex style

Floors inside The Annex's Romanesque and Queen Anne houses

The Annex style mixes Richardsonian Romanesque and Queen Anne Revival, and its first example is the house E.J. Lennox designed at 37 Madison Avenue in 1886. The East Annex has been a Heritage Conservation District since 1994, and the Madison Avenue HCD in the West Annex was approved in 2019. District rules cover exteriors, but owners here often want period floors inside too. Worn boards are replaced with matching species and width, then the room is refinished.

Annex floors for owners and landlords

Refinish period hardwood

Sand, repair and seal original floors, $4.50 to $8 per sq ft before 13% HST.

Vinyl plank for units

SPC rigid core planks resist water and wear, $5 to $10 per sq ft installed.

Quieter floors between units

Acoustic underlay under new floors in converted houses, $0.80 to $3.50 per sq ft.

Converted Annex houses

Cutting footfall noise in converted Annex houses

In a converted Annex house, the floor choice for an upper unit depends on who lives below. Many houses built between 1880 and the early 1900s, from Bloor Street to Dupont Street and Bathurst Street to Avenue Road, have been split into several units. Wood joists carry footfall noise more readily than a concrete slab, so one tenant’s floor is the next tenant’s ceiling. In upper-unit bedrooms and on shared stairs, carpet over a dense pad at $3 to $10 per sq ft, before 13% HST, cuts impact noise. Where hard flooring is wanted, acoustic underlay goes under engineered hardwood or vinyl plank.

Protecting period features in Annex houses

Annex houses from the 1880s to the early 1900s keep woodwork worth protecting while the floor is done.

Wrap balusters and newels

Where the main stair has turned balusters or a carved newel post, we wrap them before sanding the hall and treads.

Mask the hearth

Where a room has a tile or stone hearth, it is masked and the floor edge beside it is scraped by hand.

Leave baseboards in place

Original baseboards stay on the wall where possible. Only the shoe moulding comes off, and it goes back after the finish.

Check both sides of new partitions

In a house split into units, one original floor can run under a later partition wall. We check both sides so repairs match.

Our Process

How we floor an Annex multi-unit house

1

Unit walk-through

We measure each unit and note subfloor dips and old tile.

2

Schedule around tenants

Units are done one at a time so the rest of the house stays in use.

3

Prep and level

Old flooring is removed at $1 to $2 per sq ft and low spots are filled.

4

Install and clean

Floors, transitions and trim go in, and shared stairs are left clear each day.

Toronto client feedback for Annex owners and landlords

Reliable and professional Toronto flooring contractors. They answered all our questions, respected our home, and delivered exactly what they promised.

Our old floors were uneven and badly worn, but the crew completely transformed them. We're very impressed with the quality and would gladly recommend them.

Annex rental units, heritage districts and old tile

Does the East Annex or Madison Avenue heritage district control my Annex floors?

Heritage Conservation District rules focus on the outside of buildings, so interior floors generally fall outside them. Check with the City of Toronto if your Annex house has an individual designation.

What floor holds up in a rental unit in an Annex house?

Vinyl plank with an SPC core handles water, furniture and move-outs. Where a unit still has sound original hardwood, refinishing it is another durable option.

Can you work in one Annex unit while tenants live in the others?

Yes. We work unit by unit, keep shared hallways and stairs clear, and clean up at the end of each day.

What should I do about old tile in an Annex basement unit?

Vinyl and asphalt floor tile is on Ontario's suspect asbestos list. The <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/document/guide-regulation-respecting-asbestos-construction-projects-and-buildings-and-repair-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ontario asbestos guide</a> says the owner must find out before work starts, so we recommend a lab test first.