01Knockdown & rebuild
Our old bungalow wasn’t worth saving, so we took it down and built new on the same lot. They kept the neighbours in the loop from demolition to the final walk-through. We love coming home to it.
Whole homes · 03 · Taken down, built new
Knockdown & Rebuild in Burlington
Knockdown and rebuild in Burlington, with one builder taking the old house down and building the new one on the same lot. Its utilities are ended and its paperwork cleared before any crew arrives, so the new build starts on bare ground.
- Years building
- 15+
- Houses completed
- 300+
- Rated
- 5★
What’s included
What’s included
in a rebuild.
The teardown end is covered here: disconnects, two permits and a cleared lot. The custom homes page has the new house’s stages.
Utility disconnects
Each provider is told first and the services are ended outside the house, so nothing on the lot is live when the crew arrives.
Permits to demolish and to build
Two separate applications: the demolition permit, with its signed clearances, and the building permit prepared beside it.
Demolition and site clearing
The old house comes down, the lot is cleared and the sewer lateral is cut or kept, leaving bare ground for the foundation.
A new house, foundation to finish
The new house is then built as the custom homes page describes, starting on the cleared ground.
How it runs
The whole frame,
stage by stage.
Five stages in the same order for a room and a whole house, with one builder answering for each.
- 01
Permits
The demolition permit with its signed clearances, and the building permit prepared beside it.
- 02
Structure
An older house is surveyed, then taken down, and the sewer lateral is settled before the new footings.
- 03
Trades
New service connections reach the lot, and the builder books the trades inside the new house.
- 04
Finishes
The new house is finished inside and out; the custom homes page covers how.
- 05
Handover
The final inspection, then handover of the house that replaced the old one.
Why Hanna Homes
Why one builder
for all of it.
The old house has to come down before the new one can start, and the day the lot is clear sets everything after it.
The builder who coordinates the demolition also builds the new house, so no one hands the lot over between the cleared site and the first footing.
The demolition permit and the building permit are lined up, so the new house is not left waiting on a second application.
A heritage listing or a conservation area is looked up before the date is set, since either one can move the start.
The foundation, the frame and everything after wait on the cleared lot, so the builder plans from that day backward.
Start with a call.
Client reviews
Their house,
their words.
Whole homes and single rooms, in the words of the people who live in them.
02Whole home
We put off the whole house for years because we couldn’t picture living through it. Akram walked us through every stage before it started, and each week went the way he said it would.
03Kitchens
The crew covered the floors and cleaned up at the end of every day, which mattered with two kids at home. The new kitchen is the room everyone ends up in now. Worth every week of takeout.
04Custom homes
Building a new house was the biggest decision we’ve ever made, and it never felt rushed. We walked the site most Saturdays and always knew exactly where things stood.
05Basement apartments
We turned the basement into a unit for my mother-in-law. She has her own entrance and her own kitchen, and we still get Sunday dinners. The paperwork I was dreading turned out to be the part I thought about least.
06Additions
We needed more room but didn’t want to leave the street. The second storey went on over the summer, and from the sidewalk you’d think the house was always built that way.
07Bathrooms
One bathroom is a small job for a builder, but they treated it like the whole house. The tile lines up, the door finally closes properly, and they finished the week they said they would.
08Basements
The basement used to be storage and a furnace. Now it’s a family room the kids actually want to be in. A clear quote, no surprises, and the site was swept every night.
09Whole home
We bought an older house knowing it needed everything. Akram was straight with us from the first visit about what was worth keeping. Every room is new to us now, and it still feels like the house we fell for.
10Kitchens
Third builder we spoke to, and the only one who returned every call. When we changed our minds about the island halfway through, they made it work without any drama.
01 / 10
Projects
Selected work,
inside and out.
Two whole homes and three rooms, each one finished: a bungalow, a new house, a kitchen, a bath and a basement.
01Whole-Home Renovations
A bungalow, renewed in limewash.
Limewashed brick, cedar under the eaves, windows floor to ceiling and an oak door onto a limestone forecourt.
01 / 05
Gallery
From the street
to the basement.
Every service, from the street to the basement. Tap a picture to see it whole.Whole homes from the street, then kitchens, bathrooms and basements. Open any picture to see it whole.
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13 pictures: Whole homes · Kitchens · Bathrooms · Basements
Service area
Within an hour
of Burlington.
Towns we build in
- 01BurlingtonHaltonHome base
- 02HamiltonHamiltonby Hwy 403, 15 min, 18 km by road, approximately
- 03OakvilleHaltonby the QEW, 20 min, 24 km by road, approximately
- 04AncasterHamiltonby Hwy 403, 25 min, 28 km by road, approximately
- 05MiltonHaltonby Hwy 407, 30 min, 30 km by road, approximately
- 06MississaugaPeelby Hwy 407 and Hwy 403, 30 min, 41 km by road, approximately
- 07CambridgeWaterloo Regionby Hwy 8 and Hwy 5, 45 min, 51 km by road, approximately
- 08KitchenerWaterloo Regionby Hwy 6 and Hwy 401, 55 min, 72 km by road, approximately
And anywhere else inside the line.
Common questions
Common questions
about knockdown & rebuild.
What people ask about knockdown & rebuild first, then about Hanna Homes itself. The short answer is on every line.
Mostly what the old house hides and what stands beside it. An older house may need a material survey first, a larger one or one beside a neighbour’s footings adds an engineer’s review, a heritage listing adds a notice period, and the sewer lateral is either cut at the main or exposed for review. Hanna Homes coordinates the demolition work as part of the project.
What has to clear before the house can come down sets the schedule. Utility clearances and the demolition permit are the first of it, a house on the heritage register adds a notice period, and the building permit and the new foundation follow once the lot is bare.
Yes, two of them. The old house needs a demolition permit before any crew touches it, and the new house needs a building permit of its own. Hanna Homes applies for both and keeps them in step, so the new house can start once the lot is clear.
Once the lot is clear and the sewer lateral is settled. A lot inside a Conservation Halton regulated area needs the authority’s permission for grading and site work first, so Hanna Homes asks for that approval early and books the foundation behind the clearing.
Within the lot’s zoning, yes. Height, setbacks and lot coverage are set by the municipality’s zoning by-law, and the new house is designed to those limits, or to a variance if one is sought. They are read before the design is settled.
Yes. Hanna Homes Construction is a licensed builder, and the same licensed builder takes on the whole project, whether it is one room, a whole home or a new house.
Hanna Homes Construction is based in Burlington and builds within about an hour's drive of it, in places including Hamilton, Oakville, Ancaster, Milton, Mississauga, Cambridge and Kitchener. If your house is close to that drive but not on the list, ask.
Call Hanna Homes Construction on (519) 897-8564 and say where the house is and what you have in mind: a room, an addition, a whole-home renovation or a new house. That first call is where a project starts.
Still have a question?
Get a free estimatePeople also ask
Before you build,
people also ask.
What people search before knockdown & rebuild, answered by the builder.
It is the form that goes in with a Burlington demolition permit application, carrying the signatures and approvals the application needs. They are gathered before the permit, so they sit ahead of the demolition on the schedule.
At least 60 days’ written notice to council, under Ontario’s Heritage Act, when the house is on a municipal heritage register but not designated. The notice period runs before demolition can start, so it moves the whole schedule.
Yes. Ontario Dig Authority states that requesting a locate is free and required by law, so excavation for a new foundation or service trench waits on the utility locates. That sets when digging can start.
Good to know
Good to know
about knockdown & rebuild in Burlington.
In a Burlington teardown the old house sets the first stretch of the job: what is inside it, what is connected to it and what stands beside it.
Knockdown and rebuild permits in Burlington
Ontario’s Building Code Act bars anyone from demolishing a building until the chief building official has issued a permit. For a knockdown and rebuild, that means a demolition permit of its own, separate from the permit for the new house. Nothing is torn down until it is in hand.
Burlington’s demolition application rests on clearances gathered first, so they sit ahead of the demolition on the schedule. The building permit application is prepared alongside, so neither holds up the other.
Source: Ontario: Building Code Act
House demolition: what is checked first
An older house is looked at before the demolition is booked. The material likely to be disturbed is examined and a report written, because any asbestos found changes how the house comes down and in what order. A house on the municipal heritage register adds a notice to council before it can be touched.
A larger house, or a teardown that digs below a neighbour’s footings, adds a professional engineer who reviews the demolition as it goes. That review changes the scope and the sequence, so the size of the house and what sits next to it are checked before a date is set.
Source: Ontario: asbestos regulation
Disconnecting the old house: utilities and sewer
Burlington makes the owner responsible for notifying the utilities of a demolition before work starts. Hanna Homes arranges those notices and the signed clearances ahead of the demolition permit application, so hydro, gas and water are all spoken for before the application goes in.
The Ontario Fire Code has each service ended at a point outside the house, with its provider told first. The sewer lateral is the one with a choice in it: the Region cuts it at the main, or it is exposed for review if it is kept. Either way the old connections are dealt with before the dig, and the excavation is planned around the answer.
Other services
Other services,
same builder.
The other whole-home jobs we take on, with the same builder from the first call to handover.
All services
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Start with thehouse that’s there.
Send the address and a note on the house standing on it. The builder replies with what has to clear before the old one can come down.
Licensed builder
Burlington, Ontario
15+ years
Building
300+ houses
Completed