Before: a Burnaby home with the original kitchen, bought by owners who planned to renovate throughout. See the full project.
You’ve found a house in a good neighbourhood. The layout isn’t right, the kitchen needs replacing and the home inspection flagged a few concerns. You can see what the house could become. Before you remove subjects, find out what it will actually cost to get there.
We saw this with buyers purchasing a house in Horseshoe Bay, in West Vancouver. Their home inspector had identified several structural concerns. Their realtor called us and asked if we could walk through the property before the buyers removed their subjects.
We did. We looked at the issues, talked through what the repairs would involve and put a realistic number on the work. That gave the buyers enough information to decide. They bought the house.
After possession, we completed approximately $36,000 of work over two months. The deck had never been built on proper footings, so we corrected it, replaced rotten decking, framing and posts, rebuilt a long exterior staircase and repaired the gutters. The owners have since hired us for several more projects.
That’s the value of having a renovation contractor involved before you buy. You go in with a number instead of a guess.
Your realtor handles the purchase and the market. Your home inspector reports on the condition of the house. A renovation contractor tells you what your renovation plans and the inspector’s findings mean for construction, feasibility and cost.
If you’re buying a fixer-upper, or any home you plan to renovate, in Vancouver, Burnaby, or anywhere from West Vancouver up to Squamish, this guide covers what we think you should know before committing.
1. Know What You Want to Renovate
Before you evaluate a house, decide what you’re trying to accomplish. “We want to update the kitchen” and “We want an open-concept main floor, a larger kitchen, another bathroom upstairs, a legal suite downstairs and new windows” could both describe a house that “needs some work.” They are completely different construction projects.
When we walk through a house with buyers, we start with their end goal. Then we work backwards:
To open the main floor, we need to know which walls are structural.
To move the kitchen, we need to know where the plumbing and drainage are.
For another bathroom upstairs, we need to know whether we can get drainage to it.
To finish the basement, we look at ceiling height, moisture, drainage, mechanical space and structure.
For an addition, we need to know what the property and municipality will allow.
Don’t just ask, “Is this a good house?” Ask, “Is this a good house for what we want to do?”
Before you buy, a walkthrough with a contractor can give you a preliminary read on whether your ideas are feasible and what they’re likely to cost. Once you own the home, we can introduce you to the architects and designers we work with to work out the details.
2. Understand the House You’re Buying
Cabinets and flooring are easy to replace. The expensive questions are usually underneath.
Structure isn’t fixed. We move walls, modify structure and build additions. It just costs more. A house might be 70% of what you want, and a renovation can take it to 100%. Looking at the bones tells you what that last 30% will involve.
Structure and previous renovations
One of the most common questions we hear is, “Can we remove this wall?” Often, yes. The question is whether it’s load-bearing. Removing a non-load-bearing wall is largely demolition, minor service changes and finish repairs. A structural wall can require engineering, a new beam, posts, possibly new footings, relocated services, permits and temporary support during construction.
Old houses don’t concern us. Working on them is most of what we do. What concerns us more is work that has already been altered badly: DIY structural changes, walls removed without proper support, strange plumbing alterations, patched electrical, water damage hidden by cosmetic repairs and renovations that may not have been permitted.
Ask whether the home was owned by someone who liked to renovate it themselves. We’ve had several projects where walls and posts had been removed because they “weren’t structural,” and the owners had a ceiling crack they couldn’t get rid of. Before we build something properly, we may first have to undo what someone else did improperly. That costs money without giving you anything new.
If a house has had substantial renovations, ask your realtor to request whatever permits, plans and invoices are available.
Water and the building envelope
Water is one of the things most likely to change a renovation’s scope. Your home inspector will flag signs such as staining, leaks, rot, foundation moisture, efflorescence, poor drainage and previous repairs.
A contractor can tell you what fixing them usually involves, and when an answer needs testing, an engineer or opening things up. A stain on drywall might mean patching a section of drywall. It might also mean opening the wall, replacing rotten framing and correcting the exterior detail that let the water in. Those are very different costs, and you usually can’t see how far the damage travels behind the wall.
You don’t necessarily walk away because there has been water. But you should understand where it came from, whether the source has been corrected and how much uncertainty remains.
What the inspector found
An inspector can identify an issue and recommend further evaluation. The next question is usually, “What will that cost to fix?” That’s where we come in. Some answers need an engineer or specialist, and when you renovate with us, we bring them in.
The important distinction is between a problem and a deal breaker. Most problems in houses can be fixed. The question is what fixing them involves and whether the cost still makes sense within your overall purchase and renovation budget.
3. Evaluate the Major Systems
A beautiful renovation sitting on failing infrastructure isn’t a good renovation. Look at the systems before the budget goes to finishes.
Electrical
Is there enough capacity for your plans? Induction cooking, heat pumps and EV charging add significant demand. We upgrade a lot of homes to 200A service.
Plumbing
Is there Poly-B piping that needs to be replaced? Is it 50-year-old copper where you’ll be chasing pinhole leaks? What do the drainage pipes look like, and will they work for the layout you’re planning? If the walls are coming open anyway, that’s the time to replace them.
Plumbing can also decide where rooms can go. Moving a sink a few feet and moving a kitchen across the house are very different things. Drainage is usually the bigger consideration: drain lines need enough size and slope, and they have to connect back into the house’s drainage system. In basements, that often means cutting concrete. We want to understand it before a floor plan is designed around an assumption that turns out to be expensive.
Heating and hot water
Is there an old boiler that’s still running, but nobody knows how long it will last? If the systems are approaching replacement anyway, a major renovation may be the time to rethink their location and configuration.
Roof and exterior
If major exterior work is coming up, it belongs in the overall renovation budget.
4. Check What You Can Build
A renovation concept means very little if the municipality won’t allow it. This matters most for additions, major structural changes, secondary suites, laneway homes, exterior changes and heritage properties. Allowable floor area, setbacks and other zoning requirements affect what is possible. Each municipality sets its own rules, and our permit guide covers the differences.
If you’re buying because you believe you can substantially expand or reconfigure the property, don’t base that on what appears physically possible. Confirm it.
5. How Much Does It Cost to Renovate a House You’re Buying?
Nobody can see through walls: not the realtor, the home inspector, the contractor or the engineer. Until finishes come off, some things can’t be known with certainty, such as concealed rot, unexpected framing, unpermitted work, abandoned wiring and conditions hidden by previous renovations.
That doesn’t make budgeting guesswork. It means the budget should start from realistic numbers. Based on our completed projects, here is what renovations in Metro Vancouver typically cost per square foot:
Interior renovations: $200 to $350 (per square foot of renovated area)
Interior and exterior: $350 to $450 (per square foot of total home size)
Interior, exterior and landscaping: $450 to $550 and up
Full home with additions or major structural work: $550 and up
Kitchens start at about $75,000 and bathrooms typically start at $30,000. Our renovation cost guide shows the real projects behind each range. Those figures include labour, materials, subtrades, permits, engineering and our management fee.
These are planning ranges, not quotes. Where your project lands depends on the mix of spaces, the finishes you choose and what’s found behind the walls. A real budget takes scope development and investigation.
Per-square-foot numbers also hide where the money goes. Our Burnaby whole-home renovation (below) came in at $232 per square foot of total home size, inside the interior band, even though a large share of the budget went to work you can’t see: replacing Poly-B plumbing, a new heating system and structural repairs. You can’t see upgraded floor joists. They still cost real money.
One of the most common mistakes we see is putting the whole renovation budget toward the work you can see. If you have $300,000 available, don’t plan $300,000 of improvements. Plan the renovation for less than the full amount, and keep the rest for conditions nobody can see yet.
Hazardous materials: testing tells you what’s there
An older house doesn’t automatically contain hazardous materials, and a newer one isn’t automatically clear. Asbestos and other hazardous materials are most common in homes built before 1990, but testing, not the age of the house, tells you what’s actually there. WorkSafeBC requires a qualified person to check for hazardous materials before renovation or demolition work that could disturb them.
Testing usually means taking samples, which normally can’t happen until you own the house. Before you buy, assume it as a cost and a step in the schedule.
[Photo for Mark: 04-white-tape-on-duct-joints-basement-ceiling.jpg. Alt text: “White tape on duct joints in a basement ceiling, Metro Vancouver home, Roka Projects.” Caption: White tape like this can be asbestos tape. Testing confirms whether it is.]
If testing finds hazardous materials, they have to be handled properly before they’re disturbed, and that becomes part of the scope and budget. We arrange this routinely as part of renovation work.
6. Should You Get a Contractor Before You Buy?
You’ll have a realtor and a home inspector. If you plan to renovate, add a renovation contractor. Your realtor handles the purchase: market value, negotiating, the offer, disclosures and subjects, and usually coordinates everyone else.
Your home inspector provides a visual, non-invasive inspection of the accessible parts of the house and documents deficiencies or areas needing further investigation. But an inspection generally isn’t designed to answer questions like:
Can this kitchen move to the other side of the house?
What does repairing the problem in the inspection report actually involve?
Are we looking at a $100,000 renovation or a $500,000+ renovation?
A renovation contractor looks at the property through the lens of construction, feasibility and cost: what are you buying, and what will it take to turn it into the house you want? When you go ahead with a renovation, we arrange the structural engineer and hazardous materials testing as part of planning and doing the work.
You don’t need a contractor at every viewing. Bring one in when the house is a serious candidate and you’re planning a substantial renovation, the inspection identified something significant, or your decision depends heavily on what the renovation will cost.
Three Projects, Three Lessons
Horseshoe Bay shows the value of understanding repairs before you buy. The Downtown Vancouver townhouse and the Burnaby home show why existing and concealed conditions have to be part of the budget.
Horseshoe Bay: priced before subjects came off
The repairs described at the top of this post: deck footings, framing and posts, exterior staircase and gutters.
Construction period: approximately 2 months
Cost at completion: approximately $36,000
Completed: 2024
Before: deck posts bearing directly on rock and soil, with no proper footings underneath. See the full project.
After: the rebuilt deck, on correctly built footings. See the full project.
Downtown Vancouver townhouse: what can turn up when the walls open
What looked like an interior renovation became much more involved once the walls were opened. A leak from the building envelope had rusted the steel studs. The electrical panel was undersized, and the home needed extensive plumbing and electrical replacement.
Construction period: approximately 9 months
Cost at completion: approximately $374,000 (1,250 sq ft, $299 per square foot of total unit size)
Completed: 2024
Before: the original townhouse kitchen, with the dropped ceiling that carried the plumbing and sprinklers. See the full project.
After: raised ceilings and a powered island that needed the concrete slab cut to reach it. See the full project.
Burnaby whole-home renovation: why the budget has to consider the whole house
The house had Poly-B plumbing, roof leaks and an aging boiler. The main floor had settled nearly 2 inches where a previous renovation had left inadequate support, and the upper-floor joists had sagged up to 1.5 inches. The renovation became a comprehensive reconstruction of the home’s interior, including 4½ bathrooms.
Construction period: approximately 9 months
Cost at completion: approximately $602,500 (2,600 sq ft, $232 per square foot of total home size)
Completed: 2024
Before: the Burnaby main floor, above joists that had sagged and a floor that had settled nearly 2 inches. See the full project.
After: the rebuilt main floor and kitchen, over new structure, plumbing and heating you cannot see. See the full project.
Costs shown include our management fee and exclude GST. More completed projects are on our projects page.
None of these were “bad houses.” Each one came with its own construction realities.
What to Gather When Viewing a Home You Plan to Renovate
If you’re looking at a property with renovation potential, a little information gathered during a viewing helps us understand the house and what you’re hoping to accomplish.
You don’t need construction experience. We’re not expecting you to identify structural problems or evaluate mechanical systems. Just collect what you can, where it’s safely accessible and permitted.
Here’s what we find most useful:
The property listing and floor plans. Send us the MLS listing, including the approximate age, square footage and any available floor plans.
Photos of the spaces you want to change. Wide-angle photos of whole rooms are more helpful than close-ups of finishes.
Your renovation wish list. What would you like to change? Remove walls, move the kitchen, add bathrooms, finish the basement or build an addition?
Photos of mechanical areas. If accessible, photograph the electrical panel, heating equipment, hot-water system and exposed plumbing.
Anything that looks concerning. Cracks, water stains, uneven floors, deteriorated decking or unusual previous renovations. You don’t need to diagnose the problem.
Exterior photos and access. Photos of the driveway, side yards, backyard and exterior help us understand construction constraints.
Existing documentation. Ask your realtor about inspection reports, previous renovation permits, drawings and known issues. For strata properties, relevant bylaws and renovation restrictions also help.
Don’t Forget Your Budget
One of the most useful things you can tell us is what you’re comfortable spending.
Planning a $100,000 renovation is very different from planning a $500,000+ renovation. Knowing your budget lets us discuss realistic options instead of possibilities that don’t fit.
You don’t need to gather everything before contacting us. A property listing, a few photographs and a description of what you’re hoping to accomplish are a good starting point.
Pre-Purchase Construction Advice from Roka
Before you commit to a house, understand what you’re taking on. We offer two levels of pre-purchase advice, depending on how much you plan to change.
Pre-Purchase Contractor Walkthrough: $395 + GST
For buyers who want a contractor’s view before removing subjects. We spend 60 to 90 minutes onsite and:
review visible construction concerns and your renovation goals
discuss preliminary feasibility and rough construction costs
identify issues that need further investigation
You get a verbal debrief at the end. It is not a substitute for a home inspection, an engineering assessment, invasive investigation or a formal estimate. If the walkthrough shows a need for engineering, testing or investigation, we tell you and can arrange it as a next step.
Working with a realtor? We help buyers and their realtors look at renovation opportunities and construction concerns before subjects are removed. Contact us to talk about availability.
Pre-Purchase Feasibility Review
For buyers considering a substantial renovation. It includes a preliminary written renovation scope, construction budget ranges, major construction considerations and relevant permitting or zoning constraints. It is a preliminary review, not an engineering assessment or a formal zoning determination.
Pricing depends on the property and the renovation you have in mind. Contact us to talk through your plans and we’ll send you a proposal.
[Book a Pre-Purchase Walkthrough button for Mark, linking to /contact]
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a contractor walkthrough the same as a home inspection?
No. A home inspector provides a visual, non-invasive inspection of the accessible parts of the house and documents deficiencies. A contractor walkthrough looks at the house through a renovation lens: whether your plans look feasible, what repairs would involve and rough cost ranges. It doesn’t replace the inspection. You may need both.
Can you move a kitchen or bathroom?
Often, but drainage decides how much it involves. Drain lines need enough size and slope and have to connect back into the house’s drainage system. Upstairs, drainage may run within the floor structure. In basements, moving plumbing often means cutting concrete and connecting below the slab. Understand it before designing the floor plan.
How much does it cost to renovate a house you’re buying?
Based on our completed projects, Metro Vancouver renovations typically run $200 to $350 per square foot for interiors, $350 to $450 for interior and exterior, $450 to $550 and up with landscaping, and $550 and up for full homes with additions or major structural work. Don’t plan to spend everything you have available; keep some back for conditions found once the walls are open. These are planning ranges, not quotes. A real budget takes scope development and investigation.
Do older houses always have hazardous materials?
No. Hazardous materials such as asbestos are most common in homes built before 1990, but an older house doesn’t automatically contain them, and a newer one isn’t automatically clear. WorkSafeBC requires a qualified person to check before renovation work that could disturb them, and testing tells you what’s actually present. If testing finds them, they’re handled properly before they’re disturbed. We arrange this as part of renovation work.
Do you do pre-purchase walkthroughs outside Vancouver?
Yes. We work across Vancouver, Burnaby, North Vancouver and West Vancouver, and up to Squamish. Send us the listing and we’ll confirm.
The Bottom Line
Don’t buy a house because you think, “We can probably fix that.” Find out what “fix that” actually means.
The goal isn’t to find a house with no problems. It’s to understand the house you’re buying, decide which problems you’re comfortable taking on and buy with your eyes open.
Considering buying a home to renovate? Send us the property listing and a short description of what you’d like to change. We’ll tell you whether a Pre-Purchase Contractor Walkthrough or a Feasibility Review is the right next step. Contact Roka Projects
Already bought? Our follow-up post, Just Bought a Home and Want to Renovate? Here’s Where to Start, covers what comes next. [Mark: link goes live when Post 2 publishes]