Staircase Renovation Toronto is a WSIB-cleared stair contractor based in Etobicoke, rebuilding, recapping and refinishing staircases across Toronto and the GTA since 2004. Over 412 projects completed, cut in our own shop and backed by a written workmanship warranty.
Staircase renovation built in our Etobicoke shop and fitted by an owner-supervised two-person crew, with published prices and a written quote in 48 hours.
Same-day response Monday to Friday. Written quote within 48 hours.
Fixed two-person WSIB crew on every install.
Staircase Renovation Toronto has worked on GTA staircases since 2004, and the same few problems show up in almost every house. Post-war bungalows and semi-detached homes in Etobicoke and Scarborough, from Long Branch and Alderwood to Birch Cliff, have steep 12 to 13 step straight flights on stringers that've been carrying traffic for 70 years. North York split-levels in Don Mills and Bayview Village have three or four short half flights that each wear differently. And the 1980s to 2000s subdivisions in Mississauga, Brampton, Vaughan and Markham are full of detached homes and townhouses with carpeted builder stairs over spruce treads, with oak handrails and painted spindles that look dated the moment new floors go in.
The good news is that most of these stairs don't need to be torn out. When the stringers are sound, stair recapping or vinyl stair capping gives you a new staircase surface in days, not weeks, and stair refinishing (sanding solid oak back to bare wood and re-staining it) saves original treads worth keeping. When the structure has failed, like a cracked stringer, a sagging rough carriage or a rise and run that's out of code, a full renovation is the honest answer. We check which one you need at the free in-home estimate, and we'll tell you if the cheaper option will do the job. The looks Toronto homeowners ask for most are white oak treads with matte black iron balusters, frameless glass railings on open-riser stairs, and painted white risers under stained treads. Best time to book a full rebuild in Toronto is late fall through early spring, before the July humidity settles into the stain coat.
Most calls start with one of these. Here's what each one usually means and the service that fixes it.
Usually a loose tread or a stringer that has started to move. We check it at the free estimate and tell you if it is a repair or a sign the structure needs work.
Stair tread replacementCommon on 1980s to 2000s builder stairs. Recapping or vinyl capping covers it in days, not weeks, without touching the structure underneath.
Vinyl stair cappingPainted 1990s spindles loosen over time and often fail the 4-inch sphere rule. Iron balusters set in two-part epoxy fix both problems at once.
Iron balusters installationA sign the stairs predate current code, or that a rough carriage has settled. This is a full renovation call, planned to Ontario Building Code Part 9.
Full staircase renovationMoisture, pressure-treated wood past its life, or a missing guard. We price basement and exterior rebuilds from a single visit.
Basement staircase renovationCondo boards and home inspectors flag handrails that miss Section 3.4.6 height and graspability. We supply a COI and code-compliant railing.
Wood stair railingsRealistic GTA budgets (2026 pricing) based on real material costs and shop time. Every job gets a written quote before any work starts.
Stringer inspection, tread and riser demolition, structural joist repair where compromised, then new red oak or engineered hardwood treads with a hand-rubbed finish coat. We schedule around whether you can stay in the house during the work.
1/2 to 3/4-inch red oak, white oak or maple caps laid tight over your existing carpeted or painted stairs. Stained on-site to match your floor, bullnose and risers included, old carpet and tack strip hauled out at the end.
5 to 6mm luxury vinyl plank treads with a metal-backed bullnose, matched to your existing LVP floor in Coretec, Shaw Floorte, Mannington Adura or NAF Prestige. Moisture-resistant and quick to turn over, popular for basement finish-outs, income-suite swaps and short-term rental refreshes.
Frameless base-shoe and semi-frameless 12 to 15mm tempered glass panels for open-riser, modern and condo loft stairs. Structural spigot or shoe mounts, COI documentation prepared for condo boards, laser-templated per staircase before the glass goes to tempering.
Swap dated 1990s oak spindles for wrought or powder-coated iron balusters set in two-part epoxy at OBC 4-inch sphere spacing. Keeps your existing oak handrail where sound, with no dust escaping to the rest of the house.
Curved staircase restoration for Rosedale, Forest Hill and Yorkville heritage homeowners: custom-bent laminated stringers, radiused red oak treads and a continuous curved handrail templated on-site, with our senior crew lead supervising every install.
Hand-shaped oak, maple, and walnut stair railings built in our Etobicoke shop and fit to your exact stair run with mortise-and-tenon newel connections and square or rounded profile balusters.
Hand-rail profiles from 1-3/8 inch to 2-1/4 inch, 4-inch maximum baluster spacing, and 36-inch handrail height on open sides to meet Section 3.4.6.
A typical Kingsway century home rebuild we did last spring: original 1930s oak stripped and re-stained, 32 new turned spindles cut in the shop overnight, delivered and installed in two days.
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Full scaled drawings and 3D renderings showing hardwood species, railing profiles, tread depths, and finish samples before any lumber is cut, used by our shop to produce the install.
The design fee is credited back toward your installation when you proceed with us, so you are not paying twice for the plan and the build.
We designed a curved walnut staircase for a Rosedale century home last winter, pulling the original 1920s profile from the owner archive photos and matching every spindle shape in our Etobicoke shop.
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Basement staircases take the hardest wear in a GTA home with wet boots, laundry baskets, and daily foot traffic over spruce treads that rarely survive 20 years without visible wear.
We replace with 1-1/16-inch solid oak treads bonded to the stringers with polyurethane construction adhesive and screwed from below, then finished with a water-based polyurethane that cures to furniture-grade hardness.
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Exterior stairs face Toronto freeze-thaw cycles that split pressure-treated stringers and lift treads over three to five Ontario winters, especially on north-facing porches that stay damp through spring.
Our rebuilds use pressure-treated 2x12 stringers with galvanized stringer connectors, cedar or composite treads, and stainless-steel fasteners rated for exterior exposure and salt spray from winter walkways.
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Modern cable rail systems use stainless-steel 1/8-inch cable tensioned between top and bottom rails for an open sightline that does not block the view of an open-concept living room.
Every cable rail install includes 316 marine-grade stainless cable, custom-length tensioning hardware, and powder-coated or black-oxide top rails engineered to meet Section 3.4.6 for a 42-inch handrail height.
We installed a 24-foot cable rail run for a King West condo loft last summer, replacing original glass panels that had cracked when a renovator dropped a ladder, finished in matte black to match the owner steel staircase.
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Standard straight staircase renovations cover full tread-and-riser replacement with solid oak or maple treads, matched risers, new skirt boards, and a complete railing rebuild on both open and closed sides.
A typical GTA straight staircase runs 12 to 14 steps at 7-1/2 inch rise and 10-inch run, and we complete the full renovation in four to seven days depending on railing complexity and species selection.
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When the stringers and railings are structurally sound, we replace only the treads with new 1-1/16-inch solid hardwood in your choice of species, bonded and screwed from below so no face nails need filling.
Tread-only replacement takes two to three days for a standard staircase, with red oak at the lower end and quarter-sawn white oak or walnut at the higher end of the price band.
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Newel posts take the heaviest handling on any staircase and are the first to loosen or crack after decades of pulling and leaning, especially the ones at the bottom of a basement staircase.
Replacement posts come in 3-1/2 inch, 4 inch, or 4-1/2 inch widths with turned, square, or craftsman profiles, mortised into the stringer and secured with a hidden lag bolt system for the stiffest possible fit.
Learn moreEvery band in one place: staircase renovation prices.
Get a realistic GTA price range for your staircase project based on project type, step count and railing work.
It's a starting point, not a quote. A senior crew lead still measures your stairs in person and sends a written price within 48 hours.
A full renovation is for stairs where the surface isn't the only problem. We take the stair back to its structure, fix what's wrong, and build it up again with new treads, risers and a railing that meets code. It's the right call when treads sag, stringers have cracked, the rise is uneven, or you want to change the look completely. When the old stair has to come out entirely, it becomes a new staircase installation cut to your opening, not a prefab kit.
$8,000 to $18,000
2 to 4 weeks
In 2026, a full staircase renovation on a typical Toronto home runs $8,000 to $18,000. A straight flight on its own is usually $6,500 to $14,000 fully turnkey, and curved or specialty staircases are $18,000 to $45,000. These are the things that move the price most:
| Cost driver | Lower end | Higher end |
|---|---|---|
| Stair count and layout | One straight flight, 12 to 13 steps | Two flights, a landing or winders |
| Wood species | Red oak or engineered treads | White oak, maple or walnut |
| Railing scope | Keep and refinish the rail | New newels, rail and iron balusters |
| Structural repair | Sound stringers and carriage | Cracked stringer or compromised joist |
| Sides | Closed stringers, wall rail | Open side with mitred returns |
Every price includes a two-person WSIB crew, materials, installation, jobsite protection and final cleanup. No hourly billing, no hidden fees. Headroom clearance problems and structural repairs are priced after we've seen them, and they're written into the quote before we start.
A senior crew lead measures your stairs, checks the stringers and gives you the options with prices. Written quote within 48 hours.
Staircase Renovation Toronto has been designing, cutting and installing custom staircases and railings from our Etobicoke shop since 2004. What started as a one-truck operation serving The Kingsway and Sunnylea had three crews running renovations across the GTA within three years, and today the work covers rebuilds, recapping jobs and railing installs from Mississauga to Markham.
Every straight staircase is cut in our Etobicoke shop to your measured opening. Curved staircases are templated on site and fitted by hand. We don't order prefabricated stair kits from out-of-province suppliers, because older GTA stair openings are rarely standard sizes and prefab shortcuts show up ten years later as creaks, gaps and nose splits.
Our senior lead attends every in-home estimate and supervises curved and specialty installs in person. Straight stair installs are led by senior crew leads with at least five years of staircase experience on their own. A two-person WSIB crew runs every install from tread removal through final trim, behind dust barriers and over floor runners.
Our red oak, white oak and maple stock comes from a Concord millworks we've worked with since 2007, and the iron balusters we use are cut and powder-coated by a Vaughan metal shop that's been with us almost as long. It matters because we know how each species moves through Toronto winters and summers, and we know the fabricator's tolerances before we spec the drawing.
The biggest difference is who shows up. When you book an estimate, a senior crew lead from our Etobicoke shop comes to your house, measures every step and checks the structure. The same people build and install your stairs. Nobody hands your project to a subcontractor you've never met.
The second is where the stairs are made. Several Toronto contractors order prefabricated stairs from out-of-province suppliers. That works on new builds with standard openings. It doesn't work well in a 1950s Etobicoke bungalow where no two walls are square, or in a Rosedale Edwardian where the winter frost-heave has moved the foundation half an inch since the last renovation. We cut straight treads and risers in our Etobicoke shop to your measurements, and we fit curved work on site.
The third is the paperwork. You get a price band before we visit, a written quote within 48 hours after, and a written workmanship warranty at the end. If something could change the price, like a cracked stringer we can only see once the treads are off, we tell you before we start and put it in writing.
A senior crew lead runs every estimate and supervises installs, so the person who quotes the job is the person accountable for it.
Straight treads and risers are cut to your measured opening in our own shop. Curved work is fitted on site. No out-of-province prefab kits.
Every service has a public price range. Your written quote arrives within 48 hours. No hourly billing, no hidden fees.
Handrails meet Ontario Building Code Section 3.4.6 for height and graspability, and every baluster layout passes the 4-inch sphere rule.
WSIB clearance letter and a Certificate of Insurance on request, which condo boards and property managers ask for before work starts.
Dust barriers, floor runners and a planned demolition day. Sanding and staining happen behind the barriers, so you can stay home and keep access to the other floor.
You deal with the person who measures and builds your staircase, from the first visit to the warranty.
On-site measurement, structural inspection and scope discussion. A senior crew lead attends every estimate. Written quote within 48 hours.
Wood species, stain samples against your floor, baluster and railing style. Full material list and shop drawings for approval before anything is ordered.
Straight staircases are cut in our Etobicoke shop; curved work is fitted on site. Several Toronto contractors ship prefabricated stairs from out-of-province suppliers, which limits custom fit. We build to the exact measurements of your opening.
Our two-person WSIB crew works behind dust barriers with floor protection throughout the home, from tread removal through final trim. Our actual founder of the company signs off on every estimate from our Etobicoke shop before it goes out. That's Andriy Kovalenko.
We walk every tread, riser, baluster and handrail with you against the written scope, then issue your written workmanship warranty.
A few recent projects with the scope and what they cost. Click any photo to see it larger.
Homeowners from The Kingsway, Rosedale, Guildwood and Yorkville on how their stairs turned out.
"Our curved oak staircase on The Kingsway took six weeks, and the lead estimator told us that on day one. The iron balusters and the new handrail line up perfectly with the old curve."
"We wanted to keep the character of our Edwardian stairs. They refinished what could be saved, replaced the railing, and finished in three weeks as quoted."
"The basement stairs were soft and the back steps had rotted at the bottom. One quote covered both and the price didn't move."
We're filming short walkthroughs with past clients in Etobicoke, Rosedale and Scarborough. Until they're posted, ask us for the addresses of recent jobs near you and we'll arrange a look.
Our shop is in Bloor West Village, so Etobicoke estimates on streets like The Kingsway, Royal York Road and Prince Edward Drive, or in nearby Swansea and High Park, are usually the quickest to book. In North York we work on a lot of 1960s split-levels in Don Mills and Bayview Village and newer custom homes in Willowdale. We cover all of Toronto, from Leslieville and Riverside to Forest Hill and Rosedale, plus the GTA from Burlington to Whitby, including Thornhill and Woodbridge in Vaughan. Looking for a stair contractor near you on the edges of that area? We book estimates there on set days and confirm the date in writing. Spring 2025 was back-to-back Kingsway curved renovations for us; the fall usually shifts to basement rebuilds and vinyl capping ahead of the holidays.
See all service areasStraight answers on price, timing, permits and what to expect. Still unsure? Call our estimator.
A standard straight staircase renovation runs $6,500 to $14,000 fully turnkey. A full renovation on a typical Toronto home, with new treads, risers and any structural repair, runs $8,000 to $18,000. Curved or specialty staircases run $18,000 to $45,000. Smaller jobs cost less: vinyl capping starts at $1,800 and hardwood recapping at $2,800. The biggest price drivers are the number of steps, the wood species, how much railing work is involved and whether a stringer or joist needs repair. You get a free written estimate before any commitment, and the price on that estimate is the price we work to.
Most residential projects take two to four weeks from the in-home estimate to the final walkthrough. That includes design approval, material ordering and shop cutting. The time we're actually working in your house is much shorter. Recapping finishes in three to five days, vinyl capping usually takes one day, and an iron baluster swap is often one to two days. Curved staircases take three to six weeks depending on the radius, because the stringers and handrail are templated and fitted on site. We give you the timeline in writing with the quote.
Yes, on most jobs. On recapping and vinyl capping the stairs stay usable at the end of most days, and an iron baluster swap leaves the treads walkable throughout. A full rebuild has one demolition day when the stair is out, and we schedule it so you keep access to the other floor by a basement or exterior stair. Dust barriers and floor protection stay up the whole time, and if a stain or finish coat needs to cure we tell you in advance which evening to plan around.
Recapping overlays new hardwood or vinyl on your existing stairs without demolition, at $1,800 to $6,500. The stringers and the structure underneath stay in place, so it's faster and quieter. A full renovation removes treads, risers and any compromised stringers, then rebuilds from the structure up, at $6,500 to $18,000. Recapping is the right call when the structure is sound and level. A full rebuild makes sense when stringers are cracked, treads are sagging from below, or the rise and run need to change. We check this at the estimate before recommending either one.
Yes. Iron baluster replacement starts at $1,500, wood railing runs at $1,200, cable railings at $2,800 per run and frameless glass railings at $3,500 per run. Every layout is checked against Ontario Building Code Section 3.4.6 and the 4-inch sphere rule before we order anything.
Yes, in most cases. We test several stain samples against your floor during the estimate, in your own light. Species, age and porosity all affect the match, so we tell you upfront if a perfect blend isn't achievable and suggest the closest option.
Yes. All railings meet Ontario Building Code Section 3.4.6 for height and graspability, and all baluster spacing meets the 4-inch sphere rule. Cosmetic renovation doesn't need a building permit, but we tell you at the estimate if your scope triggers one, for example when the rise and run change or a structural stringer is replaced.
Not for cosmetic work. Recapping, refinishing, vinyl capping and swapping balusters or a railing on an existing stair do not need a City of Toronto building permit. A permit can be required when the scope changes the rise and run, moves or widens the stair, or replaces a structural stringer or floor joist. We check this at the free in-home estimate and tell you in writing if your project triggers one, and all railings are built to Ontario Building Code Section 3.4.6 either way.
We fabricate straight stairs in our Etobicoke shop and build curved stairs on site for an exact fit. We don't ship in prefabricated stairs from out-of-province suppliers.
Yes. We carry $2M general liability, and a WSIB clearance letter is available on request. We provide a Certificate of Insurance for condo installs and property manager records.
Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area, including Etobicoke, Scarborough, North York, Mississauga, Brampton, Vaughan, Richmond Hill, Markham, Aurora, Newmarket, Oakville, Burlington and Whitby.
Yes. We install luxury vinyl plank over existing wood or carpeted stairs, custom cut with a matching stair nose, from $1,800 per staircase. It's popular for basement stairs and rental turnovers.
A senior crew lead reviews every request personally, and we reply the same day, Monday to Friday. Tell us about your stairs and we'll book a time to measure.
Prefer to talk it through? Call (437) 524-2998. Mon to Fri 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Sat 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM, closed Sunday.
our senior crew lead reviews every request himself and we reply the same day, Monday to Friday.
our senior crew lead will be in touch the same day, Monday to Friday.
