Home Resetters Property Services Inc., an incorporated handyman and property-services company based in downtown Toronto, also works across the west end: the condo towers of Humber Bay Shores, the post-war houses of Etobicoke Centre and the townhouses around Rexdale. Etobicoke is one of six areas we serve in person, with Toronto, North York, Scarborough, Mississauga and Vaughan. Owners with a cottage up north can join our care membership too, which covers Nipissing and North Bay, Temagami, the Almaguin Highlands, and Huntsville and Lake of Bays.
Etobicoke homes built before 1981, across its three wards (2021 Census).
+5,110
Apartments in buildings of five storeys or more added in Etobicoke-Lakeshore from 2016 to 2021.
48.2%
Homes in Etobicoke Centre that are detached houses, the highest share of the three wards.
31.8%
Homes in Etobicoke-Lakeshore, the tower ward, that were built in 1960 or before.
How we work in Etobicoke
Because we are based downtown, an Etobicoke visit is planned rather than squeezed in. Assembly and mounting visits here are scheduled by area: bookings from the west end are grouped onto the same days, and the date is settled with you when we send the quote. The founder does that work himself, along with batches of small repairs.
Larger projects are quoted with licensed trade partners: a new circuit or light fixture with a Licensed Electrical Contractor, a vanity or shut-off valve with a certified plumber, front steps or a pad with a concrete contractor. Which partner takes an Etobicoke job is confirmed before you see a price, and the whole project sits in one written contract with us, as set out under larger projects. Whatever the size, the first step is the same: photos and a list from you, then a flat-rate quote in writing before anyone drills a hole or opens a box.
The homes, and the work they bring
Etobicoke is three wards with three different housing stories, going by the City's 2021 Census ward profiles. Etobicoke-Lakeshore, which includes Humber Bay Shores and the old lakeshore villages of Mimico, New Toronto and Long Branch, is the tower ward: 46.7 percent of its homes are in buildings of five storeys or more, and that stock grew by 5,110 apartments, or 20 percent, between 2016 and 2021. It is old where it is not new: 31.8 percent of its homes were built in 1960 or before.
Etobicoke Centre is house country. Almost half its homes, 48.2 percent, are detached, two-thirds are owned, and close to half went up between 1961 and 1980. Etobicoke North, around Rexdale and Thistletown, mixes towers with townhouses and duplex flats, which together make up nearly one home in five, and 41.9 percent of its homes date from the 1960s and 1970s.
Across the three wards, 62 percent of homes were built before 1981. Houses of that age share a list: doors and windows that have drifted out of adjustment, caulking past its life, worn handles and hinges, and walls patched one picture at a time. The yards add fences, decks, sheds and fall cleanups. The lakeshore towers bring the downtown list instead: a TV on concrete, a delivery to build after a move, and a service elevator to book.
The west-end depot takes no drywall
The City’s drop-off depot in Etobicoke is at 120 Disco Road. It takes garbage, yard waste, recycling, renovation waste, household hazardous waste and electronics, but not drywall. General drop-offs there are weekday-only, though hazardous waste and electronics are also accepted on Saturday mornings. Drywall from a basement job has to go to a depot that takes it, such as Ingram Drive in North York or Commissioners Street downtown, each of which accepts up to a tonne of clean drywall. Every depot needs a vehicle: there are no walk-in drop-offs.
When a basement or a garage holds more than a car can carry, junk removal is quoted in writing by volume and time. Paint, solvents and batteries are set aside for you to take to Disco Road, since we cannot carry them.
Parking for a visit
On an Etobicoke street without signs, the City’s three-hour limit applies, so for a longer visit we ask whether the van can use your driveway. In the lakeshore towers, book the loading dock or a visitor space along with the service elevator, and let the concierge know we are coming.
What to send before the visit
A photo of each item on the list, plus the paint can or the colour name for any touch-ups.
For a house: where we can park, and whether the work is in a basement with a low ceiling.
For a tower: the building’s contractor rules and the elevator window you booked.
City-centre towers and suburbs of houses, semis and townhouses, half of them built between 1961 and 1990, with assembly and mounting visits scheduled by area.
