Best Flooring for Parkdale Houses and Apartments

Parkdale flooring depends on which Parkdale home you own. A subdivided Victorian house on Cowan Avenue or Dunn Avenue sits on wood joists, while a 1950s to 1970s apartment building along Jameson Avenue sits on a concrete slab. The subfloor decides the floor, so check what is under you before you shop.

What makes Parkdale flooring different

Parkdale holds two housing stocks that take different floors. It began as the Village of Parkdale, founded in 1879 and annexed by the City of Toronto in 1889, as an upper-income area of large homes. Many of those were later split into rooming houses, and an apartment boom from the 1950s to the 1970s turned streets like Jameson Avenue into rows of apartment buildings.

So the floor under your feet is either a plank subfloor on wood joists, in a Victorian house south of King Street West, or a concrete slab, in a mid-century apartment. Each one rules some floors in and some out. Start by working out which you have, then match the floor to it.

Which floor fits a subdivided Victorian house?

On joists, real wood is at home. Engineered hardwood and solid hardwood both nail or glue down over a plank subfloor, and solid hardwood can be sanded and refinished later, which suits a house whose character you want to keep. The trade-off is that engineered hardwood dents, and neither goes over a kitchen that already slopes without levelling first.

Old Parkdale houses have usually moved underfoot over a century, so a floor often squeaks or dips before the new planks go on. We check the subfloor for level, moisture and soundness, and level the low spots before anything is laid, because a dip telegraphs straight through a new floor. See the engineered and solid hardwood floors that suit a joist subfloor.

Which floor fits a 1950s to 1970s apartment?

On a concrete slab in an apartment, SPC vinyl and laminate are the easy fits. SPC has a stone and polymer core with an attached pad and floats over the slab, so a tipped water bowl does not swell it; laminate costs least and resists scratches well but wants dry rooms. Both carry footstep noise down to the unit below, which is why the building's rule matters.

If you rent out a Parkdale apartment or own one in a converted building, ask management for the flooring rule and the underlay it accepts before you choose, because a hard floor changes the sound to the neighbour underneath. Start with SPC vinyl plank floors, then read how condo and building approvals work if the building needs one.

What is usually under the floor in Parkdale?

In the houses, lift the carpet and you often find softwood or hardwood plank over the joists, sometimes under a layer of old sheet vinyl in the kitchen. In the apartments, it is usually carpet or thin parquet glued to the slab. The two come up very differently.

Removal is priced by what is down now, because the tear-out and the disposal both change with it. Carpet cuts into strips and rolls; glued parquet and sheet vinyl are pried up and scraped, which is a longer day and more weight to the transfer station. Knowing what you have before the visit keeps the quote close to the final number.

How to choose a floor in a Parkdale home

Work from the subfloor out, not from the showroom in.

1. Work out whether you are on wood joists (a house) or a concrete slab (a mid-century apartment).
2. If it is an apartment or a converted building, get the flooring rule and accepted underlay from management in writing.
3. Shortlist to the floors that suit the subfloor: real wood on joists, SPC or laminate on a slab.
4. Then get a price range for your unit. The building check, where one is needed, and a free measurement both happen before anything is ordered.