Weighted by housing age Toronto and Ottawa hubs Free written quotes

Where we work

Squeaky Floor picks its coverage by the age of the housing rather than the size of the population, because squeaks come from how a house was built and when.

That is why the list includes Hamilton’s lower city, where over 72 per cent of homes in Wards 3 and 4 were built by 1960, and leaves out Milton, where 73 per cent were built in 2001 or later.

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Housing age, not population

Why our coverage map looks unusual

Our coverage follows the age of the housing, because a squeak is a subfloor separating from a joist, which makes it a function of construction era rather than of population. Homes built with nailed plank or nailed plywood subfloor, roughly anything from before the 1980s, squeak far more than newer construction where the subfloor is typically glued and screwed. That single fact decides which areas are on this list. Toronto has twenty-nine per cent of its homes built in 1960 or earlier against twelve per cent across the rest of the region, and Hamilton’s Ward 3 runs above seventy-four per cent. Meanwhile some fast-growing municipalities are much newer: in Milton, 73 per cent of homes were built in 2001 or later. Newer homes still squeak, so a newer address is still worth a call, and in a recent build the first question is whether Ontario’s new home warranty covers the noise.

Areas we cover

Two city hubs and thirty-two neighbourhoods and towns, each with the housing-era detail that shapes what your floor is doing.

Toronto

Toronto

29 per cent of Toronto homes were built in 1960 or earlier and 58 per cent by 1980, against 12 per cent pre-1960 across the rest of the region.

Squeaky floor repair in Toronto

Ottawa

Ottawa

Around 180,000 Ottawa homes, roughly 44 per cent of the city, were built before 1981. The 1961 to 1980 years alone account for 28.3 per cent.

Squeaky floor repair in Ottawa

Toronto

East York

East York became a township in 1924, after the Prince Edward Viaduct opened in 1918, and added government-built veterans' housing in the late 1940s.

Squeaky floor repair in East York

Toronto

Leaside

Leaside was laid out by Frederick Todd and incorporated in 1913, but it had 938 residents in 1931 and 16,233 by 1951, so most houses came later.

Squeaky floor repair in Leaside

Toronto

Riverdale

Annexed in 1884, Riverdale is Victorian and Edwardian. In its Blake-Jones pocket, built from the 1870s to the 1930s, most homes are semi-detached.

Squeaky floor repair in Riverdale

Toronto

The Beaches

A house at 30 Lee Avenue dates from 1901, and the Scarboro Beach amusement park closed in 1925 so its 40 acres could be subdivided for housing.

Squeaky floor repair in The Beaches

Toronto

Danforth

The Danforth grew from the 1910s to the 1930s as a streetcar suburb, and most of the housing north and south of the avenue dates from then.

Squeaky floor repair in Danforth

Toronto

High Park

Most High Park North houses went up after the First World War, when Bloor Street was widened. In Swansea the typical house dates from 1905 to 1935.

Squeaky floor repair in High Park

Toronto

Roncesvalles

Roncesvalles was largely built from 1900 to the First World War, almost all in the Foursquare style, with larger homes added from 1910 to 1930.

Squeaky floor repair in Roncesvalles

Toronto

The Junction

The Junction boomed from 1888 to 1890, then the Long Depression stopped building there from 1893 to 1900, so its houses fall either side of that gap.

Squeaky floor repair in The Junction

Toronto

Etobicoke

Etobicoke grew from 19,000 people in 1941 to 156,000 by 1961. Its lakeside villages are older, with Mimico bungalows from the 1920s to 1940s.

Squeaky floor repair in Etobicoke

Toronto

North York

North York's growth surged from the 1950s, when Don Mills was designed as a model community between 1952 and 1965.

Squeaky floor repair in North York

Toronto

Scarborough

Scarborough's population grew from 48,000 to 110,000 between 1950 and 1955. Birch Cliff is older, developed as a streetcar suburb in the 1920s.

Squeaky floor repair in Scarborough

Ottawa

The Glebe

Subdivided east of Bank Street in 1890, the Glebe was nearly built out by 1941, when community records counted just 152 vacant lots left.

Squeaky floor repair in The Glebe

Ottawa

Westboro

Westboro was a police village from 1903. In its census tract, about half the dwellings predate 1961 and roughly a quarter were built since 2001.

Squeaky floor repair in Westboro

Ottawa

Hintonburg

Hintonburg has century-old clapboard homes north-east of Wellington Street and 1910s to 1920s brick-veneer wood-frame houses to the south.

Squeaky floor repair in Hintonburg

Ottawa

Old Ottawa South

The streetcar reached Old Ottawa South around 1910. Its houses are mostly Craftsman, with many Foursquares from the 1920s and 1930s.

Squeaky floor repair in Old Ottawa South

Ottawa

Alta Vista

Annexed by Ottawa in 1950, Alta Vista filled with 1950s subdivisions such as Faircrest Heights and Elmvale Acres, then Urbandale Acres in the 1960s.

Squeaky floor repair in Alta Vista

Ottawa

Sandy Hill

Many Sandy Hill buildings north of Laurier date from the nineteenth century. The southern half was largely built after the Second World War.

Squeaky floor repair in Sandy Hill

Ottawa

New Edinburgh

Thomas MacKay bought the land in 1829 and laid out New Edinburgh, but most of its houses went up between the 1870s and 1914.

Squeaky floor repair in New Edinburgh

Ottawa

Manor Park

Manor Park was Ottawa's first postwar subdivision. The first families moved in during 1947, on land laid out in the 1920s as the Rockcliffe Annex.

Squeaky floor repair in Manor Park

Ottawa

Nepean

Older Nepean's suburbs are tightly dated: Bel-Air Park was built from 1956 to 1958, and Parkwood Hills from 1959 to 1972.

Squeaky floor repair in Nepean

Ottawa

Kanata

Kanata began with Beaverbrook, whose first street was developed in 1964, then grew into Katimavik from the early to mid 1970s.

Squeaky floor repair in Kanata

Southern Ontario

Hamilton

32.8 per cent of Hamilton's dwellings were built in 1960 or earlier, against 22.7 per cent across Ontario. In lower-city Ward 3 it is 74.5 per cent.

Squeaky floor repair in Hamilton

Southern Ontario

Oshawa

Oshawa grew in waves around the auto industry, from the Plan of Simcoe Heights in 1912 to the GM South Plant, which was operating by late 1953.

Squeaky floor repair in Oshawa

Southern Ontario

Whitby

Whitby's older homes sit in two heritage conservation districts: Werden's Plan downtown, with about 250 properties, and Brooklin, with 169.

Squeaky floor repair in Whitby

Southern Ontario

Burlington

Burlington became a town in 1914 and grew sharply on 1 January 1958, when it annexed most of Nelson Township along with Aldershot.

Squeaky floor repair in Burlington

Southern Ontario

Oakville

Old Oakville was built in wood: the 1851 census counted 130 frame houses and four brick. North of Dundas is new, built under plans approved from 2008.

Squeaky floor repair in Oakville

Southern Ontario

Thornhill

Thornhill was founded in 1794 by the first Yonge Street settlers. Its protected heritage core is small: 82 properties on the Vaughan side.

Squeaky floor repair in Thornhill

Southern Ontario

Unionville

Unionville was founded in 1794 and named in 1849, but Markham's own district plan says major housing development came in the 1960s.

Squeaky floor repair in Unionville

Mississauga

Port Credit

Port Credit's town site was surveyed in 1834. At the 2001 census, 95 per cent of its dwellings were built before 1981 and 14 per cent before 1946.

Squeaky floor repair in Port Credit

Mississauga

Lakeview

In the 2001 census, 34.2 per cent of Lakeview dwellings dated from 1946 to 1960, over four times the Mississauga rate, and 58 per cent were detached.

Squeaky floor repair in Lakeview

Mississauga

Cooksville

A fire in 1852 destroyed much of early Cooksville. At the 2001 census, most of its housing dated from 1961 to 1980, much of it in apartment buildings.

Squeaky floor repair in Cooksville

Mississauga

Streetsville

Streetsville was surveyed in 1819. At the 2001 census, 22.5 per cent of its housing dated from 1946 to 1960, three times the Mississauga rate.

Squeaky floor repair in Streetsville

How we chose these areas

Old housing, not big population

Squeaks come from construction era. A neighbourhood of 1920s semis has far more nailed subfloor than a much larger subdivision built in 2010.

Two storeys over living space

In a two-storey house the upstairs floor is also a ceiling, so a squeak in a bedroom is heard in the living room below. A bungalow over a basement hides more of it.

Newer municipalities are not listed

Some municipalities, such as Milton, are mostly post-2000 housing, so they are not on this list. A newer home can still squeak, and it is still worth asking.

If your area is not listed

It is still worth asking

The list reflects where the old housing is concentrated, not the limit of where we will travel.

Newer builds may be a warranty matter

If your home is recent, the noise may be covered by Ontario's new home warranty rather than being something you should pay for.

Tell us the build year

Two details help on a first call: roughly when the house was built, and what is directly below the floor that squeaks.

Photos help more than descriptions

A photo of the room and of whatever is underneath usually tells us more than five minutes on the phone.

Questions about our coverage

Why do you not cover every city in the region?

Because squeaks are a function of construction era. Some municipalities in the region, such as Milton, have most of their housing built after 2000, where the subfloor is typically glued and screwed and age-related squeaks are less common. We would rather keep a shorter list built around older housing. A newer home can still squeak, though, and if yours does it is worth asking, and worth checking the new home warranty first.

Will you travel outside your listed areas?

The list is not a hard boundary. It shows where this kind of housing is concentrated, so if you have an older home outside it, ask. If your house is very new, we will tell you before booking a visit that an age-related squeak is less likely, and that the new home warranty may be the first place to look.

How does Hamilton's lower city compare with Toronto for older housing?

In Hamilton's Wards 3 and 4, 74.5 and 72.3 per cent of dwellings were built in 1960 or earlier, against 22.7 per cent across Ontario. Toronto's city-wide figure is 29 per cent. Toronto has far more older homes in total because it is so much larger, but the share in those two Hamilton wards is much higher.

Do you charge more to travel further?

Any travel cost is part of the written quote you receive before work starts, not added afterwards. If you are further out, grouping several repairs into one visit usually makes better use of it, and we will suggest that where it applies.

Not sure whether we cover you?

Tell us where you are and roughly when the house was built, and we will give you a straight answer.

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