[Home](https://www.referralflooring.com/)/[Service area](https://www.referralflooring.com/service-area)/Burlington Burlington, Ontario # Flooring installation in Burlington, where we are based. Burlington is home base and, by the owner's own count of leads, the largest share of the work. Most of it is booked because a neighbour already had theirs done. There is no showroom here or anywhere else: the samples come to your house with the free estimate, you pick your floor in your own light, and you get a firm number before we leave. This page is the Burlington-specific part: what the city itself says about permits for this kind of work, who to call, and what the age of Burlington's houses means for the day the old floor comes up. Where in Burlington ## Aldershot to Alton Village, and the lakeshore in between. Aldershot, Tyandaga, Roseland, Shoreacres, Elizabeth Gardens, downtown and Brant Street, Headon Forest, Millcroft, the Orchard, Palmer and Alton Village. The postwar streets south of the QEW and the 1980s and 90s subdivisions north of it are different houses with different floors underneath, which is why the census figures below are on this page at all. ### South of the QEW Roseland, Shoreacres, Aldershot - Postwar bungalows and side-splits, many on their second or third floor covering - Original hardwood under carpet is common enough to check for before buying anything: see [refinishing](https://www.referralflooring.com/hardwood-floor-refinishing) - Plywood subfloors of the era, often only nailed, which is the squeak ### North of the QEW Headon Forest, Millcroft, Orchard, Alton - 1980s to 2010s two-storeys with open main floors - Long unbroken runs from kitchen to living room, which is where floating floors need their transitions planned - Finished basements on slabs: the slab gets tested before [vinyl plank](https://www.referralflooring.com/vinyl-plank-flooring-installation) or [engineered](https://www.referralflooring.com/engineered-hardwood-installation) goes down ### Downtown and the lakeshore Brant Street, Lakeshore Road - Older housing and infill side by side - Century homes with plank subfloors and additions that settled at different rates - The kind of job the [subfloor page](https://www.referralflooring.com/subfloor-repair-and-levelling) is written about ### Common Burlington calls What people book - Carpet out, [hardwood](https://www.referralflooring.com/hardwood-floor-installation) or vinyl plank in, main floor - [Stairs and railings](https://www.referralflooring.com/stairs-and-railings) to match a new floor - Refinishing original hardwood found under carpet - Basement floors over concrete Burlington, on the record ## Permits and housing stock, from the city and the census. ### What Burlington says about permits The City of Burlington's position is that construction on a building needs a permit under the Building Code Act except in listed cases, and its published list of work that does not need a permit includes, in its own words, "Painting, decorating, millwork and replacing plumbing fixtures of the same type", "Replacing doors or windows in an existing opening", and "Replacing drywall with the same material" where there is no structural impact.[1] Flooring is not named on that list one way or the other. Replacing a floor covering is finishing work of the same kind as the decorating and millwork the list names; anything that touches structure, a subfloor replaced as a structural member or a stair guard changed, is a different question. The Building Department is at 905-335-7731 or buildingpermits@burlington.ca, and that is the call to make if your job goes past the floor covering.[1] ### How old Burlington's houses are The 2021 Census counts 186,948 people and 73,180 occupied private dwellings in Burlington. Of those dwellings, 24,485 were built between 1961 and 1980, a third of the total, and 10,220 were built in 1960 or before.[2] Another 10,035 date from the 1980s and 10,595 from the 1990s, with 17,855 built since 2001.[2] Half the dwellings, 36,795, are single-detached houses.[2] ### What that means on the day Roughly one Burlington home in two was built before 1981. Those houses have plywood subfloors that were nailed, not glued and nailed, and forty-plus years of seasons have loosened them. The national guidelines' answer to a squeak is a subfloor glued and nailed to the framing, and where it cannot be brought to tolerance, a second layer or replacement.[3] So on a Burlington main floor the screw-down day is not an upsell, it is the job. **Max's take:** the 1960s and 70s houses are also where original hardwood turns up under carpet more often than people expect, and refinishing it is the cheapest good outcome there is. Sources 1. City of Burlington, [Do I Need a Building Permit?](https://www.burlington.ca/en/building-and-renovating/do-i-need-a-building-permit.aspx) Read 9 September 2026. 2. Statistics Canada, [Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population, Burlington, City (CSD), Ontario (DGUID 2021A00053524002)](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/catalogue/98-316-X2021001), table 98-316-X2021001, population, occupied private dwellings by period of construction (25% sample data) and by structural type. Read 9 September 2026. 3. National Wood Flooring Association, [Wood Flooring Installation Guidelines](https://nwfa.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/NWFA-Installation-Guidelines.pdf), revised 2025. Glue-and-nail to minimise squeaks, and the remedy where a subfloor cannot meet tolerance. Sources last read 9 September 2026 Nearby ## The rest of the run. - [Hamilton, Waterdown, Dundas, AncasterSecond and third by volume, and the city that names flooring as permit-exempt.](https://www.referralflooring.com/flooring-hamilton) - [OakvilleNext door east. Cosmetic changes need no permit; finishing a basement does.](https://www.referralflooring.com/flooring-oakville) - [GrimsbyThe east end of the run.](https://www.referralflooring.com/flooring-grimsby) - [All service areasThe full list, and the permit table side by side.](https://www.referralflooring.com/service-area) Next step ## Burlington is home. The samples are already in the truck. Free estimate, at your house, firm number before we leave. [Book a free estimate](https://www.referralflooring.com/#book) [Call 289-689-4242](tel:+12896894242) Phone [289-689-4242](tel:+12896894242) Email [referralflooring@gmail.com](mailto:referralflooring@gmail.com) Hours Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm, Saturday 10am to 4pm. Coverage WSIB clearance and liability insurance, on request. --- Source: https://www.referralflooring.com/flooring-burlington