VELUX certified skylight and sun tunnel installation, roof replacement, and repair across Scarborough — from the wind-exposed bluff tops at Cliffside to the postwar subdivisions of Agincourt and Bendale.
Scarborough was built quickly and low, mostly between 1950 and 1975, and the housing that resulted has a very particular roofing profile: simple hip roofs, generous attics, and dark interior rooms with nowhere to put a window.
Wexford, Bendale, Woburn, Agincourt and Malvern are dominated by bungalows, side-splits and backsplits from the original build-out. Simple hip and gable roofs, wide eaves, deep accessible attics — technically the most straightforward roofs in the city to work on, and the most predictable to quote accurately.
The bungalow floor plan puts hallways, bathrooms and interior stairs in the centre of the house with no exterior wall to borrow light from. A sun tunnel threads a reflective shaft from the roof down through the attic into that room. It needs no structural change, costs a fraction of a full skylight, and under the City's own permit rule a single unit set between existing rafters commonly needs no permit at all.
Homes along Cliffside, Birch Cliff, Cliffcrest, Guildwood and Scarborough Village take wind straight off Lake Ontario with nothing standing in front of it. Exposed roofs lose shingles at the rakes and ridges first, every winter, and a better shingle does not fix it. What fixes it is fastening pattern, starter course, ridge treatment and edge metal — the details nobody itemises in a quote and everybody should.
Scarborough falls under the City of Toronto for permits, and the City's rule is more forgiving for small skylights than most homeowners expect — with one catch that matters here more than anywhere else.
Nobody needs a permit to fix a roof that keeps shedding shingles on a bluff-facing street — but you do need someone who will change the specification rather than just re-lay the same product the same way. Higher fastener count, a properly bonded starter course, and correctly detailed edge metal are what hold an exposed Scarborough roof together.
If you are already replacing the roof, that is the moment to add a sun tunnel or skylight. The deck is open, the flashing is being redone anyway, and combining the two avoids paying twice for the same access. Confirm current permit requirements with Toronto Building through 311.
Book a free assessment →These are our jobs, photographed as we did them. Nothing here came from a catalogue.
Type your Scarborough address, see the house on satellite, and trace the roof. Bungalow and split roofs are simple enough that the tool's measurement lands close — useful before you talk to anyone about a full replacement.
Customize Your Roof
It depends on the room. A sun tunnel is the right answer for an interior hallway, bathroom or stairwell — it costs a fraction of a full skylight, needs no structural change, and delivers a surprising amount of daylight through the attic. A skylight is the right answer when you want a view, ventilation, or light across a whole living space. Most bungalows here end up wanting one of each in different rooms.
Usually not. The City exempts skylight installation in a house of three storeys or less where no more than one rafter or joist is removed, and a sun tunnel typically threads between existing framing without removing anything at all. The exception is a trussed roof — we never cut a truss, so the unit goes between them.
Yes, but the design has to respect the trusses. Truss spacing sets the maximum width of the opening, so we specify a unit that fits between them rather than cutting one out. If you want something wider than the spacing allows, that becomes an engineered alteration with a permit — possible, but a much bigger job, and we will say so plainly rather than quietly cutting a chord.
Not a premium shingle on its own. Wind lifts a roof at the perimeter, so what matters is how the edges are built: a properly adhered starter strip at the eaves and rakes, the manufacturer's high-wind fastening pattern rather than the standard one, and edge metal that is fastened and lapped correctly. Done properly, an exposed roof holds. Done to the minimum, it will keep failing no matter what product is on it.
Bungalows are among the more affordable roofs in the GTA to replace — single storey, simple hips, easy access, moderate area. Price is driven by roof area, the number of layers coming off, and how much deck needs replacing underneath. We quote in writing after seeing it, and we tell you before we start what happens to the price if the deck turns out to be bad.
Agincourt, Bendale, Birch Cliff, Cliffside, Cliffcrest, Guildwood, Highland Creek, Malvern, Milliken, Morningside, Rouge, Scarborough Village, West Hill, Wexford, Woburn, Dorset Park, Eglinton East, Ionview, Kennedy Park, Steeles
On-site look, written quote, no pressure — and a straight answer about whether you need a permit.
