The interior is exempt
The Town says the whole property is designated except the inside. A gutted bathroom needs no heritage permit.
Aurora bathroom renovation
Aurora bathroom renovation
Aurora winters are long, so a bathroom here has to deal with steam that cannot escape through a shut window. Cold tile underfoot is the other thing owners ask us to fix.
Does a bathroom need an exhaust fan if it has a window?
Yes, any bathroom with a shower or tub should have a fan, even with a window. Nobody opens a window during a January shower, so the steam stays inside and soaks into paint and drywall. A fan ducted outdoors clears that damp air every time. We put the fan on its own switch or a humidity sensor.
Under the tile
How a warm floor goes in
The subfloor gets checked and leveled first. A mat laid on a dip makes a cold spot and can crack the tile above it.
We roll the mat out, test it with a meter, and set a floor sensor between the wires.
We test it again after the thin set goes over it, and once more after tile. A broken wire is easy to fix early and costly to fix late.
A timer on the thermostat warms the floor before you wake up and shuts it off when the house is empty.
Clearing the steam
Pick and place an Aurora bathroom fan
A fan has to be big enough for the room and quiet enough that you will run it. A loud one tends to stay off.
We place it near the shower, not over the door, so it pulls steam from where it starts.
The duct runs as short and straight as we can make it, out through a wall or the roof. A long, bent duct moves far less air.
A humidity sensor turns the fan on by itself and keeps it running after the shower ends. Kids who forget the switch will never know it is there.
Town of Aurora
What the Town lets you skip, and what it does not
The Aurora Building Division is at 100 John West Way. Applications go in through the Town's online portal, by email or on a USB drive.
| No permit | Repairing or replacing plumbing fixtures. New bathroom cupboards with no plumbing work. |
|---|---|
| Basements | A finished basement with no structural change and no new bedrooms skips a permit. New pipes can still call for a separate plumbing permit. |
| Electrical | Floor heat, fans and outlets are filed with the ESA, not the Town. |
| Our drive | About 61 km from Oakville on a map, by the 407 and then the 404. |
Heritage district
Bathrooms in Northeast Old Aurora
The Town protects this neighbourhood as a heritage conservation district, using Part V of the Ontario Heritage Act.
Outside walls count
A new window or a fan vent on a wall facing the street can need heritage approval first.
Plan the duct path
We try to run the fan duct out a side or back wall, or through the roof, so the front stays as it is.
Next door in King
King City bathroom work
King City belongs to the Township of King, not Aurora. Same crew, different permit office.
The permit office
Permits go to the Township at 2585 King Road. Since mid 2025 the Township has taken applications through its CityView portal.
Finish a rough in
The Township lists completing a roughed in bathroom as work that needs a permit. Swapping a plumbing fixture does not.
Same written quote
Our quote in King City lists each part on its own line, just as it does in Aurora.
Basement washrooms and the sewer
What Aurora says about a backwater valve below a new bathroom
A basement shower or toilet sits lowest in the house, so a sewer backup reaches it first.
Aurora explains that a backwater valve lets waste leave for the street sewer and closes when the flow turns back.
While it is shut, the Town warns, you cannot shower, bathe, flush or run the washer until the backup clears.
Grease and debris can foul the valve, so we leave an access cover you can lift for cleaning.
The Town also wants downspouts and weeping tiles draining to the yard or the storm sewer, never the sanitary line.
We check both while the floor is open for the new bathroom drain.
Signing off
Your price on paper before we start
After the free visit, you get a written quote with the floor heat, the fan, the tile and each fixture priced apart.
If you want to cut something, cross out a line. You will see the new total before you sign.
Near Aurora
More bathroom pages up the road
The bathrooms pictured are library photos for inspiration. They are not projects from Aurora or King City.
Sources we checked for this page