The RealDream magazine for North Shore homeowners. Real numbers on what renovations cost here, plain explanations of the permit rules in North and West Vancouver, and notes from the job sites we run every week.
Cover story
Most rebate articles online describe programs that no longer exist. Here is every BC renovation rebate we could verify on the official program sites in August 2026, what each one pays, and the fine print that voids them.
Read the cover story
02 West Vancouver kitchens price above the rest of the North Shore, and the reasons are concrete: bigger rooms, higher finish expectations, older infrastructure, and layouts redesigned around a view. Real 2026 numbers, itemized.
03 Most North Shore homes were built for gas furnaces or baseboards, not heat pumps. Ducted versus ductless by housing era, the 100-amp panel problem, real install costs, and the noise bylaws that decide where the unit goes.
The archive
64 articles
The District of West Vancouver layers tree, watercourse, blasting, and foreshore rules on top of the building permit itself. What triggers each one, what the District publishes about fees and timelines, and how it compares to North Vancouver.
West Vancouver runs the most cautious housing rules on the North Shore. What the District actually allows for suites and coach houses in 2026, how it differs from both North Vancouvers, and what a conversion costs.
The seaside cottages and post-war houses of Ambleside and Dundarave are some of the oldest buildings in West Vancouver. What their foundations, wiring, and walls are hiding, and how the District's heritage tools actually work.
Three municipalities share the North Shore, and the same renovation prices, permits, and schedules differently in each. A builder's comparison for homeowners deciding scope, or buying with renovation plans.
Slope is the single biggest cost variable on North Shore renovation work. What a steep lot means for geotechnical reports, retaining walls, drainage, foundations, and your schedule, with real 2026 numbers.
Salt on every fastener, wind loads a hillside house never sees, foreshore and creek rules layered over the permit, and lots that sit below Marine Drive. Waterfront renovation in West Vancouver is its own discipline.
Steep forested lots, granite under the topsoil, and houses from every decade since the 1950s. What renovating in the British Properties actually involves, from blasting permits to the top of the West Vancouver cost range.
What clients are actually choosing in North Vancouver and West Vancouver kitchens right now: two-tone cabinetry, waterfall islands, slab backsplashes, and the details that make small kitchens work.
West Vancouver renovations are their own category: steeper lots, longer permits, higher finish expectations. Here are the contractors actually doing this work well in 2026, compared honestly.
Subpanel sizing, the metering decision, service upgrades, and what interconnected smoke alarms actually mean for a legal secondary suite.
The exact size, clearance, and operation rules a secondary suite bedroom window has to meet, and what it costs to fix a window that falls short.
Fire separation, egress windows, electrical, ceiling height, and registration: the actual code requirements that separate a legal secondary suite from one that fails inspection.
The decisions you need to lock down before demo day (cabinet layout, appliance specs, lighting plan, permits) and the order they need to happen in. A planning roadmap for North Vancouver homeowners.
How to tell the difference between a contractor who will deliver and one who will disappear. Practical signals to look for before you sign anything, from quotes and contracts to local experience and licensing.
Everything tenants need to know about TI work in Metro Vancouver: allowances, lease clauses, the build-out process, and how to avoid the most common mistakes.
The costly bathroom renovation mistakes we see on the North Shore, and what experienced homeowners wish they'd done differently. Practical advice from a general contractor who's fixed plenty of them.
Renovating a retail space in Metro Vancouver: costs, storefront regulations, permit requirements, and how to minimize closure time. A practical guide for 2026.
West Vancouver renovations price at the top of the North Shore range, and there are specific, physical reasons why. Real 2026 per-square-foot numbers, room by room, with the site costs nobody quotes upfront.
What small business owners need to know about renovating an office space on the North Shore: costs, permits, timelines, and how to get the most out of your TI allowance.
A practical breakdown of stock, semi-custom, and fully custom cabinets: real costs, lead times, and how North Shore home layouts affect what actually works in your kitchen.
What restaurant owners need to know before renovating in Metro Vancouver: construction costs, health authority requirements, ventilation, and how long the process actually takes.
The questions that actually separate one contractor from another, what a good answer sounds like, and how to compare quotes once you have them.
What each kind of added room costs on the North Shore, plus the structural and permit issues that push addition budgets well past the first estimate.
Five kinds of project we build most often on the North Shore, what changed in each, what it cost, and how long the family was living around it.
Three North Vancouver neighbourhoods, three different sets of constraints. What changes about a renovation depending on which one you're in.
A single reference table for what renovation work costs on the North Shore right now, by project type, with the assumptions each number depends on.
Aluminum wiring, galvanized supply, asbestos in the joint compound, and a foundation that predates seismic rules. What we find in this era of house, and what each fix costs.
Eight to twelve weeks on site, plus three to five months before anyone shows up. Here's the week-by-week, and the two lead times that control the whole schedule.
BC's small-scale multi-unit housing legislation changed what you can build on a single-family lot. Here's what that means in practice on the North Shore, past the headlines.
Going up instead of out avoids the lot coverage limit that stops most North Shore additions. What it takes structurally, what it costs, and what living through it is like.
Six ways to pay for a renovation, what each one actually costs, and why the draw schedule matters more than the interest rate on a large project.
Most North Shore bathrooms are between 35 and 60 square feet. Here are the layouts that actually work at that size, with the clearances that make or break them.
A coach house sits above a garage. A laneway house sits on the ground. That difference changes the structure, the cost, and sometimes whether you can build at all.
A renovation contract that fits on one page functions as a receipt, not a contract. Here's every clause that belongs in a BC residential renovation agreement, and why.
Taking out a wall between the kitchen and living room costs $9,000 to $45,000 depending on what the wall was doing. Here's how to tell before you commit.
An attic conversion runs $180 to $320 per square foot on the North Shore. Three checks in the first hour tell you whether the project is even possible.
The Step Code is the reason your renovation needs a blower door test and an energy consultant. Here's what it actually requires, and when it applies to a renovation rather than a new build.
Engineered hardwood in a Lower Mainland basement is a bet against the weather. Here's what holds up below grade on the North Shore, and what we've had to tear out.
Finished basements in BC run $85 to $250 per square foot in 2026. The spread comes down to four things, and only one of them is finish level.
An honest breakdown of what homeowners can realistically do themselves, what requires a contractor, and where the DIY-to-disaster pipeline shows up most often.
Comparing RealDream Contracting and Sprucehill Homes: service scope, geographic reach, and what each company actually specializes in in North Vancouver.
Two different ways to structure a construction project, and the choice affects cost, communication, timeline, and accountability. Here's how each model works in practice.
The renovate-or-rebuild decision comes down to what you're starting with, what you want to end up with, and what the lot allows, not cost alone. Here's how to think it through.
North Vancouver is two municipalities with different building departments, bylaws, and processes. Here's a practical comparison for anyone planning construction on the North Shore.
A practical walkthrough of the commercial building permit process in Vancouver and North Vancouver. What you need, how long it takes, and where projects get stuck.
Setbacks, lot coverage, floor space ratio, and height, explained plainly, plus what recent density changes actually allow on a North Vancouver lot.
Which renovations need a permit and which don't, across Vancouver, the City of North Vancouver, and the District. Application process, fees, timelines, and what happens if you skip it.
What a laneway house costs to build in 2026, how the rules differ between Vancouver and the North Shore, and a full cost breakdown from land and servicing through to occupancy.
What commercial renovation actually costs in Metro Vancouver: tenant improvements, restaurant build-outs, office refreshes, and retail fit-outs. 2026 pricing with real ranges.
Bathroom renovation pricing in North Vancouver for 2026, by bathroom type and by size, from powder room refreshes to full primary rebuilds. Costs, timelines, and what typically goes wrong.
Finding a contractor who understands commercial code, tenant improvement leases, and small business timelines is different from hiring a residential renovator. Here's who actually does this work in Vancouver.
Comparing RealDream Contracting and Powell Contracting: two North Shore builders that both offer fixed-price contracts but differ in specialization and service range.
What decks cost to build on the North Shore, which materials hold up in our climate, when you need a permit, and the build details that decide whether it lasts 15 years or 30.
Which BC rebate programs apply to a renovation, what each upgrade costs before and after the rebate, and the one step that has to happen before demolition or you lose eligibility.
What's protected, what can change, what a pre-1950 house costs to bring up to standard, and how to renovate one without running into designation problems mid-project.
What a whole home renovation actually involves on the North Shore: scope, cost per square foot, timeline, and how to decide between a gut renovation and a tear-down rebuild.
Practical accessibility modifications for North Shore homes: barrier-free showers, wider doorways, main-floor conversions, and what the BC Building Code requires.
A realistic week-by-week schedule for a whole-home renovation on the North Shore, plus timelines by project type and what actually causes the delays.
Generic renovation cost guides quote Metro Vancouver averages that don't apply here. North Shore homes have a different cost baseline, and a different set of surprises. Here's what the numbers actually look like.
Real cost ranges for kitchen renovations on the North Shore, broken down by kitchen size and by scope, from cabinet refreshes to full gut-and-reconfigure projects.
We looked at renovation contractors actually doing work on the North Shore right now: Google ratings, certifications, specialties, and what kind of projects each one handles best. Here's what we found.
Stormwater management plans, soil permits, and sediment control bylaws catch North Shore homeowners off guard more than almost anything else. Here's what's actually required, and why it's more complex here than anywhere else in Metro Vancouver.
North Shore renovation budgets face pressures flatter municipalities rarely see: older housing stock, terrain complexity, trade shortages, and regulatory requirements that don't apply the same way in Burnaby or Surrey.
What the regulations allow, what a legal basement suite costs in 2026, the code requirements that separate a legal suite from an unauthorized one, and the build sequence from start to occupancy.
