Aluminum Capping, Soffit, Eavestrough and Dormer Cladding in East York

• East York was a separate township from 1924 and a borough from 1967 until it joined the City of Toronto in 1998.
• A large share of its housing went up for returning Second World War veterans and young families.
• On brick homes, the wood around windows, doors, fascia and dormers is where rot and peeling paint start.
• Toronto’s re-cladding exemption covers non-combustible materials on houses of three storeys or less; porches and second-storey additions need a permit.
• 5-year workmanship warranty, licensed, insured with liability coverage and WSIB, written contract on every job.

What makes East York houses different from the rest of Toronto?

East York is defined by small, modest homes built quickly after the war. The former township had its own council from January 1, 1924, merged with the Town of Leaside to form a borough in 1967, and became part of the amalgamated City of Toronto on January 1, 1998. Through most of that history, its residential streets were filled with practical one-storey and storey-and-a-half houses for working- and middle-class families.

After the Second World War, returning veterans and their families moved into the area in large numbers. Around Topham Park, near O’Connor Drive and St. Clair Avenue East, the federal government built inexpensive detached homes with front yards and back gardens. Elsewhere, private builders put up rows of red- and buff-brick bungalows on narrow lots, many with a shallow hip or gable roof, a small front stoop and a single side drive.

That history explains what an exterior contractor sees on an East York street today:

• Brick bungalows where the masonry is sound but every piece of wood trim is 60 to 80 years old.
• Storey-and-a-half houses with a steep roof and dormers clad in wood, asbestos-cement shingle, old aluminum or vinyl.
• Wartime “Victory” houses, originally finished in clapboard, many of them re-sided at least once since.
• Bungalows with a new second floor, part of a long trend of owners building up instead of moving out.

Each of these needs a slightly different scope. This page walks through them so you know what to ask for before anyone arrives with a ladder. For an overview of the whole city, see our Toronto service area page.

East York in numbers: the facts behind the exterior work

A few checkable figures put the local conditions in context. We list where each came from in the Sources section at the end of this page.

• Population: the East York area had 116,399 residents in the 2021 census, up slightly from 115,185 in 2001, at a density of about 5,475 people per square kilometre. That density is why side yards are tight and neighbours’ driveways often become the staging area.
• Founding dates: township incorporation in 1924, borough status in 1967, amalgamation in 1998. Most detached homes in the central part of the district date from the late 1940s and the early baby-boom years.
• Wartime housing program: the federal Wartime Housing Corporation was created in early 1941 and folded into CMHC in 1947. The Victory Housing program produced roughly 30,000 homes during the war years, and Topham Park is one of the East York pockets that came out of that era.
• Original finish: those wartime houses were simple bungalows on square or rectangular foundations with clapboard siding and pitched roofs, a pared-down Cape Cod style.
• Precipitation: Environment and Climate Change Canada normals for the Toronto city station show about 822.7 mm of precipitation a year, falling on roughly 150 days, including about 121.5 cm of snow.
• Winter cold: January’s daily mean temperature at that station is about −3.5 °C, which means a lot of freeze-thaw cycling at the fascia line and around window sills.

Put together, the numbers describe a dense district of old houses that get wet about 150 days a year and freeze and thaw all winter. That combination is hard on exposed wood, and East York has a lot of exposed wood hiding behind its brick.

9 aluminum upgrades that suit East York bungalows and storey-and-a-halfs

The best upgrades on a brick East York house are the ones that protect the wood the brick doesn’t cover. Here they are in the order we usually see them pay off.

1. Window capping on original wood frames and sills

Wood window frames and sills on postwar brick houses are the first thing to fail, especially on the south and west walls. Even where the windows themselves have been replaced, the exterior brickmould and sill often remain original. Window capping replacement wraps those pieces in custom-bent aluminum so they never need paint again. Any soft wood is cut out and replaced first.

2. Soffit and fascia along the short eaves

Many East York bungalows have short roof overhangs with a painted wood fascia board and a plywood or tongue-and-groove soffit. Vented aluminum soffit and fascia closes gaps where squirrels and birds get in, adds intake ventilation to the attic, and gives the new eavestrough a solid board to hang from.

3. Seamless eavestrough sized for the roof, not the era

Original eavestroughs on small houses were often narrow, and many have been patched for decades. A new seamless run, properly pitched to downspouts that discharge away from the foundation, matters a lot on narrow lots where the water otherwise ends up against the basement wall or in the neighbour’s side yard. Our eavestrough installation and repair page covers sizing and guards.

4. Dormer cladding on storey-and-a-half homes

The dormers on a storey-and-a-half house sit above the brick line, so they are almost always framed and clad in something lighter. That cladding takes the worst of the weather. Re-cladding the cheeks and face of each dormer in aluminum, and capping the dormer window trim, is often the single biggest exterior job on these homes. See porches and dormers for how we handle it.

5. Gable-end siding

On houses where the brick stops at the top of the main-floor walls, the triangular gable above is usually framed and sided. That small area is where aluminum siding actually goes on many East York homes. It is a contained, affordable job that can be done alongside the soffit and fascia.

6. Cladding a second-storey addition to match or contrast

When owners add a full second floor to a bungalow, they rarely extend the brick upward. The new storey is usually sided, and aluminum is a common choice because it is non-combustible and holds a crisp line at corners. The aluminum siding installation and replacement page explains profiles and colours.

7. Entry door frame capping

Front doors on these houses often sit under a small canopy or no cover at all. The jambs and brickmould take rain, salt from the walk and constant knocks. Capping the frame after any rot repair stops the yearly scrape-and-paint cycle.

8. Garage and carport frame capping

Detached rear garages are common behind East York bungalows, many reached by a shared or narrow drive. Their wood door frames are usually in rough shape. Garage door frame capping is measured, cut and bent to fit each opening, then fastened with adhesive and/or screws.

9. Porch trim and small canopy repair

Many front stoops have a small roof or a wood porch with posts, beams and a ceiling. Capping posts and beams and adding an aluminum soffit to the porch ceiling refreshes the whole front of the house. If the porch structure itself is failing, that becomes a repair or rebuild with its own permit questions.

Brick house, very little siding: where does the aluminum actually go?

On a typical East York brick bungalow, aluminum covers the trim, the roof edge and the parts of the house that were framed rather than built in masonry. We use the framework below during an estimate visit. It is our own inspection order, built from the way these houses tend to age, and you can use it yourself before calling anyone.

One more note on older houses: dormers and gables from the 1940s and 1950s were sometimes finished with cement-based shingles that can contain asbestos. We will tell you if we see a material that may need testing before removal. Where it is sound and the plan allows, cladding over it rather than tearing it off is sometimes an option, but that is a decision to make with full information.

What does aluminum work cost on an East York house?

Because most of the work is trim and roof edge rather than whole walls, East York jobs are usually priced per window, per opening or per linear foot. The figures below are typical GTA ballpark ranges (2026). Your written quote after an on-site measure is what counts.

What moves the price on these houses: height (a storey-and-a-half dormer is harder to reach than a bungalow eave), access along narrow side yards, how much rot is found once old trim comes off, colour and gauge, the number of custom bends around brick returns, and the time of year.

Capping, painting or replacing the trim: which makes sense?

For original wood trim on a brick house, capping is usually the best long-term value, but it is not always the right first step. This comparison shows when each option fits.

How do you plan exterior work around a dormer or second-storey addition?

Plan the cladding as part of the addition, not as an afterthought. A lot of East York bungalows are getting new upper floors or larger rear dormers, and the order of work makes a real difference to cost and finish.

Start with permits and drawings

Toronto lists second- and third-storey additions and porches among the projects that need a building permit. A structural dormer that changes the roof framing should be treated the same way until Toronto Building tells you otherwise. Get the permit drawings first, because they fix the wall heights, window positions and roof overhangs the aluminum has to fit.

Decide how the new and old will meet

The second storey will almost always be a different material from the brick below. Decide early whether you want the siding to contrast with the brick or blend with it, and where the transition sits. A clean horizontal band, flashed properly at the top of the brick, looks intentional. A ragged line does not.

Match the roof edge on both levels

When the upper floor gets new soffit and fascia, the lower roof edge on the old part of the house will suddenly look tired. Doing both at once usually costs less than coming back later, and the colours match.

Size the eavestrough for the new roof

A taller house sheds water from a bigger roof onto a smaller lower roof or straight down past the brick. Reconsider downspout positions and whether a 6″ trough is warranted on the upper level.

Sequence the trades

Framing, roofing and window installation come first. Then the wall wrap and flashing, then siding and capping, then soffit, fascia and eavestrough. We can work to your general contractor’s schedule or handle the exterior aluminum package on its own once the shell is closed in.

Step by step: how window capping is done on a 1940s brick opening

Capping a window in a brick wall is precise sheet-metal work. Here is how a typical opening goes from peeling wood to finished aluminum.

1. Inspect the wood. We probe the sill, sill nose, brickmould and jambs with an awl. Anything soft or crumbling is marked for repair.
2. Remove failed caulking. Old sealant between the wood and the brick is cut out so the new joint can bond to clean surfaces.
3. Repair rot. Damaged sections are cut back to sound wood and replaced or rebuilt. The repair has to be solid and dry, because the aluminum will cover it for years.
4. Measure each face. Every opening is measured individually. Older brick openings are rarely square, and sills on postwar houses often have a different slope on each window.
5. Cut and bend the aluminum. Coil stock is cut and formed on a brake to match each profile, including the drip edge on the sill so water sheds away from the brick.
6. Fit the pieces in the right order. Sills go on first, then the sides, then the head piece lapped over them, so water always runs over a joint rather than into it.
7. Fasten and seal. Pieces are secured with colour-matched fasteners and adhesive where appropriate, then the perimeter at the brick is sealed with a quality exterior sealant.
8. Check the drainage. We confirm water runs off the sill and that weep paths in the window unit are not blocked by the new trim.

How long a full house takes depends mostly on how much rot repair turns up. Our window and door frame repair page goes deeper on rot.

Tight side yards and ravine trees: what changes on East York jobs?

Two things shape the logistics of almost every East York exterior job: narrow side yards and big trees. Planning for both avoids delays and neighbour friction.

Working in a narrow side yard

Many lots leave only a metre or so between houses, sometimes with a shared drive. Ladders and short scaffolds have to fit in that gap, and there may be no room to set a ladder at a safe angle without stepping onto the next property. Before work starts, it helps to:

• Let your neighbour know the dates and ask whether brief access to their side is acceptable.
• Move bins, bikes, air-conditioning covers and planters out of the side passage.
• Point out gas meters, hydro masts and cable lines on that wall.
• Agree where cut-offs and old trim will be piled before disposal.

Leaf load from the Don Valley ravines

Much of East York borders the Don River valley and its tributary ravines, and streets near the valley edge carry mature canopy. Those trees mean eavestroughs fill quickly in autumn and again with seeds in spring. Gutter guards, larger downspout openings and an extra downspout on a long run are often worth the small added cost on these lots.

Protected trees and ravine lands

The City of Toronto requires a permit to injure or remove a protected tree, and all designated ravine and natural feature areas are protected. Revised tree bylaws took effect on September 1, 2026, with stronger protection for existing trees. Aluminum work rarely affects trees, but cutting limbs to clear a ladder or staging material on roots can. If a tree is in the way, check with Toronto Urban Forestry before anyone trims it.

Example project scenario: a storey-and-a-half house near Topham Park

Checklist: get your East York house ready for an estimate

A short walk around the house before the estimate visit makes the quote faster and more accurate.

• Count your windows and exterior doors, including basement windows with wood frames.
• Press a screwdriver gently into the lowest corner of each sill and note any that feel soft.
• Look up at the fascia from the street for sagging, gaps or missing paint.
• Check the soffit for holes, nests or stains.
• Note which downspouts drain toward the house or the neighbour.
• Photograph the dormers and gables from the sidewalk.
• Find out whether you have any plans for new windows, a second storey or a porch rebuild in the next few years.
• Note any trees overhanging the roof and whether they are on your lot, the neighbour’s or city land.
• Clear the side passages if you can.

You can book through the free estimate form or call (647) 560-9038. We will measure on site and follow up with a written quote.

Template: a year of exterior upkeep for an East York bungalow

Once the trim is capped, maintenance becomes a short seasonal routine. Copy this into your phone calendar.

East York sits between older parts of the city and the postwar suburbs. If you own property nearby, our North York page covers the larger postwar lots north of the district, and the Scarborough page deals with the 1950s and 1960s bungalow belt further east. For the full trim-wrapping overview, see aluminum capping.