House Painters in Lawrence Manor, North York
Lawrence Manor fits in a tight box. Bathurst Street runs down the east side, Highway 401 caps the north, Allen Road closes the west, and Lawrence Avenue is the south edge. Past the Allen is Lawrence Heights.
The houses came quickly. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation bought the land in the 1940s, put in the water, sewers and roads, then sold the lots to a lot of small builders in the early 1950s. Cows were still grazing on the northwest corner of Bathurst and Lawrence in 1951 when the first families moved in.
Most of the original stock went up between 1951 and 1955. Detached brick two-storeys, split-levels and bungalows, on lots at least 30 feet wide, every one with its own private drive. A few newer custom homes sit among them. Five years of building means one era of house, and one prep list that repeats from Covington Road to Ridgevale Drive, Regina Avenue and Prince Charles Drive.
One note on the numbers. The City doesn't publish a Lawrence Manor profile. It files the area inside its Englemount-Lawrence neighbourhood, number 32, which also takes in streets south of Lawrence. Every census figure on this page is for that larger area.
Interior and Exterior Painting in Lawrence Manor
On a brick two-storey, the brick usually isn't the job. The paint is on the wood and metal around it. Window frames and sills, soffits and fascia, the front door, the porch railing, and the garage door at the end of the drive. Those are the parts that peel first, because water sits on a sill and the south face takes the sun all afternoon. We wash, scrape what's loose, prime bare wood and metal, then put on two finish coats.
Inside it's walls, ceilings, trim and doors. Doing both? We book it as one project with one schedule. See interior painting and exterior house painting for the full scope.
What a 1951 to 1955 House Takes
Start with lead, because it decides everything else. Health Canada's guidance is plain. A home built before 1960 probably contains lead-based paint, and a house built between 1960 and 1990 may still have it in the exterior paint. The original houses in Lawrence Manor went up mostly between 1951 and 1955, well inside that first line. So on the original stock we treat the bottom layers as lead from the first visit, inside and out.
That sets the method. Health Canada says not to use sanders, heat guns or blowlamps on lead paint, because they throw off toxic dust and fumes. We don't use them. Loose paint comes off by hand with the surface kept damp. Doorways and vents in the work area get covered in plastic. We clean down at the end of every day, not just the last one. It's slower than power sanding. On a house this age, it's the only way we'll do it.
Then the trim. More than 70 years of repaints stack up on casings, baseboards and stair rails until the profile goes soft. We scrape back what's failing, fill and prime, so the new coat bonds to something sound.
Each house type brings its own job. Split-levels have short half-flights, each with a wall to cut in and a rail to brush. A bungalow's exterior is mostly roofline, long runs of soffit and fascia. The two-storeys carry the most window trim and the tallest ladder work.
The private drive helps outside. Our truck goes in it, so we aren't hunting for parking on Ranee Avenue or Sultana Avenue, and the ladders, drop cloths and paint stay on your own lot.
Low-Rise Apartments and Duplexes West of Bathurst
Lawrence Manor isn't only single houses. The side streets west of Bathurst mix in low-rise apartment buildings, and Bathurst is lined with low and high-rise ones.
The City's 2021 count for Englemount-Lawrence shows how big that side is. Of 8,160 occupied dwellings, 2,580 are apartments in buildings under five storeys and another 520 are flats in a duplex. Together that's 3,100 low-rise units, more than the 2,975 in towers of five storeys or more and well past the 1,915 detached houses. Renters hold 4,630 of those homes. Owners hold 3,530.
For a painter, that means turnover work. A suite between tenants, a tired stairwell and common hall, a duplex flat getting ready to list. In a low-rise with no elevator, every can, ladder and drop sheet goes up the stairs by hand, and we plan the day around that. We keep the halls clear for tenants and use low-odour paint, because a stairwell shares its air with every door on it. See our apartment turnover painting.
Lawrence Plaza and What Comes Next
Lawrence Plaza opened in 1953 on the corner where those cows had been, and it was the largest shopping centre in Toronto when it first opened.
The plaza itself may not stay as it is. In June 2025 an application went to the City for 490 Lawrence Avenue West, the plaza block. It asks for seven towers from 12 to 40 storeys, one six-storey mid-rise and 2,693 homes on about 10 acres, with a public park in the middle. RioCan and Milestone Group are behind it, and the file is still under review. If it's built, the corner that was a cow pasture in 1951 will hold the newest suites in the neighbourhood, a few blocks from houses built in the early 1950s.
The Painting Services We Offer
Most houses in Lawrence Manor went up between 1951 and 1955, and a big share of the rest is low-rise apartments and duplex flats. These are the services we book here, often on the same visit.
Interior painting
Walls, ceilings, trim, doors and closets. Original coats get treated as lead, so prep is by hand, damp, with plastic over the doorways and vents. Low-odour paint, so you can stay home while we work.
Exterior painting
Frames, sills, soffits, fascia, doors and porch rails, washed, scraped and primed before any finish coat.
Trim and doors
Casings, baseboards and stair rails carrying decades of coats, scraped back, filled and primed so the profile reads clean again. See trim and crown molding painting.
Cabinet painting
Doors come off and get degreased, sanded, primed and sprayed, so there are no brush marks. You get a new finish on the kitchen without a renovation. See kitchen cabinet painting.
Apartment and rental turnover
Suites between tenants, plus stairwells and halls in the low-rise buildings, booked around the people still living in the building.
Plaster and drywall repair
Cracks, holes and old patches cut out, filled, skimmed and primed so they don't show through the colour. See plaster repair and skim coating.
Wood rot repair
Soft sills and fascia boards get cut back and replaced before they're painted. Paint won't hold on rotten wood.
Brick painting and limewash
For brick you want to change. We look at it with you first, and we'll say so if yours is better left as it is.
Power washing
Every exterior starts with a wash. Dirt, chalk and mildew come off first, so the new coat bonds to the surface.
Great customer service, job done professionally, very happy with the result, definitely recommend.
Why choose us
Why Lawrence Manor Homeowners Choose Co Painting
We prep for one era of house
Brick two-storeys, split-level stairs, bungalow rooflines and trim with 70 years of paint on it. Most of the original houses here went up in five years, so the prep list barely changes from street to street, and we plan it before we start.
Lead-safe prep, every time
In the City's 2021 count, 2,100 homes in Englemount-Lawrence were built in 1960 or earlier and 2,370 more by 1980. On that stock we skip the sanders and heat guns, keep the surface damp and cover the vents. Every original house here gets done that way.
You get the price in writing, with no surprises
House, duplex flat or a suite in a low-rise, we see it in person. We walk you through what it needs and leave a detailed written estimate before we start, so you know the number up front.
We are insured, and we stand behind it
Fully insured, with $2 million in liability insurance, rated 5.0 across 78 Google reviews, and a full workmanship warranty.
Written Estimates in Lawrence Manor
Our base is at 25 St Dennis Drive in Flemingdon Park. Lawrence Manor is 8.4 km away in a straight line and about 11 km by road, roughly 20 minutes outside rush hour. We take St Dennis to Don Mills Road, run west on Eglinton Avenue to Bayview, go north on Bayview to Lawrence, then head west along Lawrence to Bathurst. Covington Road is a minute past the corner, with the Barbara Frum Library at number 20.
We're open Sunday to Thursday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday until 7:30 p.m., and we're closed Saturday. Call or use the form and we'll come out and put the price in writing.
Co Painting North York, 25 St Dennis Drive, North York, ON M3C 1E6. Call (416) 319-8444.
FAQ
Lawrence Manor Painting Questions, Answered
Do you paint the original 1950s houses in Lawrence Manor?
Yes, inside and out. Most of the original houses here went up between 1951 and 1955, brick two-storeys, split-levels and bungalows, and each one gets prep that fits its age.
Is there lead paint in my Lawrence Manor house?
Probably, in the older layers. Health Canada says a home built before 1960 probably contains lead-based paint, and most of the original houses here date from 1951 to 1955. We treat it as present and prep without sanders or heat guns.
Do you paint low-rise apartments and duplex flats?
Yes. Suites between tenants, stairwells and common halls. If there's no elevator, everything goes up the stairs, so we plan the day around that and around the tenants still in the building.
Can we stay in the house while you paint?
Yes. We work room by room, seal off the room we're in, clean up at the end of every day, and use low-odour paint.
Will you paint my brick?
Only if you want it changed. On a brick house here, most of the job is the wood and metal around the brick, the sills, frames, soffits, fascia and doors. If you're thinking about painting or limewashing the brick itself, we look at it with you first and tell you what we'd do.
Where does your truck park?
Usually in your drive. Lawrence Manor houses were built with a private drive, so we're not circling for a spot on the street.
Can you come out on a Sunday?
Yes. We're open Sunday to Thursday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. We're closed Saturday.
Are you insured, and is there a warranty?
Yes. We're fully insured, with $2 million in liability insurance. Every job has a full workmanship warranty, and cabinet work carries up to 12 years.
How do I get a price?
Call (416) 319-8444 or use the form. We come out, walk the job with you and leave a written estimate before any work starts.
See the Other Areas We Serve
Lawrence Manor sits between neighbourhoods we already paint. Yorkdale-Glen Park is across the Allen, and Clanton Park is north of the 401. The full list is on our areas we serve page.
Inside Lawrence Manor we cover every street from Lawrence up to the 401, from Prince Charles Park to the blocks near Baycrest.