Smart Home Wiring & Integration in North York

Smart home wiring projects in the North York range widely. A retrofit of 10 smart switches plus a smart lock and thermostat runs $3,000 to $6,000. Whole-home structured Cat6A wiring during a renovation costs $5,000 to $15,000. Full automation with smart switches, motorized shades, audio, and security comes in at $15,000 to $40,000. Premium Control4 integrations range from $40,000 to $200,000. RenoHouse provides free, itemized quotes.

Structured wiring is a centrally-organized network of Cat6A Ethernet, fiber optic, in-wall HDMI, coaxial, and speaker cables routed from a wiring closet to every room. It guarantees fast, reliable connections for streaming, video conferencing, smart cameras, and gaming — none of which Wi-Fi alone can match in a multi-floor North York home. It is best installed during a renovation or new build before drywall.

Cat6A is the right choice for most homes today — it supports 10 Gbps up to 100 metres and works with all current and near-future smart home gear. Cat6 is acceptable for short runs but tops out at 1 Gbps over longer distances. Fiber optic makes sense only for very long runs (over 100 metres), home offices with serious bandwidth needs, or future-proofing high-end builds. RenoHouse defaults to Cat6A unless you have a specific reason otherwise.

Yes. RenoHouse is an experienced installer of Lutron Caseta and RadioRA 3 smart lighting and shading. For Control4 we partner with certified Control4 dealers who handle the programming and ongoing service contract while we handle the structured wiring, low-voltage prep, and electrical work. This gives you the best price on Control4 hardware without paying integrator markup on cabling.

Many North York homes built before 1990 lack a neutral wire at switch boxes, which limits the smart switches you can use. Lutron Caseta is the gold standard for no-neutral applications and works reliably in 95 percent of older homes. Inovelli, GE Cync, and select Leviton Decora Smart models also work without a neutral. We confirm wiring during the estimate.

We design Wi-Fi coverage with a mesh system sized to your floor plan and number of devices. For a typical 3,000-square-foot North York home we recommend a 3-node Eero Pro 6E or Ubiquiti UniFi U6 setup wired back to a central switch via Cat6A — not wireless backhaul, which slows everything down. We test signal strength and throughput in every room before signing off.

Yes. Power-over-Ethernet camera wiring eliminates the need for power outlets at each camera location and uses a single Cat6A run for both data and power. RenoHouse installs Reolink, Ubiquiti UniFi Protect, and Nest cameras, terminating into a network video recorder (NVR) or cloud service of your choice. We pre-wire conduit during framing on new builds for clean future expansion.

Yes. We install Lutron Serena and Hunter Douglas PowerView motorized shades, wired to a central hub for integration with Lutron Caseta or Control4 lighting scenes. This lets you trigger 'movie mode' (close shades, dim lights, turn on TV) with one tap. Battery-powered options are available for retrofit projects without conduit access.

Standard practice on RenoHouse smart home projects is to pull at least 2 Cat6A cables to every TV location, 1 Cat6A to every desk and bedside table, conduit chases between key rooms for future upgrades, and structured cabling backbone to a central rack with at least 25 percent spare ports. This ensures you can add cameras, access points, or new devices over the next 15 years without opening drywall.

Low-voltage structured cabling does not require an ESA permit in Ontario. Smart switches and high-voltage work (replacing a regular switch with a smart switch) are treated as standard electrical work and may require a minor ESA permit. RenoHouse pulls all required permits and includes them in the quoted price.

If your older home still has a 100-amp panel, upgrading to 200 amps is highly recommended — especially if you're adding major appliances, EV chargers, or renovating. Modern homes draw significantly more power, and the upgrade future-proofs your electrical system while improving safety.

Knob-and-tube wiring isn't inherently dangerous when undisturbed, but it lacks grounding, can't handle modern electrical loads, and becomes hazardous when insulation is added around it. We recommend replacement during any renovation that opens walls — it also improves your home insurance eligibility.

Yes, but it requires careful cutting to avoid cracking the surrounding plaster. We use specialized techniques to install recessed lighting in plaster ceilings, and can run new wiring through the ceiling cavity from above. The result is modern lighting without damaging your home's character.