Restaurant Demolition in Toronto
Restaurant spaces carry more equipment and more services than most commercial units, and the kitchen is where most of it lives. We strip dining rooms, bars and commercial kitchens after the right trades have made each system safe.
MetroPoint takes on restaurant demolition for landlords, operators and incoming tenants in Downsview, midtown west and throughout the City of Toronto.
Is this the right scope?
Clear a restaurant interior after equipment and services are addressed.
Restaurant spaces add equipment connections, grease-related systems and duct routes to an ordinary tenant strip-out assessment.
Compare a general commercial strip-out ↗Where this scope stops
Gas isolation, equipment decommissioning and building service changes belong to the responsible qualified parties; these are not assumed demolition capabilities.
Define these items in writing
- Agreed counters, partitions and finishes
- Disconnected items specifically listed for removal
- Protection and debris handling within the work area
What assessment needs to establish
- Equipment ownership and disconnect records
- Hoods, ducts and connections outside the tenancy
- Food-service residues and access for bulky items
What's included
- Exhaust hoods and grease duct runs inside the unit
- Walk-in coolers and freezers, panels and floors
- Bars, back bars, booths and banquettes
- Quarry tile floors and the mortar beneath
- Grease interceptors once pumped and cleaned
- Kitchen partitions, wall cladding and ceilings
- Separation of metal and recyclable material for disposal
How the job runs
- 01
Site walk and survey
We walk front and back of house, review the survey and list every system that needs a trade first.
- 02
Gas and suppression
The appropriate electrical, plumbing and gas trades make affected services safe, with any fire-protection impairment managed by its contractor under the building plan.
- 03
Refrigeration and grease
A certified refrigeration technician recovers refrigerant, and the interceptor is pumped and cleaned.
- 04
Hoods and walk-ins
Hoods, duct and walk-in panels are dismantled and lowered in sections.
- 05
Bar and dining
Bars, seating and finishes in the dining room are removed.
- 06
Floors and handback
Quarry tile and mortar are broken out, the unit is cleared and walked with you.
Before we start
The owner's designated substances survey, required by OHSA section 30 before the job is tendered, comes before anything else. Older restaurant buildings may have layered flooring, pipe insulation or ceiling finishes that need testing.
Required removal of affected asbestos-containing material is completed by a qualified abatement contractor under O. Reg. 278/05 before our affected work begins; MetroPoint does not perform abatement. Before affected removal, coordinate the electrical, plumbing, gas, fire-protection and refrigeration trades and the interceptor pump-out as the assessed scope requires. The operator removes food, chemicals and equipment being kept.
Visible work examples
Dismantled fixtures inside a commercial unit Open commercial room during removals Commercial space with ceiling and wall finishes removed Commercial corridor set up for selective removal
Related pages
Questions and answers
- Why does the order of trades matter so much?
- Each system can hurt someone if it is still live. Gas must be capped, the hood suppression system taken out of service so it does not discharge, refrigerant recovered so it is not vented, and the interceptor emptied so grease does not spill. Our crew starts only when every one of those trades has signed off.
- Can you save kitchen equipment for resale?
- Yes. Equipment marked for resale or reuse is disconnected by the relevant trade, moved clear and protected so the buyer can collect it. We schedule its removal around the strip-out. Items are removed only when the owner has authorised their disposition in the agreed scope.
- Do you remove grease ducts that run through the building?
- We remove duct runs inside the unit as scoped. Where a duct passes through other floors or a shared shaft, it may belong to the building or need special handling, so we confirm with the landlord first. Duct is cleaned by the appropriate contractor before removal where required.
- How do you handle quarry tile floors?
- Quarry tile is usually set in a thick mortar bed, sometimes sloped to floor drains. We break it out in sections, protect the drains from debris and remove the mortar to the depth the scope requires. It is one of the heavier parts of any restaurant job, so we plan loading access for it early.
Get a scoped estimate
Request an on-site assessment and a written scope before work begins.
Licensed, insured and WSIB-registered, carrying $5M commercial general liability.
Next step
Tell us about your restaurant demolition project
This service is selected for you. Change it if another scope fits better, or choose the advice option. Share the removal limits, property location and anything that must remain.
Get a Free Quote
Tell us what goes and what stays.
Decisions within this scope
Use these comparisons to describe the component that leaves, the surface that stays and the decision needed before removal.
- Serving counter removal without a kitchen strip-out
Can the front serving counter be removed while the back kitchen remains?
- Walk-in enclosure removal versus the floor beneath it
Does removing a walk-in cooler include the floor or pad below?
- Dining-room finishes without removing the kitchen
What should a dining-room-only strip-out leave untouched?
- Bar millwork and connected lines: separate the scope
Can a bar be treated as ordinary cabinetry during removal?