Restoration Register

Heritage specialty materials in Ontario

Pressed tin ceilings, architectural terra cotta, cast stone, encaustic and quarry tile, glass block, pressed metal siding. When one of these fails, the hard part is not the installation. It is finding anyone in the province who works in the material at all.

These firms either keep historic patterns in production, hold salvaged stock, or can reproduce a unit from a mould or pattern taken off the original. That last point is the one that costs people their building's detail: the pattern has to be taken while the original is still in place and intact. Once a failed terra cotta unit or a corroded tin panel comes down in pieces there is frequently nothing left to copy from. Eight of the fifteen firms are in the GTA, which is the only part of Ontario with real depth in this category, and most of them ship province-wide. Lead times of eight to twelve weeks are normal because almost everything is made to order.

What to ask before you hire

  1. Can you match the existing pattern, or only supply something close? Ask to see a sample or the pattern library before committing.
  2. Will you take a mould or pattern from the original before it is removed? This has to happen while the original is still on the building.
  3. What is the lead time, and do you ship to my region? Made-to-order materials belong in the project schedule from the start.
Grant funding

Materials are eligible under municipal heritage programs as part of the conservation work they belong to. Because lead times are long and nearly every program requires approval before work begins, apply before you place the order.

Across Ontario

Region pages

All heritage service pages · Grants by municipality