Beauty Salon Construction & Renovation in Toronto

Based on our completed beauty salon, clinic and related commercial projects, a salon renovation typically takes 4–8 weeks of on-site construction, depending on the size, existing condition and scope of the project.

A smaller renovation focused mainly on finishes, reception or limited millwork may take 2–3 weeks, while a complete salon or beauty clinic build-out with new plumbing, electrical, HVAC, washrooms, treatment rooms and extensive millwork can take 2–4 months.

For example, an average-sized hair salon or barbershop with styling stations, shampoo areas, reception, retail displays and staff/storage areas may take around 4–6 weeks of construction. A nail salon, lash and brow studio or full-service beauty salon may take around 6–10 weeks depending on the number of treatment rooms, pedicure stations, plumbing and ventilation requirements. Projects involving major plumbing, ventilation, electrical or other building-system changes can extend beyond that range.

For projects starting before construction drawings and permits are complete, design development, architectural and engineering drawings, permits and pre-construction typically add 1–3 months before construction begins.

What affects the schedule:

• Starting condition: Renovating an existing salon is different from converting a retail, office or unfinished shell into a beauty salon.
• Design stage: We can work from completed architectural drawings or coordinate the design, drawings and required documentation with our architectural partners.
• Permits and approvals: When permits and municipal approvals are required, we account for them before establishing the construction start date rather than treating approval time as part of the construction schedule.
• Project scope: Plumbing for shampoo and pedicure stations, treatment rooms, ventilation, HVAC, electrical, accessibility work and structural changes all affect how much work needs to happen on site.
• Equipment and materials: Owner-supplied items such as styling chairs, shampoo units and pedicure chairs, along with specialty finishes and other long-lead materials, can affect the schedule depending on availability and installation requirements.
• Custom millwork: The amount and complexity of custom millwork affect the schedule, but our fully equipped in-house millwork shop, with CNC routers, edge banders, a spray booth and more, gives us the capacity to produce reception desks, styling stations, colour bars, retail displays and other millwork efficiently while renovation work progresses on site, instead of waiting for construction to finish.

1BENMU regularly builds custom millwork around awkward columns, angled walls, low bulkheads and other layout quirks that come with older commercial spaces and previously renovated units. Stations, reception desks and retail walls are drawn to the actual measurements of your space rather than a standard module, so the cabinetry fits the room instead of working around it.

Our Scarborough shop fabricates each piece to those exact dimensions, and site conditions are confirmed again before fabrication starts so nothing shifts between the drawing and the install. A difficult layout changes how a piece is detailed, not whether we can build it.

Your beauty salon renovation is run by a dedicated project manager who owns the schedule, the site and your questions from the first site review through final walkthrough. They track progress with management software and AI-driven project tracking, so you always know where the project stands without chasing separate trades or the millwork shop for updates.

Because your stations and cabinetry are fabricated at our Scarborough shop while site work runs, your project manager can flag delays or site conditions early and adjust the schedule before they affect your opening date.

Yes, 1BENMU completes beauty salon renovation, construction and custom millwork projects across Toronto, the GTA and surrounding areas of Southern Ontario, including:

Greater Toronto Area (primary service areas)

• Ajax
• Aurora
• Brampton
• East York
• Etobicoke
• Markham
• Milton
• Mississauga
• Newmarket
• North York
• Oakville
• Oshawa
• Pickering
• Richmond Hill
• Scarborough
• Thornhill
• Vaughan
• Woodbridge

Southern Ontario (depending on the project)

• Barrie
• Bolton
• Burlington
• Collingwood
• Georgetown
• Guelph
• Hamilton
• Innisfil
• Orangeville
• Orillia
• Keswick
• King City
• Kitchener
• Midland
• Waterloo

1BENMU takes on complete beauty salon renovations and standalone custom millwork projects, so you are not required to book both. A project can cover the full interior, from framing and flooring to every station and finish, or a focused scope such as new styling stations, a reception desk or a retail display wall built around an existing salon.

Either way, the millwork is drawn and fabricated in-house at our Scarborough shop, and a dedicated project manager runs the schedule so a millwork-only project fits around a salon that stays open during the work.

1BENMU works with beauty salons on both complete interior renovations and specialized custom millwork projects. A project can involve transforming an entire commercial space, or a focused scope such as styling stations, wash-station cabinetry, reception desks and retail display walls and other architectural millwork. This allows us to work across a wide range of beauty salon businesses, including:

• Hair salons and colour studios
• Barbershops and men’s grooming studios
• Nail salons and nail bars
• Lash extension studios
• Brow bars and waxing studios
• Multi-service beauty salons
• Salon suites and booth-rental studios
• Blow-dry bars
• Franchise salon locations

Each type of beauty salon changes the room mix and daily workflow, so the scope, layout and millwork are planned around how it runs.

Beauty salon construction and renovation costs in Toronto range from approximately $75 to $300+ per square foot. A 1,200 sq. ft. beauty salon, for example, could represent an investment of roughly $120,000 to $225,000+, depending on the service mix and existing conditions.

Lighter salon renovations and refreshes can fall toward the lower end of that range, while complete build-outs with dedicated exhaust ventilation for a nail area or separate plumbing for multiple wash and pedicure stations tend to fall toward the middle to upper part of the range. High-end and luxury salons with premium finishes and extensive custom millwork sit at the very top.

The cost depends on the size of the space, the number of styling, nail and wash stations, whether a dedicated lash or brow area is included, the existing condition of the property, and how much of the project involves construction versus custom millwork. Updating a reception desk and retail wall costs far less than a complete build-out with new styling stations, a nail area and a full wash and colour section. Larger spaces can also have a lower cost per square foot because fixed salon construction costs are spread across more floor area.

1BENMU provides an estimate after the initial site review, with construction and custom millwork broken out separately, so you can see where the project costs are going before committing to the work.

1BENMU works alongside your architect or interior designer throughout a beauty salon project, taking their concept into shop drawings, construction documents and the final millwork package. We coordinate station layouts, finishes and material selections against their drawings, so the design intent holds through fabrication and installation.

Your project manager keeps your architect or designer looped in as the schedule moves, flagging site conditions or clearances that affect the drawings early rather than after cabinetry is built. If you do not have a designer on the project, 1BENMU can handle the layout and drawings in-house instead.

Yes. 1BENMU prepares shop drawings for every piece of custom salon millwork we build, from styling and nail stations to reception desks and retail display walls. Drawings are done in-house and detailed to the actual dimensions of your space, equipment and finishes before anything goes into fabrication at our Scarborough shop.

You review and approve the drawings, along with material samples, before cabinetry is built, so changes happen on paper instead of on a finished piece. That same drawing package carries through to installation, keeping the station layout, power and storage consistent with what was approved.

Handling your beauty salon renovation and custom millwork under one project keeps the station drawings, construction schedule and fabrication timeline tied together instead of split across separate contractors. 1BENMU fabricates cabinetry at our Scarborough shop while site work runs, so installation happens in a defined window instead of waiting on a millwork shop after construction wraps.

One project manager and one point of contact also means fewer conflicts between trades and the cabinetry that has to fit around them, and finishes across your stations, reception and retail wall stay consistent because the same team details and builds all of it.

Yes. 1BENMU partners with experienced architects to handle the drawings, documentation and approvals required for hair and beauty salon renovations and build-outs. Commercial salon renovations must comply with the Ontario Building Code (OBC), applicable municipal fire and safety requirements, and accessibility requirements.

Architectural and engineering coordination may be required when changing the salon layout, adding wash stations and plumbing, adding or moving partitions for treatment rooms, changing ventilation, upgrading electrical for stations and equipment, reworking washrooms, or converting a retail unit into a salon. Our team coordinates the required architectural drawings, professional stamps, and mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire and life-safety, and accessibility requirements.

As for permits, requirements depend on the scope of the work. A building permit is commonly required when the work involves moving or adding walls, plumbing for wash stations, electrical changes, or reworked washrooms. Cosmetic-only updates, such as paint, new flooring or replacing cabinetry, generally do not.

1BENMU identifies permit requirements during the design stage and coordinates submissions and required inspections, so the project is properly documented and approved before and during construction.