01 / Local knowledge

Silver, Gold, and a Fire — Where the Region's Oldest Houses Came From

Nothing in Northeastern Ontario is older than the towns around Lake Temiskaming.

Cobalt was the silver rush of 1903, and the houses that survive from it are the oldest occupied housing stock in the North — frame and brick, built fast on rock, heated by whatever came up the rail line. Haileybury was the town the silver money built, with the mansions of Millionaires' Row along the lake — until the Great Fire of 1922 burned most of it, and the town was rebuilt through the 1920s with the building products of the 1920s. New Liskeard grew as the market town for the Little Clay Belt, the pocket of farmland that makes this the only part of the North with century farmhouses on concession roads.

Then, in 1911, Kirkland Lake. Seven mines along the Mile of Gold — Lake Shore, Wright-Hargreaves, Teck-Hughes and the rest — built a town of 1920s–40s mine housing that climbed the hills off Government Road, and a second wave came with Macassa in the 1980s. Englehart is the railway town between them; Larder Lake, Virginiatown, Elk Lake, Latchford are smaller versions of the same story.

What all of that means for a homeowner: pre-1950 houses with plaster, asbestos-cement siding and shingles, original pipe and boiler insulation, and old flooring — and, layered on top of it, the vermiculite that got poured into those attics in the 60s and 70s when somebody finally decided to insulate.

02 / Local knowledge

The Clay Belt Farmhouses

The Little Clay Belt is unusual in the North: a real agricultural district, with farmhouses from the 1900s–30s still standing on the concessions around New Liskeard, Earlton, Thornloe and Belle Vallée. They come with their own pattern. Wood or coal furnaces converted to oil in the 40s and 50s, with asbestos pipe insulation added at conversion. Asbestos-cement shingles on the walls, because they were fireproof and cheap. Plaster over lath. Additions built in every decade since, each one bringing its own materials. And an oil tank — sometimes two — somewhere on the property. Learn more →

These are big, complicated houses, and the right first step is always a full pre-renovation survey rather than a guess. The survey usually finds that most of the house is workable and the abatement scope is a few specific items.

03 / Local knowledge

What We Handle in Temiskaming and Kirkland Lake

  • Pipe and boiler insulation — Cobalt, Haileybury, old New Liskeard, Kirkland Lake mine housing, and every converted farmhouse. Learn more →
  • Vermiculite attic removal — added to the old houses as a top-up and original in the post-war subdivisions. Learn more →
  • Asbestos-cement siding, shingles and transite pipe — more common here than anywhere else on the site, because of the age of the housing.
  • Plaster, floor tile and mastic, stipple ceilings in the later housing.
  • Pre-renovation, pre-purchase and pre-sale testing with accredited lab analysis. Learn more →
  • Designated substances surveys for the commercial and institutional buildings in the town cores — Haileybury and Kirkland Lake both have a lot of 1920s–40s commercial stock. Learn more →
  • Oil tank removal at farms, camps and older town houses. Learn more →
  • Mould in basements and camps. Learn more →

Communities covered: New Liskeard, Haileybury, Dymond, North Cobalt, Cobalt, Coleman, Latchford, Temagami (north end), Englehart, Earlton, Thornloe, Belle Vallée, Elk Lake, Kirkland Lake, Swastika, Chaput Hughes, Larder Lake, Virginiatown and Kearns, and camps on Lake Temiskaming and the smaller lakes.

04 / Local knowledge

Served from Somewhere Else — Until Now

Today, every abatement crew that works in Temiskaming or Kirkland Lake drives in from Sudbury, North Bay, Timmins or further. That shows up as long lead times, quotes that assume the worst because nobody's seen the house, and jobs that slip a season.

We schedule the district as a block — New Liskeard, Haileybury, Cobalt, Englehart and Kirkland Lake on the same run — so the crew arrives with a full slate and the travel is shared. You get a real date, a sharper price, and a reason to mention it if a neighbour has the same attic. Testing visits are lighter and can usually be arranged sooner.

05 / Local knowledge

What It Costs in Temiskaming Shores and Kirkland Lake

  • Testing: $400–$750 all-in for a targeted test; $700–$1,600 for a full survey of an older or farm house.
  • Small contained removal: roughly $2,000–$4,500.
  • Vermiculite attic: roughly $6,000–$13,000 for a typical attic; farmhouses and multi-section attics higher. Re-insulation separate.
  • Asbestos-cement siding removal on a whole house: roughly $4,000–$12,000 depending on size and what's under it.
  • Whole-house or pre-demolition: $12,000 and up.
  • District note: travel and disposal are above the regional average and are built into these ranges; grouped scheduling brings them down.

Get on the next Temiskaming run — Call +1 289-805-3319

Call +1 289-805-3319 ↗

06 / Common questions

FAQs

We bought a century farmhouse near New Liskeard. Where do we even start?

With a full pre-renovation survey. Farmhouses of that era in the Clay Belt typically have asbestos in the pipe insulation, sometimes in the siding and plaster, and often vermiculite in the attic — but they also have a lot of material that's fine. The survey sorts one from the other before you plan anything, and it's a few hundred dollars against a renovation budget in the tens of thousands.

Is the asbestos siding on my Cobalt house dangerous?

Not while it's intact. Asbestos-cement siding is non-friable — the fibres are locked in cement — and it's a stable, fireproof product that's lasted a century for a reason. It becomes a problem when it's broken, drilled, cut, or pressure-washed, and removal is exactly when that happens. If you're re-siding, it needs to come off under controlled conditions and be disposed of as asbestos waste.

How long is the wait for a crew in Kirkland Lake?

Longer than in Sudbury; shorter than it has been. Removal is scheduled in district runs, so plan on a few weeks and mention any flexibility — it gets you onto the next run. Testing is usually faster.

Do you cover Temagami and the Lake Temiskaming camps?

The north end of Temagami and camps on Lake Temiskaming are covered from this page with a travel line. Water-access camps should mention it when booking.

Do the 1920s–40s mine houses in Kirkland Lake have vermiculite?

Often, as a top-up — the houses predate vermiculite's popularity but a lot of them got it in the 60s and 70s. Check before anyone goes into the attic for wiring, fans, or insulation.