Dental Clinic Renovation in Burnaby
A complete commercial renovation of a dental clinic in Burnaby, finished in just 1 week. This was our second project with this client — the first was a fireplace at their home. When the dentist needed to open as quickly as possible, the entire build-out had to be compressed into a single week. We re-planned the floor zones, traffic flow, and storage to maximize the use of every square foot, then executed the demo, drywall, electrical, plumbing, cabinetry, quartz countertops, and finishing work back-to-back. Commercial projects aren't like residential — when the clinic isn't open, the dentist isn't earning. Time is cost, efficiency is the deliverable.
Вызов
The dentist needed to open as quickly as possible — a normal 4-6 week clinic build-out had to be compressed into a single week. Every day the clinic stayed closed cost the practice revenue. On top of that, the existing layout had inefficient zoning: old mint-green cabinets, dark laminate counters, a fragmented floor plan with poor traffic flow between sterilization, reception, exam rooms, and the staff break room. We had to rethink the space AND deliver it in 7 calendar days.
Наше решение
We pre-built the cabinetry off-site and ran all trades in parallel rather than sequentially. Demo, framing/drywall, electrical rough-in, plumbing rough-in, cabinet install, quartz templating + install, finishing and equipment hookups were stacked back-to-back with daily checkpoint inspections. Reception got a custom curved desk; the staff kitchenette went from mint green + brown laminate to a full-wall white shaker with quartz and gold pulls (see the before/after pair); exam rooms got floor-to-ceiling cabinetry with under-cabinet LED lighting; the doctor's office and admin workspace were rebuilt with integrated storage. The dentist opened on schedule.
Why this clinic chose us — twice
Dr. Michael Peng first hired us for a fireplace at his home. When his clinic needed a fast commercial build-out, he called us back. Same general contractor, two completely different jobsites — and a 1-week turnaround that wouldn't have worked without the trust built on the first project.
How we delivered a full commercial dental clinic in 1 week
Parallel scheduling, off-site cabinet pre-build, and stacked trade rotations — the playbook for a 1-week commercial renovation that respects a hard opening date.
Day 1 — Demo + floor protection
RAM Board down on every existing floor surface, painter's tape on every transition. Demo crew strips the old mint cabinets, dark laminate, and dated finishes. Electrician walks the room with the dentist to mark every new outlet location.
Day 2 — Rough-in (electrical + plumbing)
Electrical rough-in pulled in parallel with plumbing rough-in. Drywall crew arrives mid-day to start patching walls behind the existing fixtures we kept.
Day 3 — Drywall + paint prep
Drywall finished + mud sanded. Paint primer goes on the same evening so it can cure overnight.
Day 4 — Paint + cabinet install begins
Top coat goes on. Cabinet crew installs the upper shaker boxes (pre-built at the factory) so they cure with the paint.
Day 5 — Quartz template + lower cabinets
Lower cabinet boxes installed. Quartz fabricator templates that night for a same-week install.
Day 6 — Quartz install + plumbing trim
Quartz countertops dropped in and seamed. Sink + faucet + dishwasher hooked up. Painters do final touch-up.
Day 7 — Equipment + final cleaning
Microwave, fridge, dental equipment, and reception fixtures go in. Final clean. Walk-through with Dr. Peng. Clinic opens the following business day.
Frequently Asked Questions
- For a build-out the size of this Burnaby clinic (1 reception, 4 exam rooms, sterilization area, staff kitchenette, office), 1 week is the floor when the client has a hard opening date and we get the cabinetry order in early. A more typical timeline for a dental clinic of this size is 4–6 weeks. The 1-week version requires parallel trade scheduling, pre-built cabinetry, and daily checkpoint inspections — not every contractor will take it on.
- Commercial dental renovations cost more per square foot than residential — typically 1.5–2x — because of plumbing for dental chairs and sterilization equipment, dedicated electrical for medical devices, code-compliant flooring transitions for infection control, and ADA accessibility requirements on the patient-side. The exact premium depends on how much existing rough-in we can reuse vs. demolish.
- Yes. For a tenant improvement of this scope we pull the building permit, electrical permit, and plumbing permit ourselves, and we coordinate the City inspections at each stage (electrical rough-in, plumbing rough-in, drywall, final). Dental-specific inspections (e.g. medical gas, X-ray shielding) are handled by separate trade contractors with their own permits — we coordinate the schedule but don't pull those permits.
- Probably not. A shell-space fit-out usually requires HVAC distribution, ceiling grid, full plumbing rough-in from scratch, and electrical service upgrades — work that takes 3–4 weeks even with parallel scheduling. The Burnaby clinic was a renovation of an existing dental space, so we kept the main plumbing and HVAC layout and only modified what the new room layout demanded.
