How do you give a Calgary bungalow an exterior makeover?

Why Calgary bungalows are worth the effort

Communities such as Mayland Heights, Haysboro, Lakeview, Glendale, Thorncliffe, Brentwood and dozens of others were built out in the decades after the war, and the bungalow was the house of the time. Many of them sit on generous lots in established neighbourhoods close to the city centre, which is exactly why people buy them.

From the street, though, many look much as they did in 1965. Faded stucco or old wood and aluminum siding, small windows, a low roof with thin fascia, a concrete stoop with an iron railing and a single front door. The good news is that the bones are simple, and a long, low house responds well to a few bold changes.

Start with what is wearing out

Before you think about looks, check the parts that keep the weather out. A makeover that puts new siding on a house with a failing roof or leaking windows just means opening it all up again in a few years.

Look at the age and condition of the roof, the windows, the stucco or siding and the flashing around them, the eavestroughs, and the grading around the foundation. Our before-you-renovate inspection checklist walks through what to look for. If two or three of these are near the end of their life, doing them together usually costs less than doing them one at a time, because the scaffolding, disposal and trim work are shared.

The changes that make the biggest difference

• New cladding changes the whole house at once, whether you replace old stucco or siding or recoat the stucco in a new colour.
• A covered porch or a deep entry canopy with proper posts gives a flat bungalow front somewhere for the eye to land, and keeps snow off the step.
• Larger front windows, or new windows with thicker trim, make the house look newer inside and out.
• Deeper fascia, new soffits and a new roof in a darker colour give a low house more weight at the top.
• Two colours, or one body colour with a contrasting entry, often does more than any single material.
• New wall lights, modern house numbers and a new concrete walk finish the job for a small part of the budget.

Stucco or siding on a bungalow

Many Calgary bungalows have original stucco that is still sound underneath. If it is dry and solid, recoating it with a new acrylic finish, maybe with siding added on one part of the front, is the most affordable way to change the look.

If the stucco is cracked and stained, or the house has old wood or aluminum siding, a full re-clad makes sense. Lap siding in fibre cement suits the long horizontal lines of a bungalow, and board and batten or wood-look panels at the entry add contrast. Our guide to stucco or siding compares the two in detail.

Original brick on the front is worth keeping in many mid-century houses. Painted or limewashed, it can look very current.

Keep the mid-century character or go modern?

Some bungalows have real mid-century character, with low rooflines, wide eaves, big picture windows, original brick and wood. Those houses look best when the makeover leans into it with clean lines, warm wood and simple colours, rather than trying to turn them into a farmhouse.

A plainer bungalow has more freedom. A new gabled porch, darker siding and black-framed windows can give it a modern look. What rarely works is mixing too many ideas. Pick a direction, and keep to two or three materials.

Our guide to original details worth keeping covers what to save in an older house.

Adding a front porch or changing the roofline

A covered porch is the change that does the most for a bungalow, and it is also the one with the most rules. In Calgary, a covered porch adds to the home's area and is treated as an addition, so it always needs a building permit.

The front setback matters. According to the City's July 2026 checklist, a main-floor addition at the front of a house in the developed area needs a development permit if it extends more than 1.5 metres forward of the original front wall, or exceeds the height rules or 40 square metres. On some low-density lots, the application also needs a block plan showing how far the neighbouring houses sit from the street. A modest porch that stays within 1.5 metres often avoids the development permit.

Changing the roofline, such as adding a gable over the entry or raising part of the roof, also means engineering and permits, but it can change the whole face of the house.

Windows on a bungalow

Replacing windows in the same openings does not need a permit in Calgary. Making openings larger or smaller needs both a development permit and a building permit, and a larger opening also needs a new header over it, which is structural work.

On the front of a bungalow, a bigger living room window or a set of taller windows changes the house more than almost anything else. New windows are also the time to fix the old, leaky frames and add proper flashing. Our guide to double or triple pane windows covers what to choose for a Calgary winter.

What an exterior makeover costs

A bungalow usually has less wall than a two-storey house with the same floor area, so its siding bill tends to sit lower in that range. A light makeover with recoated stucco, a new door, lighting and paint costs far less than a full re-clad. A complete makeover with new siding, windows, roof and a covered porch can add up to well over $100,000.,These are planning ranges, not quotes. Our siding replacement cost guide breaks the biggest line down further.

Three levels of makeover

• The lightest makeover, a refresh, keeps the cladding but recoats or paints it, and adds a new front door, wall lights, house numbers and a new walk. It suits a house with sound stucco and windows.
• A re-skin goes further and replaces the cladding, the windows and often the roof and soffits, and rebuilds the front step and railing. Most of the house looks new.
• A full redesign adds a covered porch, changes the roofline or window openings, and often comes with an addition or a second storey. The house looks like a different building.

Do it before or with an addition

If you think you might add a second storey or an addition in the next few years, plan the exterior with it. New siding on a bungalow that later gets a second storey will be partly torn off and hard to match.

Kay2's St. Andrews Heights project is a good example. A two-bedroom bungalow got a second storey of more than 800 square feet, and the outside was redone at the same time with masonry stone, new stucco and a new roof, so the old and new parts read as one modern house. On our Lower Springbank project, a main-floor addition came with a completely new exterior, including windows, roof and doors.

Make it warmer while you are at it

Bungalows from the 1950s and 60s often have very little insulation in the walls. When the old cladding comes off, rigid insulation can go on the outside before the new siding, which makes the house warmer and quieter without touching the inside. It makes the walls thicker, so plan the window trim for it. Our guide on financing energy upgrades in Calgary lists the programs open in 2026.

Older bungalows can also contain asbestos in old stucco, siding, caulking or window putty, so a survey before demolition is required for houses built before 1990. Our asbestos guide explains the process.

Choosing hail-resistant materials

Any new exterior in Calgary should be chosen with hail in mind. Fibre-cement siding, impact-rated roofing and sturdy metal or fibre-cement trim all hold up better than builder-grade vinyl and thin aluminum. Our hail-resistant exterior guide covers the options.

Questions people ask

• What is the cheapest way to update a bungalow exterior? Recoat or paint the cladding, replace the front door, and update the lights, numbers and walk.
• Can you add a porch to a bungalow? Usually, but it needs a building permit, and a development permit if it comes forward more than 1.5 metres or breaks other rules.
• Should the trim be black or white? On a bungalow, trim the same colour as the siding or a warm white usually looks better than stark contrast all round. Black works well on window frames.
• How long does an exterior makeover take? A re-skin usually takes a few weeks on site. A redesign with a porch or roofline change takes longer, plus any time for a development permit.

Plan your bungalow makeover

Book a consultation and we will look at what needs replacing, what your lot allows at the front, and how far you want to take the look. Kay2 designs and builds exterior renovations and additions across Calgary, and every project gets a guaranteed price before construction starts. Our guide to exterior house colours for 2027 can help you start on colour.