Renovating in Kanata and Stittsville

Almost all of the housing here went up after 1985, which changes what a renovation is. The structure is engineered lumber and roof trusses rather than dimensional joists, the services are modern, the electrical panel is usually 200 amp, and there is no knob-and-tube or galvanised pipe to find. The work is therefore more predictable and the contingency can be smaller, ten per cent rather than twenty.

What the newer stock brings instead is truss roofs and open-web floor systems, and those constrain what can be cut. A second-storey addition on a trussed roof means a full engineered redesign rather than sistering a few rafters, and running a new bathroom drain through an open-web floor joist needs the manufacturer's rules respected. Both are engineer questions.

The dominant projects out here are basement finishing and second suites, because the basements are tall enough. Post-1990 construction in Bridlewood, Kanata Lakes, Morgan's Grant and the Jackson Trails area typically gives 2.1 m or more under the joists, comfortably clear of the 1.95 m the Building Code wants for a basement suite, which is why Kanata secondary suite projects rarely need underpinning and Alta Vista ones often do.

One local planning note: several Kanata and Stittsville subdivisions carry restrictive covenants and architectural controls from the original developer, separate from the zoning by-law, which can limit exterior changes, cladding and front elevations. Check the title before designing anything visible from the street.