Kitchen renovation

A kitchen is the most disruptive room in a house to renovate and the one where the sequence matters most. The trades have to arrive in order, the cabinets have to be measured after the walls are true rather than before, and the appliance you chose in March decides the cabinet opening in June. Most kitchen projects that go wrong go wrong on scheduling, not on craft.

Step one: decide whether walls are moving. A cosmetic kitchen, new cabinets and counters in the same footprint with the services staying put, usually needs no permit. The moment a wall comes out, plumbing moves, or an opening changes, a permit is in play. Removing a wall between a kitchen and a living room in an Ottawa two-storey is almost always structural and needs a beam, a load path to the footing, and an engineer's design.

Step two: the drawings and who may sign them. Permit documents in Ontario generally must be prepared by a designer registered with the Ministry and holding a BCIN, unless you are designing work on a building you own, or the designer is an architect or a professional engineer (Ontario designer qualification notice). A cabinet supplier's layout is not a permit drawing. Ask who is producing the permit set and what qualification they hold.

Step three: order the cabinets early, then demolish. Cabinet lead times are the schedule. Stock and semi-custom lines are commonly four to eight weeks in this market and full custom is ten to sixteen. Counters are templated after the cabinets are installed and level, then fabricated, which adds another one to three weeks.

Step four: rough-ins and inspection. Walls open, then electrical and plumbing go in. A 1960s Ottawa kitchen was built for a fridge, a stove and a kettle; a modern one wants dedicated circuits for the range, the dishwasher and the microwave plus two counter receptacle circuits. Electrical and plumbing are both compulsory trades, and electrical work needs an ESA notification. Ask for the certificates.

Step five: finishes and the punch list. Drywall, paint, flooring, cabinets, counters, backsplash, appliances, then the list of small defects. Hold the final payment until the punch list is closed, and keep the statutory holdback separate from that: under the Construction Act you hold back ten per cent of the price of services and materials as they are supplied (Construction Act holdback in 2026).

How long it takes. A cosmetic kitchen in the same footprint is three to five weeks on site once the cabinets have arrived. Moving plumbing adds a week and an inspection. Taking out a load-bearing wall adds two to four weeks and an engineer's involvement. Counting from the first design meeting to the last handle, a full kitchen in Ottawa is realistically three to five months, and most of that is lead time rather than labour.

What it costs in Ottawa in 2026. Indicative ranges. A basement kitchenette runs roughly $20,000 to $50,000 (HomeStars Ottawa 2026), and a main-floor kitchen is higher: expect $30,000 to $60,000 for a mid-range rebuild in the same footprint and $60,000 to $120,000 where walls move and the cabinetry is custom. Structural work for a wall removal commonly adds $6,000 to $20,000 including the engineer, the beam and the drywall repair. Add 13 per cent HST.

HST and rebates. Kitchen work carries HST at 13 per cent in Ontario and there is no renovation rebate. The GST/HST new housing rebate applies only to a substantial renovation, which the CRA defines as removing or replacing 90 per cent or more of the interior of an existing house. A kitchen on its own never reaches that test.

What makes an Ottawa kitchen different. Housing stock and clay. In the Glebe, Hintonburg, Westboro and Old Ottawa South a large share of kitchens sit in houses built before 1940, with knob-and-tube remnants, no subfloor worth keeping, walls 25 mm out of plumb over two metres, and galvanised supply lines that fail when disturbed. Budget a contingency of fifteen to twenty per cent on any pre-war kitchen. In post-war suburbs the surprise is usually the floor structure. And across the city, foundations on Leda clay move seasonally, which is why a rigid stone counter set in February can show a hairline gap at the wall in August.

Who should do the work, and what the warranty is. General contracting is unlicensed in Ontario, so the credential checks sit on the specific trades: a certificate of qualification for the electrician and the plumber, an engineer in the PEO directory for any structural design, and WSIB coverage, which is compulsory in construction and whose occupant-retained exemption does not extend to subcontractors (WSIB). The Tarion new home warranty does not apply, since it covers newly built homes and excludes alterations made by the homeowner (Tarion exclusions).

What to ask before you hire. Is a permit needed for this scope, and who prepares and signs the drawings. What are the cabinet and counter lead times, and when is the order placed. Who does the electrical and plumbing, and can I see their certificates. Is there an engineer's design for the wall removal. What is the allowance for counters and appliances, and what happens if I exceed it. What is the payment schedule, and is the ten per cent holdback shown on it. What is the written warranty on labour and on cabinetry, and for how long.