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Ottawa Home Renovations

Home Renovations in Ottawa

Kitchens, bathrooms, basements, additions, and whole-home renovations, designed, permitted, and built by one Ottawa team. One project manager, one fixed price, and a 7-year warranty.

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Design-build under one roof7-year warranty200+ verified reviews

Renovating in Ottawa, Without the Usual Story

Most renovation stories that go wrong in Ottawa start the same way: a designer, a contractor, and five trades who never quite talk to each other, and a homeowner left in the middle. OGC is a design-build renovation company, so the people who design your project are the people who build it.

Whether it is a single room or the whole house, one team handles the design and 3D renderings, the City of Ottawa permits, the trades, and the inspections. Planning a kitchen? Start with our kitchen renovations page, where we cover layouts, cabinets, and costs in depth.

One accountable team from design to final inspection
Fixed pricing with a price-match guarantee
Permits, inspections, and licensed trades handled
Backed by our 7-year warranty

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Open-concept home renovation in Ottawa with an exposed wood beam and kitchen island

What We Renovate in Ottawa

Every project below is run by the same team, under the same fixed-price contract. Pick the one closest to your plans.

White kitchen renovation in Ottawa with a wood range hood and slide-in range

Kitchen Renovations

Layout changes, custom cabinetry, counters, lighting, and the plumbing and electrical behind them.

Kitchen renovations

Bathroom renovation with a charcoal tile shower and floating double vanity

Bathroom Renovations

Family bathrooms, primary ensuites, tub-to-shower conversions, and basement bathrooms, waterproofed before the tile goes on.

Bathroom renovations

Finished basement renovation in Ottawa with a new oak and white staircase

Basement Renovations

Rec rooms, bedrooms with egress, bathrooms, and home theatres, built to stay dry through spring melt.

Basement renovations

Basement suite kitchen with sage cabinets and an island

Basement and In-Law Suites

Legal second units and multi-generational suites with their own entrance, fire separation, and egress.

Basement suites

Rear screened porch addition with a cedar timber frame on an Ottawa home

Home Additions

Rear, side, and front additions, sunrooms, and garages, designed to look like they were always there.

Home additions

Second-storey addition with a dormered upper floor on an Ottawa house

Second-Storey Additions

Building up instead of out, from structural assessment and engineering to the new roofline.

Second-storey additions

Main-floor renovation with an open living room and black kitchen in Ottawa

Whole-Home and Main-Floor Renovations

Opening up walls, reworking a main floor, or renovating the whole house at once, with the structure engineered properly.

See a main-floor renovation

Renovated Ottawa home exterior with grey siding and a navy front door

Heritage and Older Homes

Century homes and post-war houses, with the plaster, wiring, and heritage approvals that come with them.

Heritage home renovations

Detached two-door garage with carriage doors and a dormer built by OGC

Coach Houses and Garages

Detached garages and backyard coach houses, from zoning review and permits to the finished building.

Coach houses

Building new instead? See our custom home builders page.

Rebuilt staircase with oak treads and black metal balusters in an Ottawa home renovation

How an OGC Renovation Actually Runs

Every renovation follows the same sequence, whether it is one room or the whole house.

We start at your house, not in a showroom. What you want to change, what the structure and systems allow, and what your budget needs to cover.

On-site walkthrough and measure
Structure, plumbing, and electrical assessment
Heritage district and zoning check
Budget conversation before design starts

Our designers turn the plan into drawings and 3D renderings, and you choose finishes with them. You approve a fixed-price scope before anything is ordered.

Floor plans and 3D renderings
Finish and fixture selections
Detailed fixed-price scope of work
Schedule with milestone dates

We prepare the drawings and submit the City of Ottawa building permit where structure, openings, or plumbing change, plus heritage approval if your house is in a district. Electrical work is reported to the Electrical Safety Authority by a Licensed Electrical Contractor.

City building permit where required
Heritage approval where required
ESA notification for electrical work
Engineering for structural changes

Your project manager runs the site and the trades and keeps you updated at every milestone. Each stage is inspected before the walls close.

Demolition and site protection
Structural, plumbing, and electrical rough-ins
Inspections before walls are closed
Finishes, cabinetry, and fixtures

We walk the finished renovation with you, close out the permits and inspections, and hand over your warranty.

Final inspections closed
Deficiency walkthrough
Clean-up and handover
7-year warranty

Renovations We've Completed in Ottawa

Kitchens, family rooms, basements, additions, and whole-home renovations, all designed and built by OGC.

Living room renovation with a stacked stone gas fireplace and wood mantel

Family room built-ins with a window seat and floating wood shelves

Living room with a tiled linear gas fireplace wall

Finished basement with stone-clad columns, a wet bar, and a pool table area

Front entry addition with a herringbone floor and slatted feature wall

Galley kitchen with black cabinets and a waterfall quartz island

See the full stories: The Grand House, Rustic Luxe, Luxe Oak kitchen, Open Concept kitchen, Resilient basement rebuild, and Second-storey addition.

See Featured Projects

Why Ottawa Homeowners Choose OGC

For over a decade, OGC has been Ottawa's most reviewed design-build firm, with 200+ verified reviews across Google, Houzz, and HomeStars.

Google Reviews

Houzz Reviews

HomeStars Reviews

True Design-Build, One Roof

Design, engineering, permits, and construction all live in-house. No finger-pointing between a designer and a builder, just one accountable team.

One Dedicated Project Manager

A single project manager runs your renovation from start to finish and stays reachable by phone or text the whole way through.

See It Before We Build It

Every renovation starts with drawings and 3D renderings, so you can see the finished space before a wall comes down.

Fixed Pricing, No Surprises

What you are quoted is what you pay. No hidden fees, no mid-project change orders, and OGC's price-match guarantee behind every contract.

Industry-Leading 7-Year Warranty

OGC backs every renovation with a 7-year warranty, one of the strongest in Ottawa.

Ottawa's Most Recognized Renovation Team

OGC is a member of the GOHBA, Tarion, RenoMark, CHBA, and the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce, and has been named Ottawa's Small Business of the Year.

What Ottawa Homeowners Say About Us

Renovating in This City: What's Involved

Ottawa's housing stock spans more than a century, and each era brings its own surprises. Here is what we plan for.

The Glebe and Old Ottawa South grew as early 20th-century streetcar suburbs. Carlington's veterans' houses went up between 1945 and 1947, and Alta Vista and Elmvale Acres filled with post-war bungalows. Each era has its own framing, foundations, and mechanical systems, and we plan the renovation around the house you actually have.

Knob-and-tube wiring was used in homes from the early 1900s to the 1940s, and many insurers will not cover a house that still has it. Vermiculite attic insulation made before 1990 should be treated as if it may contain asbestos and left undisturbed until it is tested. We identify both before demolition and handle them with licensed professionals.

Removing a wall, creating a new opening, or making structural repairs needs a City of Ottawa building permit, and a load-bearing wall needs a beam engineered to carry what the wall did. We bring in engineering at design, not after the wall is gone.

Exterior work on a house in a Heritage Conservation District, such as the Glebe's Clemow Estate, Rockcliffe Park, or New Edinburgh, needs heritage approval from the City as well as a building permit. We check your address first and plan the approvals into the schedule.

If your house contains a second unit, Ontario Fire Code Section 9.8 governs it, and existing plaster can count toward the fire separation it requires. Tearing it out without a plan can remove compliance you already had. We check before demolition, not after.

Ottawa applications are currently reviewed against two zoning by-laws, with the more restrictive provision applying, and the widely reported fourth unit is still under appeal, so we plan around three. Interior renovations that add no unit or floor area generally do not trigger zoning at all.

Closed-off pine kitchen in an Ottawa home before its open-concept renovation

What Shapes Your Renovation Budget

Every renovation gets a fixed price once the design is set. These are the decisions that move it.

Scope and Structure

Whether walls, windows, or plumbing move is the biggest variable. Structural changes bring engineering, permits, and inspections with them, while work inside the existing layout costs far less.

The House You Start With

Older Ottawa homes often need wiring, plumbing, or insulation brought up to date once the walls are open. We assess the house before design so those items are in the price, not discovered halfway through.

Finishes and Selections

Cabinetry, counters, tile, flooring, and fixtures range widely. Our designers help you put the budget where you will notice it every day.

For detail by project, read our cost guides for kitchens, bathrooms, basements, and additions.

Ottawa Renovation Questions

It depends on what changes. The City of Ottawa requires a building permit to add or remove walls, create or enlarge a window or door opening, make structural repairs or foundation and drain tile repairs, and alter, add, or extend plumbing. Cosmetic work and swapping fixtures in the same place generally do not. OGC prepares the drawings, submits the application, and books every inspection. Read more about permits for structural changes.

Not the City. Electrical work in Ontario is reported to the Electrical Safety Authority through a notification of work, and anyone you hire to do it has to be a Licensed Electrical Contractor. ESA inspects before the wiring is covered. A building permit and an electrical notification are separate, and most renovations need both. See our guide to electrical permits in Ottawa.

Exterior changes to a house in one of Ottawa's Heritage Conservation Districts, such as the Glebe's Clemow Estate, Rockcliffe Park, or New Edinburgh, need heritage approval from the City on top of the building permit. That covers work like additions, window replacement, porch work, and partial demolition. We check your address before design starts and build the heritage application into the schedule.

Most Ottawa homeowners stay put. We seal off the work area, protect floors and the rest of the house, and clean up at the end of each day. When a kitchen or the only bathroom is out of service you will need a workaround for those weeks, and your project manager tells you in advance whenever water or power has to be off.

Ask for a written contract with a detailed scope and a payment schedule tied to milestones, not dates. Confirm who pulls the building permit and that a Licensed Electrical Contractor will do the electrical. Check insurance, read reviews across more than one platform, and ask to see finished work like yours. Our tips for hiring a contractor go through each point.

Scope and structure first: whether walls, plumbing, or windows move. Then the systems an older house needs brought up to date, and the finish level you choose. We give you a fixed price once the design is set. For detail by project, see our guides to kitchen, bathroom, basement, and addition costs.

Every OGC renovation is backed by our 7-year warranty, with the full terms on our warranty page. Your project manager stays your point of contact after the job is finished.