Restoration Register

Heritage carpentry and joinery in Kingston and Ottawa

On a limestone house the woodwork is the part that actually wears out. Porches, verandahs, doors, shutters and window joinery all sit exposed while the stone behind them lasts two centuries, so most Eastern Ontario carpentry jobs are about repairing wood into a structure that is not moving.

Typical work in this region: rebuilding verandahs and their turned or chamfered posts, replicating brackets and bargeboard from a surviving original, scarf-jointing sound new material into rotted rails and sills rather than replacing whole members, and repairing panelled doors and their frames where the joints have opened. Because so much of the region is stone, the carpentry frequently meets masonry at the sill, the lintel and the porch beam, and that junction is where the water gets in. A carpenter who understands how the wood is bearing on the stone, and where flashing needs to go, will save you a repeat of the same repair in eight years.

What to ask before you hire

  1. Will you replicate the existing profiles, or use stock sections? On a documented heritage property this is usually a permit condition, not a preference.
  2. How will you detail where wood meets stone? Bearing, flashing and drainage at that junction decide whether the repair lasts.
  3. How much of the existing material are you keeping? Ask for a member-by-member assessment before agreeing to any full replacement.
Grant funding

Ottawa funds 50% to $35,000 on large projects and $10,000 residential. Kingston funds at 50% with no published cap. Both require approval before work starts, and both treat street-facing woodwork as strong candidates.

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Part of

All heritage service pages · Grants by municipality