Blog

  • New wooden entry steps with a railing beside a grey interlock patio, in front of a brick house

    How to close up a deck for an Ottawa winter

    When to clear, wash and check a deck before the snow, what shovels and salt do to composite boards, and how long a wood finish really lasts.

  • A cedar fence gate under a wooden arch with black hinges and a round iron panel, on a path of stepping stones in gravel

    What Ottawa rules say about fence height

    What the City of Ottawa's Fence By-law says about fence height in a front yard and elsewhere, corner lots, gates and what to confirm before you build.

  • Natural stone steps climbing a freshly dug slope between boulders and gravel, with an interlock landing at the bottom right

    How to call Ontario One Call before you dig

    Ontario One Call now operates as Ontario Dig Authority. What a locate request is, when to file it, what the paint colours mean and who does what.

  • Aerial view of a brown-sided house with an interlock terrace, boulder steps and a raised deck at the back

    When a deck needs a permit in Ottawa

    The City of Ottawa's three permit cases for a deck, what an application needs, what it costs and when the inspectors come, in the City's own terms.