Ottawa kitchen renovations.
Designed free. Built to last.

These are the mistakes we see most often when we are called in to fix someone else's kitchen. Avoid them and your kitchen will look and work beautifully for decades.

1. 1

   Ordering cabinets before the layout is finalized.

   Cabinets get ordered off a rough sketch, then the fridge does not clear the island or a drawer collides with the oven door. Reordering a custom run means weeks of dead time and a second delivery.

   Dream Touch fixWe finalize the full layout — appliance clearances, work triangle, and door swings — and you approve it before a single cabinet is ordered.
2. 2

   Skipping the structural check before removing a wall.

   That wall between the kitchen and living room looks non-structural, until demo reveals it is carrying the floor above. Now the project stops for engineering, a beam, and a permit no one budgeted for.

   Dream Touch fixOur team confirms what is load-bearing at the design stage. Structural engineering and permits for any wall removal are written into the contract up front.
3. 3

   Under-planning electrical for a modern kitchen.

   Older Ottawa homes were wired for one small appliance at a time. Add an induction range, a microwave drawer, and under-cabinet lighting and you trip breakers or fail inspection.

   Dream Touch fixWe assess your panel and circuits during design and price any electrical upgrades into the fixed quote — no mid-project surprises.
4. 4

   Choosing countertops and finishes for the photo, not the wear.

   Soft marble stains, high-gloss slab shows every fingerprint, and trendy grout lines yellow fast. Selection errors mean living with it or paying to redo it.

   Dream Touch fixWe walk you through how each material actually performs with Ottawa hard water and daily family use, so you specify what lasts, not just what photographs.
5. 5

   Letting the range hood vent into the attic — or nowhere.

   A hood that recirculates or dumps into the attic leaves grease, moisture, and cooking odours in the house — and moisture in an Ottawa attic means mould and frost.

   Dream Touch fixWe spec a properly sized hood ducted to the exterior, with make-up air where the building code requires it.
6. 6

   Hiring the cheapest quote without asking what is excluded.

   A low number usually means allowances that will not cover real material choices, or extras like plumbing relocation and disposal billed later. The final total lands well above the quote.

   Dream Touch fixYou get a detailed, line-item fixed-price contract before demolition. What you sign is what you pay, barring changes you request in writing.
7. 7

   Starting demolition before the materials arrive.

   Cabinet, counter, and tile lead times in Ottawa run weeks. Tear the old kitchen out too early and your family lives around a construction site while everyone waits on a delivery truck.

   Dream Touch fixWe do not start demo until your cabinetry, counters, and finishes are in hand, so the build runs straight through without stalls.