01Additions
We needed more room but didn’t want to leave the street. The second storey went on over the summer, and from the sidewalk you’d think the house was always built that way.
Whole homes · 04 · More house, same lot
Home Additions in Kitchener
Kitchener home additions, out the back or up a storey, always need a building permit. The work is inspected stage by stage, and the new rooms are yours after the final inspection.
- Licensed builder
- WSIB
- Years building
- 15+
- Houses completed
- 300+
What’s included
What’s included
in an addition.
Whether the addition goes on the back or on top, the job includes tying it in at the structure, the roof, the services and the outside.
Rear additions
On new footings, the addition reaches into the yard as far as setbacks and leftover lot coverage allow.
Second-storey additions
Built up over the house you have, once the foundation and framing below are shown to carry another floor.
Tied into the existing structure, roofline and systems
New framing, roof and services connected to the old, so the roof sheds water and the wiring, pipes and ducts run through as one house.
Exterior matched to the house
Siding, trim, windows and roof matched to the house, so the new rooms do not look attached after the fact.
How it runs
The whole frame,
stage by stage.
Five stages in the same order for a room and a whole house, with one builder answering for each.
- 01
Permits
Every addition needs a building permit, some a zoning clearance, and a regulated lot Conservation Halton.
- 02
Structure
Footings where it goes out, then framing tied into the house and roofline.
- 03
Trades
One schedule coordinates the electrical, plumbing and HVAC run into the new rooms.
- 04
Finishes
Windows, trim and siding outside match the house, and the rooms inside are finished.
- 05
Handover
Inspections at each stage up to the final, then the new rooms are yours.
Why Hanna Homes
Why one builder
for all of it.
Four things the builder settles at the join, before an addition is framed.
Drawing the new rooms waits for an answer on whether the house’s existing foundation and framing can carry the added load.
The new roof is carried across the seam to the old one, and the framing at the join stays open for the inspector before it is covered.
From the existing rooms to the added ones, wiring, pipes and ducts keep running, and the builder coordinates each trade around inspections.
Siding, trim, windows and roof are matched to what is already on the house, so the new rooms do not look added on later.
Start with a call.
Client reviews
Their house,
their words.
Whole homes and single rooms, in the words of the people who live in them.
02Whole home
We put off the whole house for years because we couldn’t picture living through it. Akram walked us through every stage before it started, and each week went the way he said it would.
03Kitchens
The crew covered the floors and cleaned up at the end of every day, which mattered with two kids at home. The new kitchen is the room everyone ends up in now. Worth every week of takeout.
04Custom homes
Building a new house was the biggest decision we’ve ever made, and it never felt rushed. We walked the site most Saturdays and always knew exactly where things stood.
05Basement apartments
We turned the basement into a unit for my mother-in-law. She has her own entrance and her own kitchen, and we still get Sunday dinners. The paperwork I was dreading turned out to be the part I thought about least.
06Bathrooms
One bathroom is a small job for a builder, but they treated it like the whole house. The tile lines up, the door finally closes properly, and they finished the week they said they would.
07Knockdown & rebuild
Our old bungalow wasn’t worth saving, so we took it down and built new on the same lot. They kept the neighbours in the loop from demolition to the final walk-through. We love coming home to it.
08Basements
The basement used to be storage and a furnace. Now it’s a family room the kids actually want to be in. A clear quote, no surprises, and the site was swept every night.
09Whole home
We bought an older house knowing it needed everything. Akram was straight with us from the first visit about what was worth keeping. Every room is new to us now, and it still feels like the house we fell for.
10Kitchens
Third builder we spoke to, and the only one who returned every call. When we changed our minds about the island halfway through, they made it work without any drama.
01 / 10
Projects
Selected work,
inside and out.
Three rooms are done: a kitchen, a basement and a bath. So are two whole homes, a new house and a bungalow.
01Whole-Home Renovations
A bungalow, renewed in limewash.
Brick is limewashed, windows go floor to ceiling, cedar is under the eaves and an oak door faces a limestone forecourt.
01 / 05
Gallery
From the street
to the basement.
Every service, from the street to the basement. Tap a picture to see it whole.Each picture opens in full. Whole homes lead in street views, then come kitchens, bathrooms and basements.
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13 pictures: Whole homes · Kitchens · Bathrooms · Basements
Service area
Within an hour
of Burlington.
Towns we build in
- 01BurlingtonHaltonHome base
- 02HamiltonHamiltonby Hwy 403, 15 min, 18 km by road, approximately
- 03OakvilleHaltonby the QEW, 20 min, 24 km by road, approximately
- 04AncasterHamiltonby Hwy 403, 25 min, 28 km by road, approximately
- 05MiltonHaltonby Hwy 407, 30 min, 30 km by road, approximately
- 06MississaugaPeelby Hwy 407 and Hwy 403, 30 min, 41 km by road, approximately
- 07CambridgeWaterloo Regionby Hwy 8 and Hwy 5, 45 min, 51 km by road, approximately
- 08KitchenerWaterloo Regionby Hwy 6 and Hwy 401, 55 min, 72 km by road, approximately
And anywhere else inside the line.
Common questions
Common questions
in Kitchener.
What Kitchener homeowners ask about home additions: what it costs, how long it takes and what the city asks for.
The join is where a Kitchener price can change first. If the wall between the old house and the new rooms carries load, taking it out needs a permit, a beam sized to take what it carried and an inspection, and a new or widened opening in it is permitted work too. Past the join, a lot near a river or stream can add a conservation permit, a heritage district adds a heritage permit first, and a separate unit adds a zoning certificate. A figure waits for the plan.
Hanna Homes quotes no duration, and two of the schedules involved are not the crew’s. The City inspects the building work, but the Electrical Safety Authority inspects the new wiring on a separate visit, because the City does not review electrical work. If the house is in a heritage district, the heritage application waits for the committee’s next meeting after its deadline, ahead of the building permit.
Yes, usually from more than one office. The City’s building permit covers the structure, including a load-bearing wall opened at the join or a new or wider door or window opening. The Electrical Safety Authority issues the electrical permit. Near a river, stream or steep slope, the Grand River Conservation Authority adds one, since making a building bigger counts as development. Hanna Homes coordinates the City application.
If the lot is near regulated land, yes, beside the City’s building permit. The Grand River Conservation Authority regulates development in and near rivers, streams, floodplains, wetlands, steep slopes and the Lake Erie shoreline, and increasing the size of a building counts as development. The lot is checked against the regulated area before the plan is drawn, since the answer can move the footprint.
Possibly, and the lot decides. Kitchener’s zoning by-law permits up to four dwelling units on residential lots, subject to servicing and zoning limits, so a given lot may be capped at fewer. A zoning (occupancy) certificate then confirms the unit meets the rules, with duplexes excepted. The unit count is checked before the plan counts one, and a lot near regulated land may need a conservation permit for it, since adding a dwelling unit is development.
Still have a question?
Get a free estimatePeople also ask
Before you build,
people in Kitchener ask.
What people in Kitchener search before home additions, answered for the town.
Yes. Kitchener requires a building permit to install a new window or door or to widen an existing opening, so the openings in the new walls are on the application. Replacing one in its existing opening, with no structural members changed, does not need one.
They show the footprint or new storey, how it joins the house, and the services. The City reviews them for the building permit. The conservation authority and, in a heritage district, the heritage committee review them for their own approvals.
It may, if the house is in one of the four districts. A heritage permit can be needed to alter a building or property there, and an addition alters both. Heritage Kitchener reviews applications at scheduled meetings, so the design is settled first and the building permit follows the answer.
Good to know
Good to know
about home additions in Kitchener.
What changes the work in Kitchener: the rules, the houses and the ground.
Home addition permits in Kitchener
Where the addition meets the house, two Kitchener triggers usually appear. Taking out a bearing wall, column, lintel or beam needs a building permit, and so does a new door or window or a wider opening. A door or window replaced inside its existing opening, with no structural change, does not.
Electrical work sits outside the City’s review. The Electrical Safety Authority permits and inspects it, so its visit has to be booked in step with the City’s building inspections. A lot close to a river or stream, or on a steep slope, may add a Grand River Conservation Authority permit, since making a building bigger counts as development.
House additions in Kitchener: the join, the services and the finish
Out the back or up a storey, the addition is framed into the house at the join, the new roof is connected to the old, and electrical, plumbing and HVAC are carried into the new rooms by trades Hanna Homes coordinates. Siding, trim and windows are chosen so the new walls read as part of the existing house. The wiring in those rooms is the part that goes to the Electrical Safety Authority for inspection.
Home addition budget and schedule in Kitchener
Budget starts at the join: whether the wall there carries load, and whether the opening through it is new or wider than before. The rooms behind it come next, with the services they need. A separate unit adds the zoning certificate, and a lot near regulated land or inside a heritage district can bring a permit before any of it begins.
The schedule has two calendars that are not the crew’s. The Electrical Safety Authority inspects the wiring on its own visit. In a heritage district a heritage permit can be needed to alter a building, and Heritage Kitchener reviews applications at scheduled meetings with deadlines set ahead of each, which adds lead time before construction can be planned. No price or duration is posted here.
Source: City of Kitchener: heritage properties and districts
A separate unit in a Kitchener addition: the four-unit rule
Kitchener’s zoning by-law permits up to four dwelling units on residential lots, subject to servicing and zoning limits. That makes the count a lot-by-lot question, asked before the drawings are final if the new rooms are meant to hold a unit. The zoning (occupancy) certificate that confirms a unit meets the rules is required for all additional units except duplexes.
The conservation authority is checked in the same pass: its regulated area covers watercourses, floodplains and steep slopes, and increasing the number of dwelling units counts as development there. The address is also compared with Kitchener’s four heritage districts before the plan is fixed.
Other services
Other services,
same builder.
The other whole-home jobs we take on, with the same builder from the first call to handover.
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The roomyour house needs.
Tell us about the house and the room it is missing, and talk out or up through with the builder before plans are drawn.
Licensed builder
Burlington, Ontario
15+ years
Building
300+ houses
Completed