If you own a limestone in Sydenham Ward, an Ontario cottage in Barriefield, or a Victorian in Old Sydenham, your renovation is going to involve heritage permits in addition to the regular building permit — and a different way of thinking about the work.
The City of Kingston's Heritage Planning team reviews exterior changes — windows, doors, masonry, roofing, additions visible from the street. Interior work usually doesn't require heritage approval, but anything visible from outside does. Plan on six to twelve weeks for heritage approval on top of your building permit timeline.
On the masonry: Kingston limestone needs lime mortar, not Portland cement. Cement is too hard and too impermeable for limestone — it traps moisture and causes spalling. Lime mortar moves with the wall and lets it dry. If a previous owner repointed your house in cement, you'll see the damage already.
On windows: most original sash windows can be restored with weatherstripping and good storm windows, and the result is usually warmer than a vinyl replacement and far better-looking. We tell people honestly when a window is past saving — but the default should be restoration.
On interiors: there's no heritage restriction on what you do inside, and we've done plenty of clean modern interiors inside heritage shells. The trick is letting the new work read quietly against the old details, not trying to hide them.