Navan is farm country. Around 1,800 people, settled in the early 1800s,
built around Colonial and Trim Roads, and still surrounded by working
fields. The Navan Fair has run every August since 1946. This is a
different place from the rest of Ottawa and cleaning here reflects that.
The mudroom is the whole job. In a suburban home it’s a place to drop
shoes. Here it’s a working room, and if we get it right the rest of the
house stays manageable. Boots, coats, dogs, gravel, field dust in late
summer and mud from thaw through to May. We start there rather than
treating it as an afterthought at the end.
The houses themselves are a mix. Century farmhouses with the settled
floors, original trim and additions built at different decades that come
with age. Newer builds on large rural lots. And in between, homes that
have been added onto twice, where the 1890s part and the 1990s part need
different handling in the same visit.
Being outside city services matters too. Homes out here run on private
wells, and the mineral content leaves scale on fixtures and staining in
tubs and toilets that a standard wipe won’t touch.
Distance is the last thing. Navan is 25 kilometres from downtown and we
plan routes accordingly, so a booking here gets a proper time slot
rather than whatever is left at the end of a city run.
