After installing a new kitchen $11K, and buying new windows, but not installed, for some of the cottage $3K, and spraying painting the whole place $1K. and a new roof 4 years prior $6K, last November my son comes to me and says he needs a boat house for the boats. He can't stand launching his twin jet Yamaha with the tractor and putting the lift and dock out in the water each spring. Besides, the sun is destroying these 2 boats which are new. Boating buying is permanently over. So we acquired this beach crawler from Wisconsin so it can, under it's own power, leave X spot, go into the water until the boat floats off. To garage this thing with the boat in it requires a 12 foot door and a 13'8 ceiling. I have the only property left for something like this and my cottage was not suitable for full time living. Having a grandson and a new baby girl had a lot to do with this scheme.
So the deal is that we split the cost. The building is 30x60ft, 13'8" interior ceiling on the slab. Door will be 22 wide by 12 high. A single level living quarters above the garage. The front facing the water will have a deck 10 deep by 30ft about 14 feet in the air. View should be different. Very simple structure except for the foundation walls. Roof 6/12 pitch. The building will look very similar to my son's place. Same front widow design, doors, trim, colour, etc.
So in December we got lucky because the snow had melted and the Engineering firm had an opportunity to map the property. Engineering study and plan is now mandatory. We needed structure drawings, septic waiver, hydro central metering, lots of stuff. Went to submit the building permit application and I got a call from the building inspector that the municipality had placed an H1 hold on the property and it needed to be lifted before anything moved forward. The cost to me was $1K, but it takes time; government time which is not the same as real time. That took 2 months. I was so upset about it. Then the permit application gets uploaded to the municipality and all seems well, but no permit. Doug Ford bought in legislation that states, providing everything is in order, that municipalities must issue a permit within 10 business days or the applicant gets his permit at no cost. That would be $8500 back to me. Well it turns out the building department sends all permits to another engineering firm for a second look at the applicants expense. My son and I both lost it and he called the mayor and had a next day meeting with the CAO and in a few days you guessed it, permit approved. Turns out no one at this other engineering firm had looked at it or was going to. So bad.
Few pics. Took 6 triaxles to haul the old cottage to the transfer station. Have not got the bill for that yet. Took down about 14 major trees. Did a lot of burning. Place got dug out. 14 triaxles of dirt/clay got trucked out. No bill for that yet. Ton of large rocks needed to come out. Rips the hell out of the machines. Footings are poured. 4 stone slingers this Monday and the foundation guys come back on Tuesday for 2 weeks, maybe 3.
