Cottage renovations

Cottage renovations By Theresa Grant Real Estate columnist Although we currently seem to be in a struggle to enjoy some actual spring like weather, it won’t be long before the weekly grind of loading up the car and taking your place in the steady and sometimes unforgiving line of traffic heading to the cottage on a Friday night is upon us. Most cottagers like to open their cottages around the May 24th weekend. The unofficial start to summer. With this past winter being a little harsher than we are used to here in Southern Ontario, many cottage owners will be needing to do some repairs, while others will just be undertaking planned renovations. Whichever category you fall under, make sure to protect yourself and your wallet if you plan to hire someone or a company to do the work for you. While there are many reputable companies and good-hearted people that may help you, there are others that will take the money and run. All too often we see the stories in the paper or hear them on the evening news. Some unsuspecting person will listen to a smooth-talking salesperson slash rip-off artist tell them what a fabulous job they can do for them at an amazing price. Usually, they will ask for a sizable amount of money up front. They will tell you that it is to purchase materials and so forth to get the work started. This is where it can get tricky. If you give them cash, they show up for a day or two and request more money, or they may not show up again at all and just be off with the money you gave them. If you are looking to have some work done on your cottage, it is best to look to the closest small town to your cottage. There is usually a Home Hardware or something like that in the small cottage towns. They would be a good starting point. There are also many local contractors that live full-time in the small cottage towns that may be interested in your project. You might think about advertising exactly what it is you are looking to have done and then interview a few different people for the job. I know a family that offers the use of their cottage for a couple of weeks a year to a fellow in exchange for work that he does while he’s there with his family. Regardless of the route you choose in hiring someone to do the work for you, just make sure you are not parting with a large sum of money to an unknown person before any work gets started.