Building a Boathouse: Foundations, Function & Lake-Friendly Design

Start designing your dream lakeside cottage today: https://lakesidearchitecture.ca/design-your-dream-cottage/

In this episode of Build the Unbuildable, John and James take you beneath the surface—literally—to explore what it really takes to design and build a boathouse on Ontario’s lakes. From driving steel piles into bedrock to navigating seasonal ice, shifting water levels, and the quirks of Canadian construction seasons, James breaks down the unseen engineering that keeps boathouses standing strong.

Above the waterline, they explore how boathouses have evolved from simple storage structures into iconic lakeside spaces—complete with guest suites, cabanas, sun decks, and year-round hangouts. James explains what makes a boathouse a “good neighbor,” how to match design to the character of your lake, and why thoughtful materials and massing matter more than ever.

They also tackle the political side of building on the water: permits, lake associations, environmental impact, and why collaboration with neighbors and municipalities can make or break a project.

Whether you're dreaming of a modern glass retreat or a classic cedar-shingled bunkie over the water, this episode gives you the insider perspective on building smarter, safer, and more beautifully on the lake.

CHAPTERS:
00:00 Introduction
05:32 Foundation Surprises
09:51 What's above the Water?
12:43 Client Preferences
19:23 Permits And Politics
22:46 Maintaining The Character Of The Lake
28:05 Storm Safe
36:57  Design Your Dream Home Guide 
38:56 Conclusion

Connect with James on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-pitropov-783029156/

Learn more at https://lakesidearchitecture.ca/

Transcript

James 0:00

in many cases, clients will come and say, look, we've had this cottage in our family for a generation or, or even two. Now I've gotten more into boats and the old, uh, boathouse is, falling apart and so on. Do they need one or two slips? Do they have a boat and, jet skis for example? Uh, are they coming in and out all day? need to know the type of boats, the size of the boats. Are we putting these on hydraulic lifts? Are we getting them right out of the wi water in the winter? Some people will just put on a bubbler, which we can talk about again later, and the ice will not freeze around the boathouse, and you can keep your boats, in the water on a slight lift, but now you can get your boats right off the water on a hydraulic lift, so there's a real function to what is the specification on your boat.

0:41

You are listening to Build the Unbuildable, a podcast about designing dream cottages on some of the most challenging sites in Ontario's cottage country.

John 0:50

Alright, welcome back to another episode of Build the Unbuildable. I'm John Tieman, and as always, I'm joined by James ov, principal at Lakeside Architecture Inc. James, how you doing?

James 1:02

I am doing pretty well today. John, how are you?

John 1:04

I'm doing well. I'm doing well. Today we're going to talk about boat houses. I'm excited because they're not just for boat storage. Uh, in fact, we're today we're gonna be talking about how to anchor boat houses design and function above the dock style craft, personality permits, and the impact of boat houses on the environment and community. So I'm really excited about this episode today, James.

James 1:29

Well, John, let's, uh, navigate through it and, um, I think it's gonna be an exciting episode for the viewers.

John 1:35

All right, I've got my compass and my map, and I'm ready to dive in.

James 1:39

Okay,

John 1:39

So, uh, but before we do, folks that are listening to this podcast, folks that are watching this podcast on YouTube, follow the show on your favorite podcast platform and, uh, send James a picture of your dream lakehouse for inspiration. Alright, James, let's get into how to anchor boat houses onto the water. So I'm curious, like what goes into planning and installing underwater foundations? So like, do things like water depth and soil type. How do those affect the design of a boathouse?

James 2:14

Well, John, that's a great, uh, question. A good, uh, jump off, uh, point for us. So, um, how, how do you build on the water? Uh. Now where we build, we're in, we're in cottage country. Uh, we have a variety of, of terrain on the sites that we build on. In a lot of cases, what you'll find is that there's good solid bedrock beneath a few feet of, of sand, uh, or, or silt on the lakes. Th this is pretty typical. Um, I've been, um, designing, uh, boathouses. On SES Lakes as Lake Muskoka, lake Rosso in the cor as Stony Lake and so on. Um, we've, uh, designed further field as well. Uh, over time, uh, what we've done is we've progressed away from the old rock cribs that are made out of timbers and filled with stone that your cottage viewers might be familiar with and what we're doing. Um. Currently is, we're building a lot in steel. So what we'll do is we will drive piles down through the three or four feet of surface sand or silt, uh, that you might have, have on a lake. And we're actually getting right down to the bedrock itself. So we're, we're driving piles down. And then, to make the structure sturdy, we are welding I-beams across the series of. uh, steel piles and typically this will be brought back to the shoreline where we find good bedrock. We will weld a rebar, a reinforcing steel bar to the I beam. And this is, that, that steel bar is, drilled. We are drilling into the rock. It's being hammered down. There's epoxy grout securing it to the site. And then the I-beam is welded on. So basically what we have is a steel diaphragm. It is sitting on rock and it is also secured to the shore. The advantages of of this are that the disruption to the bottom of the lake is, is minimal'cause we don't want to disrupt fish habitat and, and, uh, all, all that. And in many cases we can leave existing original rock ribs that have collapsed over time. Pretty messy to clean up. It disrupts the bottom when you try to remove. Timbers and stone that are already in the water, we can build, outboard of an existing structure and have a, have a nice clean assembly of material that is not messing up the, the lake bottom. So that's, that's the way we, um, that's the way we secure down, down to the site. In some cases where you're not on the bedrock, where you're on silt or sand going down indefinitely, what we'll do is, we'll, we'll do a test hole. And, uh, well with a geotech and we'll figure out how far down any bearing, clay might be or other strata. And sometimes there just isn't anything down there. So we're going down with helo piles that are screwed down. They look like giant ice fishing augers, they're screwed down to bearing capacity. And then the, the same type of structure is welded above. So there is a way to build pretty much on, on, uh, every uh, uh, lake site that we are coming across.

John 5:32

Very interesting. I'm curious, have you ever had to, Adjust your plans based on something that unforeseen happened underwater. Maybe you discover a different soil type than you were expecting, or something completely outta the blue under the surface.

James 5:47

Well, the thing that comes up is that sometimes the, the, the bottom structure isn't consistent. So we've had situations where there is a rock ledge and there are collapsed. uh, original rock cribs in there and silt, so sometimes it's, it's a combined structure. The, um, more of a challenge is the time of, of year that we're building and we're out in the water. So really there's, there's two options. We're drilling or hammering down in over water into the substrate. So that means you can either come in in the summer on a barge. Work off a platform, or we can come in in the winter and drill through the ice. And that gives you a platform for all your, your construction. It gets a little tricky in, uh, in Canada here when the seasons aren't so clearly defined. And in that, in between season you have shifting ice, ice shelves, drifting in, wanting to shear the piles and so forth. So, Season and a good look at what's actually beneath the surface.

John 6:58

Do you have a preference of summer or winter, which is your preferred season to build a boathouse?

James 7:04

it, it seems that, um, clients like to have use of the properties during the summer. The builds on a boathouse can be a few months or they can be longer because a lot of the boathouses are more elaborate now. There are. Almost like dwellings in themselves. So we try to, uh, in a lot of cases we are building into the winter, starting after Labor Day, and you can get, uh, on, on, on cottage construction. And then that ice is getting pretty solid after the, the Christmas holidays and into the new year. So around that first week of January, it's, it's just easier to build off the ice and then you're not paying the charge for barges and, and, and so forth. And the complexity of getting equipment on and off barges, it's just easier to do on the ice. Also off the ice, we can use a wider, uh, range of equipment and sometimes we can use, uh, we skid steers or mini excavators that have arms that permit the, the tightening of, of these piles. So. a little trickier in the summer. Both seasons are great, but the in between seasons are not good at all.

John 8:10

I did not expect that. I expected you to say summer was easier'cause you're not drilling through ice. But I didn't even think about the, the cost of the barges and everything going.

James 8:19

Yeah. It's just one of the things that you learn up on, on the Lakesh, and we find also that if you're looking for the summer builds, every, all the trades are already busy. They've, they've got work for the summer. And, uh, it's harder to get, good rates on, not only on the trades, but also on, uh, the equipment, rentals, uh, themselves, which can become quite substantial. So we like to have a little, a little joke on the lakes is, is that you've gotta get your trades at the right time. You're, you're not gonna get them during the summer. And in the summer they come at a premium with a bit of an attitude. When we go into the fall, then they're hard to find because, um, first it's, it's hunting season, uh, nobody's around. And then, um, it's, it's ice fishing season. And everybody's out on the lake and they're, they're still fishing. They may be fishing that first week of January or the second week. By the third week, people are looking around for work and, and, um, fishing, hunting and, and the all too prevalent drinking season. Winter drinking season in Canada here is, is getting old, a great time to get the trades. They're looking for work, they're ready to go. It's quiet and uh, things just seem to. Go smoothly. Plus, you're not disrupting other people on the lake during their summer holidays

John 9:40

Those are some, those are some good tips and a little inside baseball for you

James 9:43

with apologies to, to trades up north. We, everyone likes to have a good time, but there is a seasonal cycle that we've, we've noticed.

John 9:51

That sounds good. Well, um, let's shift our conversation from what's beneath the water to what's above the water. So James, um, several of your designs. Have full second stories on these boathouses, and we've got some pictures that, folks that are, if you're watching on YouTube, you can follow along with us. If you're listening along, you can check out, um, some of James's work at Lakeside Architecture. Do ca so James, Several of your projects have these full second stories, CUPOLAS decks, cozy guest areas. What's the vision behind these upper levels? How do your clients use boat houses?

James 10:35

Well, the basic way where it all starts from, was the basic storage of boats, accessories, having a place on the water where you can pull your waterfront necessities in. That was, that's the basic thing. But what a lot of people don't, may not realize is that there's a whole history of boathouses. Um, particularly on the, on the Muskoka Lakes where a structure would be built and a habitation, sometimes known as a bunky or typically you might have a cottage and a bunky for guests, which is a little outbuilding, uh, that, may or may not have a little tiny kitchen in it, but it would have a bedroom possibly too. And it was a great way to entertain guests. sometimes older guests, younger guests. Uh, having different places, closer to the water on your property. Great way to entertain. so in a lot of cases people were building these bunks right into their boathouses, and there's a whole history of it. And, and some lakes such as, uh, Muskoka and Rosso, a lot of smaller lakes too. They have a real beautiful tradition of these habitations. The really interesting thing about them is that you are literally right over the water, and, uh, in my mind, I, it creates a cozy, charming atmosphere on the lake. Over time, there has been a trend or a push, particularly by the Lake Associations, which we can talk about more depth a little bit later in the podcast, but. Uh, away from, uh, building on right on the water because they, uh, want to minimize the disruption of the views on the leg by, by constraining the amount of development on it. Um, as you'll see from these examples, I think if they're done to the right scale with the right character, they make good neighbors on the lake. And, it's, it's a wonderful classic experience to visit and be right on, on the, uh. The water's edge,

John 12:43

so how do your clients typically think about boat houses? Is it. Is it more of a u, like a utility shed? Do you try to open their, their perspective more to a guest suite? is it more of like a party zone in some cases? Like how, what are some different ways that you've seen your clients use Bo, their boat houses?

James 13:05

Those are great questions, John. It, it, it seems that you may have, you, you may be a cottage in your own right, or maybe you'll become one because you're, you're you're asking the, the, the right questions,

John 13:14

I grew up, uh, my, we would always go to lakes as a kid, and so that's why, you know, I remember like the, the boat houses always being kind of where the, the adults went after the kids went to sleep.

James 13:25

Oh, I see, I see. But then, then there is a party function there, isn't there? Part of building those summer memories is having, having a, a, a place to go and, and not, not to forego the utility utilitarian functions. I like to think that the clients are the experts on the use of their property on the lake. So in, in many cases, clients will come and say, look, we've had this cottage in our family for a generation or, or even two. And, um, now I've gotten more into boats and the old, uh, boathouse is, falling apart and so on. So they will let me know. do they need one or two slips? Do they have a boat and, jet skis for example? Uh, are they coming in and out all day? Um, or are they sort of heading out for the day and, and just out, out on the water most of the time? So. We need to know the type of boats, the size of the boats. Are we putting these on hydraulic lifts? Are we getting them right out of the wi water in the winter? Some people will just put on a bubbler, which we can talk about again later, and the ice will not freeze around the boathouse, and you can keep your boats, uh, in the water on a slight lift, but now you can get your boats right off the water on a hydraulic lift, so there's a real function to what is the specification on your boat. And how can we protect it? And what, what additional fun equipment do you have, including jet skis, but also canoes and, rafts and, and paddleboards, standup paddleboards and, and that, that whole thing. Now, second to that, people do like the idea of having a room or two, or if they're not permitted to do it on, on the lake, because these days constraints are getting tighter. In a lot of places, at least having a sitting area. They like in, when they have deep water, John, they like to have a walkout and they'll actually dive off their, their roof like a flat roof into the deeper water and come back up with a, on a ladder to a cabana. You can change dry off. Sometimes there's a refrigerator, sometimes there's a little mini bar. There may be a kitchen. But also. What's happening now is they'll last for the boats. They'll last for a little bit of deck area on the outside for sun tanning, uh, relaxing and so forth. And they will actually take one of those bays, for example, in a three bay boathouse such as this. They'll have two for the boats, and then one as a sort of outdoor living room, which is in the boathouse. So you're basically on the water, but now you're covered from the elements. So if it's raining. Or it's, it is starting to sprinkle aside those warm summer, uh, rainstorms. You can still be having a great time and you're sheltered. Another advantage too, is w with incorporating a living space into one of the bays, is you can have mosquito screens dropping down and enclosing this, space. So you truly have an outdoor space. What to, to answer your question. they're starting with a utilitarian function based on the specifications of their boat, but they're ending up with, beautiful outdoor spaces that sometimes are the highlight of their property in their own right.

John 16:44

You mentioned something James, about, a boathouse being a good neighbor and, you've built everything from classic cedar shingled structures to sleek glass and metal retreats. I'm, I'm curious how does. The landscape or cottage style influence those choices, and what makes a good boathouse neighbor?

James 17:08

the first thing to look at is the scale of the structure. when we start to talk about design thinking in terms of a story, a, a story in height, a story and a half in height, I think people get into a little bit of trouble with their neighbors when they build a two story boathouse. And this is what people do with a tall peak roof. On top of that, with a third half story with dormers, they're expensive to build. There's a lot of structural engineering involved, and I would agree in those cases, um, you might not be a great na, your boathouse might not be a great neighbor in most cases, what I found is that a story, with a half story above it, meaning one full story for the boats and then a second story, but the eve started at the, the first story. It's the way to get to. Design and, and create a structure that has the space that you need but is not over overbearing. So that is the one thing. It is, the first thing is the scale. So story, story and a half is great. And this will work with modern structures as well. The flat roof, actually, it helps in a lot of cases because you don't have the additional peak. So a flat roof with a little cabana on the second floor and, and a trail is overlooking the lake. Probably isn't as bad as a two or three story traditional structure, believe it or not. So it's the scale. The second thing too, is some of the details, John, the little roofs, the little dormers, they visually or aesthetically, they reduce the scale by limiting the amount of big open wall space. So if you have a two story box. Guaranteed is going to make people upset. If you have that on the lake, if you have store in half and then you have dormers or walkouts or in the case of a modern, modern build, just parts, more parts to it, it breaks down the scale, doesn't offend anyone, and it actually gives you a, a boathouse that has different parts, parts functionally too. It helps to find the different parts of the, of the, the boathouse. So you don't have one big shoebox. You have your boats, you have some living space, maybe you have a little, uh, Belvedere or balcony. Uh, it's, it is a good way to design.

John 19:23

let's talk permits and politics. Let's go from the, the spirit and style and craft of these boathouses to. The, uh, the wet blankets, if you will.

James 19:36

Sounds good. Uh, I'm hoping that the, the, the building inspector didn't send you here to covertly. See what, what I will say, um,

John 19:44

no, no. he.

James 19:46

You know what, these days, John, every, everybody seems to be on, on the same page. So previously it was, it was fairly, uh, easy to get a permit for a boathouse on the lakes. And a lot of people were, uh, cottage owners. They were building over the existing footprint, of a, a boathouse on the lake. grandfathering the title so that they could, they could, um, be in close proximity to the water. What happened over time is. A lot of development. There's a lot of, uh, may have been a lot of development on certain lakes, and the lake associations would look at it and, um, start to get concerned, particularly, particularly about the scale, but just the idea of, blocking views or changing the character of the lake. So what the official plans that the municipalities will use as a tool, like they're, they set out the broad. Outline, and you have to check this carefully. Are they protecting sight lines of the lake? Are they preserving the character of the lake? And each municipality or township will then have rules in place, which are their bylaws on how they deal with new development so that it doesn't, disturb those values. So in a lot of cases, they started saying, well, any new structure's gotta be back 60 feet. Well, unless you want a dry dock. you wanna drag your boat up the shore on a little rail, little marine railway, it's not an ideal solution, but this is how, how things, uh, end up. So what I've done on projects, because things have changed over time and, on a lot of lakes, you, you, you cannot build the new boathouses. we, we look at. Individual properties and are we, we maintaining the, purpose and intent of the, of the official plan. If we can show that we are meeting some of the test rules in the plans, and usually there, there'll be like guidelines, like four guidelines on how to promote good development. we look at conditioning of existing structures. Are there safety reasons for the boathouse? how far are the neighbors structures from the water? What has been built on particular lakes in the past? At the end of the day, it really depends on the individual property. And you, you're after good design. Good design is a process. It's not a, doesn't come from a package or here's a good boathouse that they'll like. It's a matter of working uh, with the zoning department, working with any stakeholders such as lake associations. And just seeing what you can do that is promotes, maintaining the quality, the aesthetic quality of, of the lake, while respecting your rights as an individual property owner as well. We've been pretty successful with it, but it can be a pretty tough battle at times.

John 22:36

I can, yeah, I can absolutely see that. Especially because that, it seems like that's, there's a subjective interpretation of what the character of the lake. Is

James 22:45

a good point.

John 22:46

because I mean, I and I, I am assuming, and you tell me like how much does design of a boathouse go into maintaining the character of the lake?

James 22:57

Well, it, it's a huge, uh, it, it's a huge deal, John, and it takes a little bit of a knowledge of, of what's built on the lakes, but a bit of an open mind as well, because again, surprisingly a, um, take a one story, boathouse single slip, one story boathouse. With a modern glass box on the second floor, modern, but using natural materials, Douglas fir, cedar, big overhangs. I, I think in a lot of places that is going to, going to have less impact than a traditional boathouse. Multiple stories, peak roofs, really steep roofs. Uh, a lot of little filigree, carpentry and so on. you can build in a subtle way, and I promote, like I, I, I think that it is good to take the more quiet approach to design first and things develop on their own, like in these, in these design projects. Uh, John, so I think just starting off simple. It working out, just the general massing, the height, the length, the depth, the materials, but perhaps doing it in concert with somebody from the zoning department that you, you, you might have good rapport with or a couple of people from the community. It's part of the design process. It's not a product. So in some ways there's less risk, but more commitment required to work towards a design that that is appropriate, uh, on your particular lake.

John 24:32

Okay. So it sounds like it's a collaborative effort between an architect, the zoning committee, the client, other, um, pieces and parts of the municipality.

James 24:46

Yeah. Yeah, that, that helps a lot, John. And, and why not get to know your neighbors if you don't know them already? And, um, it's not a competition. So in a lot of cases, people, uh, they'll, they'll come to me and, uh. I, I, I have had a very excellent track record on in securing approvals. Now, having, having said that, I, I like to do it in a responsible way so that we're actually, um, treating all stakeholders with, with, uh, with concern and, and, and respect, of course. So why not get to know your neighbors, find out what's important to them. is a particular site line, can we set it back a bit, set something forward, maybe a different material? Likewise, when you're building your cottage, find out, you know, architecture is a social art and a lot of the time what we think are competitive factors, they're actually, the constraints are good to have. It'll result in a richer design. and I'm not talking about designing by committee or, or any of those cliches. It's just hearing what people have to say because they have been on the lake. They do, we all mean well. And it's just helpful to expand the design process, to involve, uh, different people. Just see what's on their mind and, and see if we can address it instead of, instead of ignoring the cues, the social cues, not just the aesthetic cues, but what are people telling us and, and why are they saying it? Because. They've seen it on the lakes before and they're, they, they wanna know what to anticipate.

John 26:22

Totally. Yeah. I mean, it, it makes total sense to me because. Interpreting, maintaining the character of the lake. Not only are you maintaining the aesthetic of, you know, maybe it's building design, the shoreline, um, the environment, but, but it's also, like you mentioned, it's the people that live there, and it's the people that make up the community. And those need to be factored into that equation. So I think that you, you you pointed out, it's not designed by committee, but it's listening and embedding the design into the com, the fabric of the existing community.

James 26:54

Yeah. And, and John, I, I think there, there is something true to like the, the, the character of a lake. Like if you're, if you're on one of the big threes and your, your neighbors, uh, have six bay boathouses and they, they have, expansive structure and all that, and sometimes they, they'll have a, a. Port for their airplane, like a little aerodrome. And I mean, that's a whole different topic too. then it may not be out of character, to likewise, because you may have those same, requirements possibly for your project. So it's not out of character to be on that lake. But if you were to put even a three Bay Boathouse with a second story on a small lake. Uh, where most of the traffic on the lake are, are, um, loons swimming by and people and their, their kayaks. And, you're, you're really going against the character of the lake. And, if, if those are the things that you need, you know, are you on the right lake? Like maybe you should find the lake where you are compatible and not, uh, upend everyone else's peace of mind by just building the wrong, uh, structure for your lake,

John 27:57

Let's.

James 27:57

not to limit anyone, but stay in character with, with the right location for your, for your own, um, project.

John 28:05

Awesome. So, um, James, I I have a few questions. I'm really curious about, weather and storms and how, how to make sure that these boathouse structures, which are. Built over the water. How do you make sure that they're storm safe, and how do you make sure that they're, they're able to withstand extreme weather?

James 28:28

the environmental, requirements or challenges are more substantial, uh, when you have a very fulsome winter season, which we have here, and you have the, the changing seasons. So what happens on, uh, on the water is that the winter, the ice will freeze and then it will freeze around your boathouse. Uh, what the ice wants to do in the, winter and early spring, it wants to heve and pull the, your boathouse off the rock is basically what happens. And then in the spring when the ice is melting on some lakes, bigger lakes, and I've seen this on Lake Muskoka and I've seen this particularly on Lake Simco on the East shore, there's a lot of open water out there, and these. Big sheets of ice will come in and they will literally come up with the, the shore and shear your, your structure, your supporting structure for your boathouse, and your boathouse will take a little trip up the shore towards the cottage.

John 29:24

Wait, wait, so, so these, these are like little like floating icebergs that come up and scrape alongside your boathouse.

James 29:29

yeah. Yeah. And it, it doesn't take a lot, but this, this is what happens. So in the winter, the solution has been on a lot of lakes. Um. You'll, you'll have a bubbler in the water and it, it moves the water around the boathouse so the ice isn't freezing onto the piers. now you've gotta make sure your backup generator is working all the time because if it's not working, the bubbler stops, it's gonna freeze and it's at some point it's going to lift. And, changing water levels will affect it. And a few years ago, a lot of the lakes, like they're part of. They're lakes, but they're, they're on an ancient river system that water is moving. It's the Muskoka River that connects all these lakes. Likewise, in the kawartha. it is a river system with lakes on. It is, is the true character of it. So there's, there's moving water and in a lot of cases the water levels are controlled by dams. Over the last few years, water levels have come up on the lakes and there was huge amounts of damage on Lake Muskoka, uh, and other, other lakes in the, in the system on Mary's lake up towards Huntsville, various places. The, the water went up and down, bringing the ice up and down. So you need to decouple, from the ice. So that's one thing. And the engineering doesn't solve the whole problem because when that ice comes up, it's just, it's huge forces. And with the, the way the weather's been changing earlier, thaws, varying amounts of snow and ice accumulation, the weather has introduced a, a new wild card, a factor here. the other big factor is on the big lakes, say, on Lake Simco, we'll design in icebreakers, believe it or not. so that when the ice sheets come in, they're, they're, it is gonna split the ice and you don't see that on, on the smaller lakes, but those are, those are a couple of factors. Your question was how does the, how does the, the, the weather, uh, affect things, in these environments? There's high weathering and now with more extreme climate events, which we can get into, into some detail, We can anticipate that over time, uh, exceptional, extreme weather events happen and that that will, will affect structures, will affect the weathering of materials. Previously on the boathouses, we had, special urethane and coatings over and incorporated into finishing paint and so forth. That's not happening now, but there are new manufacturers that are up there, but we don't know the performance of, of their coatings now. So those beautiful, uh, protective coatings that we had on structures, they're not there when the building's weathered because they're in the wind and they are in the sun and the rain and the snow. Uh, they're more, uh, subject to weathering. Likewise, there's new cladding materials. They're not all proven though. And if we haven't seen the way they perform in the weather over five or six or seven seasons, we don't know what to expect. And we really have to go back and look at warranties, look at the materials that we're specifying, and it could be a whole other topic. changing weather, the effect that the more extreme environment. It's going to have on your cottages, on your on boathouses and what, insurance companies will no longer cover.

John 32:53

Oh, that's a good

James 32:53

So it is a good question, John. I hope I answered in the, in the, I answered in a round about why way, but I, I think I'm answering your question.

John 33:01

Well, no, it, it's, it's, it's a great point. So it sounds like, ice is a huge factor in that, it sounds like the shoreline, the wa the water level sea or the water level rising on lakes, um, is in the, the combination of those two, it seems to be the biggest things and that's impacting the kinds of material that you use. how you go about engineering the structures, are there any other. considerations, like, have you noticed any regulations change over the years based on that?

James 33:32

It's getting harder to deny that these are having a, uh, at least like an annual effect on, on, on what we're doing out in the field. For example, the standard for building is, is, is pretty straightforward and it's prescribed in the, in the building code. That doesn't mean that that's the ultimate standard. It is a basic standard. Now, um, there aren't super specific requirements on, on the building of the boathouses or, fire retardant materials. Now, if you've seen the media up here in the summer and we're we're building in North Kawartha Township, uh, you would not believe how dry the, the bush was up there. Everything had gone yellow like once she started getting uh, past Buckhorn towards Zaps Lee. Everything was bone dry up there. And, like Tinder Dry, the grass was yellow. It hadn't rained for a month, at least very hot temperatures. And, uh, they had fire bands and with huge winds. Now it's, it's not a joke at all. Now, under those conditions, no rain. Uh, just unseasonably hot temperatures every summer. Now It's correct that, um, somebody tossing a cigarette in, in, into the bush or careless use of equipment, or somebody shooting at fireworks, it can create fires of hundreds of, and thousands of, of acres. And there were in fact fires that were very hard to put out. What this means for us now is when we're building and you are investing, like when you're investing into your cottage or boathouse. I mean, that's a substantial investment and we want things to last. And as I go along, I'm, I'm realizing myself, it's not enough anymore just to build and to have the wood siding and the regular windows, like we have to anticipate. There could be forest fires, there could be grass fires up there, there could be extreme wind. We had ice storms in the last few years. well in the same location, in the, in the same. part of cottage country there last winter ice storms where most of the branches on the trees were, were just broken all over the place. You would not believe it. So we need to start thinking about, how we build and further protect. The structures because insurance companies, increasingly, they're, they're not going to ensure what they consider acts of God, and these are becoming more common. It's not just the occasional thing now, now is a design consideration. So yeah, I'd be surprised. If our, uh, viewers aren't going to, be, uh, feeling the effects of ice storms, dry conditions leading, like fire bands and so forth, we need to build in a smarter way.

John 36:10

Well, James, I think that is the perfect teaser for our next episode, which will be about climate resilient cottage design. So if you're listening to this and you're interested in how to do that, how to design your cottage to be resilient against more extreme weather and changing climates. Definitely tune in for that episode. James, this has been a great conversation. I learned a ton about boat houses that I didn't know going into this, so. I'm sure that our listeners out there, uh, felt the same. for folks that are listening to this, uh, you have a Build Your Dream Home Design Guide and, uh, that is available at Lakeside Architecture ca. Do you wanna take a minute, James, to explain to the viewers what that Dream Home Guide is?

James 36:57

I've spoken to countless people, people living on the lakes, people interested in building people with various concerns, and um, and there's a lot of media out there. Like you can go online and look at ideas and. Dream about your dream, but to bring it together, it really requires a focus on your own particular requirements. And in the past, I'd encourage clients to have their scrapbook, and I, and I still do, but we should also, we, we developed a guide that asks a lot of the questions that will help focus those efforts to pull together the scrapbook. just ideas about, um, budget, what's reasonable to spend on construction. Um, do we build or build over the existing? Do we renovate? Do we build new, what kind of layouts do we like? How many bedrooms do we want our living room to face? The water? Do we want the kitchen? Are you. Talking to your guests. Do you entertain a lot? Do you want to face them or do you want to face the view or do you want to face away from it and keep those views open? There's 1,001 questions, and you, as the, the owners and the clients, you're the experts. We provide this as a way to draw out your own knowledge. So I encourage them to, uh, get online and to get a hold of, of that, uh, book as a, as a guide. Also, encourage viewers to. Get on to our website. It's lakeside architecture.ca. It has its latest projects, including very interesting, modern, cottage projects currently under, construction. And to, um, benefit from what's being built. I ideas that other people are having, we're sharing them on the line. And that's the way, to get, uh, things started. There is a scene out there, and that scene is a scene that your viewers are gonna be part of. let's learn from, uh, uh, what's out there.

John 38:56

Excellent. So the Design Your Dream Home Guide available@lakesidearchitecture.ca. Those reflection questions will help you maybe think differently and think of it from a new perspective on how to design your dream Lakeside cottage. Uh, well, James, this has been an excellent episode. Thank you so much for your insights, and we'll see you next time on Build the Unbuildable.

James 39:19

Thanks, John. It's been a pleasure. Thank you everyone for watching.