Renovation in Saint-Hippolyte and Prévost
A lot worth more than the building that sits on it.
The buildings here
Cottages and lakefront homes in the Laurentians. A large share of the stock is small three-season buildings on stilts, on lots now worth several times what stands on them.
That imbalance dictates most projects here. The right decision is rarely to demolish, and rarely to leave as is.
What we're asked for most
Turning a seasonal cottage into a four-season home. Redoing or entirely replacing a foundation under an existing building. Enlarging without sacrificing the character of the building or the view that justified buying the lot.
The area's own challenge
The shoreline. Protection strip, distance from the high-water line, bearing capacity of soil close to the water table, and municipal regulations that draw a precise line between what remains repair work and what tips into new construction. That line changes everything: the process, the lead times, and sometimes the very feasibility of your project.
A waterfront project is designed within that framework from the first sketch. Designed otherwise, it gets refused, and in a region where the construction season is short, the time lost cannot be made up within the year.
The original foundation. The stilts of a summer cottage do not carry the load of an insulated four-season home. So the foundation question comes first: before the layout, before the finishing, before everything else.
What we know how to do here in particular
Working in phases. Rebuilding a foundation under an existing building without taking it apart. Keeping a building load-bearing while we replace its sections one by one.
That is exactly the Saint-Hippolyte site, and it is the kind of project we get called for after someone else has told you no.
So, what are we working on?
Eight questions, two minutes. We call you back to talk it through, and we tell you frankly whether it's a project for us or whether you'd be better served elsewhere.