Building your dream home, cottage, garage, or secondary suite might just be one of the biggest projects you ever undertake. Fortunately, you don’t have to do it alone.
With the Beaver Homes & Cottages program from Merrett Home Hardware Building Centre in Peterborough, building has never been easier. When you purchase a material package suitable for your budget, you’ll have a local expert by your side every step of the way, helping you navigate all the required permits and approvals and find a local builder or contractor.
“Beaver Homes is designed to have a consultant follow you all the way through from start to finish,” says Beaver Homes & Cottages consultant Nathan (Nate) Baldwin. “If you have questions, we’re here to answer them for you. We’re here to work through it with you.”
Merrett Home Hardware Building Centre supports homeowners anywhere within Peterborough and the Kawarthas and surrounding areas.
Nate is coming up on 12 years with Merrett Home Hardware Building Centre, and he has taken construction estimating courses, businesses management courses, and architectural technician courses so clients trust his expertise and insight.
He has also received his BCIN (Building Code Identification Number) qualification making him a qualified BCIN designer. The BCIN is a license that certifies a designer in building code requirements, allowing them to sign off on their own building plans.
Ian Nichols is another local consultant who clients will work with through the Beaver Homes & Cottages program. Ian, who has worked with the company for seven years, previously owned his own construction and landscaping business for 25 years, and he has also taken design and estimating courses.
“It’s really a one-stop shop so if you’re tweaking designs, you’re not dealing with someone else at the store — it’s us doing it all,” Nate says. “We’re the ones modifying the floor plans and modifying the look of the house. You’re not having that broken telephone of talking with multiple people. It’s just one place you’ll go to for everything.”
The process begins with a discussion around what you envision for the design of your build. Beaver Homes & Cottages offers 125 pre-designed homes, with traditional to contemporary designs available in a range of square footage. If there isn’t one that matches your preference or needs, you can work with your consultant to ensure your design is exactly right for you and your lifestyle.
“If you want to take two or three different designs and maybe add different pieces of each, we can make that happen,” Nate points out. “If nothing on the website meets your needs, then we can do something that’s totally custom. Maybe that could be based on where you’re living now, or just from thinking about what you like.”
Building components and other materials supplied by Home Hardware conform to or exceed the National Building Code of Canada as well as all provincial codes. Because Merrett Home Hardware purchases exclusively premium-grade lumber, they can ensure their clients receive the best grade of building materials available each step of the way. The materials within the package can also be customized to the client’s preferred products and finishes to ensure it looks exactly as they dreamed.
What’s more, clients are assured the cost of the material package outlined will not change throughout the project, unless the buyer makes adjustments to better meet their own preference and lifestyle.
“That gives ease of mind to our customers to know that’s pretty well the price unless you change it,” Nate says. “We’re not throwing out unexpected fees that will surprise them later.”
Since getting permits can often be one of the most challenging parts of a build, Beaver Homes & Cottages navigates the process alongside their clients, ensuring nothing in overlooked.
Whether it’s municipal permits, rezoning, archaeological assessments, environmental impact studies, or anything else, your consultant can equip you with the knowledge and support you need.
“We’re there facilitating to get everything in line, and making sure all of it gets done and in a reasonable timeline,” Nate explains. “Building permits can be very hard if you don’t know what’s going on, but we will be right there with you.”
With the design completed and paperwork in place, Beaver Homes & Cottages will work with you to find a builder and will continue to offer support throughout the build, until you’re walking through your new home or cottage for the first time.
“We’ve really honed this program and made it a much better experience for the people that deal with us,” Nate says. “We make sure they’re getting help every step of the way.”
That includes recent clients Tracy and Bill.
“We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Nathan and Ian for their professionalism and incredible knowledge in getting our forever home built,” the couple writes in a testimonial. “It is greater than we could have ever imagined, and they made it effortless for us.”
To learn more about Merrett Home Hardware Building Centre’s Beaver Homes & Cottages program, visit www.homehardwarepeterborough.ca/beaver-homes-cottages/.
This branded editorial was created in partnership with Merrett Home Hardware Building Centre. If your business or organization is interested in a branded editorial, contact us.
