Short version: we kept answering the same questions twice — once on a jobsite, then again on the phone a week later to somebody else. So we’re writing them down.
Boulder & Beam builds in Owen Sound and across Grey and Bruce Counties — renovations, additions, garages, roofing, foundations, decks and septic systems. Most of what we get asked isn’t really about any of those. It’s about the house itself. Why is the upstairs cold when the furnace runs all day? Why does ice pile up on the eaves every February? Do I need a permit for that? What should a quote actually say?
Those are good questions with real answers, and the answers don’t change depending on who you hire. So we’ll publish them.
What we’ll be writing about
- Building science — how air, water and heat actually move through a house, and what that means for the cold room, the damp basement, the ice dam and the hydro bill. Written for Grey-Bruce: lake-effect snow, clay and limestone, century homes and 1970s bungalows.
- The business of building — what things cost around here and why, how permits work in each municipality, what belongs in a quote, and how to tell a good contractor from a cheap one.
- Project stories — real jobs, with photos, including the parts that got complicated.
- From the crew — the other side of the trade. Not everything has to be a lesson.
What this blog won’t be
- A sales pitch dressed up as advice. If the honest answer is “you don’t need us for that,” we’ll say so.
- Generic content written by somebody who’s never been on a roof in January.
- Padded. If a question takes four sentences to answer, it gets four sentences.
Where to start in the meantime
The first proper posts are being finished now — ice dams, cold upstairs rooms, what a septic system really costs in Grey-Bruce, and whether you need a permit for that garage. Until they land, two things on this site are already worth your time:
- The Homeowner Resources page — every building and septic permit page for all sixteen Grey-Bruce municipalities, the rebates that are actually open right now, the products we use and why, and the building-science reading we’d hand you ourselves. Around 110 links, no sign-up.
- The Septic Planning Guide and the Garage & Outbuilding Guide — free PDFs that walk through the decisions before you start collecting quotes.
Got a question you want answered?
Ask it. If you’re wondering about something, three other people in Grey-Bruce are wondering the same thing, and it probably deserves a post. Send it through here or call us at (519) 387-1597 — no obligation, and we don’t need you to be a customer to answer a question.
Got a project instead of a question?
Book a free, no-pressure assessment. We’ll give you a straight answer on scope, budget and timing — and if it isn’t a fit for us, we’ll tell you that too.