Friday, October 03, 2008

It's Not Easy Being A Law-Abiding Citizen...

I've spent three days this week banging my head against the wall with the Town of Halton Hills, trying in vain to get a building permit to get this basement renovation done. Well, not in vain, as I think I've finally fulfilled the byzantine requirements and performed enough Herculean tasks to satisfy the dark lords over at the Town's bylaw branch, but ye gods...

If getting a building permit for a relatively simple renovation is always as much of a hassle as this week's travails has been, it's no wonder nobody bothers to get them. It's like playing tennis... in the dark... with bricks. I'd have to keep going back and forth to the town and my poor contractor ended up drawing up about 3-4 different floor plans before I finally got one that satisfied all of the things the guy at the Town wanted.

Of course, I always COULD have just foregone all of this hassle but if I've learned nothing else from watching Holmes On Homes, it's to always, ALWAYS get a permit. This isn't just a little job... We're having the whole basement finished, so I want to do it right from the start.

Sigh.

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