When it comes to cottage living, often nothing is more important than relaxation. In many cases, the goal is to step back from the hustle and bustle of regular life. What better place to do that than in the country?
You can kick up the relaxation of a lakefront cottage even more by upgrading to a cottage nestled comfortably on an island. But of course, first you have to build! Though the reward at the end is a great one, building on an island does come with its own set of challenges. Let’s review:
Shipping Materials
If you are going to be building on an island, the major challenge you will face is how to ship all the materials—you cannot just drive your car! At the very least, you will need the assistance of a ferry. However, you may also need to investigate other options depending on how you are able to access the island when not trying to build on it.
The two major ways to help overcome this particular challenge depends on how you wish to build your cottage. First, of course, you can hire a contractor with experience in this sort of build—bonus if their experience is with that specific island or another in the immediate area. This way, they will already have the knowledge about what they need to do to get the materials onto the island.
Your other option is to turn to a prefabricated cottage. Doing so means you only have to transport the finished product, and can likely do so on the same day, rather than spacing out the shipping as you might when materials are coming from a variety of places and are not put together.
Potential Red Tape
Building on an island (or the desire to build, rather) may have some red tape from the local authorities. It is important to adhere to regulations, which is why you should make sure you look into everything thoroughly before building. Even if you don’t think there is anything out of the ordinary you will have to deal with, it is better to be safe rather than sorry.
Regulations can range from what you are allowed to build, how big it is permitted to be, to how long you have to build! The length of time to build regulation often refers to how long you have to start the project rather than finish the whole thing.
The Build Itself
When it comes to building on an island, when the actual build comes along, the other potential challenge is preparing the site. By this we mean ensuring you have a system for plumbing and are able to set up anything required for electricity should you want it—these two things tend to be harder on an island than on the mainland. Aside from this, the actual building process is pretty much the same on an island as it would be on the mainland.
