Escape to
"Built between your last weekend at the lake and your first one next summer."
your perfect
retreat.
We take on cottage renovation in Muskoka, Georgian Bay and the Simcoe County lakes, working September to May so the job wraps before your season. Before anything is drawn, we measure on site and check what the lot allows.
What We OfferCottage work with us covers the exterior and siding, decks and docks, four-season conversions and interior finishing.
Weather-ready finishes
Cedar shingles, board-and-batten, and metal roofing built for Ontario freeze-thaw cycles. We refinish, repair, or fully re-clad your cottage exterior.
Waterfront ready
Custom decks, screened porches, and floating or fixed docks. All waterfront work complies with DFO regulations and conservation authority requirements.
Year-round comfort
Spray foam insulation, triple-pane windows, vapour barriers, and heating, everything you need to turn a summer cottage into a year-round home.
Expand your escape
Boathouses, bunkie builds, and guest cabins. We handle design, permits, and construction from the ground up.
Cottage living, elevated
Open-concept layouts, custom kitchens, bathrooms, and millwork, with the same craftsmanship we bring to full home renovations.
Protect your investment
Winterization, spring opening, and structural repairs for frost-heaved decks, burst pipes, and ice dam damage.
Why Choose UsMuskoka · Simcoe
20+ lake properties renovated. We know setback rules, conservation approvals, and remote logistics, no learning curve at your expense.
Authority approvals handled
We handle LSRCA, NVCA, Trent Conservation, and municipal permits for every waterfront project
Done before long weekends
We work September to May so your project wraps before season starts. No long weekends lost to a renovation crew.
Freeze-thaw ready
Materials, fasteners, and assemblies specified for waterfront exposure, freeze-thaw cycles, UV, and year-round humidity.
We travel, no extra fees
Water-access lots, no-road properties, we've done it all. Travel across Muskoka and Simcoe is included in your quote, not added as a surprise.
Closed right every time
We drain, blow out, and secure your cottage for winter, then reopen it correctly in the spring. No burst pipes, no mould.
20+ lake properties. We know the rules.
Permits handled for you.
Done before your season starts.
Built for freeze-thaw conditions.
We travel. No extra fees.
Closed and opened right, every time.
Client Reviews40
“… They would work until 7-8pm but got it done in 2 weeks, something other contractors suggested would take 3 weeks and cost extra for the rush. … Pricing matched the quote and the site was spotless at the end. …”
Amy An
Google · Sep 2025
“… Four minutes later I get a call from the owner himself … he gave me a ±5% quote which I accepted. … The final price went up by 3% because we decided to add a coffee bar. …”
Mark Milovanov
Google · May 2026
“… Top quality workmanship, communication and integrity. … I was sent a detailed breakdown of the cost … Max messaged me everytime he was coming and going from my home, which provided great peace of mind. …”
Brent Ste-Croix
Google · May 2026
“I’ve worked with Max and Roman in Barrie for over 5 years on everything from bathroom remodels to a legal basement apartment addition … They’ve consistently delivered top-notch work …”
Tim Paulau
Google · Sep 2025
“Reno Raptors where punctual, kind, friendly and someone who kept their word. … He had some challenges with a 150yr old Century Home bathroom, BUT the way it turned out was phenomenal. …”
Kathleen Rusk
Google · Sep 2026
“We went online to book an appt to get a quote & 2 minutes later my phone rang. … Next day we got a quote, 3 days later they started. It took them the 3 days he told us it would. …”
Gayle Martin
Google · Apr 2026
“We had our storage room converted into a home gym by Reno Raptors and couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. … He was very thorough during the quoting process, took the time to walk through every detail, offered fair pricing …”
Kevin Boodoosingh
Google · Apr 2026
“… They completed 2 bathrooms in our house and we couldn’t be happier. … Paint, tile, plumbing, trim, electrical, these guys know what they’re doing and kept the house spotless while doing it!”
Paul Moniz
Google · Aug 2026
“Max from Reno Raptors did an amazing job getting our new home move-in ready! They installed all our floors, trim, and doors, repainted the whole place, redid our stairs, and even finished our basement. …”
Raul Shamkhalov
Google · Oct 2025
“Max finished our basement and did an incredible job! The space looks amazing and was done exactly how we wanted. Great communication, fair pricing, and quality work, highly recommend them. Worked with a few GC’s in the past, but Reno raptors are the best in Barrie!”
Nicholas Milano
Google · Oct 2025
“Roman and his crew did an amazing job on our office renovation. Everything was done properly and up to code … I already booked them for my master bath at home in Friday harbour.”
luka gogolashvili
Google · Oct 2025
“Max and Roman updated the bathrooms in my cottage. Their tiling skills are unmatched. It was a breeze working with this father-son team. Would 100% recommend to anyone in simcoe county”
Inna Rotar
Google · Nov 2025
1–3of 12 reviews
Two LocationsHeadquartered in Barrie, with a second location in Bradford. We take on projects within an hour's drive of either, from Muskoka and Georgian Bay down to York Region and the north GTA.
Simcoe County, Georgian Bay and Muskoka, all within an hour.
York Region, Caledon, Dufferin and the north GTA, all within an hour.
Not on the list? If you're within an hour of Barrie or Bradford, we can likely help.
Contact us to check availability →FAQStraight answers to what homeowners and business owners ask us before they book.
It starts with the lot. A regulated waterfront lot adds the conservation authority's permit and its drawings, the plan may call for a septic upgrade, and a site that is hard to reach takes longer to supply. Then the scope: new siding or a deck is a smaller job than a four-season conversion or an added bathroom. Travel across Muskoka and Simcoe is included in the itemized quote you get after the site visit.
We size the work to fit between September and May, when we build, so the cottage is back in your hands for the season, and a larger scope is split over two off-seasons. What sets the start date is the approvals. On a regulated lot, nothing can begin until the conservation authority has issued its permit.
For most work past cosmetic updates, yes. Under the Building Code Act, building, renovating or changing a building's use anywhere in Ontario needs a permit, and each municipality publishes its own list of what that covers, so we check your township's. Near the water the conservation authority may have to approve the work too, and septic changes take a permit of their own. We file every application and book the inspections.
It depends on the frame, the foundation and what you want the cottage to do. A sound frame on a solid foundation can be renovated, even into a year-round place, with insulation and new systems added. Failing piers, or a cottage too small for the bedrooms you want, can make a rebuild the better spend, though a rebuild starts over with a demolition permit and new approvals. We measure the cottage before you decide.
Didn’t see yours? Call (249) 444-4533 and ask.
Homeowners AskThe questions homeowners type into Google before they renovate, answered by our team. Search for yours, or browse by topic.
13 answers
Yes, once the plans are checked against the cottage as it stands. We measure on site, compare the drawings with what is there, and flag anything the frame or the lot's approvals won't allow. Changes are agreed with the owner before we quote.
People also ask
By deciding first what stays: exposed rafters, pine boards, a stone fireplace. Insulation then goes in around them, on the outside of the walls when the siding is replaced and above the roof deck where the rafters stay open, so the old wood is still in view. The 3D renders show the kept pieces in the new layout before demolition.
People also ask
Its frame, its foundation and what the lot will let you add. Rotten floor joists or a shifting foundation mean structural repair before any finish work. If the plan is more bedrooms or a bigger footprint, the conservation authority's map and the septic system both have a say, so look at them before making an offer.
People also ask
Yes, under a building permit. The cottage is raised and held on supports while the new foundation is built beneath it, then lowered back down. For a cottage on old piers it is often the first step toward a four-season conversion, since a heated, insulated building needs footings below the frost line.
People also ask
It can. Along an inland lake, the regulated area extends a further 15 metres inland beyond the flood, erosion and dynamic-beach hazard limits, so a cottage some way back from the shore may still sit inside it, and so may the spot picked for an addition behind it.
People also ask
Not always. A seasonal or floating dock of 10 square metres or less, with no permanent supports and removable in a flood, is exempt from the conservation authority's development rules. Anything larger, or set on cribs, needs that permit, and we build docks to meet DFO and conservation authority requirements.
People also ask
Good to KnowApprovals for a waterfront cottage follow an order. The lot is checked against the conservation authority's map first, since the regulated area reaches inland past the shoreline hazards. Inside it, the authority's permit covers more than new building: a rebuild, an addition or closed-in porch that adds size, a switch from seasonal to year-round use and an extra dwelling unit all count as development, and each adds drawings, a review period and possible conditions before work can start.
The septic system comes next. In the Township of Tay, for example, adding bedrooms or plumbing fixtures to a house on septic, or building past 15% of its finished floor area, triggers a check of whether the system can carry the added daily flow, and we find out how your township handles it. If the system falls short, the upgrade is designed and permitted before the building permit issues, which changes both the budget and the order of work.
Summer, while you are still at the lake, is for the site visit, the measure, the design and the applications. Building starts after your last weekend in the fall and is scheduled to wrap before the next season, so the approvals, not the crew's calendar, decide how early it can begin.
You do not have to be at the lake while the work happens. Keys, parking and winter access, down to who plows the road, are settled before the fall start, and your project manager reports to you from the site. Inna Rotar, who had Max and Roman update the bathrooms in her cottage, wrote that their "tiling skills are unmatched" and called it "a breeze working with this father-son team".
We specify cottage materials for freeze-thaw cycles and waterfront exposure either way. A seasonal cottage gets the full winterization in the fall: the water shut off, and the lines, fixtures and water heater drained so nothing splits in a freeze. The spring reopening reverses it.
A cottage kept open all winter needs plumbing that works in January instead. Supply lines that pass through a crawlspace are insulated or wrapped in heat-trace cable, and the crawlspace is closed in so cold air cannot reach the pipes. Where the only way in is by water, deliveries are timed to boat access in the fall, which sets the order of the work.
We handle all aspects of home renovation under one roof.
Off-season cottage workMuskoka, Georgian Bay and the Simcoe County lakes are all within an hour of our Barrie office. Book a free cottage consultation.
Every room starts as a drawing.
Track record
Sheet A-205Reno Raptors
Cottage renovation
