They have a catch-all law, I've seen it.

Oh,

That wouldn't be a bad little business.

In other news, some airlines have started to add fire suppression bags to their fleet for electronic devices.

http://globalnews.ca/news/3002034/ai.../?sf38836327=1

You can if you are prepared to get your hands dirty, and most people are not.

The place we bought with our son just outside Quebec City (not a cheap place) is 1,400 square feet (double that if you include the basement) and sits on half an acre in the country.

When we tell people that we paid 120k for it, the usual response is: "kinell!).

The reason it was cheap is that is was a total fixer-upper. A dump, really.

It is rapidly becoming not a dump. We have done most of the work ourselves. Only the specialist stuff has been done by professionals and even that is not a major cost.

As an example, we had the attic sprayed with insulation a few days ago. That cost $1,700. We can get about half of that back in provincial grants and federal tax deductions.

In short, you can get a lot for little money if you are prepared to put your back and brain into it.

Plus there are places that you can rent a part out. Not just duplexes with one unit smaller than the other but houses with a 'granny flat' kind of set up.

Neither option need involve permanent renting, with numerous uses later, even reverting to larger house.

That's risky. You might end up with a granny.

My missus is being very sneaky with the renovations on our son's house.

"Our" bedroom in the basement already exists. If she convinces him to put a bathroom in the basement, he's ****ed. Stealth granny (not a granny yet but she wants to be).

We did it ourselves, that was considerably cheaper even after allowing for falling through the new drywall ceiling and having to re-do that.

We had our "before" tests for the various grants, the big fan on the porch test, while there was no roof on the house. That was an easy way to achieve a fundable "after" result.

Some things one can do oneself. Others, one should leave to people that can be sued or are happy to fall through a ceiling.

I confess that, at this house, we replaced the house roof but wimped when faced with the garage roof; it's high and steep. We left that to people accustomed to falling off such structures.

Have you ever seen one fall off?

I never have and those guys run around like frothing loons, with no safety gear.

And how do they manage to shoot that many nails per second?

I didn't see it but my brother fell off a roof while roofing, it was a church or some such high structure. That didn't do him any good.

In our case I don't know if anyone fell off; it was a Mennonite crew, they'd expect the faller to get back up and carry on, broken back or not. We went to work, came home and there was a new roof, just like that. Metal, not shingles, so no shot nails.

That doesnt phase me. My boyfriend is in restoration so he has plenty of contacts.

That is another option as well.

Thanks everyone - I was feeling pretty upset yesterday but it seems like it isnt the end of the world and there are options, it is just whether or not I want to stay in BC and its not an easy decision to make.

Freezing rain, Snow, summer tyres, I stayed home today! My winters go on tomorrow.

Feel good today after dropping off a huge box of candies to the hospital staff in the cardiac unit at Rouge River hospital. They was all smiles and took my gift to share amongst the doctors and nurses with many thanks. :@)

You're halfway there already!

Find a fixer-upper with sound bones.

And then buy lots of beer and pizza.