For Niagara-on-the-Lake residents tearing out soaked drywall and rebuilding flooded homes, the next trip to the hardware store will come with some relief.
With that in mind, Penner Home Hardware Building Centre has introduced special pricing on cleanup and construction materials for people affected by this summer’s floods.
“As soon as we saw the devastation from these floods, we knew we had to step up,” said Marcia Penner, business co-owner.
The Penner Flood Relief Pricing Program is designed to help affected residents clean up, repair and rebuild their homes.
It covers materials people may need throughout that process, including cleaning supplies, totes, drywall, insulation, framing lumber, trim, doors, flooring, paint and painting supplies.
There is no single discount across the store. Instead, qualifying products are reduced by different amounts.
“It’s different for the different items, but we have specific items that it’s applicable throughout the store for,” she said.
To receive the special pricing, customers must tell store staff they were affected by the floods and provide proof of the damage.
That can include insurance or restoration documents, photographs or video.
Once their eligibility is confirmed, staff can apply the reduced prices to qualifying purchases.
The program will run until Aug. 31, giving residents time to clear out damaged rooms, speak with insurance and restoration companies and determine what must be replaced.
Penner said the store deliberately avoided setting an earlier deadline because many residents may not immediately know what they need.
“We know how backed up the insurance and restoration companies are, and so, we didn’t want to limit that time frame,” she said.
“We wanted to make sure that people had enough time to, you know, get their spaces cleared out, figure out what they need.”
Many people have already taken advantage of the program, Penner said.
“We have had a great response to this. We’ve had a lot of people come and utilize the program,” she said.
She could not provide an exact number of customers who had used the special pricing but said participation has been high.
“It’s a lot,” she said. “I don’t know a number, I haven’t calculated it. But when I went through, yeah, it’s a lot.”
She said the response from customers has also been positive.
“Everybody is just so grateful and thankful, and coming together as a community, and that’s what it’s meant for.”
The Penner store escaped the flooding, but the disaster still struck close to home. Penner said her son’s house was affected.
She said her son is doing well and the family feels fortunate, but they know many others whose homes were hit.
Penner hopes the reduced prices take some of the financial pressure and stress off residents as they clean up and rebuild.
“Our hearts are with everybody.”
