Guts and Glory

It has been a year since the last post, but -- rest assured  - there has been progress. 

A year ago, the cottage was a finished shell that looked like this:

And a completely unfinished interior that looked like this:

So, we spent last May through October working on the what I call the "guts" of the cabin:

• Electrical, which my husband completed on his own (after lots of research) with minimal help "pulling wire" from me and the kids
• HV/AC, which we partnered with a friend of a friend to complete
• Plumbing, which we contracted out because, turns out, plumbing is hard.

Here is a picture of the kids working on pulling the wiring in their room. 

They don't have much stamina for manual labor, but they will, I'm sure, be happy to brag to their kids and grand kids that they helped.

We worked until it got too cold last winter to do any more and then got back at it in early spring.

In March we hit a major mile stone and passed our building/electrical/plumbing/mechanical "rough" inspections:

The "guts" of building a house is pretty tedious, inglorious and generally unsatisfying.  I spent half a day putting wire nuts on in every outlet and when I was done, the cottage looked exactly the same as it did when I started.  Same for plumbing, mechanical, etc.  We were thrilled to get done with that work and onto the stuff that makes a house a home!

Since passing rough inspection we have been all out with the project including

• Insulation (we splurged and went with foam on the roof and blown in newspaper stuff on the walls)
• Drywall (with contracted help)
• Paint
• Well (sub contracted -- our well is 312 feet deep! Who knew you had to go that deep to find water on a LAKE!)
• Subfloor
• Great room ceiling 
• Railings
• Electrical fixtures
• "Finish" plumbing fixtures (still in progress)
• Installing kitchen cabinets and kitchen sink (both 2nd hand) and refrigerator (free) and countertops

It has been quite a hurricane of activity and quite a complicated project to plan an execute - because one piece can impact so many others so the order of operations is critical.  For example, we didn't want to do the flooring until the ceiling was done, and we couldn't install the cabinets until the subfloor was in. So, the ceiling was important to put at the top of the list.  Excel was our friend in our late night glass-of-wine and project planning sessions.

Here are some pictures of all the progress and where we are now!

Insolation

Primer paint! 

Paint!

Well

Interior Lighting

"Kids" bedroom

KITCHEN! (cabinets and sink are 2nd hand.  Fridge was free)

Kitchen again. Notice the "island" we are planning in the font?  Also, the ceilings are done in bead board in the kitchen and LR for a cottage look.



Living room!  We are using some exterior lighting inside - so fun. And there's that awesome drift wood up top (possibly one of my most favorite things on earth)

Guest bedroom

But, no way could we have gotten this far without generous help, exemplified by our leap forward last week with the assistance of a work crew fueled by charitable hearts and desire to pay forward work and help that had been paid to them.

You see, Bob, my father in law who passed away suddenly from an accident 15 months ago (and the subject of my last post) was a hard worker who was generous with his time, the work of his hands and his long-earned experience and advice.  He was the first guy to volunteer to help someone else including heading to clear fallen trees at a local park after a storm, finishing his other son's basement, spending weeks finishing his sister's vacation house (while using a 5 gallon bucket to flush the toilet), and spending the summer 2 years ago more than full-time on our place. He was our go-to helper, advise giver, researcher, strong back, sharp mind. The major loss we felt and still feel from his absence in our lives is as acute every day of our project as much as anywhere else.  As we work, I can still hear his voice calling out measurements, directing next steps, joking and laughing. It is often that I take a moment to wish he could have the satisfaction of seeing the project now and seeing it through. I know he would be proud.

Bob is no doubt the foundation of the reason that our "work week" crew, made up of Bob's best friends, sister, brother in law, and my mother in law, offered -- no, insisted -- that they help.  To "pay forward" Bob's tireless efforts on their behalf.  And, boy did they.  Kevin, Marilyn, Bob, Ginnie, Barb...we can't thank you enough.  Here's the "crew":

Work Crew: Andy, Barb, Ginnie, Marilyn, Bob, on the newly constructed balcony railing and Kevin peeking out the upstairs bathroom window.   Pic shows the awesome driftwood that has found a cool spot at the cottage

So, we still have work to do, but the finish line is in sight! Next steps:

• Flooring
• Finished electrical and plumbing (almost done)
• Trim
• Paint the ceiling
• Septic (almost done)
• Decks  - front and back
• Kitchen island countertop
• Furniture!

The goal is to stay there on the 4th of July with working facilities and possibly get our "certificate of occupancy", finish up the cosmetic stuff the rest of the summer and be in a new mortgage in the fall.  I think we'll get there.

Thanks for reading.
Sarah