The Project Cottage

Pier (part two)

2009-07-13T18:16:00.005-04:00

Since we bought the boat (exactly one week now), we had a pressing need to finish the pier. We put out three sections a couple weeks ago, but they were not strong enough to keep a boat secure. I assembled frams for three sections, and used one frame as the the first section in the water.

I had to install the decking and notch the pier sections so they would line up on the posts. I took most of the measurements from the sections of the pier that we are replacing.

Once the two sections were complete, we hauled them to the waterline (we used the truck, because the treated lumber was heavy) and replaced the outer two sections. We decided to put in a fourth section, and reused one of the older sections as the last. So, the section closest to the shore is a new frame with old decking. The next two sections are new frames and decking, and the last section is the old style.

Next week, I will take the new decking down to the pier and replace the decking lumber on the first section. We may or may not, wait until next year to replace the fourth and build a fifth section. We will also used a stain or dye to provide additional protection to the treated lumber.

Is It Ever Easy?

2009-07-10T13:46:00.004-04:00

I made a trip to the License Branch this morning. I need to register and title the boat and trailer. I did some research last night, and brought everything that I thought I needed, but I was wrong.

The process for the boat was fairly easy. I had the original title that had been signed over to me, I had the right numbers filled in on the forms, I verified my address and flashed my Drivers License, and I had my watercraft stickers. So far, so good.

The trailer was a different story. I am the third owner of this boat and trailer. Obviously, I bought it from the second owner. The couple I bought it from have never titled the trailer, so they gave me a Bill of Sale. This is where the problem starts.

When the trailer was new (1984), Indiana did not require plates on trailers. When the trailer was sold to owner #2 (1986), Indiana required plates and titles. Owner #2 should have titled the trailer at the time of purchase. Here it is 23 years later, and I cannot title the trailer. The BMV cannot prove that the trailer was legally sold to owner #2 from owner #1.

My job now is to contact owner #1 and have him title the trailer in his name and then sign it over to me, as if he sold it to me. Another option is to have him fill out a Bill of Sale that would allow me to prove that he sold it. Luckily, his name is relatively uncommon. I would be in some real trouble if he was a Smith.

Update...

I found the original owner. The internet is great. He responded to my voicemail message with a voicemail message of his own. I called him back about 30 minutes ago, and spoke to him. I explained who I was, and what I was doing. I tried to express my desire to complete this task as quick and painless as possible. I was met with his desire to have nothing to do with the process. If I cannot persuade him to sign the papers and title the trailer that he hasn't owned in 25 years, I will have to go to Small Claims Court and seek a Court Order that would allow the BMV to grant my title.

We got a Boat

2009-07-05T15:56:00.000-04:00

This weekend, we took the next step to becomming "Official Lake People"; We bought a boat. We got a 1984 Rinker Open Bow. I picked it up on Sunday afternoon and parked it under the carport. We hope to have it in the water this weekend. I will take better pictures once it is out in the open.

Again With The Trim

2009-07-04T00:26:00.000-04:00

On May 19, 2008, I posted that we were finishing up with the trim around the windows and doors. I feel the need to clarify to you that the project made great strides, but did not get completed. I am sorry to have led you to believe that we checked another item off of the "little things" list. We have been working on the trim on and off again for some time.

The issue at hand is that with the elimination of the fiber board behind the drywall, and the addition of the dividing wall in the front bedroom, we do not have enough trim to complete the project. We found some ceiling trim that was very close and decided to make it work. The floor trim will be a close call. We are planning a storage rack/ bookcase behind a door, and that will free up some material. Hopefully in the next week or two, this one will come off the to do list for good.

Fitting in with our Piers

2009-06-15T14:08:00.006-04:00

2009 marks the third summer that we have owned the Project Cottage. It is also the third summer that we have not installed a pier. It has never been a major source of concern, since we have been working on the house. We have access to our neighbors pier and have taken advantage of that access. While we have enjoyed the neighbor's pier, we have been feeling like we should put in our own. It would be one more step to becoming "Official Lake People".

The cottage came with three sections of pier. The sections were in pretty bad shape. I have been told by the neighbors, that the previous owners had not installed it for at least 6 years. The stringers were rotten on two of the sections, and the decking was weak and in some places, it was missing. If we were going to install the pier, it was going to take a construction project to do it properly.

I rebuilt the framed section of the first section (12 feet) and reapplied the original decking. I used short screws, so I could remove them easier when I added the new decking. We used the other two sections with plans of replacing them with new units in the near future. In the mean time, the pier provides us with an area of our own.

Trust me, it looks a lot better the darker it gets.

Porch Light

2009-05-22T23:36:00.000-04:00

Every time we enter the cottage, we walk past the porch light. It hangs there, dirty and rusty, reminding us of the neglect that it has witnessed. I decided that this was the weekend to repair or replace that light.

I shut off the power and removed the fixture. I capped and taped the wires so I could turn the power back on. It didn't take much time to disassemble the light. I sanded the pieces, removing all of the dirt and rust. Once I had the metal sanded and clean, I was ready for the paint. We chose to paint the fixture black and pewter. The pewter is the color for most of the visible sections, and the black was for the "shadow" areas.

Rock and Roll

2009-05-07T00:05:00.002-04:00

In an effort to control the amount of water that pools in the front of the house, we felt the need to raise the level of the flower beds. In order to raise the level, we needed to use something to hold in the additional material. We decided to use Indiana field stones. The best part about using Indiana field stones, is that they are readily available, and typically free. Oftentimes, you can find large piles of stones in the corner of crop land. I would encourage you to ask permission before removing the rocks.

I gathered about 75 stones and transported them to the cottage. My "source" is on the route from my house to the cottage, so it was pretty convenient. I dry fit the stones, by placing them on the edge of the sidewalk. It would have been just as easy to place them in their final resting position, but I wanted CMV to make the final call. If she wasn't happy with the look, they would not last very long.

Once the stones got the nod of approval, we moved them to the edge of the bed. The flower beds were ready for some additional dirt and mulch. Some flowers might not hurt either.

Gutters

2009-04-25T15:43:00.002-04:00

I finally got around to re-hanging the gutters. The gutters had been removed when we put on the new roof. I wanted to install fascia boards and then rehang the gutters. I also wanted to re-route the water flow.

All of the water from the front of the house was routed to the drainage tile in the back of the house. When that tile clogged, the water backed up until it started to flow to the front tile. The logical step was to drain the front of the house to the front drainage tile, and the back of the house to the back tile. This should help even out the drainage and eliminate the pooling of water towards the back of the house.

Spring Time Means Only One Thing

2009-04-12T00:19:00.000-04:00

Yep, It is spring time, the season of rebirth. Where life blooms from the dead of winter. Here at the cottage, it is easy to see the signs of Spring. The birds are out singing, the ice has melted off the water, the grass is starting to turn green, and the holding tank needs to be cleaned. I hope the sewers are really only a few years away.

The Benefits of Winterization

2009-04-11T00:29:00.000-04:00

Our place does not have heat, so every winter we are required to turn off the water supply, drain the lines and winterize the systems. In theory, this is a simply task. The application of the theory has not been so easy this year.

We arrived at the cottage and found the pump cracked from freezing. This means that I did not get all of the water drained, and the freezing temperatures cracked the head. We also discovered that the shower cartridge was also a victim of the temperatures. Both of these issues are a result of improper winterization. I did not get the line blown out completely, and I paid the price.

Primer and Paint

2008-09-03T05:35:00.004-04:00

CMV stayed an extra day and decided to apply the first coat of primer to the new floor in the porch. The wood that we used (pine) is really going to soak up the paint, so a good layer of primer is essential.

We are taking a week off from going to the cottage, so we will apply the second coat the following week. We should be able to start painting on Sunday before we leave. We would be able to actually paint on Saturday, but by waiting an extra day, we give it the week to dry with no one walking in and out of the house.

We returned and painted the floor a dark green. The color was originally intended to be our accent color for the exterior of the house, but I am not sure we are feeling the same way at this point. We have decided to hold off on replacing the siding, so we might not change much. The painted floor is going to show the evidence of wear and tear along with normal foot traffic. It may force us to give it a touch up every so often.

Building and Installing the Floor

2008-09-02T18:33:00.000-04:00

I had a basic idea of what we wanted to do for a floor in the porch. I drove up to the cottage on Friday and stopped at Home Depot on the way up. I wanted to buy the pine planks for the floor. We had decided to use 1x3 boards and run the the narrow length of the porch.

We also decided to keep this as a floating floor. We think that we might need to pull up the floor from time to time. If we attached it, we run the risk of cracking the concrete floor, and eliminate the ability to clean under the wood.

I started out by laying runners and then cutting the planks to the proper length. After a dry fit, the planks were screwed into the runners from the underside. The finished section was then turned over and lowered into place. The first section is five feet in length.

The second section was prepared in the same manner. The last plank of the first section was set so the runners of the second section lock into place by sliding underneath the first section. The second section measures slightly less than five feet.

The third section is slightly longer then three feet. It simply sits on top of the second section. I do not have a way to lock this section into place without driving some screws into the runners of the second section. I hesitate to use screws, as these would be visible. If we feel that it is necessary to secure this section into place, I will go back and screw it down.

I built caps at the front door and at the doorway the leads to the hallway. This has helped with the movement of the last section. These two caps are not part of the section; they are individual pieces that fit under and against the section.

The next step in this project is to paint the floor. We will need to prime it first and then cover it with a tough finish.

Painting the Porch

2008-08-22T18:26:00.003-04:00

We have a guest this weekend. CMV's sister BLH is here to visit and help us. The three girls painted the porch. We chose a green that will go nicely with the siding that we picked. CMV went to Lowes to get the paint and found 2 gallons in the clearance section. Someone had mixed 3 gallons of the color, only to have the customer change their mind. We saved quite a bit of money on this paint.

Thanks for the Help BLH!

Cleaning out the Porch

2008-08-10T18:07:00.003-04:00

We need to clean out the front porch for a number of reasons. It is getting late in the season, and we do not want our paint and supplies to freeze over winter, we are at the point that we can start to take some tools and materials home, and we are anticipating guests over the Labor Day Holiday. We are planning on setting up the futon in the porch as soon as it is complete.

Once the items are removed from the area, CMV and AMV are going to paint the walls and ceiling. Our plan is to install a wooden floor that can be removed in sections if the need arises. I am unsure how dry the area stays in the winter. It has been a bare concrete floor for so long, that I don't know how the elements will treat the wood. We are going to use a pine plank and then paint it to resemble an old porch floor.

The only picture I have is of the porch almost cleaned out. You can see the futon frame and some trim against the wall.

On the Level

2008-07-25T17:57:00.002-04:00

We have some problems with the floors. The problem comes to light when we try to lay the tile floor. The kitchen floor has several spots where the tiles pop up, or the grout cracks out as someone walks on the floor. The hallway is giving us the same fits.

There is not a spot in this house that is level. The tiles do not lay flat, and this is the main cause of them popping up. I bought 3 50 pound bags of self-leveling floor cement. It was our hope that we could pour the mixture and end up with a floor that could be tiled.

The floor had a high spot close to the middle, and it ran higher on the left side. We poured two bags of the cement and got the floor to about the highest point that we could. We did not want to get to the point of stepping down into the bedrooms.

The floor is a lot closer to level, but not quite there. We will attempt to lay the tile soon.

Mother Nature Finally Cooperates

2008-07-08T04:18:00.007-04:00

The dumpster was scheduled for pick-up on Friday, July 4, 2008. We even called to check on the Holiday, and they said that they would get it Friday. We left last weekend with 75 percent of the roof torn off, and quite a lot of that was in the dumpster. If they were going to pick up the container on Friday, we were going to get up there and finish the tear off and get everything in the dumpster.

CMV had the week off, so she drove up on Tuesday. AMV and I would drive up on Thursday after work. We had no idea of when they would arrive to get the dumpster, so we felt the need to be ready as early as possible. CMV was able to get most of the remaining shingles off of the house, so when I got there I helped her drag them over to the container. We also took the opportunity to load up all of the bagged shingles from the first weekend. It was late on Thursday, so we called it a night.

Friday morning and no early truck, so we decided to get up on the roof and remove the very last small section of old shingle. I spent time removing the old staples and nails and checking the decking for bad/ weak spots. This section of the roof was in pretty decent shape. I nailed a few loose spots and started to lay out the roofing felt. CMV finished the tear-off, and we loaded the last of the trash into the dumpster. Four o'clock in the afternoon, and we still have the dumpster in the driveway. If we had planned to load it later in the day, they would have arrived first thing in the morning to haul it away. They ended up arriving Saturday morning.

Once the roofing felt was applied, we nailed in the drip edge and laid down the starter strip. We covered the roof with the tarp and called it a night. It was after all, the 4th of July and we were going out on a friends boat to watch the fireworks over the lake.

Saturday morning and once again, we are up on the roof. I am guessing by now, you are tired of reading how we are on the roof, and I assure you, I am tired of writing it in this journal, but neither compares to how tired we were of actually climbing up the ladder for another day. If we could have done the job in consecutive days, I think it would not have been as bad. Only working on the weekends made the job stretch out over weeks, so it seemed to drag on and on.

We started applying the shingles to the northern section, and made decent time. It was clear that we were not going to have enough shingles to complete the job. When I was calculating the number of bundles we needed, I did not add in enough for the ridge caps. We were also short one piece of drip edge for the gable. CMV would drive up to Goshen in the morning and pick up the last of the materials.

We cut two holes in the roof in the locations we chose for the new roof vents. The old roof did not have any vents. The house only had two gable vents, so we felt that we needed to add some additional airflow. As we cut the holes, it was amazing how much heat came out of the attic. We attached the vents and shingled around them and stopped at the ridge.

Sunday morning, July 6, 2008. We have one last section the shingle, and the ridge caps. I got started on the ridge caps while CMV drove to the store. She arrived with the materials and we nailed in the last piece of drip edge, we shingled the last section of roof, and we finished the last row of shingles along the ridge on the main section of the house. CMV and AMV had pre-cut quite a few ridge pieces, so I was able to finish off the ridge as CMV cut away the excess shingle out of the valleys. We finished fairly late in the day, but we finished.

Next week I will go up and apply some roof cement to some of the shingles around the vents and near the chimney. I will also apply the cement to the outer edge of the shingles on the roof line, to give them some additional holding power against the prevailing wind off of the lake. I may touch up the paint on the chimney, as it still shows some light spots, especially as the sun hits it.

Closing Out The Weekend

2008-06-30T14:05:00.004-04:00

Friday the 13th was two weeks ago, but it chose Sunday the 29th to show itself. Nothing was going right today. We had four solid rain delays and lost quite a bit of time waiting. I was able to paint the chimney and get it ready to re-install, but most of the morning was spent removing, rearranging, and adjusting the tarps.

To add additional issues, we plugged in the air compressor, and could not get it to hold pressure. It would build to almost 20 pounds, and not move from there. There was no chance that the Coil nailer would work with that low pressure, so all of the shingles would be attached the old fashioned way, a hammer and nails.

We did get a decent block of dry time at the end of the day. During this break in the rain, CMV made decent progress tearing off shingles from the back of the house, and I nearly finished applying shingles to the front gable.

I placed the chimney down and attached it to the roof. We used the ice and water shield as added protection around the flashing. Looking at the paint job out in the sunlight shows that I need to do some touch up work on the next calm day. We were able to run the shingles up to just short of the roof line. I need to clear out more of the ridge so I can apply one run of felt across the top of the ridge and fold it over to the other side.

I am not happy using this as the end of the weekend shot, because of a couple of items. One, there is a piece of plywood nailed as a spacer where the fascia board will eventually attach. There are a few shingles that hang over the edge of the roof, that should have been trimmed. Lastly, the extra shingle should have been cut out of the metal valley.

We did a lot of work in a short amount of time today, and pushed it until the very end. I really should have put the hammer and nails away 15 minutes earlier than I did, because the rain almost caught us unprepared. We had the tarps on the house, but I had been pulling shingles out of the "weight" packs to use to finish the gable, so when the wind started blowing, the tarps didn't have enough to hold them down properly. I had to bring up another 5 bundles of shingles to use as weight. I should use that as a life lesson, because those bundles seem much heavier at the end of the weekend than they do at the start of the weekend.

Roof (Weekend #3)

2008-06-30T12:23:00.003-04:00

By all plans, we anticipated that this project would be complete at the end of this weekend. That is the great thing about plans, sometimes they work out, and other times they fail. I will not blame the weather, but just between the two of us, it was the weather that prevented us from finishing this week.

I drove up on Friday morning and got started around noon. My list of priorities was to remove the shingles on the south side of the house, install the drip edge, lay out the roofing felt, apply the starter strip and start laying shingles if time allowed. I folded back the tarp and started removing the three layers of old roof. I was able to work for 2 1/2 hours and then had to cover up for a rain storm. I lost about 2 1/2 hours because of the rain.

After the storm, I was able to climb back up and fold back the tarp and work another 2 1/2 hours. In my 5 hours of working, I was able to get down to the roofing deck, and install the drip edge. I applied the starter strip and covered up for the evening. As I was standing in the livingroom, I realized that I applied the starter strip before I put on the roofing felt. I would need to pull up the strip and apply the felt first thing in the morning.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

It rained quite a bit over night. CMV arrived to find overcast skies and the threat of rain. After a brief shower, we were able to get up on the roof and get started. I removed the starter strip and applied the roofing felt. I the re-applied the starter strip, and attached drip edge on the rake edge. We were ready to shingle.

With the aid of the air compressor and coil nailer, we managed to work our way up the roof close to the top. We attached shingles upto the chimney cutout and stopped for the day. We did not have any more rain, but we had several scares. We have learned to keep the tarps at the ready.

The Roof (second weekend)

2008-06-24T03:53:00.008-04:00

CMV was able to locate a company that can bring a 6 yard dumpster to the cottage. They are located in the lakes area, and have small trucks that drop-off and pick-up the dumpsters. No more bagging. The total charge for the dumpster is $230.00, so when you add the landfill charges and the gas to get there, we are probably saving money.

We drove up to the cottage (CMV, AMV & JMV) Friday night. We wanted to be there to get an early start on Saturday morning. Those of you who know me know that I am definitely a morning person, so you can understand that I was really motivated to get up on the roof first thing. I am not sure of the time when we actually got started, and CMV has not started editing my posts, so it was early.

The weather was not very cooperative this weekend. We had two different rain delays on Saturday and another two on Sunday.

We continued by removing the shingles from the front gable down to the valley. We then cleared the first four feet above the gutters, so I could replace some additional boards on the roof.

With the shingles cleared, we had enough room to prepare the valley for new shingles. We decided to lay down an ice and water shield in the valley and the attach some aluminum flashing. We applied the felt paper to the gable, and will do the same to the adjoining roof next week when all of the shingles are removed.

Roof (First Weekend)

2008-06-17T09:53:00.000-04:00

I have been working on the roof of the carport for my three days of vacation. CMV and AMV drove up Friday night to help out during the weekend. I was able to get the carport tear off/ rebuild finished on Friday, so it is on to the actual roof of the house.

The plan was to tear off the balance of the eastern facing roof and replace the bad wood. The bad wood runs the entire length of the house from front to back. It is the area where the carport attaches to the house. I would guess that someone walked on the valley and cracked the shingles, which allowed water to reach the planking.

The rotten wood was all on the carport side of the roof, which was a very good thing. When I say that, I mean that any water that leaked through the damaged area would drip to the floor of the carport. The only exception was the storage shed.

With the damaged area removed and replaced, it was time to start the tearing-off the shingles on the house. It went rather well, considering the temperature and the fact that we had a few rain scares.

We had been planning to load the trash into the back of the truck and drive to the landfill for disposal. The charge for roofing scrap is $54.95 a truckload. One charge for as much or as little as you care to load. CMV bought some construction trash bags, and started loading up the bags. We soon learned how much trash we were going to have to haul. We estimated that we would need to take four trips to the landfill @ $54.95 and that does not include the gas for the trips. CMV decided to check the availability of a small dumpster. We were not sure if they would be able to maneuver anything down the lane due to the large trees and the narrow lane.

I want to post that CMV did a fantastic job of bagging all of the roof scrap. Nice job!!

We are not too busy, why not tackle the roof 6/11-6/13

2008-06-16T05:00:00.001-04:00

One of the problems that we noticed when we say the house for the first time, was a section of rotten wood in the carport where it meets the house. We decided to use our economic stimulis money and replace the roof.

We had a couple of companies come out and give an estimate. Two estimates of $3,000-3,500 later, coupled with the fact that I hate to pay for labor, we decided to do the job ourselves (come on, you did see that coming right?).

We purchased the materials, and I scheduled some vacation time. I took Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, June 11-13, off and planned to get quite a bit accomplished. The first task was to tear off the roof over the carport. Since I was at the cottage by myself, I knew that I could only removed as much roof as I could cover in case of bad weather.

I got started around noon on Wednesday and after a couple of hours, I had most of the old shingles off of the carport. I was finally able to see the extent of the rotten wood. It was slightly worse than I had anticipated, but still manageable. I started to remove the roofing nails and the staples when the planks started to crack lenghtwise.

I decided to replace the boards with plywood sheets to reinforce the carport. We want a nice roof that will last a long time, and I wasn't willing to risk the carport cracking apart.

I drove to Goshen, IN and purchased the plywwod sheets and some additional nails. I tore out the planks roof and replaced them with the plywood. I am actually comfortable walking on the surface, now that it is solid.

Trim

2008-05-19T04:41:00.001-04:00

One of the projects that should have been completed long ago is re-hanging the trim around the windows and doors. It will probably not surprise you to learn that this simple task has been plagued with problems.

When we tore out all of the walls, we also removed a 3/4 inch layer of fiberboard insulation. We added the roll insulation, and hung the drywall without giving it a second thought. That was our first mistake (thank you for not going back through all of the posts and totalling the actual number of mistakes). When replaced, the trim floats 3/4 of an inch off the wall.

We tried to come up with a solution that would maintain the same look throughout the house. We figured we could add a piece of wood behind the trim, but I didn't like the thought of 1 1/2 inch trim on every window.

We quickly dismissed the idea of hanging the trim on the outside of the window frame, due to the fact that the angles and lengths would not match up.

We thought about routing out a channel in the back of the trim, but the original trim is 3/4 inch. We would have to route almost the entire thickness of the board, leaving a very thin piece of trim.

We thought about using an electric planer on the window frames and removing the extra material, but the aged wood started to split in the corners.

We ended up using a chisel and cutting out the corners of the window frame. Once the corners were ready, we used the router to remove the excess material. The only modification we will need to make is on a small piece of inner window trim. Previously, it attached to the window frame, but now it will attach to the edge of the trim.

We still need to final sand and polyurithane the trim, but it is very close to completion. We seem to have quite a few projects that are close to completion. We need to get them finished and off the to-do list.

Checking up during winter

2008-01-10T11:59:00.001-04:00

We made a day trip up to check on the cottage today. It is a pretty nice day, but has been very cold the last few days. The lake is still frozen, and there were several ice fishermen out. If the ice is considered safe today, it will not be tomorrow.

The place is fine. The only surprise was that the propane tank vanished. I thought that someone had taken it for their own use. It turns out that the free tank is only free if you fill it at least once a year. We have had the place for almost a year and a half, and we are still using the propane the previous owners purchased. The gas company had come by the place and picked up the tank and kindly refunded the previous owners for the gas.

We have been discussing different options for heating, as neither of us like the propane. I guess this is a sign that we need to make a decision.

I have not updated as often as I would like, so I will catch you up on our progress that we made to this point.

The drywall is finished and painted. We will need to do some touch up painting once we install the baseboards and the ceiling trim.

The flooring is complete in the living room, and both bedrooms. We need to lay the tile in the kitchen and hallway. This will be one of the first projects this spring or early summer when the weather warms up.

We need to install a new source of heat. We are leaning towards baseboards, but have not made a final decision.

Another step closer (but not too close) 7/8/2007

2007-07-10T14:57:00.000-04:00

Now that the water heater has been installed, we can finish the counter top run. The plan was to have the counter span the entire wall length and cover the water heater. We need to keep an access panel for the plumbing, so we decided to skip the drywall and construct shelves of plywood instead.

The counter is formed from 3/4" plywood with white 4x4 ceramic tiles. My job is to cut the plywood, level the counter and install it. CMV taught AMV the finer points of laying tile.

The tiles need to set up and then we can grout the counter. We will also need to rent a wet saw so we can cut all of the tile to fit around outlets and switches. The next step is to fit the plywood panel on the wall. We did not secure it to the wall, because we need to complete the tile on the countertop to ensure that the wall piece will remain removable.

Making Progress? 7/7/2007

2007-07-10T14:06:00.000-04:00

It was a very busy week at the lake due to the Fourth of July Holiday. There were people everywhere.

CMV and I had Thursday and Friday off, but AMV had to work both days. CMV decided to drive up to the cottage on Thursday and invited her parents to come for a visit. They brought a bed frame, mattress and box spring (thanks BLH) along with them.

AMV and I drove up Friday night and arrived around 10:00 pm, to find that CMV had been busy sanding the drywall.

Saturday morning

AMV & CMV were priming the walls in the front bedroom, the hallway and the bathroom in preparation for the paint. Our plumber finished his work on Tuesday, so my job was to get the hot water heater hooked up to the electric, and then complete the shower.

I had to run to the hardware store to get some different wire and some flexible conduit to run from the water heater to the electric panel. Everyone talks about the price of gasoline, but the price of copper wire has increased dramatically over the last year or two.

I had already started installing the shower, so the hardest part was relocating all of the materials I needed to have on hand to finish the installation. It did not take much time to put the shower together, with the exception of aligning the sliding doors. I will not feel bad if any of you come to visit and you re-align the doors correctly. Go ahead, I dare you…

One More Thing

2007-07-02T14:08:00.000-04:00

I do not have any photographic or video evidence of this, so don't ask to see it.

I was taking a break from the drywall on Friday June, 29 and I noticed the air conditioner dripping water inside the house. I found an old bucket to catch the drip and went out to check out the AC unit. The case surrounding the unit has a lip that will allow the water the exit out the back, but the lip was almost a half inch from the bottom of the pan, so the water level was high enough to start dripping out the front end.

I grabbed my handy cordless drill and drilled a small hole in the right rear of the pan. The water started to immediately drain, so I started to drill another vent hole in the left side of the pan. I was successful in drilling the second hole, and nicked the condenser coil. The unit started to hiss as the coolant was released. Talk about a depressing feeling, standing there watching your air conditioner slowly become the air conditioner that used to work. My rush to fix something ends up as an expense. I guess I should learn the lesson and take my time in similar situations.

One Big Task Complete (Well, 95% Complete) 7/1

2007-07-01T12:24:00.000-04:00

We have finished hanging every piece of drywall that we can at this point. We will have one half sheet to install after the plumber comes (Tuesday) and hooks up the hot water heater and the shower.

I am not saying we are finished, because the walls are in various stages of progress. The back bedroom has been mudded, sanded, primed and painted. The living room has two coated of mud and will require another before it is sanded. Every wall surface has at least two coats of drywall mud.

I didn't realize how dusty it was until I looked at this picture of the front room.

Compromise 6/30

2007-06-30T12:34:00.000-04:00

It has been pretty amazing during this project of how many decisions CMV and I have made in which we both had the same idea of the finished result. There have been a couple of decisions that required the skill of negotiation and compromise. Today is a perfect example of this process. CMV wanted to build a wall to separate the front bedroom from the front entrance. I did not want to build the wall. Through my skillful use of negotiation and compromise, we decided to build the wall to separate the front bedroom.

This was a simple wall that extended from the wall on the far side of the bedroom towards the front door. It is approxiatamely 5 1/2 feet, so the bedroom door is close to the front door. My biggest concern over building this wall was that it would appear awkward walking into a hallway and that the hall would be very dark.

Above is the view from the front door looking back to the bathroom. The front room is directly to the right. It does not feel awkward due to the door being so close to the door, but the hall will require the addition of a lighting fixture.

This is the view from the front corner of the room. One of the best "bonuses" of this wall is the fact that we were able to hang more drywall.

* A special thanks to AF and family for the donation of the last 2x4 needed to complete the wall.

Things You Don't Talk About (But I Will) 6/29

2007-06-29T12:50:00.000-04:00

We have only had the plumbing working for a couple of weeks and we have noticed a very weak flush in the toilet. Our first thought was that the plumber made an error when lining up the drain/ wax ring/ toilet (sorry Randy). We even left him a note to check it out the next time he was out.

I decided to do a little investigation Friday morning, and went to the holding tank cover. We have been too busy with the interior of the house to worry about replacing the artificial turf on the box

It took me a moment to build up the courage to lift the cap (it was easier after I swept away all of the spiders). I was not happy when I saw the water level at the top, although it did give us the answer to the weak flush.

I called the people that take care of this type of problem and they came out on Friday night and cleaned the holding tank. They arrived while I was out, or I would have included a photo of the vaccuum truck doing it business.

Let me take a moment to say thanks to the people that perform this service. I do not think I could work in this profession, but I give thanks that there are people that do do it (pun intended).

A Return Visit 6/23 & 6/24

2007-06-25T13:05:00.000-04:00

This weekend, we have been joined by our daughter, AMV, for the second weekend in a row. CMV and I hung drywall and AMV painted some of the trim.

I left to run some errands and CMV and AMV painted and re-installed the light in the bathroom. I will wire it next week.

Little Jobs 6/16 & 6/17

2007-06-18T13:18:00.000-04:00

It is just a given that we are hanging drywall every time we are here, and this weekend is no exception. I will not waste your time with anymore pictures until we are finished.

Our daughter, AMV came up this weekend with her Boyfriend (TH). They helped us by scraping the paint outside on the living room windows. They also found some time to enjoy to lake water.

AMV also primed the wall in the kitchen that will be behind the hot water heater once it is in final position.

Coming Together

2007-05-10T14:23:00.000-04:00

I am really behind on the updates, so I am going to write several catch-up posts. I will try to include the weekend that the work was completed, but the post date will should all be today. The only reason I am telling you this is os you do not think that we completed this work in one weekend.

After the tile adhesive set-up and dried properly, we set the sink in place. We also purchased and placed a bathroom sink. We are ready for the plumber to hook up the water.

Quick trip Sunday

2007-04-30T22:31:00.000-04:00

CMV and I drove up to get more work done. We needed to get the cabinets in their final resting place and install the countertop. Once the counter is in place, CMV will go to work laying the tile. She finished the project around 10:00 pm.

We ended the weekend short of our goal. We do not have the kitchen sink in place, we had planned to re-use the bathroom sink, but discovered it had a large crack in the drain section, rendering it useless. The last item I need to complete is to move the hot water heater from the utility shed and place it into the kitchen.

Another Update

2007-04-30T22:08:00.000-04:00

I took a trip up to the cottage on Thursday afternoon and planned to stay until Sunday evening. My intended goal was to get everything ready for the plumber to return and hook up the water. I will not address the fact that I was going to stay for 4 days in a house without running water, except to say that plans had been made ahead of time.

The goal seems like an easy task, but it required many seperate pieces that would eventually complete the puzzle. The pieces of the project included drywall, cabinets, counters, sinks and faucets, and still more drywall. This project required that each of these tasks be completed in a specific order. The counter requires that the cabinets are in place, the cabinets depend on the drywall installation and the mudding and taping.

I must admit, of all of the projects that we have started in this house, the drywall is the one that caused me to hesitate. I HATE drywall. I can tolerate hanging the sheets, but I want no part of the taping or mudding. Having said that, I found myself in the position of finishing the drywall in the kitchen. The cabinets will cover most of the wall, so the chore was not as bad as I had feared.

I had to leave the kitchen wall to dry, so I hung the drywall in the back bedroom. This took the balance of the day. Saturday morning brought the installation of the cabinets and moving most of the items in the kitchen to other parts of the cottage. I decided to leave around noon so I could see AMV (the kid) off to the prom.

Everything Needs Support

2007-04-04T14:58:00.000-04:00

As has happened with many of the projects we have undertaken, the removal of the air conditioner was not as easy as it should have been. The unit was supported by a frame constructed from 1" x 6" boards, and those boards were supported by virtually nothing. I removed the old boards and framed in a new structure that should keep the air conditioner from moving around.

With the AC unit out and the support structure in, we hung a sheet of drywall and secured the unit.

We only had the time to hang one more sheet of drywall before it was time to clean up and go home. I re-installed to propane gas shut-off and replaced the outlet cover.

Time for an update.

2007-04-04T13:51:00.000-04:00

It had been quite some time since my last update on the progress of the cottage. I apologize for the large gap between posts, but I did not want to have post after post entitled "more about walls" and "even more about walls".

It is now the beginning of April, and we are still working on the walls. We have finished the removal of the old drywall, and the fiberboard insulation that was on the outer walls. Seizing the opportunity, I replaced all of the older style wire and added new outlets, switches, and breakers. The new insulation is in place and we are in the process of hanging the drywall.

This picture shows the west wall of the house. we had just disconnected the propane and removed the wall mounted heater. In the next step, we added the insulation in the wall section that was behind the heater, and removed the air conditioner.

Day Trip 12/16

2006-12-18T12:12:00.000-04:00

I left Indianapolis about 10:30 and walked into the cottage a little before 1:00 on Saturday. We (CMV and I) made a decision to eventually remove all of the drywall in the house. The exterior walls are moldy, damp and poorly insulated, and the interior walls are not much better. I want as much of this completed before springtime comes, so I decided to remove the rest of the drywall in the bedroom.

I first removed the remaining pieces of trim molding and set them aside to take with me when I return home. I next, removed the electrical outlets and fixtures and pulled the carpet out of the room. Lastly, I went at the drywall with the pry bar and a hammer. My goal was to get as much drywall out of the house as I could and still leave that night. In the end, I cleared the remaining four room surfaces, and one wall in the other bedroom.

Once the bedrooms are stripped of drywall, we can make any necessary repairs and add insulation to the outer walls. We will also be able to hang the drywall because there will not be any need for plumber access.

In the wall cavity, I found a large abandoned wasps nest. I was very thankful it was not active, as I disturbed it quite a bit while pulling on the old drywall. If it had been active, I would have suffered from the encounter.

Little Jobs 12/09

2006-12-18T11:40:00.000-04:00

This weekend, my friend JSE and I went up to the cottage on Friday night. We didn't expect to get much done that night, but wanted to be there in the morning to get working.

We went up without an agenda, and did not know what we were going to get accomplished. The first task we decided to tackle was to rebuild the corner cabinet in the kitchen. In order to do this, we first needed to buy a roll of insulation and a sheet of drywall. The rest of the kitchen drywall will wait for the plumber to install the pipes in the spring.

With the Insulation cut and in place, we hung the drywall and secured it in place with screws. The cabinet was rebuilt and attached to the wall. In order to clear up some space, we moved all of the cabinets back into the kitchen and set them in their approximate final location.

It was now time to repair the frame on the bathroom/ bedroom border wall. Two studs were removed and replaced, as well as a section of the bottom plate. There was no way to remove the studs without damaging the drywall on the bedroom side of the wall, so we completely removed it ahead of time. After cleaning up the pieces of drywall and almost filling the back of the truck, we could finally repair the wall section.

CMV requested that we bring her as many pieces of trim that we could, so she can work on them over the winter. I removed and labeled them (to ease the re-installation) and loaded them into the truck.

Not Feeling Like Work 12/2

2006-12-18T10:35:00.000-04:00

We arrived at the cottage late in the afternoon on Saturday. Due to a loss in the family, I really didn't feel like working, but last weekend we left a large hole in the bathroom floor that had to be covered.

Instead of starting on the floor Saturday evening, I re-wired the electric in the kitchen. I installed new outlets, but left the old boxes. I will replace the electrical boxes when we install the new drywall in the spring.

Sunday morning, we finished replacing the floor joists and cutting the new floor. The bathroom floor will be tiled eventually, so we are only laying one layer of plywood.

There are one or two places in the wall framing that will require some work, but that will need to wait for another weekend.

Back to the Bathroom 11/25

2006-12-18T10:21:00.000-04:00

This weekend, we removed the balance of the drywall in the bathroom. We also decided to pull up the old floor to level it with the concrete slab that leads to the bedrooms. When we pulled the floor boards, we were treated to a nice surprise.

The floor had been repaired at some point, and someone decided it would be a good idea to replace the joists with 2x4 and some 2x6 boards. These boards were held up with concrete blocks and scrap 2x4 pieces. Trying to figure out a solution to this situation had us puzzled.

Once we settled on a course of action, we got to work. The task took more time than our weekend allowed, so we were forced to leave a large hole in the house.

Drywall

2006-11-22T18:40:00.000-04:00

As I said in the last post, we removed the drywall on the walls between the kitchen and the bathroom, and the cabinet wall in the kitchen. This accomplished two things; it made the job of removing the linoleum wall covering much easier, and it opened the wall to allow access for the plumbing installation next spring. If time allows, I may replace the electrical wiring in this part of the house since it is in the open.

Along with the drywall, we removed the bathroom sink, and the toilet. The bathroom is now ready for a tear out and replacement of the floor. The idea is to make it the same level as the rest of the house, as it is higher than the concrete slab.

Finishing the Floor 11/18

2006-11-22T18:29:00.000-04:00

When we removed the cabinets a couple of weeks ago, we decided that the corner cabinet was going to be too difficult to remove. We thought that we would use the existing floor, and just cut the new floor around the older section. This continued to be our decision until sometime Saturday evening.

I met a friend (JSE) at the cottage on Saturday evening, and we started removing the drywall on the common wall between the kitchen and the bathroom. We also removed the drywall on the kitchen cabinet wall. This was a fairly simple process until we reached the corner cabinet. We stopped to figure out how to cut the drywall so the piece behing the cabinet would match the new sheets that we will hang in the Spring. The easiest and best solution was to go ahead and remove the cabinet.

Once the cabinet was out, I discovered the floor beneath was in terrible condition and had to be replaced. By this time, I have honed my flooring skill, and the job was completed in no time. It helped that the hole was only 24" x 24". With the final nail in the final floor board, the floor is officially complete. Well... at least until CMV decides it is time to lay down the tile.

Winterization

2006-11-17T18:41:00.000-04:00

I still have some projects to complete before winter hits the area, but I am quickly running out of time. I need to get the water system shut off, and the pump removed before the freezing temperatures cause damage. I have been trying to hold off as long as possible on the water system, so I can still work in the house on other projects. I decided that I cannot wait any longer.

Sunday, November 11

I decided to drain the water system and remove the pump. I turned off the water supply to the pump and opened all of the faucets and let them drain into buckets. I let them run long after the water stopped flowing to allow every possible drop to escape the lines. I went back outside and shut off the well valve and removed the inlet hose. I was not completely sure of what I was doing, but it helped to know that I only needed to save two pieces of the water system; the water heater and the water pump. I could not remove any of the iron pipe fittings, so I removed the flex hose on the inlet and the flex hose from the water filter. Once the hoses were disconnected, I was able to lift the pump from the brick base and place it in my truck to store in the basement for the winter.

I still need to place a more secure closure to the flexible hoses to prevent anything from entering them over the winter, but other than that, the job is complete.

Kitchen Floor

2006-11-17T17:59:00.000-04:00

I think that the kitchen floor has taken up way too much space on this blog site. I am sorry to report that while I worked on it this weekend, I did not get it finished, so there will be another installment next week.

What I did this weekend...

Once I got the water turned off, I was able to remove the sink and the sink cabinet. I pulled up the old floor boards in that area and replaced with the new plywood sheets.

At this point, the floor looked like this, and I thought that the project was complete. But if it really was finished, I wouldn't have told you that there would be another installment of "floor talk" next week. This is beginning to resemble one of the old western serials where you think it will never end.

Learning our way around the Kitchen (October 28 & 29)

2006-11-01T14:28:00.000-04:00

There are several projects that we need to finish before winter shuts us down for the year. The kitchen floor is one of those projects. You may remember that we removed the carpet and some of the "filler" layers of luan sheeting. The floor under all of the patch pieces was one layer, but had several holes and cracks that allowed direct access to (or from) the crawlspace. With the colder weather on the way, the time is right to get this situation corrected.

The first step was to remove the cabinets. We have not shut off the water supply yet, so we had to leave the sink in place and work around the sink base. We are going to keep the cabinets, and replace the counter top next year.

Because of space limitations, we tried to work in 4-5 foot strips. We removed enough existing floor to allow us to place the next sheet of plywood. This allowed us an area to walk, stand, and to help keep the tools and trash out of our way.

We placed a layer of plywood down to form an even layer across the entire kitchen area, which is something we should have done in the living room before we put down the hardwood. The only area left to cover is under the sink base cabinet. We will replace that area on the next trip.

I think we both knew that this project was going to take quite a bit of time and energy, but I think we still underestimated what was involved. We worked the entire weekend, and stayed much later on Sunday than we planned.

We still need to do several things before winter. Some of these things are:

1. We got the initial layer of plywood down, but still need to put another layer of thinner sheets to even out the floor between the kitchen and the living room.

2. Shut off the water and remove the pump for winter storage.

3. Either blow out the water supply pipes, or remove them completely.

4. Take home everything that we don't want left there over winter.

and like every good list,

5. Whatever else comes up while we are doing the other items.

Hidden in the wall (October 21 & 22)

2006-11-01T13:56:00.000-04:00

Well, it has been a few weeks, and no update, so I guess I should bring everyone up to speed.

CMV started to remove the shared wall between the bathroom and the kitchen. We spoke to the plumber a few weeks ago, and decided that we are more than capable of performing most of the labor ourselves. Since the water will be shut off over the winter, we also decided that it is a good time to start removing the drywall around the water pipes.

AMV was right when she guessed that there would be razor blades in the wall. I believe that the final estimate was at least 200 discarded blades. Do they still make medicine cabinets with a slot for old blades? I would guess they do not.

Plumbing Consultation

2006-10-09T13:19:00.000-04:00

Saturday morning I met a local plumber at the cottage to discuss the plumbing situation. Having never owned a lake house, I am not very informed when it comes to cottage water systems. I spent close to 45 minutes going over the system currently in place, and his suggestions on what should be done to bring the plumbing to code.

RC (the plumber) is going to email an estimate for the work that he is recommending. Some of the suggestions are very good, and some of the other would be nice but probably not necessary. I honestly think that CMV and I could do most of the work ourselves, and reduce the labor hours but I don't know if RC would allow us to do this.

I did not take a picture of the plumber but here are a few of the water system.

These are water pipes leaving the bathroom and going towards the kitchen sink. These have been repaired recently, but not very well. At the very least, the hole should have been covered with an access panel.

This is the hot water heater. It is located in the storage shed near the carport. Ideally this will be moved into the house to allow quicker supply of hot water to all of the plumbing fixtures. This is one of the tasks that I think we can do ourselves, although it may lend peace of mind to have a licensed plumber perform the work. It will be interesting to see the monetary value of "peace of mind".

Deja Vu

2006-10-09T10:26:00.000-04:00

This weekends project was to take up the carpet in the dining room. After spending time walking on the floor, I think we expected the same situation as we had in the living room. The first picture is the room before the job was started. We have been using the back wall of this room as a storage area for our paint and supplies.

This picture was taken after everything was cleared out of the kitchen. The room is now ready, and I can begin rolling up the carpet and padding. We are going to keep the carpet from this area for possible future use in one of the bedrooms. The padding will be thrown out and replaced if necessary.

As expected, the floor of the kitchen was patched in the same fashion as the living room floor. It appears at some point there was some repair work done on the septic system, and large sections of the floor were cut to provide access. Once the repair was complete, the holes were patched with plywood and then what appears to be luan scraps, covered with luan sheets.

The larger strips of luan were pulled up to expose the smaller scrap pieces placed here and there. In one spot there were four layers of luan. These smaller pieces were removed to leave one layer of flooring.

The floor that remains is poorly patched and in need major repair. The next step will be to remove the cabinets and then take up and replace the floor. Luckily this job is not very expensive to complete, but it will require a lot of work, removing the old floor.

She Should Have Used The Truck

2006-10-04T18:56:00.000-04:00

Since the weather forced CMV to stay inside for most of the day, she decided to do a little bit of investigative work. She went into the bathroom and removed one of the sheets of paneling. What she found was very interesting.

Behind the bathroom paneling, was a mixture of old linoleum tile, drywall holes, rusty pipes, and water damaged wood. I can take care of replacing the bad wood, and hanging drywall. CMV can install tile on the walls and for the shower. My problem is trying to make sense of the plumbing system. We have a mixture of galvanized pipe, plastic PVC, flexible hose that resembles large aquarium tubing, and who knows what else. We may have met our match on this one. I am seriously considering calling a professional plumber.

Once CMV was ready to leave, she planned to take the scraps of paneling with her, only to discover it would not fit in the car. She should have used the truck this trip.

Storm Coming In

2006-10-04T12:12:00.000-04:00

This past weekend, we didn't drive up to the cottage. CMV made the trip by herself on Monday since she had the day off. She drove most of the way in a rain storm, which added to her travel time. Here are a couple pictures that show the storm front as it rolled through the area.

Working (not fishing)

2006-09-26T12:23:00.000-04:00

This week, I went up to the cottage alone. I hope this isn't starting a trend. I had planned on getting a few projects crossed off the "to do" list. I also planned on getting an earlier start on my trip, but I was delayed due to a project on our primary home (sorry, I am not starting another blog for that).

I ended up arriving around 3:00, and unloaded the truck. It was supposed to be a wet weekend, so I started on my first project while the weather was still decent. I needed to cut and install the shelf rail in the front porch. This has been one of those tasks that seem to go on and on, and it keeps growing and growing in the scope.

Before

After

As I was pounding the nails into the shelf, I quickly discovered the aluminum windows were very loose. One of them was held in place with 6 screws (out of 16). The weather was holding out, so I removed the three windows from the front of the house and realigned them. I had to replace some of the mounting strips and then secured them with new screws. The outcome is a much more secure and stable enclosure, that really doesn't show well on a picture.

I changed several electrical outlets throughout the house to three prong grounded outlets.

Contrary to what some might have believed, I did not spend the weekend fishing instead of working. When you consider that Notre Dame played on Saturday night, and the Colts played Sunday afternoon, I would say that I got quite a bit finished.

Catching up from last week

2006-09-26T11:28:00.000-04:00

CMV made the trip by herself last week. I had the camera with me, so the pictures are from the next trip up.

She arrived late in the day Saturday, with a van loaded with bagged mulch for the flower beds. She also bought a few mums and planted them around the shrubs.

She them cut back the grass so we can see the edges (you can see the results in the top picture), and removed the last traces of the astroturf grass that once covered the walkway.

I will save the pictures of the floor tile until the project has been completed.

Can you dig it?

2006-09-11T18:13:00.000-04:00

After the Notre Dame game I went outside and started digging in the flower beds. Calling them beds was a stretch. It appears that at some point in the cottages life, there was decorative gravel, at least two different types of mulch, a black mesh weed barrier that didn't work, and lastly, a black plastic weed barrier that prevented the bushes from growing roots down, but did nothing to prevent the weeds from growing up.

I bagged up 15 Contractor trash bags of garbage and loaded them into the back of the truck. To my credit, I did remember that I was going to need to lift the bags into the back of the truck before I filled them completely.

It is now up to CMV to finish the flower beds as she sees appropriate. I am not much of a landscape designer, and I know enough to leave that to the people that know enough.

All Before the Game

2006-09-11T09:54:00.000-04:00

My first job of the weekend was to cut install the wall boards in the front porch. I needed it to be ready to prime by Saturday afternoon. It took a lot less time than I thought it would. Very rarely do I have a project that is easier than what I thought it would be so when it occurs, it is important to recognize that it happened.

It is sometimes uncanny how things work out, and by some strange twist of fate, I was between projects about 3:00p.m., on Saturday. It just so happened that the Notre Dame vs. Penn State game was on at 3:30 p.m. We did a fast trip to Loweâ€™s, and I was back watching the game at 3:45 p.m. It was a great game. I don't want to give the wrong impression about what was happening here, i did get some work done. I had a chance to fill the nail holes in the porch wall with putty during halftime.

CMV Paints it

2006-09-11T09:26:00.000-04:00

We drove up to the house on Saturday morning. CMV was armed with primer and rollers and set off to tackle the living room walls.

In some places on the outer walls, the old paint bubbled up when it came in contact with the new paint. After drying, the bubbles evened back out and looked fine. It was very odd. We thought that we were going to be forced to scrape and peel the entire room first.

After the primer came two coats of tan (I know that it has a name that is fancier than tan, something like Oat Straw or Mochachino, but I cannot remember what it was called) paint.

My description makes this project seem like it was a quick an easy job. I have failed to describe all of the preparation that went into the task. She had rough spots to smooth, holes to fill, and trim to remove. It was quite a chore, and it looks very nice.

The Floor Part 2

2006-09-06T14:30:00.000-04:00

We needed to find someplace that could rent us another nailer today (Sunday) and would be open on Labor Day. We finally found a Home Depot store in Mishawaka that fit the requirements, and we started off on the hour and a half drive to the store.

We stopped nailing at 9:15 p.m. with 30 rows of hardwood floor nailed down. We didn't want to make any more noise that late, so we dry fit another 25 rows before setting up the mattresses for bed. Taking the time to dry fit the floor saved quite a bit of time in the long run. We were able to finish the remaining rows on Monday morning (about 11:30). CMV drove the tool back to Mishawaka and had 9 minutes to spare before we got hit with another charge for additional time on the rental.

We cleaned up, fixed some dinner, and left for home. Not much of a holiday, but the results look great. I need to finish that porch wall next week so CMV can start putting down the tile.

Here is the finished floor. We need to pull up the rest of the carpet in the kitchen area, and then lay the tile, but that is a project down the road. Maybe in a week or two.

The Floor

2006-09-06T13:14:00.000-04:00

We decided that since this was a long weekend, we would tackle the floor in the living room. Currently, the room is carpeted with no distinction between the living room and the kitchen area. We want to lay ceramic tile in the kitchen area, and hardwood in the living room. We purchased some flooring (clearance) from Home Depot that we wanted to use.

I don't know if you have ever tackled a hardwood floor, but the key is preparation. We rolled back the carpet and cut off the padding which we saved for possible future use. The old floor had been patched with an odd layout of luan sheets. These had to come out and needed to be replaced with something a little more stable, like half inch plywood.

We finished the day having only torn up the old floor and nailed down the plywood sheets. Well, we did quite a bit more than this, but most of it involved driving around the area looking for plywood sheets and picking up the hardwood floor nailer. I found the nailer in Syracuse at the Syracuse Tool Shed, Inc. The only problem was that they were only open until noon on Sunday, and because of the holiday, they were closed all day on Monday.

Remember when I said the key was preparation? Well, we woke up Sunday morning, taped down the vapor barrier and then discovered that we didn't have the right nails to use on the first two rows of strips. The first couple of rows are nailed by hand, because the hardwood floor nailer will not reach them because they are too close to the wall. I had to leave to return the rented tool at 11:30 with only 3 rows completed. It was at this point that a frantic search of all local hardware stores began.

First Weekend

2006-09-06T11:28:00.000-04:00

We left Indy at 7:30 on Saturday morning, armed with supplies, tools and building materials. I was anxious to get started on the wall in the front porch. The trip is about 2 hours and 15 minutes, but this morning it felt longer. I was anxious to get started on the wall in the front porch.

Upon our arrival, we unloaded the truck and met our next-door neighbors. They seem very nice, and offered to answer any questions that might come up.

I went in the house and started removing the car siding panels that made up the interior wall of the porch. The planks were very easy to remove, as the top and bottom plates as well as the studs were completely dry rotted. This originally simple project was beginning to worry me. How much would I need to remove? How bad was it everywhere else? Why didn't the inspector find something like this?

I removed all of the wall planks on the front side of the porch. The side wall was very solid, so I did not need to make any repairs to this area. I brought some 2 x 4's with me, so I cut them to length and decided that I should replace the plates with treated lumber. After the drive to the nearest Lowes, I returned with 2 pressure treated 2 x 4 x 10's to use as replacement top and bottom plates.

I needed to remove all of the original frame, but with the windows (and the rest of the porch) resting on this wall section, I felt that I needed to act carefully. I first replaced the bottom plate, and then toe nailed the studs into the bottom plate. The next step was to wedge the top plate between the window supports and the new studs. This made an immediate difference in the stability of the wall. I attached the studs to the top plate, and the top plate to the window supports, and was finished with the framing repair.

We needed to head back to Indy on Saturday night, so we decided to call it a day and pack up our things.

Closing Day

2006-09-06T10:23:00.000-04:00

We drove up to ______ today and had the closing on the cottage. The closing was at 10:00 a.m. and finished around 10:45 a.m.

After taking possession of the keys, we had to drive over and check it out again. I wanted to change the locks and CMV wanted to get started making it ours. The first thing that had to go was the old maroon carpet that was in the front porch.

CMV quickly removed the floor molding and pulled up the carpet in no time. Oftentimes, one project will lead to another, and this was no exception. The carpet pulling disturbed a small colony of ants, that was no match against a can of Raid. We decided to wait until next weekend to open up the wall and assess the situation.

We finally bought a cottage

2006-09-06T10:13:00.000-04:00

Our new house is located in _________, IN, and is on ____ Lake. We had the closing on August 21st. I will post a picture or two as soon as I get one.