Catching Up

It's been a while since I posted. Between vacations and work, including working on the cottage, I just haven't had the time. So this episode is to bring you up to speed.

We last left our hero's having just finished up framing and drying in the cottage. A lot has happened since then...

The next thing we did was get the roof on...

You're looking directly across to where the main cabin will be built.

get the windows in...

and get the fascia, soffit and siding on.

Then we were able to frame the interior walls, lay the floor on the loft and install the two large windows.

We built the loft large enough for a Queen bed on one end.

These large windows let a ton of light in!

After that, we added the front porch, cedar shingle siding and more trim.

This pic of Michelle working on the windows shows the scale of the cottage pretty well.

Roofing the porch.

Michelle enjoying the fruits of her labor.

Our first sunrise on the new porch.

Ready for paint and stain!

All that took two weekends. Then we began the electrical, plumbing and insulation!

Next came sheetrock.

The bottom of the loft floor/kitchen ceiling will be stained.

We're now ready for tape, bed and texture. Then floors, cabinets and trim. Then paint and we're in!

We are also currently in progress on the well and septic. 

Plans are to be moved in and 100% complete including the outdoor kitchen, which we have not started yet, by the end of February.

We're so excited to get this project complete! Once we are wrapped up we plan to take a few months off to enjoy it before we start the big cabin!

Building The Guest Cottage

Excitement has really set in! Michelle and I scheduled off last Wednesday through Sunday to begin building the guest cottage. Gavin and my parents both volunteered to come help us, which as it turns out we really needed the extra hands!

We started Wednesday morning by using the tractor and auger to dig our holes for our foundation piers. The ground was super hard and it wasn't easy, but we managed to dig and pour all 12 of them. We then began work driving our shallow well, which I'll let you know all about in a later post when it's complete.

Thursday morning we began the floor joists and subfloor. The cottage is 15 x 15 with an 8 x 15 loft for a total of 345 square feet.

By the end of the day we had all the sub floor, first floor walls and the loft up. It was a great day with a ton of progress. We knew the rain was coming up from Houston so we battened down the hatches for the overnight.

Friday the rain had arrived. It dumped 3 inches that morning and flooded everything.

But by noon the rain moved out and the ground was so dry it practically all soaked up in a matter of minutes. We started on the second floor walls around 1 that afternoon and then began setting the ridge beam and a few rafters. We finished more than was expected for the day considering the weather.

Saturday we were able to put up the remaining rafters and first floor wall sheathing. We were then able to install the roof deck and by now I had failed every single test of patience and was working on one hell of an attitude. It was a lot of long hard, hot and humid days of work and we were all wearing on each others nerves. 

At the end of the day Saturday my folks and Gavin had had enough of my bullshit and decided it was time to head home. Really they were only staying through Saturday but I'm sure it was a relief for all of them to get back. They all worked way too hard.

Michelle and I stayed through the end of the day Sunday and ending up putting up the fascia board, the second floor wall sheathing, the roof felt, the first floor house wrap and installed the doors and windows.

It was a lot to bite off and proved to be too much to chew in the time allowed. It is however about a quarter of the way complete in just 4 and a half days and it couldn't have happened without the help of our terrific family. The goal was to get it dried in and it's practically there.

Next weekend we plan to measure for the upper triangular loft windows, finish the wrap, and put on the roof shingles. We will also build the interior bathroom and kitchen walls.

Then will come the siding, the front porch and the attached outdoor kitchen. Then finally finishing the interior.

Won't be long now and we'll be out of the camper and have a great place to stay while we build the big house!

The Tractor Story

It's been two months since I last wrote the latest happenings at Fireside. There's a lot to get you caught up on.

The biggest news is our new tractor! It's been such a HUGE help. We use it every time we go up and it sure makes things easy.

We've been able to clear all of our brush piles, make more and clear them. We've been able to move dirt from one place to another, dig holes, level ground, mow pasture and  mow the trails and the list goes on and on.

Tractor, front end loader, box blade with ripper, auger, tiller, and brush hog.

It works great for helping your badass wife reach a limb to cut off with a chainsaw.

Or for brush hogging your entire trail system while your dog runs beside you.

It helps unload refilled water barrels for your camper.

And makesdigging piers for the guest cottage foundation a breeze.

The next greatest thing that's been added is our refrigerator. It's currently set up in the workshop, but it's so nice to be able to drive up to the property without and ice chest! The freezer is well stocked with food and there's no shortage of beer in the fridge. Soon it will be moved to our guest cottage.

With our permanent power now we are able to weld as well, which is really handy for equipment repair.

You know I'm a renaissance man. But did you know I once welded professionally too? Yup.

It's getting near hunting season so we also added a Cadillac of blind using the tractor to aid in its construction

Michelle and I used it to try and kill that same lone boar that's been around for a year and half.

It's 4 x 8 with 8 foot ceilings, carpeted, has two rolling reclining office chairs and even cup holders.

Unfortunately we weren't in the blind at this time and he lives another day.

But the biggest news of all is that we begin work on our guest cottage next week! We have scheduled the time and plan to get it completely dried in next week. We will build the whole cottage, including the roof for the connected outdoor kitchen. Once the guest cottage interior is complete and we're staying in it (hopefully by the end of November) we will begin construction on the main house.

And as always, Oliver had so much fun he passed out in bed in the camper in his favorite sleeping position.

 Next post will be pics of our dried in guest cottage!

We Have The Power!

We've made a couple of trips up in the last few weeks. The first of which we didn't do much. Mostly we just built some shelves and organized the shop building.

Oliver was having a blast digging in the mud.

You might say he got a little muddy.

Pathetic!

To get him clean, we decided to dip him in nearby Lake Hugo and spend the day at the beach.

Gotta even out those tan lines!

We all three got a nap in.

He loves to be carried like this!

We made up for not doing much that weekend the following weekend.

First, we vacuumed a pull rope through the previously buried conduit and then pulled our wire to our official RV hook up station location.

It wasn't the easiest thing to do. We ended up having to dig down and cut the conduit into sections to make it work.

Luckily it was easy to find.

After we pulled the wire we began to build the RV hook up station...

...and got it finished up. We left a notch in the slab to add our water spigot later on.

Eventually the driveway will circle around to a parking pad where RV-ers can pull up and hook up.

Next we temporarily set the exterior service panel (breaker box) at the location it will be attached on the side of the cabin. It's a 30 space, 200 amp job with plenty of room for the cabin, shop, outdoor kitchen, guest cottage and future expansion.

And from there we ran conduit and wire over to the workshop where we installed interior and exterior outlets and the interior and exterior LED lighting.

Meanwhile, my buddy John came up to clean and roll a new coat of roof sealer on his camper. I tell you, we can't thank him enough for letting us use it while we build. It is a life saver!

Now if all that isn't impressive enough, we did it all on the amount of solid sleep you get with a bunk mate who sleeps like this.

Can you tell how rested we are!

 Up next, we break ground on the cabin!