Windows

Today was a beautiful day at the lake! Summer is coming to an end and I want to cherish all the remaining nice days. We made a nice pit stop at Menards in Buffalo on the way to the lake and bought some things we needed for the construction in the 15% off bag. I'm trying to remember the last time I've ever used those discounts at a home improvement store, but couldn't! Before this project we haven't done very many. All day today we cleaned up the wood pieces and stacked them by our fire-pit. Every time we go out to the lake we burn as much of the wood scraps as we can so we always have a big fire going. It is fun to get rid of the mess and enjoy the fire at the same time!

The windows and doors are all in and look great. It was fun to try them out and know that our house is sealed against rain now. We have a bunch of pictures of the windows, and some new views this time. Next week the rough-ins happen with the plumber and electrician hopefully so the guys will be putting in the stairs and some other misc things inside. The siding might also go on, but I'm not sure if they'll have time.

View from the driveway of our new windows and fully wrapped house!

Don't you love the sidelights on our front door? There is a temp door now, but those sidelights are here to stay.

Dan is working away at our wood pile, and here is a view from our fire-pit area at the hammock and the side of the house with the new windows.

Here is the view from our green shed of the retaining wall and side windows. I love the octagon one!
Finally, a front on view of the windows on the lakeside

Our 2nd Nephew is here

Dan's sister had baby #2 on Monday morning and named him Jacob. We are excited to be Aunt and Uncle for the 2nd time and can't wait to see the little guy and also see little Paul too since we haven't see him in awhile. Ok, we want to see Paul and Melissa too, but kids are the center of attention at this age!

Maybe we can figure out a time to go to Chicago for a quick weekend visit before our class starts and the building project really ramps up with things we need to do. If not, we will have to wait until the holidays :)

Mid-week update on the cabin: Because of the rain they weren't as successful as they would have been this week, but all the windows and doors will be in by tomorrow. Next week when the rough-in's for the electrician and plumbers happen they will be putting in the stairs and maybe the siding too and will be back on track. So, that means we're still on target for a completion date at the end of September. I'm not holding my breath and wouldn't be surprised if it was mid-October, but either way it isn't bad. Fall is a great time to be painting because it is cooler anyway.

Roof is done!

Since we knew it was supposed to rain this weekend we went out to the lake last night to check out the progress. We got there around 6 pm and the guys were putting on the last shingles! So, they got it roofed just in time since it rained all day today. We grilled and cleaned up the shingles around the yard and burned some more wood scraps in the fire pit. The windows are there so we got to see them in their boxes and weather-permitting they can finish wrapping the house and put in the windows on Monday and Tuesday. If it is nice all week the siding could get done too.

Because it rained all day today we got some errands done and bought a front-load washer and dryer off of craigslist. Dan has done very well buying items on craigslist and also on ebay. He seems to enjoy finding good deals and negotiating with the sellers too. We've really found some great deals doing this buying new items at a cheaper price and sometimes buying used items that are still in good condition. It has been a busy couple of weeks buying everything but we are getting close to the end. We're trying to get everything checked off the list before our next MBA class starts Labor Day week!

The roof is done!

Dormers finished and house mostly wrapped

Sunday at the lake

Yesterday Scott and Christina, and Tom and Kara came out to the lake with us after church. It was a beautiful day after the thunderstorms we had all weekend. Scott brought his boat out too so we went skiing and wakeboarding. I haven't wakboarded all summer so today my arms are definitely feeling it! We ordered pizza from a place in Annandale that delivered to us and the pizza was actually really good! We'll have to remember that place for next time we get a craving for pizza.

As you can see from the pictures the roof is all papered and ready for shingles and the two skylights are in. Steve has some inspections to get through and probably has to put in the stairs soon from the first floor to the walk-out level. Maybe shingles and windows this week?? Who knows, but we'll show progress next weekend again.

Our bedroom side window was moved to the correct spot this week so we don't look over our neighbors house. At an angle you can see the hammock and fire pit

The roof is all papered and the skylights are in. Now we're hoping for shingles and windows soon :)

Tom and Kara; Christina and Scott came out to the lake for the afternoon and for pizza

Retaining wall and front steps

Yesterday Dan and I were out at the lake to meet with the electrician to mark out all the lights and other outlets at the cabin. He was a really nice guy and very thorough. Dan had lots of ideas for our sound system and we are also having him pull a wire out to our little red cabin so it is ready if we decide to put a hot tub in there in the future. And then we can have electricity out there too!

We forgot our camera again and this time in the evening the pictures didn't turn out so well. Last week they did the retaining wall and worked on the front steps. So, roofing didn't happen but we are hoping it will this week. Now comes the tough part of coordinating the plumbers, mechanical and electricians to get their stuff in before the interior walls are mudded and taped. I'm thinking that it will push out our finish date a few more weeks to coordinate all these guys to be here at the same time. So, my educated guess is now the beginning/middle of October. It is only a month off of estimates so not too bad.... I've heard stories of these projects lasting 9-10 months. At least we aren't that bad yet!

I really like the retaining wall. The colors are very neutral and now we have about 6-7 parking spots (if you squeeze!). We've been parking along the road so there are a few spots up there too. By having 2 retaining walls on that side it keeps the driveway up and then the steps down to the second level makes a nice spot for grass and it is a perfect spot for tents between the red cabin and green shed. Then it steps down to the ground level where the patio will be outside the walk-out. We sat on those stairs and I think we'll do that a lot - it gives extra seating right around the patio.

If the weather is nice we'll be out either Saturday or Sunday this weekend and maybe the roof will either be started or done. We keep hoping the roof and windows get done soon so then it is all interior stuff to work on so it doesn't matter if it rains. Then we'll take some better pictures to post!