more updates

In another exciting instalment of "get that man a camera!" We have some updated photos from the builder.

The siding has indeed been replaced with the correct colour and it looks So Much Better.

The GOS plywood is on all of the walls, ready for the battens and frieze boards to be applied and all of it painted. I bet the place smells like a lumberyard inside.

The vinyl flooring seems to be in at least some of the rooms. (Why flooring before paint? Who knows)

The dock appears to still be in. Ice will correct that soon enough.

PICTURES:

an update

An update without pictures because who cares what things actually look like, am I right?!

According to the builder, the charcoal grey shake siding has been replaced with the "indigo" (grey blue) that we ordered. No idea what it looks like, I guess that's a surprise for the spring!

In other exciting news, the sliding glass patio doors have also been installed, which means, at long last, that the cottage can be properly closed up against the elements. Praise jeebus.

No word on the status of our "add the bunky" amendment to our build permit.

Now we sit the long wait until spring. 

Hibernation time for the cottage.

Ice in

Well, ice is in the lake now, so I guess that's definitely it for the build this season! Enjoy some frosty lake photos unabashedly purloined from RiceLake IceBoat on fbook:

Bonus post: the bunky

 The post comes without pictures. It's a storytelling post.

So you might have noticed that we're rebuilding the cottage and nothing is being done about the peaky bunky that lives right next to the cottage. That's not by choice.

When we submitted our building plans - including rebuilding the bunky - to building department at the township, We communicated with them a bunch up front about the viability of rebuilding the bunky; it's larger than your usual 10x10 bunky, and, like the cottage itself, it's too close to the water. The environmental people had no objections to the plan, since there's already a building sitting there (it's not a new build).

In spite of our contact's assurances that there would be no problem getting the plans approved, the decision makers rejected the bunky. As it turns out, a tiny tyrant had recently come into power and was wreaking havoc on everyone's plans (thus says our builder, who was NOT a fan of this guy). After trying and waiting and considering options to end-run their objections (Make the bunky sans toilet - i.e. just a big ol' room, Make the bunky 10x10 or less, Connect the bunky to the cottage with a breezeway, Omit the bunky, and another option I can't remember right now) we needed to get moving on the cottage build, and the bunky was holding everything up. So we pulled the bunky from the application, it was almost immediately approved, and we ended up where we are today.

Now, since all of that nonsense, Lord Farquaad at the township left/got sacked not sure which. It doesn't honestly matter, because the end result is we're not battling the tiny tyrant anymore. The bunky plan is being added back to the plans via an amendment that will need to go thru the approvals process again.

Cross your fingers that the bunky is approved! If so, it will delay the installation of our septic because they septic dude doesn't want to be driving construction equipment over the septic bed. But it will be the ideal solution to the plan we originally wanted to execute.

We Have Walls!

 Here's a dump of photos from our builder. The panelling is going up inside the cottage. We can't use drywall because of the 3-season nature of the place (MOLD), so we're going with GOS wood panels that will have a faux board-and-batten treatment. 

I think the latest update on the borked exterior gable siding is that it will remain up for the winter while builder/supplier/manufacturer knock heads to sort out/correct the error. At least the walls will be covered for the "absent" season.

Pity his camera is such poop.

R's bedroom:

Great room from "hall" facing side door:

Great room from side door facing front:

Great room from side door facing "hall". I'm putting "Hall" in quotes because it's really just a junction of doorways. Not so much a Hall.

Great room from front facing kitchen:

I think this one is the master bedroom looking up at the loft wall (still showing studs)

A's room

Bathroom. We opted for Shiplap (hock*ptooey*) in here because board and batten doesn't play nice around wall fixtures like vanities, etc. I hate shiplap.

This is..... I think this is R's room looking towards the "hall"

Based on the side light, I think this one is A's bedroom.

Yep, A's bedroom.

siding?!?!

Well the gable siding is in. Too bad it's the wrong freaking colour!!!

Gah.

Not sure what happens now, but it better be fixed.

Please enjoy this foggy-day photo of the gunmetal Grey siding shake that is supposed to be a lighter grey-blue.

 That's a no for me, dawg.

last update for 2022?

This might be the last update of 2022 unless our builder shares pictures with us.

The Captain ventured to the cottage today to put away the canoe/kayaks and pull the boat out of the water for the season. It was supposed to be "take out the dock" weekend as well, but mother nature took care of that for us. It's ripped right off the shoreline section!

She also decided our new neighbours a few doors down didn't need a boat. Sorry new neighbours, welcome to the island!

We're going to be leaving the increasingly dilapidated dock in the water for the builder this fall. He's going to take it out when he stops work for the season. I guess we need a new dock next year. We were hoping our next dock would be cantilevered, but I'm not sure that's going to happen in time for next year! Arg.

Here are some progress pics of the cottage. Ceilings are in. Bathroom walls have wood. Apparently the remaining metal roof has arrived, as has the GOS plywood for the walls. We're doing a faux board and batten on the walls since drywall isn't an option.

no progress?

It doesn't look like much much has happened since last time. We popped over to the cottage today to empty out the slanty bunky. After the roof caved in last winter, we've been limping along storing a lot of our junk in there during construction, but there's no way it could last another winter. We moved a crapton of junk into the under-cottage crawlspace. At least it's dry! We'll still need to cull and re-organize once construction is complete, but for now it's not getting moldy.

Now that bunky can get demo'd. We plan to put up a new, bigger garden shed in that spot.

Some pictures that don't show much:

View from water. Still no siding or sliding doors. Arg.

Empty slanty. Grotey mouse nest amid the floor. This bunky was full to the roof with stuff.

The caved in ceiling in the back room of slanty. That little bit of blue you can see? Ya, that's sunlight shining through the tarp covering the hole. Anything in here is going to the dump. 🤢🤮

Some random pics, including possible paint colours (Benjy moore Chantilly lace and grey sky), and dangling Nut Jobs.

One unexpected perk of the build is the liveable space under the front porch. I hadn't expected that. I think it's going to get turned into a patio/sitting area to replace our lower dock, and our docks will just be stairs down to the dock length, rather than having a shoreline platform. We'll need to sort out boat lift storage still.

racing the clock

A few updates for this weekend.

We're getting down to the wire for this season. The boat needs to come out of the water soon!

The siding has finally arrived for the bottom of the cottage. It's a faux stone vinyl siding.

The doors now lock (although the sliding doors are still missing, so security is moot.)

The wood stove has arrived, along with flooring and interior doors.

And the wood paneling is going up in the ceiling. (Loft shown here).

incremental changes

The changes at the cottage are getting less drastic, but no less exciting. Electrical and plumbing is in, insulation is in. We're still waiting on those danged sliding doors, but have been buying lots of other things: shower stall, toilet (TOILET!!! T-O-I-L-E-T!!!!!!!), interior doors, door handles, exterior lights, faucets, woodstove, flooring...it's an endless barrage of decisions. The credit card is melting.

Here are a few photos: