Hickory cabinets

Cabinet door made from hickory.

Another door

Bonnie paid a visit to cabinetmaker, John Battershell's shop in Hicksville OH today and was pleased with the progress on our cabinets. They will be ready next week though we won't be ready to have them installed at that time...but it won't be long!

John doesn't often have a customer who tells him to build their cabinets with his scraps...the pieces of hickory that other people don't want...the pieces with the darker colors, knotholes, and the more interesting grains, and Bonnie felt he was almost as excited to be building these cabinets as we are to have him doing them. If we haven't mentioned before in this blog, the reason John was chosen to be our cabinetmaker is that his brother, Tom, has worked for Bonnie for many years. Tom suggested that Bonnie give John an opportunity to quote our cabinets. We certainly didn't expect to be able to afford custom-made cabinets, and especially not hickory, but it all worked out. The cabinets will be the focal point of the cottage, the first thing you will notice when you walk in, and they will be the star of the show. Everything else we have chosen for the cottage...paint colors, flooring...were chosen so that they would not detract from the cabinets.

We continue to wait for resolution of the claim for the ice storm damage to the camper. The insurance company has settled with us for the damage to the Portable Porch. They claimed to have never received the estimate for the damages to the camper which Roger faxed to them 2 weeks ago. Roger was kind enough to fax them a second time yesterday morning along with a copy to Bonnie. According to Kathy's conversation with Roger on Monday, he feels that the camper will be totaled because the cost to fix it is so high. We hope to settle soon and will not, of course, be purchasing another camper but will, instead, put the money into the cottage.

Jonathan already has someone who will be wanting to move on to our lot at the campground this spring. Bonnie has offered to sell those people the small storage building and deck still on the lot. If they do not want it, we will move them to The Farm. That would entail taking the deck apart which is something we would not relish doing. And we would be needing to do that in a timely manner so that the new campers could move on to the lot.

Mud

Drywall taped and with a layer of mud.

Yesterday was a very trying and tiring day at The Farm. We met Builder Mike after lunch and had more decisions to make than we had anticipated.

One decision was what to do with the stairway. Originally we were going to carpet the loft and the stairway leading to it. Mike built the stairs to suit this plan. Now, of course, we are putting cork flooring in the loft and plan on painting the stairs and putting a runner up the middle. Mike, who is very particular about his work, explained to us that he had not put a grade of wood on the stairway good enough for the change of plans. Long story short, Mike will be pulling up the stairway to the loft and replacing the wood (both the treads and the risers) with a better grade of lumber, rounding the front edges, and making the stairs wider to fill in some gaps that were on each side of the stairs. We should have a much better product to paint.

We appreciate that most of the contractors we have hired have taken ownership of the cottage and are extremely proud of their work, often bringing others with them to show off their handiwork. Mike falls into the category of those who take extreme pride in their work. When he walks away from the cottage for the last time at the end of the project, we are sure he will want to be completely satisfied with every aspect of the cottage that he had any part in creating.

Whenever we have driven to the cottage on the weekends to check on the work, we ALWAYS find everything neat and tidy. We appreciate that.

Some of the things Mike has done that have gotten our attention are very minor, but they prove our point about his pride in his craftsmanship. His neatness is just one of them. His ability to discuss options for problematic situations without making us feel like we are stupid is another. We are pleased with our working relationship with Mike and our ability to talk about what is best for us and for the cottage. He listens to us. He knows our goals. He tries to make them happen but will tactfully point out if he feels there is a better way. We are all able to compromise without compromising the project. We all want the same thing: the best use of space and materials at the best price.

When the openings under the front porch had to be addressed, Mike MADE the hinges in his shop that would be sturdy enough to hold the heavy doors he made using the Nichiha siding. And yesterday, when we were discussing the opening between the front porch and the main part of the cottage, Mike never told us that he felt a storm door wouldn't look right. He waited until Kathy worked her way back to wanting a dutch door, and then he offered to make it for us in his shop, complete with ledge on the top of the bottom half. It was only after all the decisions had been made about the door that he said that he didn't feel the storm door was appropriate for the statement we were wanting to make about the cottage. Respect. Trust. They are very important when working with your builder.

Which brings us to something that Kathy feels needs to be addressed. Remember that Kathy was (in another life) the editor of a newspaper where she reported facts and attempted to keep all emotion out of her reporting. We want to be able to talk about the cottage in this blog and report the facts. With that in mind, Kathy wants to state that as happy as she was with the sprayed fiberglass insulation and batting on the main floor of the cottage and in the sleeping loft, she was equally disappointed with the quality of the work in the basement. To her eye, the quality of the work and the materials in the basement was not nearly as good as the above grade work.*

We have not seen Denny and Barbara for several weekends now and hope they have not been ill. A stop at their homestead or a phone call might be in order.

Yesterday we purchased a sink for the upstairs bathroom, a shelf for the upstairs bathroom that will go over the toilet, all towel racks, toilet paper holders, all faucets, a light for under the glass cabinets over the bar, and the kitchen sink. Today we purchased our ceramic tile and grout, two toilets and a couple of smoke detectors.

Mike will be picking up the bamboo and cork flooring from Lumber Liquidators, saving us the trip and trouble (they don't deliver) and we will be having the toilets, tile and grout delivered by Menards.

*This paragraph was edited because Kathy could not keep her emotions out of her reporting and went into great detail about all that she was unhappy with re. the insulation of the basement. Bonnie convinced her that to say that the quality of the insulation work in the basement was inferior to that of the work above grade was sufficient. Sometimes less is more. Thanks, Bonnie. Even editors need an editor. ; )

Drywall is up!

View of what will be kitchen and bar. Stairs lead to sleeping loft.

View of dining area of country kitchen. Porch/living room is through opening.

Cats requested (and it was approved!) a 7" window ledge on picture window

for bird watching, catnaps, and sunning themselves.

It was definitely difficult for Kathy to pull herself away from the cottage this past weekend. What a difference drywall makes! And it was all up, waiting to be taped and mudded this week. Ryan followed us into the drive. He was at the cottage to fill up a heater with kerosene. And here's the thing...we were comfortable with no heat on in the main part of the house. There was an electric heater on in the basement, and the kerosene heater (also in the basement) came on once while we were there for only a couple of minutes. So we are extremely pleased with the insulation. Bonnie did a great job researching and selecting the kinds of insulation and the installer. In this case, Mike The Builder, (not to be confused with the even more popular Bob The Builder), actually gave Bonnie a brochure on the blown-in fiberglass insulation and the name of the company in the area (Morsches Builders Mart in Columbia City IN, see previous post) who worked with it.

We meet with Mike this coming Saturday to deliver the paint and a drawing that tells which color goes on which walls. We are discussing which paint to put on the front porch/living room, and there are some other decisions to be made - like about what to put on the loft stairway. And there are items like plumbing fixtures to purchase. Hopefully, this will be the last major shopping trip. We should have just about everything purchased after the sinks, toilets, faucets, etc., have been secured.

Bonnie has purchased the Hydro-Sil heaters for the cottage. She was able to purchase two scratch and dent units for a savings. As warm as the cottage was last weekend, we are now concerned that the gas fireplace we purchased will roast us out even at its lowest setting! Bonnie has talked about putting it in the basement, which will eventually be converted to living space, but Kathy considers it a piece of art and thinks it should still go in the country kitchen. So that is still a debatable issue.

Bonnie also purchased the flooring...the bamboo and cork...which is in stock and just waiting for us to pick it up and haul it to the cottage.

The cats feel that they scored a major coup by getting Bonnie to agree to a 7" window ledge along the picture window. (Kathy will attempt to purchase or have a pad made for it.) Tacumwah, Marquette and Possum are excited about being able to bird watch, catnap and sun themselves on the ledge.

Discussion continues about where the animals should be housed. For now it appears that the dogs will be in the basement. It has plenty of light with 3 windows and double glass doors. We have two older dogs who could have trouble with stairs. Mille, Little Bear and Gizmo can be let out the double doors to potty in the back yard and not have to mess up the front yard (when we have one!) and won't have to go up or down stairs to get out. Of course, Kathy will have to go down two flights of stairs to let Millie out at 5 a.m. as is her habit.

The bird, Gennie, will go on the front porch unless Kathy can convince Bonnie that she would be happier in the basement near the doors with the dogs, with whom she has lived for the past several years.

The cats will have the main floor of the cottage and the loft. All of this will be subject to reassignment as the years go by and the pet dynamics change.

Insulation!

Truck with spray foam insulation and batting.

Click on photos to enlarge.

Front porch with railings.

Back of cottage. All siding is up.

Under front porch.

Spraying the foam.

Rolling the foam.

A finished room - downstairs bathroom. Pocket door hardware is on at right.

Basement balls were batted except for W side which was sprayed.

Batting in ceiling.

Where to begin?

On Tuesday the rough wiring, plumbing and the framing were inspected and passed.

On Wednesday the insulation was begun. Kathy arrived at the cottage just as the workmen were finishing the spray foam insulation. It was fascinating to watch. The foam was directed between the studs and created a heavy snow storm. One man directed the foam while the second vacuumed up all the excess. Then a roller was rolled down the studs to remove all the excess foam and leave a nice, smooth surface. The roller was electric. Kathy wondered if it was also heated but did not ask. Only a little batting was up in the loft. Morsches' Builders Mart in Columbia City did the work. The spray foam insulation they use is called UltraFit DS. It is fiberglass spray-on insulation and is Energy Star Compliant and Greenguard Certified for indoor air quality.

The railing on the front porch was up and was very nicely done. The back porch will probably not go up until the rest of the backfill has been completed in that area of the yard.

Kathy took many photos of the cottage the past two days. Bonnie says she uploads too many to the blog, but Kathy says more is better and, after all, it is Kathy who takes the photos and updates the blog, with Possum's help, of course.

A return trip to the cottage today showed that the insulation work had been finished with the batting completed. The spray foam insulation was damp and a heater was on on the porch. The estimate is still that the drywalling can begin on Wed., allowing for extra time for the insulation to dry since it is so cold.

The photo of the space under the porch was taken before the batting was put up today. The area under the porch did not look as uneven as we thought it might be, so maybe smoothing it out in the spring and laying a vapor barrier and some stone will go easier than originally anticipated.

The first of the Hydro-Sil heaters arrived at our Villa in The Fort on Tuesday. This is the only portable one Bonnie purchased. We will try it out here in our Villa in our four-seasons room to see how it works. It will, most likely, be used in the basement of the cottage. The rest of the permanent Hydro-sil baseboard heaters have not, as yet, been ordered.

The vent-free fireplace arrived a while ago and Bonnie received a call about a delivery date. We are weeks away from being able to receive it at the cottage as it would just be in the way. We are still discussing what type of flooring we will set it on. It will not sit directly on the bamboo.

The camper was pulled out on Monday but no word on it yet. Denny was kind enough to pick up and store Bonnie's tarp in his smaller barn which houses our tiller and a few of our other items.

We were asked to make a trip to the cottage on Tuesday night to make certain everything was to our satisfaction before the insulation team arrived on Wednesday. Icy roads slowed us down and we also forgot a large flashlight, but we were able to determine that everything was fine and that the insulation could proceed.

An LP gas tank was at the cottage on Tuesday evening. Kathy never did receive a quote from Andy so was surprised to see the tank there. The lines for it have not been run. No hurry on that since the appliances that will use it aren't ready to install.

There is no water up to the cottage yet and no outside spigots. Again, there is no place for it to go once it gets to the house; i.e., sinks, toilets.

John Battershell was at the cottage Monday and found the studding was fine for the cabinets he will be making and that no more needed to be added.

There was a slight hiccup over the air-conditioner. Apparently no one had opened the box to see what was in it, and the sleeve that holds it in the wall was not part of package. Mike had to resize the opening and Bonnie had to call and order the sleeve which was supposed to arrive yesterday. Instead, a very expensive box of foam pieces arrived. A definite misunderstanding. So Bonnie ordered the sleeve at Amazon.com and thinks they might also be able to use the foam pieces.

Saying goodbye....

Three sides of the cottage are now sided.

Another angle. E and N sides.

S side of cottage.

We had to go empty the camper today and receive the dishwasher at the cottage. The dishwasher was delivered before the 2:15 delivery time. Luckily, Rex and Leann were working on the plumbing and electrical and Denny saw the truck and walked over to help. They had it inspected, signed for and stowed in the basement by 2:00, before we made it back!

We put some things from the camper into Denny's outbuilding and the rest came home with us. There are some things still on the lot we will need to take to the farm or dispose of, but at least the camper is ready to be pulled out by Roger on Monday, weather permitting.

Also on Monday the wiring and plumbing will be inspected and the cabinet maker will visit the cottage to take his measurements and get a feel for the place. In addition, the gutters and downspouts go up on Monday as well as the rest of the siding.

Denny had been back to the camper and broken down the damaged portable porch into smaller, more manageable pieces. Thanks, Denny!

So next week will be a busy one at the farm. Stay tuned!

Note: In the excitement of the continuing progress on the cottage there is also the sadness of saying goodbye to the camper. It gave us such pleasure for several years. We would walk in after a week of work and feel so relaxed. We both slept better there, and the dogs just loved it. Kathy's mother enjoyed staying overnight in it. Kathy's son, KJ, and his family used it once (and got hit by lightning while in it!), and we met Pam Flannery and her family who camped next to us and became like a sister to us. So many wonderful memories!