Final floor

Hello all. Some observant readers noticed in the last post reference to a big project and wondered what that might be? Well after a couple months we were ready to tackle installing the last floor. Regular readers will be able to narrate the next steps along with us.

Clearing out the room took a bit more time than usual. This was the room where we'd stored much of our renovation materials and tools. Finishing the garage was a big help here and other items got scattered throughout the house, allowing us to clean and lay down red rosin paper.

Oh well there was one thing we couldn't relocate--the floor boards we planned to install.

Actually as we transferred the boards to the far side of the room--we knew we wanted to start on the side with the door to be flush with the threshold--we took some of the spare to its final holding place in the garage. Even the pile we left in the room was at least 25% more than we needed for the room.

Then it was a process of select board-hammer board into position-nail board in place-repeat.

Inch-by-inch (technically 3.25-inch by 3.25-inch board) we marched across the room.

When we got to doorway for the closet we took a detour to install a threshold there and lay the boards in the closet. That way the threshold would have a solid foundation on the inside and would be less likely to move when we hammered boards in the rest of the room into place.

Then we could push on to the outer wall. After that several rounds of sanding, cleanup, and polyurethane turned this...

Into this...

And finally once we installed and painted the baseboard we had a complete room!

We have miles to go before we sleep, but it feels really good to have this part of the renovation complete.

Until next time.

Willkommen

Hello all. When you're gearing up for some bigger jobs it can be nice to tackle something smaller, more manageable. The sense of accomplishment can be just the jolt needed to build momentum.

With the mud room upgraded, we wanted to add a few last touches. After all this would be how many people enter the Cottage. As we unpacked the letters we had a little trouble.

That didn't seem right. Perhaps too Welsh.

Again close but not exactly what we intended. Perhaps a tad Scottish.

Now to see what it looked like all together.

There. That did it. And Mother Nature provided a coup de grace.

Until next time.

All-weather garage

Hello all. With the Cottage rounding into shape we took a small diversion to tackle a secondary project.

The place came with a nice, oversized garage complete with upper level. It seemed a shame to leave that all to lawn tools, cart, and other sundries. Besides we thought it would be more functional if we could be in the garage year-round. That would require a few changes, much of which we were able to outsource.

As a reminder this is what things looked like when we bought the place (although the previous owners cleared out most of the stuff).

It was a fairly standard plywood and 2x4 construction. Our first step was to insulate the walls and roof.

 

Then we had the same crew drywall the walls (still figuring out what to do in the upper part).

We had installed heat pumps in anticipation of the insulation and they were a big help keeping the space warm enough to dry the plaster. Once that was complete it was our turn to finish the job. First it needed a coat of primer and a couple coats of paint. The areas around the window, door, and fuse box will need some sort of trim to cover up the rough edges of the drywall.

Then we spent some time organizing and straightening up. Isn't the old saying, "A cluttered garage is a sign of a cluttered mind"? Or something like that. We found a place for everything and everything in its place.

Until next time.