It Was the Best of Times; It Was the Worst of Times

I can't say I wasn't warned about this, because I was.

It's that time when most of the big stuff is done, particularly on the outside of the house. It's also the time when most of the stuff that is being worked on is on the inside--the wiring, the plumbing, the insulation, the drywall, the painting, the moving in.

Ok, ok, I'm getting a little ahead of myself.

But the wiring is almost done, the plumbing is roughed in and the insulation will be going in next week.

So in lieu of closeups of wires and pipes, I'll stretch what little credibility I have to show you some of the things still going on on the outside.

Well, there's some new posts on the front porch.

And some of the detail work on those posts has been completed.

And the stucco base has been applied and almosts circles the house.

Maybe next time will be pictures of wires and pipes.

A Post About Posts (And Some Other Stuff)

Four of those big honkin' cedar posts were installed today, giving the front porch a feeling of substance.

And we needed it today, too.

In about 21.8 hours we went from summer, skipped autumn and are in the early stages of winter. At least it feels like it.

This sudden and unwelcome change was accompanied by fierce winds, a deluge of biblical proportions, and stuff roiling through the air.

Did it deter the duck hunters? In a word, no.

Ann had a gathering of the Inalienables and we all we glued to the windows watching the stuff march across the marsh. We were enthralled. (When I say 'we' that doesn't include Emma. She was anything but enthralled; more like scared spitless.)

I have always wanted a house where I could be out in the weather and stay dry. With these big overhangs and the large front porch, my wishes were realized.

I tried to capture the force of the water coming off the roof, but had to stick my head out in the rain to capture it, but only succeeded in soaking it; my head that is.

Stucco and Ducks

For fear of jinxing this weather, it has been another in a long series of beeeeeeeeeeeautiful days here in the northwooods. The only downside is that we haven't had any rain since September 8 and things are dangerously dry.

But the work on the house proceeds steadily. Below you can see that the stucco base has been applied and is ready for the actual mud.

The stucco run spans the back of the house.

And the metal roof has been applied to the north side of the garage and a portion of the south.

A closeup of the stucco base is shown below. Hey! I remember staining that board.

Of course I must add the obligatory Northwoods nature shot--this on Highway D on the way to Hazelhurst.

Last weekend was the opening of duck hunting season, inaugurated with the youth hunt. Emma was traumatized. She was so shook, her teeth were chattering for some time.

This weekend the duck hunt begins in earnest. Lawn chairs will emerge, pontoon boats equipped with radios and beer and guns. All manner of looney behavior will be exhibited.

And guns will blast loudly.

So we're taking off for Duluth with Emma for the weekend. Maybe things will calm down by Sunday evening.

Lots O' Activity Today

Our stretch of exceptional weather continues and seems to be getting even better (if that's possible). As a result things are really getting cranked out. Below is a shot of the base course, sort of a horizontal wrap around the house, highlighted in beautiful russet.

And the ceiling in both the front porch and the screen porch in the back is complete.

From across the marsh.

Emma answers the door.

This next picture is of my favorite part of the house. Tim from Marshfield came up today with lots and lots of samples to choose from. Take a look at his website here to get a feel for this unique material.

Fortunately for us all, the drywaller was in house as well. So they spoke to each other in a language unfamiliar to most of us present.

For now it looks like the top sample and combination will be for the living room/dining room/kitchen and the bottom sample will be for the bedroom upstairs.

I can't wait.

Our Staining Job Makes Its Debut

After the endurance test of staining half of the cedar planks pruned from the Northwest Peninsula of the state of Washington, we can now take a step of two back and watch the guys go to work, not to mention admire our own.

The garage is almost a garage now, needing only lights a door and opener as well as some hardware.

But it came out terrific don't you think? We wanted it to blend in with the surrounding woods and believe that we achieved our goal.

And here is the beginning of the band course that will give the house more of a horizontal feel.

The guys have laid out the height that the stone will rise.

And if you look very closely you can see that the stone will wrap around the back corner of the house, but the rest of the wall will be the dark walnut stained cedar.

My Mind is Cluttered with (Not So) Worthless Information

Some where I read or heard or learned that whenever we human beings estimate the time it would take to complete a task, we should multiply it by 3 because it invariably, for whatever reason, takes three times longer than anticipated.

I thought the staining would take about three days and use about 6 gallons of stain. It took 9 days and 18 gallons of stain. This despite the yeoman-like efforts of Kurt and Ann. Or maybe it was because of the efforts of Kurt and Ann.

We ended up using the dark walnut stain for the garage and the cedar siding. We used Russett for the trim and ceiling of the porches.

While the colors didn't exactly match what we saw, working with the stain was easy and smelled good too.

Here Kurt finishes the front of the garage; Ann supervises.

Kurt touches up the last little spot above the garage door . . .
. . . and then admires his handiwork.
Judging by the comments and the emails I received it appears that the audience is split regarding whether or not to put in a window (see previous post).

And one would think there is little to no middle ground on an issue like this. But leave it up to Charlie to come up with one. He suggested framing in the window; living in the house for a while; and then add it if we think it works.

This is where we are leaning for the moment anyway.

Thank you for all your suggestions (except for you, Jeff); they were insightful (except for yours, Jeff) and helpful.

Your Assistance Once Again is Requested

We've had some intense lobbying by various friends two family members to add a window to the west facing wall overlooking the marsh.

Here's what it currently looks like.
Here's the wall with the proposed additional window looking southwest across the dining room.

From the dining room.

From the kitchen.

And from the deck.

So here are the pro's and con's of adding a window at this location.

PRO'S

Takes greater advantage of the view.

More light.

CON'S

More light (greater intensity in the summer.)

Less insulation value of wall.

View is somewhat obstructed by deck.

Less room for erthclay.

A row of windows is Northwoods trite.

Extra cost.

So here's what we need from you. In the comment section please voice your opinion about adding the window or leaving as is. If your opinion is to add the window, what's the maximum you would pay to add such a window?

Please bend to this task as soon as . . .

Plugging Along

The kitchen begins to take shape.
Kurt's determination, skill and knowledge conquers yet another building.

The bookcase frame in the living room with its back to the staircase appears.

Kurt Attempts Theft of Natural Resources

Typical of many visitors from the Southern area of our country, my brother Kurt believed he could drive his Buick cross country, over the river and through the woods. Unfortunately the woods won. Fortunately for Kurt, it didn't puncture the radiator. But unfortunately for Kurt, we teased him unmercifully.

He wanted to take this back home as a souvenir but we thought that he might end up skewering critters along the way.



Our staining project met with Bob's approval and the installation of the fascia and the shadowboard is already near completion. Here Bob installs the shadowboard along the southern edge of the house.


Dennis cuts the next piece while Bob tacks up his previous slice.

I must put in a plug for the stain that we are using. Ann has been scouring the internet for 'green' products and stain is traditionally one of the most 'ungreen'--petroleum based and stinky.

After examining any number of products she concluded that Timber Ox met her criteria--non-petroleum, but bio based stain. Any details you wish may be seen by clicking here.

But here's the one detail that means the most to me: the stuff smells like citrus. It was the singular most satisfying staining experience I have ever had--especially watching Kurt get it all over him.

Over the weekend visitors commented on its unique quality. And the stuff looks really, really good.

We will be using it on our interior as well once we begin negotiations with one another.

Stains 'R Us

After a long and heartfelt debate, much gnashing of teeth and sleepless nights, Walnut #9 won out as the stain of choice.

Here Kurt graciously agreed to model the stain for all to see.

Mya demonstrates her approval.

On the left is the sample we made our decision from. On the right is the completed board. It doesn't even look like the sample, to my eye.

Here's what we accomplished on Day #1--78 boards front and back.

Walnut (#9) Wins Out

OK, here's Charlie's rendition of the house with WALNUT stain. Understanding that no rendition is perfect, we're going to go with this look. For those of you who would wish for a lighter cast, we have these things called winter that appear every year. So we're looking for warm any where we can get it.

In other news, progress continues at break neck speed, despite all the sidewalk superintendents that show up from time to time either via driveway or the river. Here are Jay (l) and Dennis (r) working up high.

And Jay finds a precarious perch to nail in these things, whatever they're called.

Bob opened up the stairway yesterday giving the space less of a roller rink feeling.

And the downstairs also is framed in as well as the windows facing the marsh on the ground floor.

As always, click here for more pictures of the project sprinkled with the occasional other diversion.

A Stain on Us All

Well, that worked out not very well. I think every stain was mentioned at least once, except for the ones we were leaning toward.

In all fairness, since the last picture, we put some samples of the shingles, the metal roof and the rock/brick exterior up next to the samples and landed on #8 (Redwood). I also did a sample of the rough sawn side, which will also need sealing and most of the colors came out dark.

To complicate matters, the garage, which also needs staining, is a rough sawn exterior which will certainly melt the garage into the woods.

So we are all poised here waiting for Ann to get off the phone with our builder, his assistant, his CFO Denise who are also weighing in on the stain color with #9.

For my part I went through the same thought process as Wendy. To wit: Step 1--'I'm not good at this stuff.' Step 2--the lighter stains. Step 3--the darker stains.

Ann wants tinges of red to come through.

All the time I picture Kurt poised in his driveway with the car running and his hand on the transmission shifter waiting to go to Mundelein or Libertyville to pick up the stain. The stain manufacturer is pacing back and forth among 5 gallon buckets waiting for us to decide upon the color. At the same time the builders are at the ready with their hammers to put up the siding.

Welcome to the Houthbuilding challenges.

Oh, yeah, I've got to order the in-house vacuum system this morning and get some materials for staining.

The First (and Only) Pick a Stain Contest

Welcome to the first pick a stain contest. The stains are numbered 1-9 left to right. Pick your favorite and mention it in the comments. Contest ends at 8 am on Tuesday, September 8.

One of the guys, Jay, pulled up sick today after taking his family to Pizza Hut last night. We hope he (and his family) are feeling better today. It's scheduled to be a terrific weekend up here in the Northwoods. It certainly would be a great weekend for staining!

With one guy down, Bob and Dennis made a valiant effort at getting all the windows in. They did well to get virtually all the windows in on the main floor.

Here one of the homeowners checks things out.

And the view from the pier is looking suspiciously like the renderings.

Today Ann took an excursion up to Conover to meet with our kitchen designer to pick out some appliances. I think you'll find them (ahem) unique. Here's one. It uses about 2 gallons of water per load, will be soundless (at least until I get hearing aids), but the selling point was this:

When one of the sales guys was in training for these units, they put a whole carrot cake in their and it cleaned the plate. Little did he know that I was hiding behind the unit.

'Swindows!

Ann took charge of feeding and letting out the chickens early this morning, so I got the pleasure of Emma's company on our morning stroll.

Ann had told me when we crossed paths this morning that the first window was installed. (We take what might be considered as over-the-top joy at such occurrences.) So I was very anxious to see what they looked like.

When Emma and I rounded the bend near the fire pit, my heart exploded with joy (See? Hyperbole? I don't think so.)

The shadows in the above picture are fairly stark, but I think you can make out the windows on the Martin porch and if you squint hard and strain your eyesight, you should be able to make out the windows in the back of the house, specifically the color.

Notice how the reddish tint on the window sets off the bright tape on the Tyvek giving it that substantial and secure feel. The red tape is one additional measure of protection and service used by the professional installers to insure homeowners receive the best value.

Can you tell we've been reading brochures? Lots of them?

Progressives in the House

After a quick trip to Madison, we gathered up Emma, anxious to see the progress the guys made today. And what progress there was.

The scaffolding was installed so that the exterior plywood and Tyvek could be put in place.

and remains in place so that the windows that arrived today can be installed.

It makes the view out the living room a little funny, but the yellow haze had a nice effect indoors.

And in other arrivals, these big honkin' cedar posts came to support the roofs over the front porch and the Martin porch.