Building The Love Shack

It seems like we should be so much farther ahead husband said. Yes it does, but then the Love Shack has been giving us challenges.

And in her normal fashion, she has given us another one.

This one is coming with a lot of hard work.

There was that very exciting day when the hot water got hooked up to the sink and I thought…Hallelujah …. I can finally wash the dishes at the cottage.

I know, who gets exited about washing dishes. Well me…. after thirteen months of bring the dishes home and washing them and bringing them back… I did a happy dance at the kitchen sink while I washed my first load of dishes.

Husband on the other hand was not doing a happy dance. When he was under the cottage adding water pipes, he noticed that there was a few of the support blocks that had few cracks in them.

Off him and Brad went to buy jacks to lift the house to fix those few cracked blocks. A few this can’t be that bad…..

With all the rain, the ground was too soft to lift the house. Each time they tried to jack up the house, instead of the house going up, the jacks sunk father into the ground. So we had to wait. We went back to finishing the bedrooms, because there is always work to be done and when you can’t do one thing, you work on another.

A couple of weeks have passed and the ground is dry enough to go under the house and fix those few cracked blocks and as it turns out….. OH BOY…

It seems the blocks that are cracked are sitting on more blocks that are cracked and there is a rotted beam under the house that needs to be re-pared too.

 

This what the blocks should not look like.

 

OH LOVE SHACK……. REALLY….

So last weekend the guys were under the house fixing some of the blocks. And next weekend… The guys will be under the house.  There will be more jacking up of the house and the old beam will be removed and replace it with a new one and more blocks will be changed.

 

This is what they look like when repaired.

 

It sounds like a lot of frustration… Well it is at times…. But lets look at what we have gotten done in thirteen months of only having weekends to do the work.

The house was gutted

Sub-floors were put in.

New electrical and the electrical panel was put in.

The framing and the dry wall and the electrical was put in for the bedrooms.

A new water system was put in.

The holding tank was repaired.

The new hot water tank is in.

The water pipes have been added.

Hot water was added into the bathroom and the kitchen.

New flooring was put in the bedrooms.

The Cast Iron Stove was put in and we have heat.

The leaking roof has been replaced.

The two bedrooms are completely finished.

The trees were pruned and the old dead one is now down.

A new lawn is being grown in the back yard.

A temporary garden has been started to hold the plants for the flower beds.

The deck got some new boards and two gates.

We have a make shift kitchen with appliance that work and you can actually sit in it to eat.

And we can actually stay at the cottage.

 

What’s going to happen next?

 

Those blocks will get finished.

The beam will get replaced.

A screen door and new lights will get put on the back door.

5 yards of Top-soil and the Bob-cat are scheduled to come in and fix the front lawn.

The old bathroom will get gutted and a new (temporary) bathroom will get built.

A fire pit will get built.

The trusses will be built in the center of the house and the new lighting will get put in the living-room.

And if there are anymore surprises, those will get fixed too.

 

You know those renovation shows. The ones where the contractor goes in and finds something else that has to be done. And those buy and repair cottage shows where it ends up costing them way above what they were planning to spend…. We are living those shows.

Is it frustrating? Yes, at times. But, it also rewarding.  The three-year project has turned into the four-year project. And, could possible go with being a five-year project.

It’s tiring. It’s hard work. And it is also gratifying.

On that happy note… We have been into every nook and cranny of the cottage. In the house, under the house and even under the ground. She has nowhere to hide anymore surprises. And on that note… I will say another Hallelujah …

When I asked the Weekend Warriors… Do you think we should have just bought the cottage that was finished. The answer to that question came quick.  It was … “NO… Look at what we have done and we have done it ourselves. And we made it our own.” That made me smile.

On the list of things that we have done, I left out the best part. The barbecues, the music, the conversation and the laughter. For that there is no price tag.