On the verge of a Rehabbin’ Cabin epiphany. While working on the steps from the back door, I had a distinct thought: this is not me. Meaning: as much as I’ve enjoyed the renovation — and I do particularly enjoy the rough carpentry — it’s not something I want to do forever. Not for a …
Unofficially, we’re in the house and out of the camper. Notably, we emptied the storage ‘pods’ (U-Boxes) and they’re getting picked up on Tuesday. And my dad might visit Thursday! But one of the driving forces behind the latest moves is the weather: snow tonight and tomorrow, and temps around 20F on Monday night. It’s …
We love you, we really do. It is such great fun to know that people near and far, connected through curious and curiouser ways, are following our travails and wishing us well. It’s Been Two Weeks When last we met, Mark had parachuted in to get us rolling with our vinyl siding. Well, he worked …
Exit Tim, enter Mark… Mark, often referred to in these pages, is a good friend of Marsh’s sister and a pro builder. He did the original inspection on this house, gave us our first prioritized direction for starting the rehab, rebuilt the load-bearing beam in the basement, and loaned us tools, ladders, and trash barrels, …
Brother-in-law Tim returned to us on Friday and is still here on Monday night. That’s devotion (or insanity). But with great gratitude I tried very hard to let him do the high stuff so I wouldn’t reinjure my shoulder. We all three worked 10-hour days and continued to make incredible progress on the interior. Here …
Oh yes… when last we met, this was the imminent to-do list. It has been slaughtered. Demolished. It is an ex-to-do list. It is pining for the to-do list fjords. close up all remaining gaps and fissures (mostly between main house and porch) patch some tyvek and flashing that has deteriorated, letting rain in rerun …
We’ve been living on the edge for 10 months now. Ten months ago today was when we looked at our lives and said, okay, let’s do this thing. The day before, John had gotten laid off from the corporate thing, and we knew we had to make some big decisions. Why not add career and …
Today, 6 p.m.: Earlier Today, about 3 p.m.: This Morning: This Evening: During The Day: The LAST pieces of boarding board from the second lot of rough-sawn that we ordered from our local lumberyard, cut and ready to go up on the porch face. In between working on the porch windows and wall, I got …
Before: After (in progress): More of the story When we first saw the house, the sun porch with its solid bank of windows was a memorable feature and one of the things that commended the whole venture to us. But you’ll notice: they aren’t really windows. They’re gaps. Open air. In a wall framed with …
Or three days, rather? I struggle a bit, secretly, with deciding when or what is enough. The so-called eight-hour business day is very ingrained. Our contractors have typically started at 8:30 and quit around 3:30. When we started doing full days ourselves of physical labor, 3:30 was a very welcome stopping point — when the …