LET IT SNOW!

Early December 2007.

(naked snowman)

We got our first big snowy weekend on Twin Buck Hill and we yelled BRING IT ON because we now have insulation! It's a combination of blown foam and batting. Ummmm...toasty!!

Yeah, BRING IT ON old man winter - we also have fire.

The fireplace insert ...ugh. The only bad apple of the bunch. We ordered a beautiful fireplace insert and unfortunately hired the wrong guy to install it. I feel bad even talking about it here so I won't mention any names. It's been nothing but headaches for us on this one.
Hey, but it did pass inspection ?!

1. Delay in delivery.
2. Gouged and marked up bare wood on front porch when delivered.
3. Delay in installation - gives us dates and never shows or calls.
4. Incorrect pipe brought to install (pipe would void warranty if had been installed??).
5. Delay while waiting for correct pipe to be shipped.
6. Watch while 15 elbows were used to connect from base to chimney pipe straight run (huh?).
7. Receive bill for different pipe and 15 elbows which he didn't anticipate using.
8. Argue over bill - new pipe was originally included in estimate, 15 elbows weren't necessary.
9. Fix run to chimney pipe while reading manufacturers guide on site.
10. Installed fire block in wrong place.
11. Discussed specific instructions for outside pan size and installation.
12. Installed incorrect size pan.
13. Obviously installed pan incorrectly because now we have a leak, see...

(Smoky still likes it)

(Four out of five above are licensed builders. Can you guess who isn't?)

From out of nowhere the blizzard blew in this amazing crew from Pioneer Construction (shown above) to help us out. What troopers. They came hours through the snow and stayed in our, let's just say, rustic-camp-like conditions. The newlyweds purchased their first air mattress, Wes and Cheryl got plenty of fresh air during their night time blizzard walks and Max was a humping fool. Oh yeah, and they managed to frame out the entire basement in one day - can you say amazing? What talented family we have, huh?



It was really fun to watch them in action. Wes has a true passion and talent for building and that became very apparent over the course of the weekend. "The Professor" can look at something and process it in just moments, keeping the work flowing while remaining calm and cool. Not to mention Jesse, Step and Cheryl who all have so much building experience under their tool belts - we hit the builders jackpot! They have turned our 2 bedroom, 2 bath cabin into a 3 bedroom, 3 bath cabin like it was nothing. We are so lucky to have such generous builders in the family and so grateful for all the help.

(meet Mr. AirConditioner and his new neighbor Mr. Generator)

Our builder team left but the framing still continued. With some 'build-by-numbers' instructions left by Wes we managed to frame out the fireplace hearth ourselves. Next, we built a small wall and a bump out in the master bath and a soffit in the master bedroom. Working with knowledgeable builders gave us a little confidence to get it done...or maybe it was the number to the Builder's Hotline Wes left with us? (wink, wink)


Dereck still hasn't heard back from the fireplace guy (it's been months now) who was supposed to be working on a solution for extending the pan size. D went ahead and rebuilt the fire stop himself. That's when we found the leak. No more messing around, we called in an expert. A guy from Traverse has already got a new pan ordered and will rip out the crap up there now and install the right pan properly.

IT'S A WRAP

Early November 2007.

Our ace staining crew. They worked for cheeseburgers, onion rings, hot chocolate and beer. Not too bad huh? Brushing against all odds - forecasts of rain and snow - we stained all the deckboards. The entire house was now completely stained and ready for winter. It was a tough road but somehow I knew way in the back of my mind it would get done. Thanks Jim and Cody for all your help, we couldn't have done it without you!

Wanna see all the Fall photos? Click here!

WE HEART STONE!

October 2007.

We used our stone budget for the entire house on just our chimney.

Crazy... yes, but we love stone.


It started out with a small sample patch...


...and grew into this giant, beautiful piece of art!


These three are responsible - Jeff, Bob and Reb.
I can't say enough about what a wonderful job they did (and super nice guys too). It truly is a piece of art and hands down my favorite thing about the cabin. We had planned on using faux cultured stone to keep our budget in check but neither D & I weren't thrilled with using anything fake anywhere. D ran into Jeff and he talked to us about the concept using a 'thinstone' - real stone that's been cut (easy to apply and didn't require any extra footings for weight). We were sold and it's amazing and so worth it!

THE STAIN GAME

October 2007.

Rain, rain, go away!

Murphy's Law: Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.

October's objective was to stain, stain, stain. But just because you schedule a vacation to get it done doesn't guarantee that the weather will cooperate. Remember how wet last October was? Well, this year seemed to be following the same pattern. UGH! Soooo the first week was scratched and I rescheduled my time off for the next week. And what did the forecast say for that week? You guessed it, more cold and rain. D and I were never going to get it done at this rate.

We used our time wisely though. With Jim D up to 'referee' we managed to get all the lights placed and ready for wiring. Who knew that lighting placement could make you want to KO your significant other? Then in an amazing two and a half days, D & the newly appointed Grandpa Dave just about wired the entire house. While a lot was getting done inside, the outside was always still in the back of our minds....

...so we called in the cavalry.

Gerard and his crew from Avalanche Log Homes swooped into save the day. They eked out a small string of decent weather days and with all their equipment and experience stained the entire house with 3 coats (2 coats of color and one coat of sealer). After watching all their efforts, D and I realized it would have been impossible for us to do the job on our own in one week with winter on our heels. Believe us, it was worth every penny!

While Gerard and the guys got down to business we jumped as well and stained all the rails and spindles. We couldn't let them have all the fun!

LET'S GO INSIDE

September 2007.

We didn't want to but my work got in the way of our scheduled exterior log and deck staining extravaganza. It was a must to get everything stained before winter but it would have to wait until October now. That made us nervous. So D jumped inside to keep the work rolling. With the help of some very talented and generous firefighter friends we got so much done...

(We're sleeping inside now! See the tent.)

All bow to Super Phy! The heating and cooling was done in about five days or so. We owe him a ton for this one. We now have air and heat. Check out the monster below...

Gary came back and worked with D to configure all the plumbing. They used a new "Pex" tubing instead of copper. It made the process easier and faster.

Everything had to go into the interior walls due to the exterior walls being full log. It wasn't easy and they are jammed packed!

All the hard work was worth it... yee haw!