the Twin Buck Hill project

DEADLINE

2008-07-23T18:40:00.001-07:00

July 2008.

Time to celebrate? Not quite yet...

July held our last few stressful days to wrap it up before Marflax (who was wonderful to work with by the way - thank you!) came knocking on our door looking for the construction money we borrowed. So not only did we have to pass all of our building inspections but all of our mortgage work had to be tied up with a bow. UGH!

It was a lot to coordinate so the family made the trip to help. Papa came down from the UP and Addie took her first trip ever. She liked driving Little Red.

(Tyler, Ernie and D)

The things they can do with concrete - like make countertops. Tyler of Bay House Design in Traverse City created our awesome countertop. The work was done in his shop after taking all the measurements and it took about 4 weeks to cure. It's the perfect material to compliment our rustic kitchen. A big thanks to Tyler and his crew.

(D actually cooked in our new stove)

Although there were some bumpy moments things fell into place!

Champagne and Certificate of Occupancy!
I can't believe we actually did it!!

This really wouldn't have been at all possible if it hadn't been for all the talented people who worked with us and all the family and friends who gave us a hand. Especially Charlie and Linda. Without their willingness to work with us over the years we could have never made this happen. It's truly a dream come true for us and we are excited to share it with all of you!

In that red circle is the Blue Angels practicing for the Cherry Festival Air Show over Traverse City's West Bay. I took the picture from the front deck where we watched them all morning. We needed a closer look...

Buster is finally going home.

FLOOR WAR

2008-07-23T13:32:00.000-07:00

June 2008.

(robins before/robins after)

Floors meant we were closer to the end than the beginning. Floors meant we could take off our shoes and hide the subfloor that haunted us with memories of The Battle of the Tarps and mother nature's evil side. Neither of us realized these floors would cause a different war.

(Country Honey Ash installed/before)

Northern Michigan Hardwoods, Inc. pulled up their truck and delivered Country Honey Ash, pre-finished hardwood flooring for the entire cabin. I should have known by the name. I was enticed by the great price and swayed by the warehouse lighting. Beautiful product, super price, wrong color. I couldn't live with it. The hard part was telling D. He didn't take it well. But...

(we ripped it out)

...I did sway him.
What was it D said?
"...either I pay for it now or hear it the rest of my life."
Look at how happy he was reloading it all back into the truck and driving it back to the warehouse...

(Old Mission Maple installed/after)

This is the fabulous new Old Mission Maple which (D's first choice - ouch). Better, huh? Everything worked out. Ed at NMH was great and exchanged what we hadn't laid down and our mason took the stuff we carefully ripped up in exchange for future stone labor. Best of all our marriage lasted through it all. I think we're in it for the long haul!

Our cabinet guy, Dave - a true talent in the north. It was so long ago when we approached him about our cabin kitchen he probably thought we'd fallen off the face of the earth before we finally resurfaced, ready to go. He's done a brilliant job with our cabinets and came up with so many cool ideas that we would have never thought of. Did I mention his attention to details? He really cares about his work and it shows. We've really enjoyed getting to know him and his family. Oh - and he was so nice about taking out the cabinets he installed to allow us to change the flooring. He took it better than D did. Thank you Dave!!

(Check out the scribing detail around the logs)

(Custom chainsawed detailing by D)

We've also been very fortunate to work Eric and the rest of the guys at Northwood Paint and Supply in Traverse City. They've taken care of all of our stain and paint needs and were eager to give us help and advice. It was always a pleasant trip to town visiting the guys at Northwood. The photos don't do the paint any justice...

(Mudroom: French Linen)

(Guest Bath: Drifting Dune)

(Master Bath: Winddrift)

SPRING HAS SPRUNG

2008-07-23T11:57:00.000-07:00

May 2008.

You can uncross your fingers now...

We flipped the crest. Only then did I realized the grout we used was for the bathroom and not the mudroom floor which was way too light. Our solution... hours spent using a dremel tool to remove every spot of light grout without dislodging any tiles. It was then set into the foyer floor and grouted with the neighboring slate tile. So, if you don't count using the wrong grout, hours of tedious grout removal, several chucks of tiles popping out while it was being set and one husband flipping his lid, it went pretty well.

(end result)

Master bath tile is done.

Ditto for the guest bath.

Let there be light...

All of our cool light fixtures were bought using change we had saved over the years in an empty water cooler bottle.

The family still wants to come up even though when they do we make them do hard stuff like dig ditches for the downspouts.

The morels were popping and hunting them is our new favorite springtime hobby. It was our guest's first hunt and guess what? They found all of them.

D cooked them up in a yummy stir fry for us all.

I smuggled in a surprise birthday cake for a certain someone who turned 16.

HELLO SPRING?

2008-05-02T12:51:00.000-07:00

April 2008.

(good morning April 12th)

If April showers bring May flowers what do April snow-showers bring?

Finally - our new, heavy duty, correctly fitting cap installed by a knowledgable, competent fireplace dude! Great guy, should have used him in the first place. Birds actually flew in through the top and surprised D not once but twice when he opened the fireplace door. I got to catch one and set him free out the window - that was cool.

News update... D is broken!! Due to some unfortunate circumstances homeowner, D has fractured his ankle in two places. Dreams of climbing ladders, hauling wood, staining and manual labor have screeched to a halt. He has immediately been put on light duty. Reinforcements have been called. His wife is currently pulling out her hair strand by strand. More details at 11.

A quick tour of our temporary living situation... Kitchen, complete with microwave, plug in skillet, toaster and small refrigerator (left). Bathroom, including the all purpose sink where you can wash dishes, trowels or your pits - whichever is the dirtiest (top right). Master bedroom contains a sweet new, extra-large Cabela's cot, a small, rickety, 1960's, lawn-chair-like tanning cot (who do you think got that one?) and 2 dog beds (bottom left).

We had some leftover stone from the fireplace so the weekend after the snow stopped and it turned to 80 degrees (???!?), Bobby jumped outside and started throwing them up there. Our stone budget is gone so this project will probably not get completed for some time, maybe years. We'll do a little here and there as we save up the money for it. At least the end result will be real stone!

Logs in the shower...what a great idea! We dry fit them so that we could waterproof then install them. Charlie would have laughed. We spent hours just starring at the arched log trying to figure out how to tie in the ceiling rafter (not shown) without making it look like doogie do-do. D and I asked each other WWCD (What Would Charlie Do)? We only had one log so we couldn't screw it up. It took courage for him to wield his chainsaw. It looks so cool.

The help arrived in the form of Rob, John and Dennis - the super stainers. The interior needed staining as well and the job seemed pretty daunting for gimpy boy (lots of high country). The guys were great and really fast and worked around our budget. We prepped as much as we could to save time for them and money for us. The stain was tinted slightly to help compensate for the aged logs and the newly installed wood so we would end up with everything looking approximately the same hue. Dennis and the guys did a great job with it and we love the color. You'll like it too.

This project started way before we even started building. It's a floor crest that we are installing in the foyer. I designed and created it using hand-cut ceramic, glass and stone. Now I've never done a project like this. I got tips from books and the internet. I'm hoping after the back is poured and cured it will flip over in one piece as easy as a pancake. Cross your fingers for me!!

(before and after the grouting process)

MARCHING ON

2008-05-02T10:49:00.000-07:00

March 2008.

Charlie disappeared as quickly as he showed up but you can still see him everywhere you look! He made the interior really, really super unique and amazing. You have to see it to believe it. A big thanks goes out to Charlie and the crew. We can't thank you all enough for fitting us in! They put us in a really good position to start doing the finishing work we could handle.

Bobby, from our original stone crew, tackled the fireplace (with help from his assistant and wife Crystal). Using the same split stone like on the outside chimney chase he created this beautiful piece of art. It kills me because I love it so much. What a perfect addition to our great room and it highlights Charlie's mantel art to a tee.

Gutters were installed, a necessary evil. A few brilliant placement suggestions/changes were made by our installer and they look pretty unnoticeable. We will tie them in underground and viola - we are done!

I took the week off of work to start all the tiling. Wouldn't you know it - I got the flu. Tiling was a fog of achy exhaustion. But I trudged on...this craps got to get done!

(2nd floor guest shower)

(check out the grout)

The master shower was next and although it's a very large space the tiles seemed to go up faster due to the fact there was much less cutting required. I've used a glossy, white 3x6" subway tile interrupted by a slate and glass border. The ceiling is 6x6" slate and the floor is 1x1" slate. Slate spills over onto the floor in a 12x12" tile with custom border. Although I love tiling I am not the fastest but I work pretty cheap. I only require a glass of wine or two at the end of my work day!

(Bobby cut a piece of stone from the fireplace hearth to fit on our shower seat)

CHARLIE WAS HERE!

2008-02-27T12:15:00.001-08:00

Late February 2008.

The cabin has been "Charli-fied" and you won't believe it!

I had to pick my jaw up off the floor after D lead me in and turned on the lights to reveal the work that was done. Never in my wildest dreams could I have ever imagined it would be this good. Pinch me, I've got to be dreaming...

Charlie-ism #1: "When in doubt, stick a log out."

Charlie-ism #2: "String don't lie."

Cool built in shelves surprise you everywhere.

Small bells on the master bedroom soffit.
All doors have been hung.

Sunset.

We still haven't got a new pan from the second fireplace guy (we think he forgot about us) and the leak continues. The first guy used the wrong sealing caulk which failed at the top - half of the collar wasn't caulked at all. The pan was nailed on flat which pooled the water toward the middle. Just a mess. D climbed up and made a temporary fix.

Our "facilities" in the basement. We now have hot water.

Ed and Tom finished the gable end - beautiful!

The coolest part of my weekend was watching Charlie create our mantel. He didn't even know what it would end up like. It's amazing!!

D and Levi lag in the tree.

Spindle boy was back at it again.
Charlie gave him some instruction to fitting them on a curved rail.

Charlie-ism #3: "Pull that trigger!"

Old, lazy Smoky.

SPECIAL DELIVERY

2008-02-27T10:50:00.000-08:00

February 2008.

Winter at the mill.

A pile of useless, crooked logs OR priceless stair and mantel material?

Don't ask us how we did it but we managed to talk Charlie into coming back and giving us a week of his time to do finishing work (halleluia!). To keep things time efficient, D & I made a couple of material runs so he could show up and get right to work. Of course the weather had to be horrible - blizzard conditions, -25 degrees, 50 mile an hour winds. We pulled Charlie's borrowed trailer very carefully.

First load/cedar trim and tongue and groove.

Second load/cedar half logs and 20+ ft. rafter beams.

The second load proved to be a little heavy and we got stuck trying to make it up the driveway. Needless to say Dereck flipped his lid (ugh - men!). It was NOT a good day. After wasting a bunch of time we ended up using the plow truck and little red to get half of the load into the garage. At that point the truck effortlessly pulled the trailer to the house.

Boy is he lucky he can cook!

DRYWALL

2008-02-27T07:55:00.000-08:00

January 2008.

The rooms really started taking shape after the multi-talented Mike (also our roofer) threw up the drywall. There were at least 10 spots where the drywall met the logs which he took upon himself to hand scribe. He is the man!

Scribe detail.

Gable end drywalled per fire code.

Master bedroom.

Master bath.

Master shower.

Second floor guest bedroom.

Second floor guest bathroom.

Pantry.

Mudroom.

A first for us - actually using a garage to keep our cars out of the elements. We even have our own garage door openers. We're living large now!

GET IN THE GROOVE

2008-01-08T17:46:00.000-08:00

Late December 2007.

Tongue and groove that is.
D and I spent our holiday time off learning the art of it.
I measured and cut and D hung and nailed.

(Foyer / 3" cedar)

(Mudroom / 5" pine)

(Master bedroom / 3" cedar)

(Master closet / 5" pine)

(Temporary master suite)

We woke up to find our neighbors spying on us.
Look closely...

(Puck lights on wacko cross corners)

LET IT SNOW!

2007-12-17T06:50:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-20T10:01:00.000-08:00

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!

2007-11-20T07:33:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-15T18:06:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-15T17:14:00.000-08:00

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!

DECK-DECK-DONE!

2007-11-12T18:02:00.000-08:00

Late August 2007.

(D's first chainsaw post)

WORK WEEK THREE

2007-09-22T07:23:00.000-07:00

August 17 - August 23, 2007.

Week three turned out to be Charlie and the crew's last week on Twin Buck Hill. They managed to pull it all together in about 28 days which seems impossible but true. Felt a little nervous about being left alone with our project without having someone there who knows what they're doing. We had so much fun with the guys that we were really sad to see them go.

Here are some of the highlights. See the rest of the pictures here.

D learned the joys of spindles.

Rear deck in progress.

(Opal smiling)

Meet Mike the roofer. We asked him how many he had on his crew and he just laughed. The roof was shingled in about a week and he worked solo. It looks fabulous! D and I were lucky again to find another wonderfully proficient subcontractor.

See this window? It's for the kitchen. Why, you may ask, is it outside by the garage? Because we messed up. When in the framing stage we shot the wrong size to Charlie. Now it won't fit - it's just too big. Charlie made us a deal to install it in the garage wall. He didn't want money though... he would work for beer. As much we could buy with $150. It's a deal!!

Without Nate we would have never finished the half logs on the walkout.

All the window and doors were installed. I was so excited.
They really add the the cabin's personality.

Two homies yo!!

Dan gets a fireman's birthday surprise! Happy birthday Dan!!

Cross corners completed on the front gable.

The guys were leaving by the end of the week which put D and I in a bit of a panic. The deck was still not complete and we definitely needed their help getting it done. The big man came to our rescue. D and Charlie worked together getting the posts and rails going. Charlie makes cutting those post ends look so easy. Everyone gave us a hand completing the rest of the finishing touches to the wrap around deck.

The huge log was set with pure muscle in the center of the cabin. It goes all the way from the floor to the ceiling.

THE TWINS

2007-08-29T12:41:00.000-07:00

D and I were startled on the hill during one of our many hikes years ago. First there was rustling, then some bleating. A small, spotted fawn came bounding up toward us through the tall grass and immediately froze. It didn't expect to find us. Maybe he was looking for his mother? Not far behind we heard more noise suggesting a second little guy. They disappeared as quickly as they appeared. We were thrilled with the surprise introduction.

(click to enlarge)

The next season we spotted two again, grazing quietly up on the hill while the sun silently set. Their antler's proudly displayed four points for each young buck. They looked identical. Could they be the same two we had unexpectedly met a year or so before? We would like to think so.

That is how we named Twin Buck Hill.

Our family knew the story but Charlie and the guys didn't which is why it was so incredible when we saw these posts being peeled and perfectly placed on the front deck for all to see...

Charlie called them the twins.
Coincidence? Divine intervention? Dumb luck?
Charlie said it was his angels and you know what...I believe him!

(right twin)

(left twin)

WORK WEEK TWO

2007-08-24T10:45:00.001-07:00

August 1 - August 10, 2007.

Before the crew came back from their break D ran up for the window delivery. They are so cool and will look great with the logs.

They drilled - no oil but lots of water.

(entry in progress)

(front deck progress)

It was another full 10 days - bags on at 8:00 and work until beer-thirty, most times for us much later. D spent his time juggling between fulfilling his deck building promise and acting as general contractor (keeping lumber and supplies on hand) with moments of electrical work sprinkled in between. Juggling all those things makes for very slow progress on everything. At times it was very frustrating. Especially when guessing at the overhang's lighting placement and taking most of the day putting them up only to spend the next day reinstalling them in the correct spots...F..U..N!

(first installation)

(correct locations)

Heave-ho with the osb.

The guys muscling up the overhangs.

Good catch from Traverse Bay.

More pictures from week two here.

CARHARTT DAY

2007-08-23T13:15:00.001-07:00

Here's that good looking Carhartt crew again. I was seriously expecting a group of old guys with beer guts and suspenders to pull in the drive - ha ha! Mike and Anne were nice enough to pass along the pictures they took. They are so great I wanted to share them with you. Check out a few of my favorites below. To see the rest go here.

WORK WEEK ONE

2007-08-14T05:08:00.000-07:00

July 16 - July 23

Charlie and the crew were off like gangbusters. In order to keep the job site moving their work week is actually 10 days in a row working 10 hours a day and six guys make it a double crew. They sleep on site then break for a long weekend, come back and start again. Real troopers!

(meet Philadelphia Cream Cheese)

We have friends in high places...Ann and the rest of the crew (pic above) from Carhartt paid a visit to the job site. They observed, took notes and questioned the guys about work wear product. Oh yeah, and they brought some great swag. Thank you so much Carhartt gang for making the trip! We are looking forward to seeing Carhartt chaps in the near future!

Our job was to build the outside decks. Did I mention we've never built a deck...ever? Let me tell you it was a rollercoaster of emotional highs and lows. Charlie's eagle eyes were never far away and his wealth of knowledge and experience was our guide. He did his best to keep us from messing up but we did anyway. I won't tell you the details because you can't see the fubar but it's there and D & I will always know it. Of course Charlie had a solution so we trudged on and worked our hardest to keep up with the crew. The front deck tied in with the roof so we needed it done pronto. You gotta love a working vacation!

(meet the deckheads)
Our reinforcements arrived after a few panicked calls for help.
We couldn't have built the deck without them.
Thank god for great family!

(a good deck moment)

Taking a breather from deck duty, you can see the cabin forming quickly around us...

Did you know that each log is handled about 22 times before it is finally set into the cabin wall?

(second floor)

It didn't take D long to fire up his own chainsaw and take a stab at sawing like a real logger. He learned alot of tricks from Charlie and the crew. He even tried his hand at log peeling...

(setting the beam)

Even after all the long, hot days of hard work - sometimes not eating dinner until dark - it was very hard to leave. That morning, the beam was set and Charlie and the crew began installing the roof trusses and it looked like a totally different cabin. But it was back to the city for D & I. The above pic it what we saw in our rear view windows.

To see the entire first week of picture click here.

DAY ONE

2007-07-29T17:50:00.000-07:00

Monday, July 16th, 2007.
Building began. It was a blur of activity and the sounds of chainsaws filled the air.

There was...

framing,

scribing,

planing,

and lots of lagging.

I have to admit D & I were a little nervous when they got started.
Did we scale and size this right? It looks really small. What are we getting ourselves into?
Can we really afford this?

But we didn't have time to think about that because we were responsible for our outside decks and Charlie got us started right away ....

dig, D, dig!

Pics from Traci here.
More pics here.

D-DAY

2007-07-24T16:16:00.001-07:00

They came...

They saw...

They started our cabin...

(Wacko corners)

(second floor sunset)

Charlie and the crew worked amazingly fast...

(Monday morning, 7.16.07)

(Monday morning, 7.23.07)

More details to come...

DELAYED AGAIN

2007-07-10T16:44:00.000-07:00

June 2007.

Tarp #3 was the winner. Finally a dry basement. Mold stopped growing, smells not too shabby. Thank goodness because Charlie was still working on his 4 level masterpiece and pushed our start date back until after the July 4th holiday so we had another month to wait.

That gave us time to get rid of that cement pond the trucks left for us.

D made me these shelves from our old barn's wood and cedar branches.

Enough of the years worth of photos we've shown of just the basement... we have a definite start date. Charlie and the crew will be stacking logs starting July 16th. All these years of planning and waiting, worrying and saving - it's finally here. The next post will be real time from the job site. Can you believe it?

CEMENT FLOORS

2007-07-06T18:53:00.000-07:00

May 2007.

(Pump truck = $$$)

Cement floors were poured. They needed to use the pump truck which cost extra...of course, lucky us!! But they turned out really nice.

They left us a present...

... a cement pond!!

Dereck took down this huge tree near the barn.

I'm on the other end of the yellow rope in little red - YIKES!
We didn't realize this dead tree was someone's home...

... two flying squirrels.

(doesn't the squirrel look pissed?)

The basement was still wet so please meet tarp #3. We opened our wallet (again) and purchased our third, largest and most expensive, tarp. It became an epic battle - Tharp's vs. the tarps.

TUBES & TARPS

2007-07-01T09:19:00.000-07:00

April 2007.

Can't keep the basement dry. Don't have a clue what to do. To make matters worse Charlie is being delayed at the job he started in the Fall so our start date is now being bumped to May or mid June. That's two more months of trying to keep things dry and mold free. Ugh!

D and big Jim went up and laid out the tube pattern - knee and back breaking work. The tube ends all connect to a manifold which will eventually be hooked up to a boiler. This should keep the lower level living space warm and cozy.

We decided to remove the tyvek on the deck, open up the stair hole, keep some fans running and create awning holes to help air things out. Before we left we covered the foundation with tarp number 2. Then we held our breath and crossed our fingers.

RADIANT FLOORING

2007-07-01T07:41:00.000-07:00

March 2007.

Spring on the hill was proving to be, well...wet. We consulted with many about the mold issue and although ugly and smelly (really smelly), no one seemed concerned about any health issues. The plan was to get the basement dry, stop the growth then powerwash the staining away. Easier said than done. D and Phy hauled out all the grody hay we had on the floor to keep the cement warm over the winter and installed a heater hoping to get things warm and dry. This would be our first, we were sure, of many challenges we will have ahead of us.

It was hard not to think about the fresh-smelling, beautiful, clean wood that Charlie and the crew put up for us in the Fall. Not to metion the money we shelled out for it. We were both kind of devastated - why us? But the show must go on...

D became a welder.

(notice the wet walls)

Next we prepped the basement floor for radiant floor heating. The insulation went down first directly on the dirt floor.

Then we cut, placed and intertwined metal wire over the insulation. The tubes would eventually be tied directly to the wire.

THE "M" WORD

2007-06-27T19:31:00.001-07:00

February 2007
The cement's fine but the wood...

...both our hearts sank.
It was hard to hold back the tears.

PLUMBERS AHOY

2007-06-21T18:05:00.000-07:00

October 2006.

After Chainsaw and the crew left we painted the deck boards to keep them from soaking up too much water. We got a heavy coat on just in time for an October shower. If I remember correctly, there was a ton of rain that month.

Next the plumbers got to work. D & Gary dug up the basement floor and put in all the pipe. Gary's plumbing expertise helped us to pass the inspection with flying colors.

Now that the floor inside was leveled out after the inspection, we covered any exposed wood with tyvek on the outside. Later, D & I added 2 large tarps over the top of the foundation as an extra layer of water protection. Our baby was all tucked in for the cold winter months ahead.

Now all we could do was cross our fingers and wait for spring.
Please don't crack cement! Please Mr. Winter, be mild!!

(view of hill from old barn)
landbridge on left, foundation on right

Fall is our very favorite time on Twin Buck Hill.
It will be yours too!

FRAMING

2007-06-15T18:13:00.000-07:00

Late September 2006.
Before the actual framing began the beams needed to be set, lumber needed to be delivered and the crew needed to show and be ready to go all in one day. It was D's first day as acting general contractor to coordinate all the trades and of course it was chaotic. The crain arrived and was unable to set the beam because the beams pockets we cut wrong - a grumpy, stand-in inspector dropped in out of the blue to ruffle some feathers - the crew was ready to call it a day because the beam weren't in place - and I think the lumber may have been a bit flubbed. I heard all the drama via the phone. But luckily Charlie was there and helped calm things down. The cement company sent someone out right away to correct the mistake - Mr. Inspector grumbled away - and D was fired as the lumber-order-guy by Chainsaw. Whew! (click pics to enlarge)

The game plan was changed as far as our start time goes - and believe me, this wasn't the first time. D & I along with Charlie decided that it may be best to prolong our start date until the spring in order to avoid trekking from Detroit through the winter months to build. Framing began in the fall so that when spring finally rolled around we'd be ready for logs right away which would in turn speed up the entire process. And the quicker we can wrap up our construction loan the less money we will be spending.

The framing of the walkout and the first floor not only helps speed things along but it will be a like a sweater for the cement that's been poured, protecting it from the cold winter winds and all the snow. All we had to do was figure out how to keep it dry and somewhat warm to keep it from cracking. Protecting the cement was our main priority now.

Charlie brought the crew and threw D into the mix and they all went to work. Believe it or not they finished in a day and a half. These guys meant business.

We saw our first floor view for the first time.

These are the guys responsible for it all (shown here after a hard days work). We're gonna learn a lot from this awesome crew.

CHAINSAW CHARLIE

2007-06-12T19:09:00.001-07:00

I would like to introduce you to our builder, the legendary, Chainsaw Charlie. His name says it all. Dereck found him through an article in Log Home Living. The moment we met him we knew immediately he was the guy. It was Charlie or no cabin at all. You can find his work all over the country from small, cozy cabins like ours will be to huge, million dollar log masterpieces and no two are the same. Charlie and his wife run Michigan Log Homes which includes construction as well as running their own mill. We've been working with them for so long they almost feel like family.

Chainsaw is an original.

He's not only a builder with gobs of talent but a modern day philosopher. He's like Grizzly Adams, Ghandi and Santa Claus rolled into one. He's an extremely gifted artist who is deeply connected to his creative well. Mostly, he's a hell of a nice guy. Although the cabin is what we've been waiting for we're really looking forward to spending time with this guy.

LOGS, LOGS, LOGS

2007-06-12T18:43:00.000-07:00

We visited our logs at the mill this weekend. They are 6,7 and 8 inch diameter cedar logs with wacked out, hand scribed cross corners. I wanted to touch each one of them.

It was like seeing your presents on Christmas Eve...

We love our logs!

FOUNDATION

2007-06-04T18:39:00.000-07:00

Late Septmeber 2006.
Cement foundation was poured.

(west view from garage corner)

(front and garage views including chase support)

(basement views looking in and out)

Green rubber wall was applied and steel beam were delivered.

THE PLANS

2007-06-02T07:28:00.001-07:00

Our first draft was drawn up in 2002. Since then there have been many revisions. It started out as a 1900+ plan with the master suite on the second floor and two guest rooms on the main floor and extra living space in the basement. After lots of thought and debate we agreed upon the 1600+ plan below. We will eventually finish the walkout basement which will include another guest bedroom with a full bath plus living area which will put our square footage over 2200 sq ft.
The number one thing that everyone seems to want to change about their build after they've completed it is that they wish they would've went bigger. I don't know how many times we've read this. Did you know that log cabins cost over one third more to build than a traditional stick built home? It's all about the budget baby. I hope we don't regret our decision to go a bit smaller.

FOOTINGS

2007-06-01T18:50:00.000-07:00

Mid September 2006.
I had to miss all the digging fun due to the day job. By the time I made it back up to the hill I found the driveway was complete and connected to the building site. Oh yeah and a big, messy hole with the poured cement footings in place.

(click pictures to enlarge)

Have you ever seen anyone so excited about a dirt hole and some cement?

The footings help outline the cabin's layout. This view is from the back further up the hill facing west. The closest square is the garage, the driveway comes from the right. The garage is connected to the cabin which is the footing area beyond the first square. The living area faces west to take advantage of all those sunsets and the walkout will open to the left.

More details about the layout later.

DIG

2007-05-28T16:02:00.000-07:00

September 2006.
Excavation continues. Rob and his trusty assistant Matt begin the dig for the cabin site. A large hole was started to accomodate our plan consisting of two floors and a walkout basement.

(click pics to enlarge)

They got skills - see the stake?

DRIVEWAY

2007-05-22T18:27:00.001-07:00

August 2006.

Did some fishin'...

...and some wine tastin'.

You gotta love Michigan!

EXCAVATION BEGINS

2007-05-15T16:14:00.000-07:00

July 2006.
Hot damn!

We picked the hottest weekend of the summer to start clearing trees for our site. 98 degrees. D wielded his chainsaw like a mad man.

We would occasionally peel off our sweaty work clothes, get into our swim suits and jump into the dog pool...

...when they would let us.

Once the large trees were cut and dragged out of the way we roughly staked out the angle for the cabin. We'd visited the site during all seasons so we knew where the sun would be year round and took that into consideration.

The driveway was a feat in itself and Rob was the right guy for the job. We needed to bridge a small valley in order to get to the site from the road. With his experience and small fleet of equipment, he designed a beautiful, curving landbridge and driveway. It was not only functional but complimentary to the surrounding landscape. He's truly an artist with a bulldozer.

(view of site from road)

He started with one tree...

A storm topped off our exhausting weekend. We caught up to it in West Branch and drove with it almost all the way home. The lightening was frightening. It struck so close to the truck that you could see it brake up and dissipate. I'd never been so scared travelling on the road. D's expert driving skills delievered us safely back to the city.

We would live to work another day on Twin Buck Hill.

BIG RED

2007-05-11T18:19:00.000-07:00

October 2004.
I didn't know we needed an barn until D told me...over and over and over again. You know, for the tractor we didn't have.
Men.
So a kit was ordered for a 36x48 steel barn with metal siding in red. The delivery was set for a Tuesday, the rest of the week was set aside for the build, family and friends arrived to help and the weather couldn't have been more beautiful. Everything was perfect. Except...

...delivery was delayed - the barn pieces didn't show up until Saturday. Machinery for lifting didn't show due to schedule change. What next? The weather turned, bad....Michigan bad (very, very cold, wet and windy). Try staying on a slick metal roof with numb hands while the wind whips panels up in your face.

It still got done. Working well into dark, until all bones ached. The 300 pound side columns were manually hoisted into place with ropes and scaffolding helped with the high stuff. I'm still amazed that we built it. We couldn't have done any of it without all the help (thank you - you know who you are). The whole experience is a blur of Advil, space heaters and blackberry brandy.

Summer 2005.
Every barn needs a bathroom, right? We retired the shovel and toilet paper routine the following summer. D did all the framing and plumbing. Family was lured up to try their hand at drywall and electrical wiring. It will really come in handy when we start the cabin. Nothing beats a warm (or cold) shower after a hard days work.

One thing we sorta forgot...

...an over hang. I guess we'll need to do something about that!

More Big Red 2004 pictures, just click here!

BURN BABY, BURN

2007-05-07T13:49:00.000-07:00

Late summer, 2004.

How else would my firefighter husband choose to demo a house?

(click pictures to enlarge)

With our log cabin dream starting to take root we decided to lose the house. It was too far gone. We wanted to spend all of our time, money and energy on our new plans. But before we could burn it down we had tons of work to do. The house was emptied, two huge trees were cut down and removed from the yard, drop ceiling tiles - carpet - shingles (anything harmful to burn) had to be removed, mechanicals from the Michigan basement were dragged out and well and septic connections were located and rerouted. We were exhausted as well as the family and friends we bribed into helping us.

Firefighters from all around helped to coordinate the live burn efforts. Everything went off without a hitch. It was a little sad for us and the neighbors to see the home go but at the same time we were excited. All our efforts were getting us closer to our ultimate goal.

THE FARM

2007-05-06T06:09:00.000-07:00

D bought his grandmother's farm back in 1997. The farm is about 60 acres and at the time had a house and an old barn. In it's hay day the garden was plentiful and a bull had wandered the sectioned pastures. Although from the stories I here about grandma, she didn't care too much about communing with nature. I think she preferred being inside cooking up her infamous cinnamon rolls or homemade pies which she served in quarters.

Before it was the family farm it had been owned by loggers. Some family say it was even haunted by the previous owner who the road is named after. He used to play with the lights in the attic. D and I thankfully never experienced any of his trickery.

For years we enjoyed the home and the land, escaping the city and visiting all year round. We even got married at an Inn in the area in 1999 and stayed at the farm for our honeymoon.
Then an odd utility bill came in the mail which prompted D to send a neighbor in to investigate. An emergency trip in February was required. The water supply tube had burst under the sink and had been leaking for weeks. Over 3 inches of water was standing in the basement and the combination of that with the heat created mold everywhere. The floors had swelled and buckled, the doors and windows were impossible and all the furnishings were wet and moldy. The place was in ruins.
We had no idea what we were going to do.

DARE TO DREAM

2007-05-02T18:29:00.000-07:00

The dreaming started years ago, not long after D bought his Grandmother's farm in Northern Michigan. Many walks through the pine and apple trees, around the cedar swap, up and down the hills all ended at the same place. It became our favorite place. A camping spot. An all seasons stop.

The place to have a beer and watch the sun say goodnight...

...the perfect spot to build a log cabin.

All the dreaming, planning, saving and praying has been worth it. We've begun the transformation. The actual build site was started last summer but the entire process started long ago...

This is our "log-umentary". Please join us in our journey.