Progress continues...

Quick weekend, since we didn't make it up to the island until late Saturday morning. Scott, Brad and Chris came up for the day and spent Saturday night. Big thanks to Scott for finishing the leveling of the septic field and helping with some drywall mudding. Chris helped out with some insulation and I finished drywalling the inside of the 2 remaining skylight bays.

The best news (other than never having to touch any more "ichy-ass" insulation) is that the HVAC efficiency will be greatly improved now that the vaulted ceiling is wrapped-up tight with 12 inches of R-30 insulation. The A/C now blows nice and cold and can cool down the cottage very quickly.

Here are a few photos of the finished product. Unfortunately, these photos don't really "do justice" to the amount of work and hassle involved.

Facing front - vaulted ceiling insulation and skylight bays drywalled

 

 Facing back - vaulted ceiling insulation and skylight bays drywalled

Next step is to tape more corners and continue mudding. Yes, this will continue for the next few months. I am loosely planning on hanging the tongue-n-groove pine siding on the vaulted ceiling sometime maybe in October. Just found out today that this wood is on sale for 50% off for the next 10 days.

Looking forward to a long Labor Day Weekend with the family. This is the 200 anniversary of the Battle of Lake Erie and the island will be packed with festivities. More to come!

Skylights, more insulation and mud

I was able to squeeze in about 25 hours of solo work on the cottage this weekend. Brad came up for Friday night. We went downtown for a few hours for some gin & tonics. I spent the rest of the time working away and I missed all the Homecoming stuff going on all weekend.

Major accomplishments include:

• Finished insulation wrapping of the cold air return
• Drywalled around two of the skylights
• 33% of the vaulted ceiling insulation
• Drywalled mudded ~20 corners and ceilings
• Roughed in a recessed shelf hole in the master bathroom

I had to wrestle with multiple angles and a tight working area to figure out how to drywall the inner cavity of the skylights. Here is a photo of the finished result. Now I just need to repeat this three more times.

Skylight #1 drywalled boxed and insulated

After I figured out how to cut the angles, I jammed-out one more skylight. This photo below  represents 50% completion on the skylights and 33% on the vaulted ceiling insulation.

Front skylights #1 and #2 drywall boxed and insulated

 

Of all the work needed for the cottage project, the top two worst jobs are #1 using a shovel (dirt, gravel, whatever) and #2 working in the attic space (hot, and no room to get at what you need to work on). So, sometime early Saturday evening, I finished (yes finished) the insulation wrapping of the cold air return. No words or pictures will really represent what a pain-in-the-ass this job turned out to be. I can't wait to finish the vaulted ceiling insulation and never have to look at this again. Anyway, here is a photo...

 

Cold air return insulation wrapped, nice and tight

Drywall mud continues...
I spent several hours hacking-away at the endless mountain of drywall mudding that is needed. I probably finished about 20 corners, two closets and most of Anna's room.

Next weekend will be the last work push until taking a break for a long Labor Day Weekend with the family...

Kelly Miller Circus

Just got back from a few actual vacation days on the island, spending some time with the family and going to the famous annual Kelly Miller Circus. This is really a great show and experience. This circus is celebrating 75 years of road production. We were able to catch the 4 pm show on Monday. Here is a great shot of the elephants...

Under the big top - old school

Before, between and after all of the shows, the circus crew lets you ride the elephants, ponies and camels. All the girls rode the elephant. Lil Neil was terrified and would not go near them. So we will have to try again next year.

Anna, Bon and Nama riding the elephant

 

Check-out this awesome photo below, taken by Bon, probably 15 feet away. Just an amazing beautiful animal. In the morning before the shows start, the crew has to set-up all the tents and stuff.

 

One of the six Bengal tigers - great close-up shot

Bon, Nama and the kids decided to go to Put-In-Bay for the day on Tuesday. They let me have some time to work on the cottage. 

 

Nama, Anna, Sophie and Neil at Put-In-Bay

 



I managed to put up drywall tape in about 20 corners and the first coat of mud on the ceiling in Neil's room. What you see below, needs to be repeated in the other three bedrooms, 4 remaining closets, 2 bathrooms and the main living/dining area... And that is just the first coat of mud! holy frijole!

We all went out for dinner at Docker's on Tuesday night to watch the boats dock and enjoy the scenery and great food.

Me and my boy

I won't be going up again until the weekend of August 16th to continue working on drywall, and insulation. My high-level goal (as of today) is to have ALL insulation work done by end of August. Drywall will continue on into the Fall and hopefully we can get moving on the wood ceiling in the main room by end-of-season... fingers crossed.