Memorial Day

Big fun family weekend! We have been waiting a long time to use the new cottage with the whole gang and the good news is that it worked out fine. The weather was absolutely beautiful everyday. Despite having no doors, limited lighting, no floors and the entire cottage covered in drywall dust, we had a great time.

The lil' patriot

On Memorial Day, Monday - May 26th, we attended the service at the cemetery with about 300-400 other islanders. All of the veterans were dressed in full uniform along with several active duty military, coast guard, police, etc. The service was very moving and made you think about the sacrifice of these great men and women that makes our country what it is today.

After the memorial service chilling at the VFW

Before the Memorial day festivities...

I had Friday off from work so I made it up on Thursday night (After my mandatory trip to Menard's to pick up more stuff). I lugged our old grill from home and set-up a nice little base camp.

 Backyard base camp

 

While I was cleaning up all of the construction materials/mess in preparation for the family's arrival on Friday, I found a bunch of ceiling scrap wood that was already clear coat stained. So, late night on Thursday, I framed out the attic access doors. I need to decide how to hinge and trim these. Anyway, this is a good start...  

Attic door access work-in-progress

Friday morning, I primed all of the closets, Neil's room and the rest of the main room. Bon and the kids were coming up Friday, early evening, so I got a chance to knock-out as much priming as possible in about 8 hours. I also installed 2 closet organizers in the Anna's room and the master bedroom.

Saturday, Captain Ron stopped over with his Skid steer to spread the gravel around the driveway. It looks great and you can really see the driveway now. I still need another dump truck load of gravel to finish it off, but it looks awesome for now.

Driveway gravel spread by Captain Ron

 

Later on Saturday, I taped off and started the chalkboard wall. Surprisingly, one pint of paint would only allow for one coat, so I'll have to wait until next weekend to finish. This does look pretty cool and will be a fun casual addition to the cottage.



  Chalkboard wall work-in-progress

My mom Jill (Nama) joined us to spend some island time with family on Sunday. We had a nice day that started with a long lakeside lunch at the Brewery, hung out with the crazy "hood" neighbors and then took a walk down the State Park pier.

Anna and Nama on the pier

Bonnie - former "Hula-hoop champion"

Now that the driveway is finally taking shape, I wanted to cover the exposed swale drain that goes under the driveway. The reason was to gain about 4 more feet of usable yard space and just make the drain opening look nicer and more functional. This photo does really do this justice, but it covered up the ugly exposed bright green pipe and should allow for better drainage. It's the little things...

 

Driveway swale drain

Other boring maintenance included cleaning out the front gutter because heavy rain would just pour over the side. Should work as expected now and help dry out better around the cottage.

Next steps:

• Install the cottage "Our House" sign
• Finish chalkboard wall
• Finish up the attic access doors
• Keep priming

Family time

Bonnie and 'lil Neil made the trip up on Thursday night to get all settled in. I brought the girls up later on Friday when they got home from school. Anna brought her friend Gabby along for the weekend. After stopping at Burger King, Menards and gas station we made it on the 6:30 pm ferry.

The girls on the ferry

This was the first trip up this year for the kids (and Bonnie) so they were super excited. The weather Fri/Sat was chilly and rainy but we made the best of it. Sunday was beautiful and sunny.

Neil playing with rocks on the beach

Saturday morning, while Bonnie took all the kids on the extended island activity tour, I got cracking on the kitchen sink install. Since the countertop was 1 1/2 inch butcher block, the standard sink mounting clips were too short. So, early last week, I special ordered the "long clips". When I go to pick them up at Menards, they give me more of the standard short clips. Something got goofed with the special order and now I'm stuck. Anyway, I now had two sets of short sink clips and I was determined to make it work.

After playing around with these crappy clips, I was able to get the sink secured in place. Next was too hook-up the plumbing, which was particularly tricky because I had to install an Air Admittance Valve that acts as a vent for drains that do not have access to a standard wall vent. Then I hooked up the p-trap to the sink drain and installed the Moen fixture - this was a breeze. After crimping on the PEX connectors and hooking-up the supply lines, I tightened all plumbing connections. Time for a test run... Amazing, no leaks.

A working kitchen sink is a huge milestone. In my opinion, this is second in importance only behind having a working toilet.

Kitchen sink, done!

With all of the work done over the last 4 weeks, I really wanted to show Bonnie her new kitchen. Needless to say, she's a "happy girl".

Bonnie in her new kitchen

Here is the latest photo of the bar nook with the countertop, trim and cabinet hardware installed. This is cool little area for bar supplies, etc.

Bar nook - work in progress

Earlier in the week, Chris and Tim (big thanks!) hauled a load of gravel for us. We probably will still need 1-2 more loads, but the driveway should be done then.

Gravel for the driveway

Had a very nice weekend with the family and still got a lot of work done.

Next steps...

• Prime, prime and prime
• Start painting the great room?
• Install closet organizers and shelves for master closet and Anna's closet

Kitchen cabinets - part 3

I made my weekly trip to Menards on Friday to pick up the remaining cabinets, cabinet trim panels and sink drain. I met Brad at the ferry dock and we made the 4:30 pm boat. The plan was to install the: trim panels, cabinets, cabinet hardware, sink, sink drain, and sink plumbing. I also brought up three bar stools for assembly and use with the new bar.

Friday night, we custom cut and fit the white trim panels to the unfinished cabinet backs. The finished look is great but I still need to add wood trim to hide all the small nail holes used to hang the panels. Next, I really wanted to install the kitchen sink, but the mounting clips included were not long enough because of the thickness of the butcher block counter top. So, I will need to order longer clips and wait until next weekend. Moving on, we hung the "over appliance" cabinets.

Saturday morning, we hung the remaining upper cabinets and I started on the cabinet hardware. I chose stainless steel bar pulls (three inch center to center mount). These are polished to look like brushed nickel but have the utility of stainless steel. The color and style match the bar mounts perfectly. Very clean, simple, modern lines. Nice.

Finally, I added the first coat of butcher block oil/conditioner to the counter tops. This makes them look wet and gave them a much needed protective finish. I'm thinking they will need 2-3 more coats.

Kitchen progress - looking good!

 

"Big Bad Brad" made some good progress and primed two rooms between cigarette breaks. Although it rained most of the day on Friday, Captain Ron was able to do some site work later on Saturday afternoon by spreading out some of the remaining dirt piles and leveling some high and low spots. Here are a few photos of the progress... 

Front yard graded

Side yard graded

Sunday was Mother's Day, so Brad and me packed up early and hit the 10:00 am ferry to head home.

Bonnie and the kids are coming up next weekend. I can't wait to show them the progress. Very happy with the kitchen so far and looking forward to spending some time on the island with the family.

Next steps:

• Install kitchen sink (and related plumbing)
• Install custom lower wine rack (and build custom shelf) for the bar cabinet/nook
• Long story short, I already put in these cabinets and do not like the results. Yes, this is unnecessary re-work (my bad)
• Prime the remaining rooms
• Have some fun