City water

This weekend was all about getting the well pump fixed for Lower Cliff and getting city water connected and finishing all open plumbing for Southaven in preparation for drywall.

Thankfully, Chris was able to help me get the new well pump installed on Lower Cliff. So now water is working as expected.

MILESTONE ACHIEVED!!!

Okay, the photos below look like a muddy hole with some pex and a connection. However, this is the city water hookup from the street. Big thanks to Tim for helping out.

I am so friggin' happy we now have city water on tap! (No hauling water and no well pump.) Just clean pressurized water on tap!

Bonus item: we installed the upstairs corner shower

Upstairs shower base and walls

2020 Opening Weekend

Opening weekend 2020...

Well opening up after a long winter is always full of surprises, especially now that we have to open two houses.

#1 - Lower Cliff

Good news: No winter damage, furnace kicked-on no problem = all good.

Bad news: The well pump would not pressure up at all = no water in house. New pump and plumbing fittings needed for next weekend.

#2 - Southaven

The furnace turned on and worked fine. No water yet, so no issue with that at all, lol!

I hauled up a new fridge for the Southaven garage. This was a super pain in the azz because it rained for days, so I had to wrap it in multiple tarps and plastic and bungees to hold it down in preparation for transport to the island. I made it all the way from Olmsted Twp to Castalia before the plastic and tarps all shredded (from the wind) and started flying off in pieces on the highway. Anyway, big thanks to JR Biltz for helping me get it unloaded and set-up in the garage.

Garage Fridge - ready for beer

I ordered internet from Frontier and after hearing all of the horror stories about scheduling and installation and bad service I was amazed that they were able to hook me up with no problem at all and on schedule! Funny we have internet before running water, sign of the times...

Frontier internet

I still needed to make the plumbing connection from the tankless water heater to the pex manifold. Anyway, he is my attempt at using CPVC and swivel connectors. However, I won't know if this works until I get city water to the house.

Okay. Let's just pause here for a second...

This next pic does not look particularly exciting. But, the black round cap is part of the new water meter the Village of Kelleys Island installed for us.

Water meter installed

Yes, one step closer to city water on tap!

Winter 2020

Our friend Jan (from Captain's Corner) was kind enough to take this pic of our new house over the winter.

February 2020

2019 Season Wrap-up

This was the year of the new cottage construction on Southaven. I'll have memories and stories to tell for a lifetime getting this project off the ground (literally). Thanks to everyone who helped make this dream possible for me and the family.

We did get that full house HVAC completed on 11/22/19. Just in the nick of time.

Here is the outside of this beautiful baby as of 11/24/19.

Last photo of 2019. Interior is all set to be finished in Spring of 2020.

Stay tuned!

Plumbing rough-in approved

Not a super exciting weekend. I did get the plumbing inspection approved by Erie County.

I also worked on hard piping in the sump pipe. Unfortunately, the pump I was using had finally died. So I'll bring up a new one for next weekend and wrap-it up.

I don't have any photos of this but we did get Hancock Wood to permanently hook up electric service. This is great and a big step. I was able to finally remove the temp service pole and extension cords from the yard. 

Electric for now

This weekend, Derek and Joe came up to finish electrical in the garage and crawlspace. Plus they got the panel ready for a few receptacles and the rest to be shut off until next season. 

Here is a photo of the upstairs current state. Looks solid for now.

HVAC install started

This week Tin Man Heating & Cooling (AIR-EEZ) started the whole house HVAC install. Hard to tell from the photo below, but this is a massive Carrier unit!

I started to frame out the bar for the party garage as well as mount the speakers for tunes.