Cottage Construction 2005

The biggest part of our cottage construction started in the fall of 2005.  Shortly after Labor Day, we started a process that involved four contractors and over eight months before it was finished.

• Shortly after Labor Day, 2005 ... a contractor who specializes in moving houses came on site and jacked the house up a little over two feet.  He then moved it about 23 feet toward the lake.

• October 6 ... the general contractor came in and began work on the pad for a new foundation.  The pad work was completed over the next week.

• October 15 ... the house mover returned and rolled it back on the new pad.

• October 18 ... he jacked it up five feet.

• November 1 ... the masonry contractor came in and began work on the foundation walls.  Because of the age of the house, the mover didn't feel comfortable supporting the house on the floor trusses so he set it up on the sills.  This took a little longer but meant that the house was more likely to stay where he wanted it!

• November 5 ... he set the house back down on the walls that had been built up to that point.

• November 8 ... the foundation walls were finished.

• November 11  ... an electrician installed a new 200A service entrance on the 11th and a roofing contractor tore off the existing roof and installed a new one, including overhangs on the ends of the house that have never been there.  This also included aluminum soffit and fascia.  They were on site for a couple of weeks.

• December 5 ... the general contractor built a two-piece swinging wooden door to access the "crawl space".  We had originally wanted an overhead door, but it was going to take too large a piece of the height so we decided to go with plan B! 

One of the saddest moments of the process occurred on Labor Day, 2005.  Our neighbor Dan O'Connor and some friends hauled away our old outhouse!  They are using it as a storage shed for tools at their garden.  The good news is that it is only a few hundred yards away.  We can see it whenever we like!

Our summer plans for 2006 are pretty well set for us.  We will give the outside a new paint job and install a few windows that need replacing.  We will also build a new bathroom and kitchen, installing all new electrical and plumbing.  As time and money allows, improvements will continue.  Our progress in 2006 can be followed here.

Here is our progress up to this point: