First to sleep in the Cottage

My middle son, Nathan, was very quick to respond to installation of the exterior windows and doors - which happened on August 2nd. He moved his tent and sleeping bag right into the soon to be living room of the Cottage.

He had to boost, of course, the next morning that he was the first to sleep in the cottage...

A Rocky Future...

Lucie, my wife, has been labouring continuously to collect all the rocks that the construction has exposed.

What for you may ask?

Well Emitt, the fellow that delivers the construction materials from Dale's Home Hardware Building Centre, says that all the wife's do that...

Lucie's explanation has been evolving, there seems to be a new need every day, so far the list is:

• "Well we need to get them out of the way of your ladders - its dangerous you know"
• "They will make a nice border on the driveway"
• "We can use them to cover the dirt under the deck"
• "Well we will need them for the fire pit - we have to have a fire pit - after all it isn't a cottage without a fire pit..."

The list continues, but I can't disagree with any of here suggestions, and I can't deny it is nice to walk and work around the Cottage and not have to negotiate the stones.

Shopping List - Construction Style

I am notoriously bad at remembering things to get when I shop -- so a shopping list is absolutely necessary!

But what do you do when there isn't a pad of paper?

Got back to the paper source - use a tree - or one that has been cut to size...

On this trip I had to get:

• More power loads for the Remington Power Hammer (the one I described a few posts back)
• Ledger flashing for the deck (stay tuned for more on that in a future post)
• Wipes - with no running water the easiest way to cleanup was with wipes, and
  
• more gas for the generator.
  

Lesson Learned: Purchase a Professional Air Nailer

While I an very happy with every other tool I have so far purchased at Princess Auto, I am not very happy with my purchase of the 3.5 inch framing nailer, or shall I say the two have purchased.

I purchased the first one well over a year ago on sale at Princess Auto in anticipation for the cottage construction project this year. That one lasted two weeks or shall I say it lasted 4 days - two days on two consecutive weekends. First, while it punched in the 3.5 inch nails quite nicely, it simply would not take the smaller 2.5 inch nails with out jamming. Furthermore, the nailer slowly self-destructed as the plastic guides shattered and fell out of the nail guide - fortunately even without the guides the nailer kept functioning.

Finally it gave up the ghost and blew a seal.

Fortunately one of my sons had not yet began his trip up to the cottage for the weekend. (ASIDE: I have taken of Fridays from work to go up early to prepare and start work, while he follows up on Friday evening after work) A quick call on the cell phone and he made a swing by Princess Auto to pick up a new nailer.

You might say I am a gluten for punishment, but the model of nailer he purchased was a newer one - one that seems to had the deficiencies fixed. And it did have all the deficiencies of the first one remedied - but now it had a new one. The spring in the nail guide doesn't seem to push the nail with enough force, so the automatic nature of the nailer just became a single shooter...

In spite of the one shot nature the nailer works and we continue with it.

Lesson Learned:
The Princess Auto railers are roughly one-third to one quarter the price of the professional models. I have purchased two so not much savings - lots of frustration. Next time i will go professional and pay the bucks!

The Neverending Battle with Bugs

As you can imagine the bugs have been very bad this year with all the rain we received in the Spring. While the hot weather seems to abated the mosquitoes somewhat the black flies and deer flies have been hanging on. Black flies have been bad in the evenings especially and the deer flies during the day.

While bug spray has been very helpful, in the evenings, while sitting around soothing our sore muscles, and reviewing the progress of the day, we have found that strategically placed citronella candle pots have been very helpful. I highly recommend them!


One tip! Get more than you think you need...

3 Key Conveniences for a Happy Construction Team

Except two weeks of vacation, the construction schedule has most of the construction happening on weekends. We all have day jobs -- so my construction team, consisting mostly of my three sons and my wife, donate their weekends to the cause. I have been taking every Friday off in the month of June to prepare the construction site, and to get whatever I can get started.

Long and hot days make for tired and sore bodies. Out in the great outdoors it is difficult to have the conveniences of home - but we try.

1. Comfortable Sleeping arrangements
Nothing is more dangerous is tired workers. I set out to ensure we could provide the best under the circumstance. I am fortunate in that I had a headstart. I had previously built a small one room bunkie which can accommodate 2 -3 people, and a gazebo.

In the gazebo I have semi-permanently (for the summer construction season) pitched a 3 - 4 person tent. I furnished it with comfy mattresses, pillows and sleeping bags.

The bunkie has a futon for two and a small loft with a single mattress. Both come with pillows and blankets.

2. Private Toilet Facilities
There is an outhouse with a composting toilet. Composting toilets although taller than conventional toilets have the same features once you climb on to them.

3. Washing Capabilities
For full body washes (aka showers and baths) the facility is found just over the edge of the dock. Combined with a ecologically positive bar of soap and bottle of shampoo, the lake makes for effective if not a bit cool wash-down. As it has been very hot and humid I haven't been hearing any complaints!

In the interim and for times when a bit of touch-up is required - like when my wife insists we wash our hands before meals, we use wipes. They work very effective, and they are great for getting the insect repellent off just before climbing in the very welcome bed and sleeping bag each night.

4. Good Food & Drink
Food and drink is probably the easiest. We simply use a BBQ and carry our food up to the cottage for the weekend in a cooler. Our BBQ comes with a side burner so making coffee or tea or boiling water to wash dishes is very easy.

Keeping drinks and food is a bit of a problem beyond a few days as the ice pack are really being taxed in the hot weather. However, we retrieved a refrigerated cooler from storage and have plugged that in to the generator during the day. The 'boosted' cooler seems to keep things just a bit cooler. It only runs when we have the generator on to power our construction tools but for the past two weekends that has been pretty consistently from 9am to 7pm each day, with short spots for lunch and supper.

We keep the booster cooler with drinks and a big water jug right at the construction site, within easy reach for anyone to crack open a cool one.

...and regarding the 'Cool ones', beer is strictly for the after-supper celebration of a fine day's work, and to help ease the pain of those long under-exercised but now overused muscles. We use drinks with great electrolyte balance, like the most commonly recognized Gatorade.

"My Three Sons" make their Mark...

A virgin concrete wall and a can of fluorescent paint nearby... A combination that is just too hard to resist! The construction team which consists of my three sons, myself and anyone else too close to avoid being drafted the made their indelible mark on the concrete walls of the basement.

Egin, my eldest, married and the father of my grandson, Noah:

Nathan, the family mechanic, his friends call him Gudy:

Adric, the youngest:

NEXT POST(S): I reveal my progress over the weekend.

Building now! I'll update you on Monday!

Well the day has finally come! The day I raise my hammer and nail the first nail as we build the Cottage on the Edge".

I am up at the Cottage this weekend, June 6-8, with no access to the internet, hence, no posts over the weekend.

Stay tuned! I post on Monday.

My Pal: Einstein

Along the way I came to have a companion - a Jack Russell - the smartest of all dogs I have ever met.

He came by his name honestly. Einstein was one smart man's best friend! Many a time he was my lone companion as I toiled at the cottage lot, and so he gets a post all to himself.

A faithful companion he was ever so helpful. I mean not in the "holding that board while a cut it", or "steadying the ladder so I don't fall", kind of help.

No, he helped in his own, more useful, canine way, like only Einstein could help.

Like helping to find shade...














Or keeping the ladies entertained...


















I'll miss him!