House Update

I just finished updating the blog but I was unable to publish it for some reason and I lost the whole thing.  I will try and do it again but I am really frustrated!  I haven’t posted for awhile and I am going to try to update and get caught up.  Mostly, this post will probably be pictures.  I just had a busy weekend with some of my family visiting. My parents, Jackson, Markell, and Andre came to visit for the weekend and help us on the house.  We taught them how to sand logs.  They might feel like they didn’t help much but the things that they were able to do in two days would have taken many days for just me and Leonard to do so I am truly grateful for their help.  Unfortunately, my camera battery was dead when I went to grab it on Saturday so I didn’t get any pictures of them working on the house but I want to make sure to note that they worked hard!  We also had time to play in the lake everyday and go to dinner one night and dessert another night.  Grandma was an excellent baby-sitter to the kids who were so happy to have someone to take them places.   Thanks to all of them for their hard work and for taking the time to visit us.  It made me realize how much I really miss them.

The last time I posted we were just starting to put the Tongue and Groove on the house. 

It was fun to see the house really start to take shape.

We also got a good feel for how it will look on the inside.  The T&G is what we will be looking at when you are standing in the house.

They worked on this until they ran out of T&G and we had to order more!  Kyle Livingston came out one day to see what was going on and, of course, we put him to work!

We also became familiar with the Osborn brush.  I’ll admit, I have been in denial about the brush.  I have been searching the internet for a more efficient way to prep the logs for the finish but everything says that it is the best way.  We use a bristly brush connected to a Makita grinder that spins about 9000 times a minute and takes off the top layer of grim and dirt from the logs.  Because they sat in the rain and the sun for several months, the logs are a little dingy and they need some freshening up to help remove the weathering that has taken place.  Each log has to be brushed and cleaned up.  I am not sure how this will work but I will try to post a before and after picture.  Here are some logs before we brushed them:

And here they are after:

It’s hard to tell in the picture but I promise that there is a significant difference when you are in the room.  They look much brighter and cleaner.  Plus, they will take the finish better.  Everyone says that if we take the time to do this now that the finish inside will last forever.  That is just about how long we need the finish to last, so we are doing it the right way the first time!  Each log will need brushed – inside and out --- we are getting well acquainted with the Osborn brush! :)

While they were waiting for more T&G to show up the garage roof trusses showed up.  Leonard called me to come take pictures of the process and by the time I got down there (about 15 minutes) they were on the last one! 

I think they have done this before.  They brought a big crane out to set each post and they nailed them into place.  Before we knew it, we had trusses for our garage all in place.

You’ll notice in the above picture that they also found time to finish the framing of the deck while they waited for more T&G.

The T&G arrived and they continued to work on placing that. 

I like this picture of Cale admiring his work. 

Cale is the guy that has been out here every day stacking logs, framing walls, putting up T&G and just helping us with any question that we have.  He is quite the craftsman and we are grateful for all the work he has put into the house.

After the T&G was up, they put the roof on the garage.

Then Cale started putting up the BCI’s on the roof.  This is where our insulation for the roof will go and also where the electrical wiring will be for the ceiling inside the house. 

Leonard started cutting holes and wiring for our recessed lighting for the kitchen and hallway downstairs. 

In fact, the electrical inspector came out on Friday and passed all of his work so we can cover the loft floor and start framing upstairs!  He was glad to have the first inspection passed!  I must say, he’s doing a great job!

He also started cutting holes for the recessed lighting and other electrical things that will go in the ceiling.  It’s a big job, wiring the whole house, but it is saving us a TON of money so I am grateful that he is up to the challenge!

Early this week they framed in our window wall and the window guy came out to measure and order the windows for the house.

I love how the window wall turned out!  It is so beautiful and I can’t wait to sit on a couch in the great room and look out the window.  We are so blessed!

Here is the most recent picture of the overall house:

It is really coming together and I love how it is turning out.  Most days I say to myself that I can’t believe this is our house.  We feel so blessed to be able to do this and can hardly believe that it is turning out to be better than we imagined.  We are having a great time doing it too and I know we will look back on this time with fondness, even with all the struggles. 

As a final note, it has been really smoky here lately because of fires in Canada.  This has made for some awesome sunsets.  One night the sun was almost red and because of all the smoke in the air, you could look at the sun without hurting your eyes – at least too much anyway:)  I tried to take a picture which doesn’t do it justice but turned out pretty good anyway.

I love how pretty it is up here.  We feel so blessed.