Wood floors

Finished the wood floors today and am VERY glad I did!  I was getting tired of doing them.  To give you an idea I used 2500 cleat nails.  The only good thing about it was it was a great way to work off some of the holiday calories.

On the grid

Got hooked up to the internet today as well as Dish TV.  I almost feel like I could live here!  Now I won't miss any football games if I'm up here working.  Also put the bed frames together and had the mattresses delivered.  No more sleeping on the floor!  Carpet was also installed today.  Very productive day.  I'm working on the wood floors and will post some pictures of that progress soon.

Busy day with my daughter

My daughter Kelsey had the day off so she helped me run some errands and do a few things at the cabin today. Our first stop was Fairbank Iowa where we picked up the log style bed frames that I have had being built by a young Amish man.  It is always fun to drive through Amish communities and observe their lifestyles.

After loading up (4) bed frames on my trailer we hauled them to the cabin.  While there we did some final touch up painting in the bedrooms, bath and family room.  We wanted to get this done before the carpet is installed next week.  Then I spent a little time getting the first row of wood flooring down so that after Christmas when I arrive I will be ready to roll on the floor installation.  Getting the first row set and square to the walls is the most important step.  Getting that row "square" makes everything else go MUCH smoother.

After working at the cabin for a few hours we cleaned up and headed North into Wisconsin to a furniture store.  On the way we passed through a little town that we are looking forward to exploring when we have more time next year.

We found a sofa and love seat it looks like we will purchase.  Then back to Dubuque where we bought (4) sets of mattresses for the new bed frames then a well deserved dinner at Red Robin.

Finishing Touches

Spent the weekend doing a variety of things.  Awoke Saturday morning to 3 inches of snow which was a surprise.  It was the kind of snow that sticks to everything which made it really pretty.

Basically all the plumbing fixtures are now in and fully functioning as are the light fixtures.  Door hardware is installed.  Spent the majority of the weekend trimming out around windows and doors.  Picked up the wood flooring today and dropped in off.  It needs to set in the environment for a week or so before installing so I will be putting that in between Christmas and New Years.

Bathroom vanity light.  Ready for mirrors.

Wood flooring ready to be installed

Morning surprise

Casing around doors.  Will paint the exterior door in the spring.

Kitchen sink and Formica counters

Door hardware

Pocket door hardware

Lights over bar eating area

Casing around windows and sliding doors

Hall lights

Counters

Just got an e-mail from the person that installed the counters today (David Pins).  He sent me a before and after picture which was nice of him!  Below are the newly installed kitchen counters.

Big Ass Ladder

So one item I failed to account for in the design was how am I going to install a fan or light in the family room which has a 20 foot high ceiling!  The problem became apparent to me after we got things framed when I gazed up from the first floor.  Oh crap I thought.  Not wanting to spend several hundred dollars on a ladder I would probably use once I starting dreaming up several ideas.  The one thing I kept coming back to though was IF one of my contraptions didn't work that 20 feet is a long way to fall.  So the solution????

Buy a big ass ladder.  It didn't look that big when I ordered it on Amazon.com.  When delivered it almost didn't fit in our garage.  It's the biggest thing I've ever seen.  I can BARELY pick it up and move it by myself.  I needed help in standing it up....but it works great.  I felt very stable and safe at that altitude installing the fans this weekend.  Also finished grouting the ceramic floors.

Grouted bathroom

Grouted front entry and laundry area.

Big ass ladder

Installed ceiling fans