Our big gift to ourselves for Christmas of 1984 was a computer. It fit in nicely with my lake project. It was fun to learn graphics with a purpose in mind - designing a cottage. And fun to learn a spreadsheet when I had a matrix with dates at one side and 4 columns of figures (Permanent Costs - Paid Indirectly or Directly, Removable Costs - Paid Indirectly or Directly) that I could add up at a touch. And fun to learn an editor when I wanted to submit lists of building materials for an estimate or detail the work I needed to have done by an electrician or plumber for an estimate.
Dave was not excited about a cottage on the property; he kept telling me it would ruin it for camping. But since we'd only camped on it twice during the first summer, I didn't give much weight to his concern, especially since there would still be plenty of room for camping. The cottage would sit at one corner of the lot. When I'd stayed there overnight alone I'd slept on a cot in the shed. My success with my first-year projects had given me the confidence I needed to go ahead with a larger project. My building permit was extended for another year and I was anxious to get started again by the time the road was passable in mid April. My goal was to complete one 12x12 foot section of a planned 24x36 foot cottage this year and add a 12x12 foot section each year until it was completed.
I had marked off the corners of the cottage only approximately the previous Fall and I'd dug out a few shovelfuls of dirt at one corner. Now it was time to be more exact if I was going to have a square cottage. I got out my level and twine and square and created batter boards like THE BOOK told me to.
THE BOOK was a lifesaver, my bible. I don't think I would have been able to build the cottage without it. It was a U.S. Department of Agriculture publication (Agriculture Handbook No. 73) called "Wood-Frame House Construction", sold by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, although I think I remember ordering it from the Pueblo, Colorado office. I haven't found another book comparable in either a bookstore or a library.
I planned to support the cottage on concrete block foundation pillars. I would need 12 pillars to support the 24x36 foot cottage, each 12x12 foot section supported by a pillar at each corner. I dug the holes 2x2 feet at least 3 1/2 to 4 feet deep so that the base of each pillars would sit below the frost line. I tried to dig to the proper depth so that I wouldn't have to add padding to the top of any of the pillars to make them all level and I succeeded in that aim. After encountering so many rocks near the edge of the cliff, I was surprised at how easy it was to dig these holes; most of the "rocks" were soft shale that was easy to break up with a pick and shovel. Because of the contour of the land, the pillars ranged in height from about 5 feet to 12 feet.
During every trip to the lake I'd buy as many concrete blocks or as much lumber or other supplies as I thought I could transport safely. I never made a trip without a full car load either coming or going. If I didn't have the proper equipment to do the work I had planned, it was a wasted day, a wasted trip. I'm a list-keeper and it works well for me. Once I write something on my list I can clear my brain for other work. Since the beginning of the project I'd always kept a notebook (Dave calls it my diary) with my lists - what to do at the lake, what to take, what to bring back, what to do at home, what to buy. My time at the lake was precious; I often had a few spare hours at home when I could get a lot of "lake jobs" done - planning, measuring, cutting, researching. I tried to make the most of my time.
I stacked a pair of concrete blocks in each layer and mortared them together and to the next layer alternating direction with each layer. One block from the top I mortared mesh across the holes. After the top layer was on I filled the top holes with concrete and imbedded a large bolt which would be used to hold the main girders in place. By the beginning of May I had four pillars done, enough so that the septic system contractor could see where the cottage would be. I was afraid that it would be difficult later to dig under the cottage, especially since the major "drain corner" was the corner closest to the ground. I marked the approximate locations where drains would be leaving the cottage and called for an estimate. The septic system (a 750 gallon septic tank and two 750 gallon dry wells) went in May 9. It was a beautiful day and very pleasant sitting in the sun watching the work. The Health Inspector came to approve it and we encountered no problems. While the heavy equipment was there I asked for the contractor to remove a couple of stumps that were in inconvenient locations. The extra dirt from the septic system excavations went to level the parking area somewhat. I felt that a lot had been accomplished that day.
About this time I realized how much lumber I would be needing and asked various lumber yard to give me estimates for those amounts. But I'm hard to please so I returned some of what they consequently delivered. I realized that this might happen since I knew what poor quality I'd had to pick through in the self-service lumber yard. One type of building material that was usually in good shape was plywood and siding (I had decided on T1-11). They were also the most difficult for me to transport so I had most of that type of wood delivered. I picked out and transported most of the rest myself, often taking it home where I could cut it at my leisure, then transporting it to the lake when I was ready to use it. I also needed to choose windows and doors before I could draw my final plans with final measurements. I had decided on a window that hinges at the top and cranks out from the bottom so that I wouldn't have to worry so much about closing them during rain. I like to live in a light, airy place so I wanted lots of glass. I planned to have three patio doors across the lake side of the cottage and a door with a large window on the opposite side, the side we would enter from the road. Every room would have 2 windows except the bathroom and utility room which would each have one.
My plan involved three 12x24 foot sections. The southernmost section included the kitchen on the lake side with a utility room opening into the kitchen on the road side. There would also be a bathroom on the road side, but it would open into the second section - the living area which spanned the entire 24 foot width with one corner to be used for a stairway to a sleeping loft above it. Under the stairway would be a "junk" closet. The third section would be two bedrooms; between them would be two bedroom closets and a coat closet opening into the living area. I'd also planned to have a closet in one corner of the bathroom that would open into both the bathroom and the living area.
By early June I had changed my game plan and decided to build a 12x24 foot section this first year since it would be easier to fit the pieces together. I had 9 pillars done. A 24x24 foot section of flooring was complete and I had the wall frames nailed together, but still laying on the floor. I also had a son (Jim) who was very ill with mono. He had probably already had it when he tipped over the canoe in very cold water at the end of May. Our daughter, Cathy, had a very mild case in January, but Jim had total involvement with high fever and enlarged liver and spleen. I didn't want to be far away since a ruptured spleen was a possibility if he wasn't careful.
In general, the children were becoming more interested in helping with the building. Our oldest son, Mike, started digging holes for the last three pillars. After Jim was on the road to recovery Dave, Mike, Cathy, and I raised the wall frames for the first section. What fun that was! Suddenly we had rooms and windows and views; suddenly it really seemed like a house and not just a platform in the woods. Jim often came to the lake with me that month to laze in the sun and complete his recovery; during that time we planted a weeping willow tree on the beach.
Carpentry was the fun part and things started to proceed quickly until a mother robin decided that the new rafters would be an ideal setting for a nest. On July 9 I found that three eggs had been laid. I had pretty much completed the framework for the entire first section and had the roof on that section and I was in the process of nailing up the remaining siding, but I left off the siding where mama robin needed access to her nest. I had other things I could work on. There was also a woodpecker that added enjoyment to building. I would hammer-hammer-hammer and he would tap-tap-tap almost as an echo. I would have removed one dead tree by now except that it functioned as a bird apartment house, laced with holes in which birds nested every season. It's only about five inches in diameter and the top has already fallen off so it poses no danger if it falls. But there was a death during this time. The pillar holes that Mike was digging were filling with water when it rained and I found a chipmunk drowned in one of them; it made me feel badly, but we had covered them to prevent human accidents. It was during this time also that I formed one of the most relaxing images I will probably ever have - laying on my back on the floor of that partially finished section, it was very pleasant to look through the open frame and green leafed branches swaying in the breeze into the blue sunlit sky with its fluffy white clouds.
I had built up the first pillars quickly enough so we hadn't noticed water problems there. Now I wanted to get the last three done. First I had to stand in the holes and bail. I had a worn pair of sneakers that I resisted discarding until this job was done. What a feeling - mud oozing between my toes; it did cool me off on those hot days, however. It was more refreshing than ever to bathe in the lake when the day was done and scrape off the mud and mortar and sweat. By July 22 the last of the pillars was done and the holes were filled in around them and the three robin eggs had hatched. By August 3 all of the robins had left the nest.
Meanwhile I had again changed my game plan after seeing how quickly things were moving and I had completed the entire 24x36 floor and cut out most of the remaining frame at home. With each trip, I was transporting at least enough lumber to keep me busy for a day and had arranged for the remaining plywood for the roof and the siding to be delivered. Although I couldn't keep the floor dry, I was able to keep new wood dry under the cottage. One corner was almost touching the ground, but I could easily walk under the corner diagonally opposite. By August 14 all of the first floor frame was up. Cathy was getting bored at home and was coming to the lake with me now to relax and sunbathe, but she was also a very willing helper when I needed her and together we finished nailing on the first floor siding. By August 18 the second floor joists were completed and I was beginning to construct the upper walls and roof. Jim appeared at a crucial moment when I needed some muscle power to hold things in place while I nailed. In early September Dave helped me finish the second floor siding.
By the beginning of October I was ready to shingle. The plywood was done, a layer of asphalt felt was stapled on and the drip edge was in place. I wanted to complete one side to the peak the first day so I wouldn't have to worry about rain water running underneath the shingles. I arrived early but, despite my careful planning, I arrived without a hammer; I later found that it had fallen out of my tool caddy into the back of the other car. So I had to wait for the hardware store to open; fortunately there was a hardware store only a couple of miles away - out in the middle of nowhere, expensive, but handy for emergencies such as this. I've always since had two hammers available.
I had another problem that day. Dave and I had always agreed that he shouldn't worry about me until after 7:00; then he should call my neighbors and have them check on me. Then, if the car wasn't there he would know that at least I hadn't had an accident at the lake. I had always been safety-conscious, however. When I worked on the roof, I had two ropes strung across the roof and anchored to trees at both sides. I had another rope around my waist (I'd learned to tie a bowline knot) with a clip that I could move from loop to loop on the long ropes depending on where I was working. I knew I wouldn't be home by 7:00 so I went to a neighbor's house to call home. No answer. They were just leaving for an evening out so I wouldn't be able to use their phone again and Dave wouldn't be able to reach them either. So I finished the job, nailing the last row of shingles over the peak and started home stopping at every phone booth (there weren't many). I was the first one home. Dave had been at Jim's soccer game and nobody had been worrying about me; they arrived shortly after I did.
My carpentry was not accomplished without injuries. As I was nailing walls I hit my left index finger hard enough with the hammer to break it - just the tip; it didn't keep me from working, but was a nuisance. I had also fallen hard over a ladder while it was laying on the ground. But the most potentially serious injury occurred while I was working on the second level flooring. I had left the plywood laying loosely across the joists and had just cut a piece to fit when I stepped on an end that was no longer supported by a joist underneath it. The plywood and circular saw fell through to the first floor and I fell across a couple of joists, sustaining colorful bruises from jaw to thigh for the next week or so.
I also made some mistakes which became apparent in time to make corrections. One wall was 3/4 inch too short, an error in my calculations. Also a neighbor "inspecting" my work noticed that the twelve foot span between the kitchen and living area appeared to be sagging slightly. It supported a large part of the upper floor and I felt stupid when I realized that I should have applied the same rule to that "header" as I had to the headers over the windows and doors. I used a floor jack to reposition it correctly and reinforced it with the proper size "header".
It was always quiet at the lake when school was in session, especially on a weekday. Most of the summer people had left. There were few boats on the lake. This had advantages and disadvantages. It was peaceful, but there was no help available if it was needed. The weather was perfect for working. I remember laying back on the roof when I needed a break and watching the V's of noisy Canada Geese flying south overhead.
The next day I shingled the other side of the roof and then was ready to install doors and windows. Dave would be happy to have an empty garage at home. I'd been storing all of my building materials there during the summer. Soon we would need the garage again for the cars. Dave maneuvered windows and doors into place while I nailed them temporarily. I nailed them permanently later in the week and was able to manage alone once they were in place.
By mid October, I was able to lock the cottage and settle in. I wanted to get window coverings in place first so that it wouldn't be easy for sightseers to view the contents of the cottage. I used old curtains and draperies I'd had in storage and a few old paint sheets. There was one sheet that made a great temporary drape; the kids had obviously used it one Halloween. It had two eye-holes in it and buttons painted on it, one labeled "Shrink" and another "Enlarge". Another sheet was covered with every color of the rainbow. I was almost sorry to take those down and replace them with something nicer later.
During the last two weeks of October I nailed soffits in place, finished the stairway to the sleeping loft, caulked around the windows and doors and moved some furniture in. I'd been collecting things at home and it was nice to get them cleared out - a mattress, some patio chairs. I was also treated for a corneal abrasion during that time. I think I must have gotten a piece of sawdust in my eye and then rubbed it, but that kind of thing heals quickly. In my haste to get things done for the winter, I also got my first ever speeding ticket in a little town on a main highway to the cottage.
Seeing evidence of mice, I put out poisoned grain. I later regretted doing that and resorted to traps. Instead of eating some of the grain, the mice hid it - in bedding, between mattress and inner springs, etc. Their droppings were bloody from what they did eat, and therefore more difficult to clean up. I was dismayed that mice were getting into the cottage at all since I thought I had sealed everything pretty well, eventually even around plumbing and wires entering the cottage. The only place I thought they might be entering was at the soffits since I hadn't yet put up soffit molding, but I couldn't imagine them climbing that high. Otherwise they might have entered when I left doors open while working. When I finally did get soffit molding in place I had no more trouble with mice.
As my last act of this first year of building I signed my creation. On one of the girders underneath the cottage I wrote with a black magic marker "Nancy Regan Designer, Architect, Builder 1985".
I planned to visit the property once a month during the winter to check that things were OK, but I don't think I made it quite that often. However, I've never had any problems with damage. I guess it's too far off the beaten track to attract intruders.