Hmmmm, It's Cozy Warm In Here!

September 24-26 and October 1-3, 2010

Over the last two weekends we have seen some major accomplishments with the help of our two great sons! Chris and Doug worked on the complicated internal details of installing our furnace and the main duct "tree" that goes the length of the cabin. There is more to this than I can even explain, but I know it involved things like plenum and electrical and PVC venting and a lot of unseen greatness.

The 32 foot duct "tree" had to be fed in from the side of the cabin where a hole/hatch has been left open or accessible. But before it was threaded through the floor trusses, the holes had to be cut in the exact locations where the duct "branches" would shoot out. 

This is not quite as fun as they're making it look! But they put on their happy faces anyway!

Chris does a little show and tell of his newly-cut piece. I hear it's all about having the right tool - and they had it. Some kind of gadget that attaches to the drill which becomes a supersonic scissor that eats through the metal.

Doug has an "S" connector and a...can't remember the other one. Sandy kind of goes blank when he's going into detail like this. But I AM impressed that they knew how to do all of this!

The living area has become a storage area for ducting. Soon this will all be tucked neatly in the walls and floor joists feeding the warm air to the rest of the cabin. It was so fun to get a text message that said "WE HAVE HEAT! This is a huge deal to have it work out when we have no experience with HVAC. Praise God!

The victorious Chris - a - nator! He does indeed look frightening!

We love his crazy hair and occasionally upon pressure of our begging, he removes his cap and lets us have a peek at its grandness! This is one of those fortunate moments!

On Saturday afternoon, after Kelly had finished her a.m. Master's Class and Sandy had attended a baby shower for Lauren and baby thrown by her friend Amber,  the two of them headed north to join their men and lend a hand. The decision was made to paint the posts to the porch and front stoop the same brown as the shakes and the ledger board installed on the walk-out side. We set to work sanding and painting those. It was a really good idea and made a huge improvement.

 

 The following weekend Spencer and Doug went to finish up and meet with Cenex as they installed the propane tank, which Doug calls "cute". Ya, it's kind of chubby and cute in that LP gas tank kind of way.

We're not wild about the tank location, but it needed to be in somewhat close proximity so the line could be trenched from the side (see it under the kitchen window?) and also reachable by truck in the future in case it needs to be replaced or moved. Eventually, there will or should be a garage right where the driveway is that will block our view of it somewhat. Sorry to Mike and Bev though. We'll try to get a fence or some vines to hid the little cutey some day!

The next major thrill was the opening up of the floor to install the stairs from the basement to the main floor! No more going outside and climbing up one of the hills just to get a tool or cut something or even communicate with one another. 

Spencer helped immensely with laying out and cutting the stair stringers!

Here's a peek from the main floor. Of course, there will be a half wall and the stairs going up here, but it's fun to see down.

From the basement you can see where it turns the corner and enters the hall. Very exciting!

More later - gotta go!