Monday, May 31, 2010
Sarah did a great job cleaning the cottage. Here is the upstairs and it looks great.
The weekend was fun but it was long. Golf was a blast, I got to Cinci in time for the rehearsal and the wedding went great.
Sunday was a bit foggy but we made it to the lake before noon and enjoyed a hot hot day. Today it rained a bit but the boys still got to go swimming. It's good to be home although I'm supposed to go to Akron tomorrow evening for a reception and golf on Wednesday in a Congressman Boehner event. I'd much rather stay at home and relax.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Some great before, during and after photos. The top one is from when we moved in and shows the old oil heater hooked up to the firebox. No hearth. The second one shows the hearth I built and the drylock on the wall. Note the brick inside the firebox. The third shows the fireplace completed. 
Thursday, May 27, 2010
More work by Mike this week. He made these doors that are on a track and cover the utility closet. Sure they were my idea but I didn't have time to make them.
I'm golfing in the morning with Mike Price, a great friend who put 43 years in with AEP and who is working his last day tomorrow. Congrats to him on his retirement, I'm happy for him but I'm sad that my job won't be nearly as much fun when he is gone.
After golf, I need to haul down to Cincinnati for another great friend's wedding. I'm in the wedding and the rehearsal is at 6:00. Sarah and the boys are coming down Saturday and then we'll all get up early Sunday morning for the long drive to the lake.
Photos up next week.
Mike has been down at the lake this week finishing up some of the things that aren't done. This is the upstairs fireplace wall which if finally done in pine.
Washer and dryer is hooked up in bathroom and we're going to drain it thru the shower for this summer. The bathroom renovation is next winter's project.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
We went furniture shopping tonight. Henry needs a bedroom set so we picked out one last weekend and we can get it direct from NC for $365 cheaper, even with the shipping costs. We will move his stuff into Jack's room for a few years until we're ready to make that plunge again. Tonight we were mostly looking for a new couch and chair for the lake. We found a great deal on both but I'm not sure Sarah is 100 percent on board. Gift card for the tv arrived yesterday and I'm just waiting for the Best Buy one to come before I make that purchase. I love gift cards, its a lot better than cash when they are free.
Monday, May 24, 2010
I know my blog has turned into a lakehouse renovation update but that's about to end. I can't say its all done but the majority of it is and I'm going to just enjoy the place this summer. The walls are up in the stairwell and the treads are down. The risers will be in shortly. 
The fireplace is nearly done, all except for the sliver just above the firebox. It looks great.
Here is today's project. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and it really looks nice. Note the new light. Nothing great but the price was right.
I'm ready for a break. I'm sore, tired and don't want to be away from my family any longer. Here's to a great summer at the lake.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Back after a long two days of work on the lakehouse. Racing to the finish line will be greatly aided by Mike working a full day there Saturday and me joining him for Sunday. All the construction debris is supposed to be picked up Monday and hopefully we'll be on our way to enjoying the house for the summer. Here is where I am on the fireplace and here are the new stair treads installed.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Jack has been struggling with his potty training but I think the light has finally turned on for him. He's had two days in a row with no accidents and I am thrilled. I figured that since Henry was trained by 3 that we would get some kind of pay back with Jack but I think he may be ready. We took him to Chuck E Cheese tonight for a treat; I had told him Monday if he went a whole day with no accidents we would go and darn if he didn't do it on Tuesday.
I'm headed to the lake tomorrow for some serious work. I hope to come back on Friday done with the fireplace and walls with only the stair rail and steps left to do. I'm getting tired of burning vacation for work but I can see the light at the end.
I'm headed to the lake tomorrow for some serious work. I hope to come back on Friday done with the fireplace and walls with only the stair rail and steps left to do. I'm getting tired of burning vacation for work but I can see the light at the end.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
I hooked up our new Blu Ray player last night. It's very cool, we can stream videos from Netflix, youtube, Amazon and a bunch of other places. Not to mention the great video quality on the DVD. Makes me want to go out and buy a 1080 LCD now...
Henry reading. Sarah and I visit his kindergarten class once a month and read with individual kids. I haven't read with one that is near his level. Yes of course I'm proud of him.
Some misc. photos from the weekend. Here is me with my new grinder cutting the stone. 
Most of the new walls are in but I probably have a half day of work on them.
Here is the boat at our house ready to go to the lake. 
Trailering a boat isn't a lot of fun.
Trailering a boat isn't a lot of fun.Here is Henry in the New Albany Founder's Day parade.
Two pepper plants Sarah bought me and a tomato one for her.
Two pepper plants Sarah bought me and a tomato one for her.
Monday, May 17, 2010
This photo shows the corners of the new fireplace. I'm glad I built it out a bit from the wall but it probably doubled the time it takes to install it because of all the cuts.
The wood brace in the firebox is a jig to be used to install some horizontal pieces that would probably fall without support.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
After and before. Here is the work done on the fireplace at the lake today. I know it doesn't look like much but we (my neighbor Shake and I) did the hardest part first and it was slow going. The corners were not fun and there were a lot of them. The straight pieces at the top go pretty quick so I'm excited to get back down and finish it up. We probably would have gotten further but we ran out of mortar. Memorial Day is two weeks away and I'd say we are 80 percent done with things that we need to do before then. We need to finish the walls upstairs and in the stairwell, put doors on the utility closet and finish the fireplace. Oh, and finish up the stair treads and risers and install the rail upstairs. Then we'll be ready to go. I'm thinking of having an old fashioned bar raising this summer with my handy friends. Need to get the bar done but that's not urgent.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
We went down to the Reds game last night. It was somewhat spur of the moment, I had 4 tickets at will call because a Senator was having a fundraiser there. Long way to go to spend an hour and a half at the game but free tickets, free food are hard to pass up, even though the Reds lost. Next time we'll stay overnight.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Nothing going on in my life. Work is slow, no big issues. Henry's soccer season will be done on Monday and his baseball games start next Saturday. Jack is doing better on his potty training. Sarah is wearing contact lenses. I guess the most exciting news is that we will probably pick up the boat on Saturday. Sunday my neighbor Shake is going to help me "stone" the downstairs fireplace. Pictures to come. Oh, and I ordered two Blu-Ray DVD players yesterday, one for the lake and one for our house. I used credit card points so I got them for $50 each, not a bad price. I'm waiting on some other gift cards in the mail so I can get the new LCD tv for the lake, hopefully before Memorial Day.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Tonight I stained the oak stair treads for the lakehouse. It turned out to be a lot easier and quicker than I thought it would. We used red oak as the color and it really brought out the grain in the wood. Tomorrow night I will put a coat on of polyurethane, then sand it and put another coat on the next evening. I'll probably end up going with 3 coats but will decide after the second. Don't ask me what boy #2 is doing in this photo.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Here is the family eating our Mother's Day dinner. We ate it on Saturday because I went to the lake yesterday to continue working. I think I hit the wall with this renovation but I know I have to finish it. By the way, Sarah and I had a shrimp dish after the boys ate and it was great. 
Here's what I did, completed some more wall. It didn't look like I did a lot but there were a ton of cuts around doors and that's time consuming. This stretch wasn't too bad though.
Here's the tile, it looks great but there is still some grout scum on it. That'll come off easy. 
Saturday, May 08, 2010
Henry's school had a art show today.
For a mere $30, we bought this piece by him signed, framed and glassed. It could be worth millions some day. Who knows?
Friday, May 07, 2010
Today Sarah and I went on our boat "orientation". It was an hour long, "here is how this thing works" lesson and was probably valuable. I had hoped to finally get it this weekend but with the weather and a busy schedule it looks like we'll have to wait until next weekend. Here's a photo of the boat, ready to go with the new custom cover.
Thursday, May 06, 2010
I still haven't seen the tile but Mike says it looks great and he likes the light grout. Here are today's photos. I guess we'll see it if we go down on Sunday.
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
Here's a shot of Henry
playing soccer last night. More pics to come but the computer is slow right now.
Jack before the Derby party with his horses all lined up.
playing soccer last night. More pics to come but the computer is slow right now.
Here are some photos of the 6th annual Derby party. Not sure how many people we had this year, probably over 50. 
Monday, May 03, 2010
Before (Sunday)...
...and after. What a difference the tile makes. I'm very happy with the job and the tile. They didn't quite finish today but I think they'll be done tomorrow. 
Here's the bar area. The wood in stacked in an area that isn't getting tiled. 
Bedroom and hallway are complete, the main living area is halfway done. I can't wait to go down and look at it after its been grouted.
Bedroom and hallway are complete, the main living area is halfway done. I can't wait to go down and look at it after its been grouted.
