It has been a while since I have posted any updates about our cottage, and the crazy addition that is in the works! I’ll be honest, this has been an amazing learning curve, and I can’t believe how amazing my husband is! Not to mention our friends and family that have been generous enough to lend a hand… and let’s not forget our awesome neighbour… more about that in a minute.
I have previously talked about my “I can make that” syndrome… I would be lying if I said I didn’t think it would be manifested in such large portions… I’ve actually always thought we could build our house. Thats just kind of how I roll. Matt on the other hand, thankfully so, is a little less eager to build our next car. The thing is, he has skills… beyond assembling IKEA furniture. So… with a series of instagram photos, I will take you through an update of the build!
We started out the last week of September with the excavation for our foundation… it was poured by the end of that same week. We were hit with some snow at the beginning of October, but with the help of 2 friends, we were able to get the floor of our crawl space poured and smoothed out. The cement guy may have been more than skeptical at this mamma in rubber boots, and her crazy haired hubby! But, we had some good laughs.
Once our joists arrived, things started to feel a little more real… but, Matt and I lifting beams and nailing joist hangers while the boys rode their bikes in the crawl space wasn’t the most efficient work crew. My bro-in-law came to the rescue, and after a day they had pumped out the first floor joists!
It was a very exciting day when they had the first wall built… a bit of a humdinger at 17 ft tall along the one section. We have a vaulted/open ceiling in our Living Room, thus the reason for the height change. Sometimes, God uses these moments to teach you about the impossible. This wall weighed a zillion pounds. While Matt and his dad surveyed the possible scenarios for lifting said wall, our neighbor poked his head out in neighborly fashion. Matt made a joke about him knowing anyone with a crane… to which he replied- “Oh yea, I could get ya one” Imagine our surprise. That pretty much saved our lives, and a lot of sweating and fretting!
Once the wall was up, the other walls began to take shape, and I could start to invision our future space! I sourced and did the layout for all of the windows, which was a bit stressful, and fun too! Should it be centred in the room… how does it look from the outside… Which ones will open, how will I keep this in budget?! Those are the questions that ran through my mind… how high do we want them… While our plans gave us a basic foot print and layout, we made some changes for practical reasons… for example the position of the bay window in our room… using double patio doors out to the backyard from our bedroom…. and a TRIPLE Patio door from the Living room. Placing the windows appropriately on either side of the fire place while still having balance on the vaulted wall, and the wall under the loft… Just so many decisions! Thankfully my husband is a doer. I am a second guesser… I need 9 opinions about really permanent things. I hum and haw for weeks months before hanging a picture on the wall. So Matt and Zach were really great for saying “sounds good. let’s do it!”
Here is a shot of our future bedroom! We have a bay window and walk in closet… 2 things I have never had but always wanted! I still can’t believe it… I just have to take a minute to say that even though it might seem crazy, and like a lot of work to build your own place (which it is) I feel SO VERY BLESSED! Yes, we are DIYing an addition and living in 900sqft through an Alberta winter with 2 wild boys while we do so… But what a crazy life! Matt’s parents live in a log house which his Dad built over 30 years ago… and it is just such a neat legacy. It cracks me up how everyone loves it, and we think it’s so amazing… but his Dad always points out things that aren’t finished etc. Like father, like son 😉 Someday our boys will sleep in their new loft bedroom that their daddy built just for them!
Aside from our bedroom, the first floor will also contain a full family bath, laundry area and gorgeous living room. Well, it will be gorgeous some day! The shot below is of the LR- a fireplace will be centered between those 2 windows, and we will eventually add built ins. The large opening on the tall wall is the triple door that goes out to the backyard.
Our Second floor has a bonus living area (which is open to the Living room below) and a large room for the boys to share. When the addition is complete, we will have 4 bedrooms, but I still want the boys to share. I grew up sharing a room for most of my life, and think there is value there. We will keep a bedroom for an office and guest room, and hope to eventually fill one of those room with another baby! Someday in the future. No announcements going on here 😉
This monster beam holds up the loft! So.Many.Nails. I hope to have an update of the second floor, sheething completed, trusses and our roof! Things are coming along, and we have been blessed with a bit of a thaw… or at least fewer sub-zero freezer days…
-Miss Ash