Garbage out, Boxes in!!!

Finally, finally, finally, we are moving in! Just as the drywall mess(and I do mean MESS!!!) goes out the door, or window, as the case may be depending on what floor you are on, the boxes are coming in and going to appropraited rooms. At this point, the shop vac is indespensible! The sheetrock dust that is everywhere must get cleaned up, the log walls vacuumed and washed the floors damp mopped, and we are ready to go. Now, understand that the house is not done, but we are exhausted of building, smooshed in our current house, and longing for the job to be over, so we are moving in on unfinished floors, with no tape, texture, paint, trim, etc. We will, hopefully, have some bedroom doors in a few days before the whole house gets moved.
Sometime in the future, we will move out of the 2nd flloor and get it finished, then the third, but for the time being we are happy just to be there and have a life besides the seemingly eternal building project! It has been an incredible journey, we have learned so much, we have poured our lives for the last 5 years into this lodge, and now, we are ready to enjoy and rest!
This afternoon, Brian and I will make a run to town for doors, the hot water heater, shower curtain rod, hopefully a bathroom sink from Habitiat, and a few more odds and ends. When get home, the 2 nd clear coat will have to be applied to the first floor flooring, then we can't walk on it for 48 hours, but we have a busy weekend planned anyway. Monday we will hopefully tackle getting the bathrooms buttoned up, but that will be another post. So long for now, even the rain cannot "dampen" my excitement today!

Pictures of Current Progress

Finally!!! Water coming up from the well!! Praise the Lord!!

A View from John's Room - 2nd floor

Standing in the Family Room - 2nd floor

Down the Hallway from Rosie's Room - 3rd floor

Standing at the top of the stairs looking into the Family Room - 2nd floor

Again, a huge Thank You to Ed Hardman, Dale Hawkins, Nathaniel Hawkins, Caleb Hawkins, Alan Imel and Josh McHenry for all their help with the drywall.

Final Pushes

We have named our home Providence Lodge because the Lord is the one who has made this possible and the One who has sustained us through it's building, and provided everything that we have needed.

We are on the final push to get moved in.

We finally have a well that produces water, the water is almost completely piped to the house.

The framing is finished on the third floor, and the electrical is completely finished.

The plumbing is almost complete, the drywall is finished on the 2nd floor (with the exception of the bathrooms) and a great start has been made on the drywall on the third story. 

This has all been possible through a very busy time of the year because of two contractors in our body of believers who have been without work for almost a month. 

So... rather than go crazy waiting for the phone to ring they have been out at the lodge more than not for the last four weeks.

They have been a tremendous help.

What a blessing they have been to us.

Working long hours even on days when I am not able to be there at all. 

Running for supplies when I run out.

A big thanks to Ed, Dale, Alan, Nathaniel, Caleb and Josh. 

All have been an invaluable help in getting us ready to move in.

 

Sanding & Finishing the First Floor

When we took the log builders class, the model house is built with 2x6 T&G, which provide both a solid flooring and the T&G ceiling for the floor below. We did this using the least expensive wood which was pine. We know that pine is very soft so we have been concerned that it won't hold up. We would have liked to go with a red fir which is harder, but that was too costly for our budget. But, low and behold, once the floor was sanded and stained, we were very pleased with the results.

We borrowed a low speed cirular floor sander from a friend, bought the sanding screens and went to work. We also had our little ones help with the hand sander, which they were excited to do! Next, our daughter wiped and "tacked" the floor with a wet cloth, rubbing the grain to pop it , which makes it accept the stain better. This we learned from our friend that has the sander.

We then chose a dark stain for a rustic, old time cabin look, and adding a variety to the same-all-over natural stain used on the rest of the wood. Brian used a lamb's wool applicator to apply the stain. At this point, it still needs a couple of clear coats of polyurethane, but we are so happy about how it turned out we just had to share right away!