Lunch on the new deck. 

The deck! The deck!

The frame for the deck went up during the week and this weekend's goal was to get the decking on. In my mind, that has always been a major goal. To be able to use the deck. I always pictured us lounging on the deck, cool ones in hand, just enjoying the surroundings.

This was to be that weekend. We brought a good portion of our camping supplies; mats, sleeping bags, cooking items, etc. Plus a cooler full of goodies to keep us over the weekend, including beer and wine. This was to be our first sleepover inside the cottage.

It was a lovely weekend. Slightly overcast on Saturday, which made for excellent working conditions. We arrived about 10ish, but took a bit to get oriented and figure out rows and gaps and such. Bill was trying everything to figure out a way to not have to rip any of the planks. Our table saw would not produce a pretty outcome and we knew it, so we tried to plan carefully so that it wouldn't come to that.

Even once we got going, things moved slower than we had anticipated. The planks were all 12' 1/4" and the frame was at perfect 16" centres. We ended up having to shave that 1/4" off of almost every full plank put down. Needless to say, it slowed us down considerably. Then there are the issues of the planks that are only 5 3/8"instead of 5 1/2. When dealing with gaps between planks that are only the size of a nail, that 1/8" is huge. So, we tried to plan and do full rows of narrow planks to eliminate any problems, but every once in awhile, it just didn't work out that way.

We worked until 6:30 or so and by the end of the day we were about 6 rows short of having the front deck finished. So while Bill started the fire, I tidied up and put the Muskoka chairs in place. We cooked our dinner of steak, onions and mushrooms, and baked potatoes over the fire and sat and enjoyed our dinner fireside. Afterwards, we retreated to the new deck and resting in the chairs enjoyed those "cool ones" that I had pictured all that time.

We were tired so didn't last too long that night before heading to our sleeping bags.
Sunday morn we woke up, make a pot of hot coffee and breakfast and started back to work. We got the front deck finished and had 2 rows of the side deck on when we stopped for lunch. Just as we got back to work, Peter and Cathy, Evan and Erin stopped by on their way home from their cottage. Cathy had never seen the cottage, so they got the grand tour.

They didn't stay long, so it was back to work. Work still proceeded slowly and by the end of the day we only had about 1/2 of the side deck done. But it's great progress, the deck makes the whole cottage look so much better. Not so tall and gangly and out of place in the woods. Besides, we have a useable deck now. I'm happy as a clam. Next weekends projects will be to finish the decking and to build the stairs.

Bill sweeping the floor after we FINALLY got the septic hooked up. Notice all the wood for the deck laying around (still).  

When s^!@ don't fly

The past few weeks have been...welll...troublesome. Who'd a thunk a simple plumbing and drainage system for a little cottage could be so much of a problem. We designed everything needing water to be in one corner near the septic, thinking that would solve any major problems. Yeah, right.

#1 - Mr inspector dude won't let us put the waste pipes in the exterior walls. Holes would be too big and would weaken the wall he says. Ok, makes sense. We'll build false walls to put the pipes and air stack in.
#2 - That durn pipe glue dries in 3 seconds flat!!! Holy crapola!! Our brains and hands are far enough apart to result in a pause long enough to result in multi failed attempts to connect elbows, Ts and such at the correct angles. See our pile of bad glue jobs for a clue. We finally figure out the solution is to goober on SO much glue that drying is delayed by a second or 2. Oh, an glue goobers on hairy arms hurts when you have to pull it off (ask Bill).
#3 - When you have to saw out a piece of 3" pipe that is built into the corner of 2 false walss (that have been nailed tightly down) it gets ugly. The vibration from the saw and pipe jiggles the brain beyond belief. My ears are still tingly.
#4 - Tip of the week. Always purchase 20% extra of pipe fittings too. After all, multiple trips to small town hardware stores (of which usually have shortened hours when you need the item most) results in lots of lost time and LOTS of cursing (including the occasional "they're charging WHAT for a #$@! 45 degree elbow?!!!?").

But, finally Monday morning we finished the drainage portion of the plumbing. The pipe slid neatly into the septic tank and was successfully attached to the house. So, now hopefully on that first flush, shit won't fly.

And to end this post, well, lemme say this. This project has made me appreciate professional plumbers more. They earn every cent, even IF I have to put up with plumbers butt.