June 6, 2019 – Leelanau County, MI – Written by Jim
What a difference a week makes! When we last wrote, our framer had the front and back wall of our cabin in place, and had one of the end walls ready to go. They started in earnest on Tuesday morning and by the end of the day, had the other two walls standing!
They even put the upper trapezoid windows in place before standing up the last wall. We did run into a glitch, as the company that Menard’s used to do the takeoffs from the prints made the outer windows an inch too short. The team at the Traverse City store put in an immediate reorder, so we will just pop them in when they come. We left the old ones in place in order to keep the building dry in the meantime.
The crane to install the trusses arrived on Thursday.
Seeing that 80 feet worth of crane against a waning crescent moon was pretty exciting!
Once the first truss was set…
…the rest just went right into place. Ryan and his nephew Tyler did the high work, while Paul fed supplies from the ground. Richard manned the truss lifting hook and the rope to guide the trusses into place.
In a little over an hour, the last truss was set into position.
Talk about a spider web of lumber! It was fun to see what our ceiling height was going to look like.
By the end of the day, the guys had the roof sheathing on the main portion of the cabin.
This will pretty much be our view from the kitchen and living room. Over time, we will do some selective tree trimming to open up our long view across the valley. All of our lower windows open, so we will get a nice breeze through the home.
On Friday, Ryan and Paul finished up the entryway. They first set the posts…
…and then put on the roof sheathing. With that, they called it a week.
Besides our building project, we found time for family and friends! We started out on Memorial Day with Diana’s cousins coming for a visit.
Reed, Nancy, David and Jerry and us went to a local pizzeria that opened up this year. If you find yourself in the town of Lake Leelanau, we recommend checking out Nittolo’s. It was very good. We also had our friends Lane and Patti over to see our place, along with our friends George and Grace.
On Saturday, we headed south to the Detroit area to attend a viewing for my Aunt Pat, the last family member from that generation. It was good to see my cousins again. From there, we headed 10 miles south to our great-nephew’s first birthday party.
Miles wanted that cake that his dad is holding…
…and he sure had fun with it once he got ahold of it! A great time was had by all. As a good friend said to me, it was definitely a circle of life day for us.
Stay tuned for next week’s progress as the framers tackle the interior walls, windows, deck framing and the roof. That will be a huge week, should they succeed in getting all of that done! Until next time, safe and happy travels to all!
exploRVistas 
Wow you guys are really going to town.
It is looking good 👍
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Thanks Rick! Can’t wait for you and Linda to see it!
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LOVE these updates. My best to you both always.
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Can’t wait for you and the kiddos to see it, Diane!
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Fun to watch. Our favorite day when we were building the house was watching the trusses come in the driveway around all the trees and see them go up. That is when it begins to be a real house. You cabin looks like a very nice sized home!
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I totally agree on the trusses making it a real house!
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A crane?!?!? What kind of unfairness is that? We had a boom, a rope and about a 30mph wind! The McCormicks were there for that fun and they have not been back since!
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And you were twice as high!
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Wow, things are really moving along fast! I think Jim and Barb are jealous!
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Ha! More of the words on our housewrap are right side up than on theirs too, but truth be told, I am probably the reason it ended up upside down on their barndominium. The wind was blowing too hard the day we did it, so we decided to go the wrong way, word wise. 🙂
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Now that is some progress…wow! You have a house! I love all the windows for your open view. Glad had some time to visit with family after a long pandemic wait.
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We were thinking of you and John last night as we sat in a couple of chairs and propped our feet on the window ledge. It definitely was an ‘evening with a view’ moment.
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I love all those windows, well once you have the right size anyway. Such incredible teamwork and so fast. Bonus with the family visits.
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We really wanted to bring the outside in, so I’m thinking those windows accomplished that, Gaelyn.
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Oh I’m excited to see your dream come together so quickly. You two must be over that crescent moon!! Love the huge windows, and that you can “adjust” your view once you’re done building. You’re going to be so happy you captured all these phases – maybe even some for the walls 🙂
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When we designed it, we noticed how little picture-hanging wall space we ended up with. We will have to come up with a solution for that one, Jodee!
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