Remodeling project

This current cottage in Irons on Sable Lake is going to be looking really different by Spring. We are going "up and out" with the renovation.

ICF's and SIP

We are going to connect ICFs to an existing 2x4 structure and then use SIPs for the roofs.

The lake

We are once again blessed by an extremely favorable working location. This lake is loaded with fish!

Big addition here

This side of the house will get a basement and a large addition.

Another look at the lake

Soon the plans will be posted to show everyone just how much we are going to do to this place. We are really excited to be part of this project!

Another view

Take a good look because once we get started, the changes are going to happen quickly.

Walking and talking

John and the homeowner are seen here discussing the layout of the garage.

The front of the house

This is what the front of this project will look like in the Spring. Eric from Image Design drew this design.

Footings are set

We had to wait to get the footings inspected before we poured them.

Phase 1

This first phase of construction has us adding on the smaller of the three additions. This is the lake side of the house.

Big room

This is going to be a nice big living room.

More footings

We are ready to pour these footings. We received a shipment from Consumers today of ECO Block, so we are excited to get started.

Another look

Here is another look at the footings for the 3 season area.

Stay tuned.

We will have more photos soon of installing the ICFs.

Pouring the footings

The homeowner and John are shown here pouring the footings for the 3 seasons room.

Another angle

Elmers out of Ludington made the trek out into God's country to supply the concrete we needed.

Finished footings

These footings are flat and true like they are supposed to be. The ICFs should have no problem laying true on them.

Elmers truck

Consumers is our normal choice for concrete, but this project is beyond their range. In the north country, Elmers covers the largest area from Ludington past Traverse City.

Living room ICF's

This is how high the back living room ICFs will be. The rest of the room will be post and beam with SIP panels.

11/10/2006

3 season room ICF's

On the other corner of the house will be the 3 season room as shown here.

3 season room

This room will have a cement slab poured and post and beam and SIP walls.

Another look at the living room

When this room is finished, it will offer great views of the lake.

Final preparartions

We decided to start demolishing the old storage closet on the outside of the house while we waited for the concrete pump to show up.

A familiar sight.

We had to use Elmer's pump truck because our normal truck would not travel this far north.

The homeowner and friend

After a moment or two of instruction, the home owner and his freind Dan looked like pros!

1 guy and a wing man

It is good to have one person pouring and another watching out for leaks, tripping hazards, or any potential problems.

Pouring some concrete

Here is a shot of the pump truck in action.

More pump truck pics

This machine is truely enormous, usually everyone is 'wowed' by it.

Finishing the tops off

Here, John is working the top of the forms to get a smooth uniformed surface.

Coming around the corner

After we work the tops of the forms, we clean them and then sight them to make sure they are staright.

Mean while on the other side.

While John and I work teh forms, the home owner and his buddy Dan continued to fill the 3 season porches' forms.

The boys

If you work around concrete, you know the importance of cleaning your tools off, that includes the big monster pump truck. Once the concrete sets up on tools, the tools are basically usesless, that is why we must clean them.

Straight as can be.

Can you see how straight this form is? We ran a dry line down the edge to ensure it was traight and adjusted the forms accordingly.

Can you see the lake?

There is nothing quite like being up north in the Fall.

The 3 season porch forms

We will be pouring a concrete slab in this room. If you look closely, you can see that the forms are note fill all the way up. This is because of that pad, stay tuned to learn more.

Photography 101

OK, so sometimes we like to have fun, here is my attempt at art.

Two rooms from this view

A picture from the woods shows the two additions clearly. The remaining addition will be on the opposite side of the house that your are looking at in this photo.

What the deer see

This is the same view from the woods but at a slightly different angle.

New truck.

Believe it or not, this truck is brand new and cost Elmers around a half of million dollars. The driver treats this truck with major TLC and impressed us all with his ability to run the truck and his meticulous care of it.