Kim and I got paneling up on 2 walls and the bathroom ceiling tiles installed while Sabrina took Triston for a tour of the property. Nice to have a little more privacy for the bathroom. I was really surprised how easily the tiles went up. We trimmed 'em to size them with a box cutter and a straight edge then used Liquid Nails adhesive to attach them. I did put in a couple of staples in each against the outside edge to secure it until the Liquid Nails dried. We were very pleased with the look. The tiles (18"x24" square) were about $11 ea at Lowe's. It took 8 tiles to cover the 3'x8' bathroom ceiling. More than I'm willing to spend to cover the entire house ceiling but it was worth it in the bathroom. We tried to keep the edges within a quarter inch of the wall as we will trim the ceiling/wall joints with a cedar board. Need to find a longer pipe for the shower head so that Kim can reach it. :)
Scary part was mapping out and cutting holes for the light fixture and shower pipe.
Before and after of the bathroom area. 
Bathroom walls paneled to ceiling.
The rest of the South wall will be left open to shelves. We'll start trimming out the inside of the shelves and then trim the openings. We decided to cut the plywood a bit tall to cover the OSB that makes up the deck of the loft. I'll just go back and cut a couple of finger holes in the deck pieces so that we can pull them up and over the plywood if we ever need to take them out to get to the electrical or plumbing that runs through the joists of the loft.
I will also be SO glad when we get a point that we can install the flooring. I can't tell you how many times we have relocated the pile of 30 lb boxes of vinyl tiles. No matter where we put them, that seems to be the next place we need to work.
Ceiling in shower area.
We got a grommet cover to cover where the pipe enters the ceiling but did't bother to put it on for the picture as we plan on replacing the brass pipe with galvanized to keep the look consistent. I can't wait to get the cedar trim up. Kim also picked out some galvanized pipes, elbows and footings to attach to the ceiling as a curtain rod. I love the industrial look that she's picked out of the bathroom.
We ate pretty light this trip but I did grill some salmon with boiled new potatoes along with buttered peas for our last meal on Sunday. I love eating our meals outside, watching the birds flutter to and from the feeders. It's so relaxing. We need to start planning an outdoor hanging bed next. I could have crawled in and slept for hours after lunch! :)
I woke up quite early (for me this time of year) on Sunday at about 5 a.m. and went out to make a campfire. It was so nice to sit there in the coolness of the morning and listen to the woods wake up. The peace ended when a murder of crows got into a squabble over something a couple of hundred feet away. There were about 30 of them fussing and cawing at each other for 5 minutes. After they moved on everything calmed down again. As the sun came up, I wondered down the drive for a brief walk just to get some of the morning stiffness out. As I walked by a metal trash can that we store bird feed in by the cabin, I noticed the lid was covered in fresh blood. It appeared that there were 3-4 other large patches of dried blood on the lid as well. I wondered if it could have been a dog or raccoon trying to get into the food but realized there were no prints on or around the can. I came to the conclusion that it must be an owl using the can as a dining table in the night. I couldn't come up with any other reasonable explanation. If you have any thoughts, please chime and let me know what you think.
Driveway leading to the front road.
We also brought back the Go-Kart to get the brakes worked on. It won't be quite as exciting as it has been but it will be a lot safer! :)
Jay, Been reading your blog for the past few days since it appeared on Tiny House. Moved my father-in-law from Gun Barrel City south of you to Maine and built him a portable cottage. Glad you are having fun.
ReplyDeleteDennis
What part of Maine did he move to? My family and I went to Maine for years on vacation. My girls' cousin is the campaign manager for Angus King. It was really good getting to know him. I know he's going to do great things in the Senate. I nearly bought some land in Sulivan, along the coast by Bar Harbor. They had 700+ acres for $100/acrea. It was stunningly beautiful. Too big a jump for a Texas boy! Besides, when we go to Maine, we really want to stay with family and they were all in the Augusta area. Do you have any pics of the his cottage? Huge challenge to insulate it up there! Thank goodness for wood stoves! Thanks for reading. Any thoughts as we go along would be great!
DeleteWe live in Stetson, about 20 miles SW of Bangor International Airport, 60 miles N of Augusta. How do I get a photo of the cottage to you? I had a similar opportunity to purchase 100 acres with 10,000 feet of frontage on Pleasant Lake in Stetson many years back. Asking price was $20,000. Taxes today would be exorbitant. It may be 90 degrees in Point, but it is 50 here and the woodstove is burning.
DeleteMy email is jmerrett@me.com. Send the pics there. The lakes in Maine are beautiful, so clear and peaceful. We took a sabbatical one year and stayed at a little house on a lake outside of Hallowell for 3 months. I was fascinated then with tiny houses. A gentleman next door had torn down a one room (about 15'x20') on some property he had just bought from a woman that had raised 5 kids there by herself. Wood floor on top of the dirt and one big stove in the middle of the room. They all slept in bunk beds along the walls. How they got through the winters there I'll never know, especially with the mosquitoes and biting flies. They're worse than we have here in Texas! All in all though, I have great memories of Maine. Climbing Mount Katahdin, white water rafting the Penobscot, birthday parties for the governor's wife, gleaning potato fields after the harvest, motorcycle tours of Hwy 1 and the thrill of going to the lobster pounds daily! :) I understand what you mean about the property taxes going through the roof. We sold a property north of Dallas back in the early 70s for about $40K. Now, they are asking $1.4 Million for the empty lot after they tore down my childhood house. We couldn't have afforded to stay there after the boom. Sad, I know too many families that have been forced out of their old neighborhoods as property values soared. The good news was that they usually profited from those increases, but many would have liked to have remained there still the same. Have a great fall and let me know how your dad is getting along!
DeleteJay