February 13, 2021 – I’m back today to continue the barn siding installation on the new kitchen ceiling. Picking up where I left off yesterday I moved up towards the peak of the ceiling.
The railroad side went a bit slower. I installed over the utility closet, a.k.a. the Chokey, and the newly framed pantry closet. After clearing these obstacles I had to contend with the temporary electrical wiring. Hindsight says I should have installed the barn siding prior to the pantry and Chokey framing. Oh well…
It was way to cold to spend the night so I headed back home at the end of the day.
February 12, 2021 – I started the tongue and groove barn siding installation in the new kitchen today. I purchased the first batch at the Lowe’s in Mechanicsburg. Thankfully the highways were dry as I hauled it to the cottage.
The ground was snow covered and it was a whooping 26°F inside the cottage when I got there. Freezing my ass off! I got the little electric heaters going right away.
Once I had the barn siding inside I started the installation in the kitchen, along the river side. It went pretty well. I made it up past the light fixture junction boxes. It looks awesome!
Working off a ladder I know that this barn siding installation is going to take a couple of days. I’m here for the weekend so we’ll see how far I get.
February 8, 2021 – Just a quick down and back trip for a wall paneling delivery. Its a product by Mur Designs that we purchased at Lowes in various locations. Depending upon their stock it was either Lewistown, Mechanicsburg or Carlisle. For this order Lowe’s Mechanicsburg had one (1) sheet in stock, Carlisle had twenty (20) sheets and Lewistown had none. Carlisle it was.
I dropped of the wall paneling at the cottage. The lane was partially snow covered and the temperature was a balmy 21° F. I’m glad I wasn’t staying.
Leaving the cottage I headed to the Lewistown Lowes and placed the order for our kitchen cabinets. I spent Super Bowl Sunday finalizing the design and layout so that I could place the order. Done. Now we begin the waiting period.
Back at home we had Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms for dinner.
February 6, 2021 – Today I finished up the rough framing for the pantry closet. Robrandi put a coat of stain on the new tongue and groove pine flooring. It looks really good. It’s not a exact match to the existing flooring because you can’t get the same width flooring anymore, but it’s close.
I installed the back boards to close off the wall behind all of the base cabinets. Luan plywood in less expensive then the white bead board paneling we are using on the rest of the wall.
Its a snowy day at the cottage. Snow is completely covering the ground and there is a chill in the air.
January 30, 2021 – Today I finished up the electric rough in for the kitchen light fixtures and started the framing on the pantry. It was a bleak winter day along the river. There was some ice near the boat dock. Towards the end of the day I started the pantry framing but I didn’t get very far. I packed up and headed home around 4:30pm. Saving the rest for later.
January 24, 2021 – Kitchen light fixture rough in continued today. I worked on the pendant light fixtures mounted on the underside of the big structural beam. These three lights will help illuminate the breakfast bar.
January 23, 2021 – I was off to the cottage at some point after 8:00 AM. My Lowe’s receipt puts me at the Mechanicsburg Lowe’s at 8:57 AM. I know I was there earlier and it took me a while to shop for what I needed. I got a new 8 foot step ladder to work in the new kitchen area and a bunch of ceiling boxes to rough in the kitchen light fixtures.
On the way west, I stopped at the Duncannon Sheetz to get a coffee refill. That was at 9:30 AM.
Continuing on the way to the Cot-Taj-Mahal I stopped at the Lewistown Sheetz for a bathroom break. I know it’s taking forever to get there!
When I arrived I fired up the three (3) electric heaters and started to heat the place up. I worked all day on the kitchen light fixture rough in. It went pretty well. I cut a couple of pieces of the 1″ green insulation board to close off the attic access hole. Of course I had to draw a face on it. LOL…
Around 4:30 PM I started cleaning up and getting ready to go home. I shut off and unplugged all the heaters. Don’t want a fire!
January 17, 2021 – I got off to the cottage right around the same time today, 8:00 AM. Driving straight into Lewistown I stopped at the Sheetz to a get a breakfast sandwich and a coffee refill. I’m working on the three way switch rough in today. These switches will work the lights from both sides of the kitchen. Sitting in the parking lot I made a mental inventory of the materials I needed. Lowe’s was the next stop.
At Lowe’s I got a couple of four gang switch boxes, 250 feet of 12/3 wire and a 25 foot fish tape. I hoped to get a half gallon of Colonial Maple stain to start the kitchen floor. There was none to be found. I got a floor applicator and a bamboo pole to screw into it. I’ll have to get the stain later.
After Lowe’s I went to Bossert’s Hardware to see if they have the stain but they were not open. Off to the cottage.
Four Gang Switch Boxes
I worked on the three way switch wiring between the coffee station and the television wing wall. The four gang switch boxes are installed first.
4 gang switch box at the television wing wall.4 gang switch box at the coffee station.
Three Way Switch Wiring
It took a little time to run the wires but I got them it roughed in. Drilled a bunch of 3/4 inch holes to pull the wire through.
Between installing the switch boxes I had to go out to the outhouse. Always worried about the splash 😥🙄😯but it worked out good. LOL 😁😅
Opening up the outhouse.
After I put my tools away, I vacuumed up the sawdust from the hole drilling operation and then left for home at 4:30 PM. Good day at the Cot-Taj-Mahal!
January 16, 2021 – Welcome back after the holidays! I left the house around 8:00 AM bound for the cottage. I’m planning on working on the permanent electric service today. It was a very calming drive. I stopped at the Mifflintown Sheetz to gas up the truck and get a coffee refill.
Conduit Round Up
Before I could start the work on the permanent electric service I had to get some 2″ pvc conduit and fittings. Well Lowe’s did not have any conduit. Bossert’s Hardware did not have any conduit. River Valley Hardware And The Cookie Jar did not have and conduit. Finally I made my way out to Nolt’s Farm Store, two miles outside of McVeytown on Route 22 west. Thankfully they had some conduit. Now back to the cottage.
As you may remember we had the previous 100 AMP electric service disconnected and installed a temporary service. This was necessary to allow the roof framing above the kitchen to be removed and replaced.
Permanent Service Rough In
I hung the new 200 AMP meter base on the outside of the cottage. It is mounts on an Arlington Meter Mount Block that purchased from Gordon Electric. The mounting block has a channel along its edges that allows the siding to finish off inside it. This makes for a very clean “no caulk” finish.
200 AMP meter base installed on exterior wall.Arlington Meter Base Mount Panel
The conduit from the meter base runs down and then under the cottage towards the “Chokey” in between the kitchen and dining room. It turns up, passes through the floor , into the wall above and then connects to the electric panel.
Conduit run under the cottage.
Permanent Electric Service Rough In – Hole in the floor inside the Chokey wall.
Conduit passing through the floor to the electric panel.
Inside shot of the Living Room and Kitchen. Note the electric panel installed in the Chokey wall.
The permanent electric service rough in went very well. At the end of the day I had the meter base mounted everything below the base complete. I just need to run some EMT conduit up through the soffit and put on the weather head and the service entrance hardware. I’m in good shape. I’ll be back tomorrow to rough in some three way light switches.
December 28, 2020 – For the life of me, I cannot remember why I drove back down to the cottage on this day. The photos show that the only thing I accomplished was the cleaning up of the kitchen and deicing the grill.
The Juniata River was still cold! The front yard was cold! The back yard was cold!
Even the barbeque grill was cold! In fact, I had to use a bit of table salt and a hammer to remove the iceberg that formed around the gas hose.
But the kitchen cleaned up nicely.
The cleaning up of the kitchen is done and this is my last blog for 2020. I hope that everyone has a very happy New Year! I’ll be back in 2021!
PS: – Later I realized that I took down my scaffolding and moved it out of the weather.
