September 29, 2020 – Our salesperson from AES Hearth & Patio called yesterday to let us know that our new Quadra Fire wood stove and hearth pad had arrived. Today I went over to AES to pick them up.
We placed the order for a Quadra Fire model 4300 Step-Top steel wood stove with Queen Ann legs back on September 15, 2021. The hearth pad is an American Panel Volcanic SandsT2 with a Colonial edge. It’s all pretty awesome and will look great in the newly renovated Cot-Taj-Mahal.
When I got to AES they loaded the Quadra Fire stove and hearth pad into my truck with a forklift. There was a very small hole in the cardboard covering the hearth pad. It was so small that I didn’t think anything of it. (More on that later.)
Quadra Fire Wood Stove and American Panel Hearth Pad all loaded up.
Now, I have to deliver, offload and move the stove into the cottage living room. It weighs 350 pounds so that will be no small task.
September 27, 2020 – While visiting the Clubhouse Restaurant in Mifflintown, we learned that there is a Goose Day Celebration in the Juniata River Valley.
September 26, 2020 – Today I got the interior paneling installation started. It’s been a long time coming, but we are finally ready to close up some walls.
The window, electric rough in and insulation are complete at this living room wall, so it seems like a great place to start.
Paneling installation in the living room.
We are using a panel made from 100% recycled wood. The manufacturer is MURdesign and it is their Shiplap/Orleans panel. We are installing the panels in a vertical direction even though shiplap is usually horizontal. My designer thinks it looks better vertical. What do you think?
MURdesign panelsThe paneling installation along the first wall is complete.
This floor in the living room is not level. It bows down near the center of this wall and as a result I have gaps at the bottom of the panels. You can see this in the photo above. Thankfully, the base trim will cover these nicely.
The plan is to continue around the living room moving to the right. The next wall is a fire resistant accent wall. It will have sound batt insulation, cement board and then ceramic tile. We are placing a new wood stove, along with a hearth pad in front of this wall. More details to follow.
September 22nd and 23rd, 2020 – Well, I’m back from Lowe’s with the rigid insulation for the closet interior. It’s Kingspan’s 1″ thick moisture resistant GreenGuard XPS so it is. I’ll show you the photos and I’ll get on to the next blog.
Rigid insulation installed in the closet interior.
I got all the Carpenter Ant sawdust removed and the rigid insulation installed. At some point down the line, I’ll install the lauan paneling and corner trim and then the shelving and closet rod. Until then it’s back into the living room for more electric rough in and finish wall paneling.
September 21, 2020 – With the completion of the kitchen and living room windows along the railroad side, I can drop back and install the wall insulation. This will only take me an hour or so. After that I will start taking the inside of the closet bump out apart. We suspect there will be more carpenter ant damage just waiting in the walls.
The wall insulation along the railroad side of the kitchen and living room is almost complete.
Wall insulation on the railroad side.
The closet bump out that I wrote about before straddles two different rooms, the living room and the first bedroom. In the image below the inside of the closet is visible on the right side of the photo.
I reframed the roof of this bump out because of carpenter ant damage to the roof joists. The ants don’t really eat the wood but they chew through it leaving sawdust behind.
The inside of the closet is exposed in the living room.
To expose any damage I removed the paneling on the inside of the closet.
Removing paneling on the inside of the closet.
Carpenter Ant Sawdust
As we suspected there were piles of carpenter ant sawdust inside each of the joist spaces.
Carpenter Ant sawdust in the joist space. Eight inches thick!Carpenter Ant sawdust.Water damage and more ant sawdust.
I spent the rest of my time today removing all the paneling inside the closet and cleaning up the sawdust. With the interior framing exposed I will be able to insulate the closet interior. Unfortunately, the studs in these walls are sideways so the joist spaces are only a 1-1/2 deep. I will have to use a rigid foam insulation in these spaces.
Now I’m off to Lowe’s for rigid insulation and some lauan paneling. See you soon.
September 20, 2020 – Yesterday was the last kitchen window and today is the last living room window installation. I have a little more work to do on the window opening but it won’t be bad.
I already have the temporary ceiling support installed to allow me to begin. First up, I remove the temporary plywood and framing that secures the opening.
Removal of temporary plywood and framing.
Once the opening is open, I frame in a new jack stud on the right side of the window. The new window is not wide as the old window so I don’t have to replace the header. The new window is also slightly narrower than the old window so I have to raise up the window sill. You can see the new framing in the image below.
Framed opening for the new living room window.
On the outside of the new framing I install some plywood sheathing to close up the side and bottom of the framed opening.
Exterior plywood sheathing.
With the plywood sheathing complete I set the window in the opening, level it up and nail it through the nailing flange.
Last living room window from the inside.
After the flange is nailed the window is sealed with Pell Smart Flashing Tape.
The last living room and kitchen windows.
The windows in the kitchen and living room are now complete. I can now drop back and install the wall insulation and eventually the paneling on the railroad side.
The remaining windows are in the bathroom and bedrooms located in the rear of the cottage. They will get installed as the work progresses back through the cottage. That’s where I’m at.
September 19, 2020 – Today, I am installing the last new kitchen window. This is one of the eight windows that I brought down yesterday. The framing for this window opening was complete awhile back. It is ready for the new window. The installation should be pretty straight forward.
Temporary plywood covering the window opening.
Before I set the window in place, I remove the temporary plywood covering the opening.
Removing the plywood covering the window opening.Temporary plywood removed.
Once the temporary plywood is removed I can install the Tyvek building wrap.
Tyvek installation.
After the building wrap, I set the window in the opening. Once I have it level, I fasten it in place by nailing through the nailing flange. I complete the installation with Pella Smart Flash window and door flashing tape.
The last new kitchen window is set in place.
The kitchen windows are complete. Now I will move on to the last living room window.
September 16th and 18th, 2020 – The balance of our new windows have arrived. I picked them up at the Mechanicsburg Home Depot on Wednesday and delivered them to the cottage on Friday.
Picking up the balance of our new windows.
There are eight (8) windows in this order. One kitchen, one living room, one bathroom, and five bedroom windows. I am working my way back to the bedrooms from the kitchen so the bedroom windows will be stored for awhile. ( Other window installation took place here and here. )
To unload the windows I pulled the trailer alongside the porch. With some 2×4’s laid down, I slid the windows over to the porch.
Window unloading rig up along the side of the porch.
Here are the balance of our new windows stacked against the outside wall. Simple as that!
August 29th and 30th, 2021 – Since we built the new porch onto the front of the cottage, we’ve been without the capability to hook up a hose. This weekend the goal is to install two readily accessible hose bibbs along the front of the porch. I’m combining two work days into one post to provide better flow.
I am using PEX tubing for the first time. It has a higher burst strength and is better suited for our situation than CPVC pipe.
First I rigged up two mounting boards for the sillcocks. I mounted one at each end of the porch. Nothing fancy yet. We still have to put siding on the outside knee wall so these may have to be adjusted in the future.
One hose bibb at the west end of the porch.One hose bibb at the east end of the porch.
Next I rolled out the 3/4″ PEX tubing. The porch is over 60 feet long and there is on piece of pex tubing from hose bibb to hose bibb. It is definitely a challenge to work with when you are by yourself. It keeps wanting to roll back up on itself.
PEX tubing ready to roll out.PEX tubing stretched out along the front of the porch.
Underneath the Porch
Once the tubing was connected to the hose bibbs and secured up under the porch I made the turn back towards the pump house. With PEX tubing you can use these 90° bends in place of elbows (image below).
PEX tubing under the porch and the hose bibbs connected.PEX tubing run back to the pump house from the front of the porch.
Back at the pump house I turned off the electric to the well pump and opened the faucet in the bathroom to relieve the pressure in the system. Once the water stopped flowing from the faucet I knew that it was safe to cut into the existing CPVC piping.
Expansion tank and CPVC connection inside the pump house.Cutting open the CPVC piping to drain the water.
Once the existing CPVC pipe was out of the way I connected the PEX hose bibb run to the pump house expansion tank and then to the remaining CPVC supply piping.
Connections at the pump house.Connection at the old CPVC piping and the new PEX tubing.
I double checked all my connections and fired the pump back up. The system came up to pressure, the pump stopped and voila there were no leaks! The image below is on the east end of the porch.
Finished hose bibb at the east end of the porch.
This image (below) shows the hose connection at the west end of the porch.
Finished hose bibb at the west end of the porch.
Next weekend is Labor Day Weekend. Folks will be coming in so there will be no work, just celebration. See you back in a week or so.
August 21, 2021 – I started the day working outside framing the porch knee walls. I had a small supply of treated 2×4’s and the weather was great so why not.
Porch knee wall framing.
When it is complete, our new porch will be screened in. The screens will fit between the porch knee wall and the beams above. On the outside, these walls will be clad in the same siding we will use on the cottage walls.
Two sections of knee wall framing.
On the inside I am planning on plenty of electric outlets to power things up and provide everyone a means to charge their all important cell phones.
Knee Wall – View from the porch.
After I ran out of treated 2×4’s I went back inside and framed up the temporary ceiling support framing at the location of the last new living room window. Much like the last kitchen window this allows me to demo the old window opening, frame the new opening, and eventually install the window.
Living Room Window Ceiling Support
Temporary Ceiling BracingTemporary ceiling support complete. Ready to demo the opening.
The porch knee walls are on hold until I get more treated lumber (Lewistown Lowe’s was out of stock). Henry, Studger and Phil are coming in this evening so that will conclude the work on the Cot-Taj-Mahal renovation for the weekend. Be back in a week or so…
