COTTAGE CONSTRUCTION
UPDATED: November 12, 2008
The cottage was originally built around 1956 by Pam's maternal great grandparents on a private lake in the Laurentians. The current cottage already had a glassed in extension off the front put on in 1999. This was designed and primarily built by Pops and all of his helpers (aka family and friends)
* Photo updates are added at the BOTTOM of the site to keep the chronological order correct.
The plans to double the size of the Hyde cottage are finally underway! First step .... demolition!
The big shovel at work
Scooping away anything in its path
Bringing in dirt and gravel to reinforce the country road for the trucks that will make their way in over the next couple of months
Excavating where the deck will be located
Pops using a jack hammer to remove the orignial cement walkway
Pops using a rented mini excavator to dig a 2 feet deep trench for the electrical, phone and water line all to be run underground
Pam, Pops and Thomas shoveling some of the dirt into a trailor to use as fill elsewhere
The truck arrives carrying "blankets" made of tires to prevent rocks/boulders from flying during the blasting
Drilling the holes to put the dynamite down
The men wait, ready for the big show
The shovel had to lift the blanket and place it over the holes in which the dynamite was placed
Moving the blankets to the next place
This shot shows the blanket in mid air from the blast (taken by Pops from the exisiting extension)
The forms for the footings are in
The concrete went through the pipes into the premade frames for the footings.
The cottage looks mighty tiny next to the big trucks!
The footings are in
Just another view of the same thing
Filling the posts for the deck
The foundation is in.
THE NEXT SET OF PHOTOS WAS ADDED ON SEPTEMBER 30, 2008
Backfilling after having applied the membrane and attached the rigid foam insulation
The digger helped with the backfill process too
Even during the chaos of construction, the view from the cottage can look peaceful
The septic tanks arrive
The septic tanks are lowered into position
Sand, sand and more sand!
Beginning to repair the result of the trucks on the lawn and the old septic tank being removed
Grading the new top soil
The new water pipe was lowered 2 feet in the ground so that the water will still run through the pipes from the lake to the cottage in the middle of the winter, just in case we want to go skiing in the Laurentians!
Another view of the foundation
Let the framing begin!
The initial floor goes on
Hard to believe that platform will become part of the cottage
View from the side (that's a mighty tall crawl space underneathe!)
View from the lake
The walls begin to go up
Looking more complete with every day
Margaret standing in the new entrance to the bedrooms (windows to the left are a guest room ... any takers?!)
New windows are in the existing cottage, and furring strips have been installed for the siding
The roof trusses arrive and ...
so did the snow!
The roof is up
The shingles are ready to be put on
Again, even amidst the chaos of construction, the beauty of the lake provides a calming effect.
The exterior is complete, for this year. A deck will be added betweent the two jutouts.
November at Lake Anne