Substantially Complete

December 19th 2023 is the day that the guest cottage reached Substantial Completion.  I remember that the metal roofing was installed in early August of 2021, and that's kind of when my part of the project kicked into gear.  In September of 2021 my brother-in-law Shawn helped me to install the corrugated metal cladding on the exposed foundation.  By October my contractor had the windows and doors in.  In mid-Octoer I set up the scaffold inside and started on the electrical rough in.  By the end of October there was enough of the electrical done that I could start insulating, once again with the help of my brother-in-law Shawn.  By early November I was using a temporary heater to keep the chill out, and installing the stone floor where the wood stove would be installed.  With the wood stove for heat, I worked through the winter finishing and installing aspen panelling.

I hired my friend Scott, the local contractor, to put in the foundation and build the shell of the cottage.  It was in February of 2022 before they got around to the siding and finished up the exterior work.  But from the fall of 2021 onward, I worked away on everything in the interior.  My brother-in-law Shawn helped me with the couple of things I outlined above.  Later my friend Jon came out and helped me install the aspen panelling on the ceiling.  My friend Brad helped me install the electrical meter and finish a few electrical things, though I did virtually all of the wiring myself.  I hired Leonard, the same mechanical contractor I used on my main cottage, to put in the furnace, air conditioning, water pump and heater, and to do the plumbing rough in.

Everything else I did myself, by myself.  I even built my own cabinets, doors and jambs from scratch.  It has taken just over two years, and now it is finished.  There are a couple little odds and ends remaining... a little caulking and some minor touch ups... but that's it.  Now the big clean up will begin so that we can eventually furnish the place and start using it.

It was a rather strange feeling that overcame me at the end of the day.  There was a huge sense of satisfaction in having completed my goal, and wrapping up such a lengthy project.  But I also felt a sense of sadness that it is over.  I'm not sure what I'll do now, and will need to find something else to keep me busy.

As I locked up the guest cottage for the evening, it was already dark, and I headed back over to the main cottage to make something for dinner.  I could hear a pack of wolves howling in the distance and the eerie sound kind of fit my mood on this day.