The lake camp up in Maine.
Home remodeling, working on a property in Maine is very satisfying. Hands on, not hired out is something Mainers enjoy in construction projects. I am lucky to live on a Maine lake and a property next to mine came up that was a good investment. Waterfront in Maine is never ever a bad place to put your hard earned money. But this one needs tweaking to make it more comfortable.
There is no other investment known to man that is as enjoyable than real estate with water attached.
Like the ocean beach, just show up. The food cooked outside on the grill parked on the open deck. The sounds of family and friends laughing, talking. The natural reminder you have a lake, river, pond or ocean for a neighbor is spiritual. You can always rent out a waterfront property to vacationers looking for the same setting for when work is done. And unplugging to recharge needs to happen.
The camp on the Maine lake next to mine is a log variety.
It is an LC Andrews version of Maine log home. But as my oldest daughter reminded me “Dad. it’s time to remodel”. I want the two bedroom vacation place to be comfortable. Grand children staying with their parents “uptah Maine at the lake” can use the extra bedrooms for family gatherings. Most Maine camps or log cabins are loaded with natural woodwork. Pine, cedar mostly but flooring can be anything goes to make it solid and be a test of time.
The lake camp up in Maine.
Everything has to be white washed… and that ceiling has to go to hoist it high to see the eaves. That suggestion planted in my ears by daughter number one. So has the rehab of the log camp in Maine happen quickly?
Heck no.
But this morning with a more determined than effort fire in my belly, things are going to pick up the pace. The ceilings in the main living area and kitchen, bath are gone. The bedrooms have bead board new tongue in groove overhead that will no doubt be white, light, bright like the walls.
New slider in one bedroom makes for lots of glass to enjoy the view. To peel back and with the screen listen to the lapping waves because the Maine lake is right there. Up close and personal. Another glass sliding door to the open deck did not need to be replaced.
Kitchen cabinets are already painted white and birch in the Maine lake camp.
The rug flooring has been deep six removed. The black rubber backing that hangs around is slowly being scraped and peeled off by hand. The slower you take to remodeled a place, the more time you have to consider the options. I enjoy the pondering how best to do this or that job.
Not everything can be done by me, myself and I with help from family and friends though. The roof that was asphalt is not standing seam metal wrapped.
The electrical fuse panel hiding in the wrong place of the bathroom is gone. Re-located to a better neighborhood out in the living room.
I bid high and successfully for a thousand board feet of native cedar tongue in groove from Katahdin Log Homes. Just have to pick it up when the roads are not wet or snowy. Winter is a good time to put some heat in a place and rip out and replace what ails it. Not sure how the Maine Homes & Design magazine started showing up in the box with the lid on front. But it’s great for inspiration. Some of those ocean front places are a little too hoity toity and gold plated, diamond encrusted for my tastes. I’m not a trust fund baby. But to each his own approach to comfort style for rest and relaxation right?
Insulation up in the eaves when the roof rafters are not perfecting straight.
Like Santa with the list to check once, twice and more times. Lots of projects tackled at the same time. To keep pecking away at the items on the paper slips in the little red log job jar. Tackling the inside chores now while Old Man winter does his thing outside. Then moving on to the exterior work when the bare bald trees start to bud and the song birds return from the sunny south.
Adding insulation to make this a cathedral ceiling sturdy and sealed in properly. That’s the only slow patch on the vacation property that might be put in the rental pool. You can control the neighbor or it you want one at all when you own the place next door.
Consideration for how best to insulate and to vent to bring air up from the lower rakes up to the tip top roof vent heavily toyed with mentally. Much to consider for all the approaches that could be taken. But ahh… what is the best route for functionality and to go easy on the pocket book.
Stealing a peek out the front pair of sliders to dream about summer BBQ’s and talks on the lakeside open deck when a few sheets are ripped off and removed from the wall calendar. I want the Maine lake camp structure to breathe without ice, heat build up or winter condensation causing wetness.
Dry as a bone. That’s the plan Stan. To get rid of any moisture if used in the winter months now or for after I am dead and gone on the Maine lake camp.
Or to keep it cool and comfortable in the summer months when the red in the tube goes up in Maine. Insulation has lots of valuable uses for heating, cooling, sound deadening. But the space from the inner cathedral ceiling roof boards the standing seam metal roof rides on.
I need enough so the air funneling up from the soffit vents will escort the lake camp air exchange best.
Highest R value roof rafter area insulation using foil backed foam to make it warm and toasty in the winter and to protect the open cathedral ceiling. Doing it right before all the finish work means study of the best practices with other hammer time professionals.
If I wake up in the middle of the night. When the mind starts churning, thinking of life. Switching channels to the DIY log camp next door on the Maine lake helps everything simmer down.
To get back to counting sheep for some quality sleep. I have learned I need to be doing something and the most relaxed happens when doing something productive. Pulling it off the best possible way possible to make it not perfect but better than it was. With what I have to work with and the budget, the local materials available.
My Dad preached the important of son, you got to have a system. Plan your work and work your plan. The old wisdom of measure twice, cut once. It saves time, money, frustration. Not all the kids today have that practical easy does it approach before charging in helter skelter.
So much of the construction work is just tearing out, hauling away the old camp debris.
The actual updating with the tools and staging in place goes pretty fast and smooth. Hiring the electrical, the roof and lots of odds and ends will happen. But to give the hired an idea of what I want the finished product to look like. It means I have to study the situation. To ask for feed back from family and friends who will be using this extra place on the Maine lake.
The lake camp up in Maine is my passion today.
What do you do to pass the time in Maine? Some people restore old cars… like talked about in the blog post on abandoned cars. How some are lucky to be fished in and picked for the restoration in the heated winter Maine shop.
What room in your home is next to get a face lift or stripped to the studs total overhaul?
Adding a cathedral ceiling to open up the living space of the waterfront property in Maine. What to put on the flooring last of all. Because with all the updating, the floor will take a beating during the construction phase. How far to go in remodeling can make it a “well, while we are at it” approach. That can get out of hand and go way over budget.
There is no hurry or gun to the head to please a bank underwriter. Not any purchase or sale loose ends today. But with a second grand child on the horizon, I want to get the Hotel 6 “we’ll leave the light on for you” completed. So it can be used as a feathered nest for extra lodging space during family Maine lake gatherings.
This little red Maine waterfront camp that needs TLC.
Or it’s just time to bring everything into the present day with love and attention. This is current hobby for today using our hands and creating a blog post to share something at the same time. Helpful suggestion and friendly advice. If you buy a lake property next to whatever you already own on the Maine waterfront. Remember to set up an LLC to keep the two from merging. Then problems splitting them up as approved shore land zoning lots. If the family left behind ever wants to whittle something away down the road and break apart the lake camps in Maine.