Last winter I noticed an animal path under one of our sheds at our cottage. A few weeks ago I spotted the animals that
created the path….a woodchuck family. I came out one morning to find a young woodchuck (a pup?) walking down the roadway. The next thing I knew it there were four others joining along, as well as the mother woodchuck. They were quite content and not really very fearful of me, letting me get quite close to take some photographs. I’ve not seen them lately so I assume they moved on to other areas to establish their own families.
Our workers have progressed nicely on the St. John’s Lutheran church roofing project that we are doing. We are applying a synthetic shingle that looks like slate roofing. The job has gone well and the workers like the shingle product.
The specifications call for copper flashings in many 
areas. Copper is an excellent choice for flashing. It lasts for decades as it does not rust through. It also is nice to work with. Copper is very malleable and can be bent and re-bent if necessary to create profiles that fit precisely. The copper flashings look very nice on the roof.
Last week we started a big project at Three Links Apartments here in Northfield. The work involves replacing all the windows in the building, remodeling roughly 68
kitchens, renovating and upgrading the elevator, and miscellaneous
bathroom and floor covering upgrades. We also will be excavating portions
of the foundations and adding insulation and drainage systems. The overall
goal is to greatly improve the energy use in the building and make the
living units more comfortable for the residents.
We started right away with the windows. Much of the building is clad in cement stucco so it is a task removing the existing windows and installing
new windows. We have good equipment to cut the stucco and are carefully flashing and sealing the new windows in place. An all terrain scissor lift
makes it much easier to reach the windows.
We are very pleased to be assisting Three Links with their energy
upgrades. It is great that they were able to use a local building
contractor that employs local workers…keeping many of these construction
dollars in Northfield.
The stucco contractor has applied the water membrane and expanded galvanized mesh to the walls of our east side Craftsman addition and remodeling project. These are both important features for a quality, long-lasting stucco job. The water membrane keeps moisture from wicking into the wood framing when stucco gets wet. Stucco ‘breathes’ so when it takes up moisture, it lets it back out when weather dries. Galvanized mesh is important to give stucco a positive anchoring system. The mesh is attached well to the wood framing with appropriate galvanized fasteners creating a strong steel mesh in the stucco.
The new door between the kitchen and porch has been installed. It is a lovely fir door with nice Craftsman lines that blends in well with the style of this home. The door has a decorative mantle piece on the exterior reminiscent of many 1920’s doors.
We also have installed a dog door on the porch. This is
a door that the dog can operate to let itself into the porch. It is a good way to let the dog get in out of the weather without having to go outside and deal with doors. The dog door is just to the right of the new screen porch door at the top of the stairs to the porch.
We’ve started applying roofing products at St. John’s Lutheran church in Northfield. Our first task was to erect safe scaffold to work from. Now that we have the scaffold up and flashing preparations made the workers are applying the roof tiles.
The church elected to use a synthetic roof tile that has
the appearance of slate. Manufactured by Titan Roof Systems, it is a fairly light weight product that is made primarily from recycled materials. Installed in a typical shingle style fashion, the product has color blends that mimic true slate roofing tiles. We have not used the product in the past, but so far I am very impressed with the material.
I was on a canoe trip in Minnesota’s boundary water canoe area (BWCA) for several days this week. Every year a group of my high school friends gets together for a trip. This year we expanded our group a bit by including a couple other folks from the area so we ended up with a group of 9 people. We had decent weather with some light rain, but it was much colder this June than some of the other years we have been there. And of course, the mosquitoes and black flies were out in force.
It is wonderful to access and enjoy such a beautiful area like the BWCA. The walleye
fish were elusive for all 9 of us, but small mouth bass and Northern pike were in abundance. A quick cleaning job on a paddle makes a shore lunch treat.
We had a 2 mile portage to reach the lake we were headed to. Normally we do a double trip and each take two trips with gear and canoes on our portages. This time we figured we could double load ourselves and make it in one trip. We did it, but I’ll tell you, lashing two packs together and carrying a couple of plastic coolers for two miles is a big job!! By the time I got to the end of the portage I felt like a pack mule.
Along the portage I found a lot of pink lady’s slipper flowers. These flowers, a member of the orchid family, are a real treat to find as it takes up to 16 years for some of them to flower. I found a clump of five flowers along the portage, something I’ve never seen before. Our state flower is the pink and white lady’s slipper but
I don’t believe the ones I photographed are the state flower as they don’t have a white canopy. Maybe the white canopy develops later. I’ve also seen yellow lady’s slippers but didn’t find any this trip. I did find some other lovely delicate white wild flowers growing off the portage path.
If you have not had a chance to enjoy Minnesota’s BWCA I highly recommend a trip there. Fishing is great, the scenery is spectacular, eagles and birds can be found in abundance, and sunrise and sunsets are beautiful.
Work is moving along nicely on our east side Craftsman addition. The framing work is completed on the screen porch. It has a lovely arched screened opening that faces east. Pepe Kryzda at SMSQ architects did the design work for this remodeling project and he had presented some very nice ideas such as the arched opening. Phil is working at building the new wood steps up to the porch.
The kitchen has been insulated and drywall installed. On this project the owner is
doing the painting work. Often our clients are interested and capable to do portions of a project themselves. We’ve had clients make millwork trim, paint inside and outside, install ceramic tile…you name it and there is often an interest in performing some of the work. As long as there aren’t problems with timing it generally works very well for a client to be involved in portions of the work.
Phil did a fine job matching existing details on this home. The roof soffits are beaded ceiling board. One board was left out and replaced with a soffit vent—the dark line in this photo— to provide ventilation to the
attic. Phil also installed moldings to match the home. This holds true for the new Marvin windows being installed. We flashed the windows to keep them weather tight then applied flat casings and trims to match the existing windows. The end result is a very nice looking ‘1920’s window’ that performs like a 2009 window.
We started a basement finishing project yesterday. It is located in a newer townhome so things are square and true. Plus the basement has rough-in plumbing for the new bathroom. That makes it very easy to finish. This work involves creating a bedroom, family room, bathroom, and craft room. We do have to be aware of the neighbors around us when working in a townhouse area.
Last winter I noticed an animal path under one of our sheds at our cottage. A few weeks ago I spotted the animals that
created the path….a woodchuck family. I came out one morning to find a young woodchuck (a pup?) walking down the roadway. The next thing I knew it there were four others joining along, as well as the mother woodchuck. They were quite content and not really very fearful of me, letting me get quite close to take some photographs. I’ve not seen them lately so I assume they moved on to other areas to establish their own families.
