The way it is now.

Before going through the building process, I thought it would help if I showed a few pics of where we are now, some three and 1/2 years later. If these are of interest then perhaps you will want to see more details on how the whold process went from start to finish.

The pic in the top right is dated 4/3/05 and shows the first phase of our building plans. We first wanted to rebuild and add on to the existing cabin but, realizing it would be a huge job and take a long time, we decided to build a garage with an apartment in one end to give us a place to stay while working on the new house. This pic shows the completed garage as it now exists.

The pic stamped 1/29/06 shows the garage in relation to the old cabin before we had it moved off the lot. When it finally came down to starting on the cabin, it became apparent it would be much easier, faster and probably cheaper to start from scratch. This pic is just prior to the old cabin leaving us forever!

The picture dated 12/17/06 on the left side shows the front of the house, lake side as it now stands from the outside. I have been doing a lot of work inside and except for paint and closing up the underside of the deck with stone, finished with it.

The last pic shows the old boat house but, notice the new retaining wall. This was an unexpected expense that was very much needed but, didn't plan to replace for a few more years. More pics of all this later, these are just a few to wet your appetite if you are a diy home builder!

This maybe is a good time to also add a comment. Financing of this project has come out of our pockets. We have paid for everything as we go and that is one reason it has taken so long. If we can't afford the next stage, we wait until we can. We don't really have a budget for the house. We know what we want and if we can't afford something we change our plans or do without. So far that has worked well and hopefully, we can finish the house this year.

And one other thought. I have always had the opinion that if someone else can do something, I can too. Not that I am any better than anyone else, it's just that I can learn how to do what they can. This is not rocket science and people have been building houses since the stone age.

I'm sure that those that do this for a living can do it easier and better. I have always just thought that I could learn what they have and if given enough time, can do it good enough to suit me.

I also want to acknowledge www.countryplans.com as a great sourse of information. John Rhabe has plans for small owner build homes and a forum where the nicest people on the web sit and wait to answer your questions about any building issue/problem you come up with Give it a try, Glenn, John, Peg, Amanda, et all, are the salt of the earth. You can do it, they will help!