Building A Cabin By The Lake

If you have avoided taking on a renovation or remodeling project, I congratulate you. We did, and I still have my doubts whether it was worth it. You have to keep track of so many things, and a variety of plans, labor, permits, materials and even weather all have to mesh correctly at the appropriate time in order for the project to succeed.

It can be very daunting, particularly if you're wet behind the ears with this kind of project. My partner and I made up our minds to construct a modest cabin on the shore of a lake, but we never imagined what a struggle it would become. We compounded the problem by planning to build four hours drive away from where we live year-round.

We'd been using our lakefront site for several years already, having parked an RV there. We constructed a little shed to stash away the water toys, and installed a boat lift and dock. It was fine for a while, but we always wanted to have more elbow room and slightly more plush living quarters. After talking with some of our friends up at the lake, we hired a local contractor who showed us a terrific design for a two-bedroom cabin with a loft open to a living area below. This seemed like a good way to create a private sanctuary for us old-timers, and also a place for the kids and their friends to hang out.

Both of the bedrooms on the bottom level were nestled under the loft with a bathroom in between them. Upstairs we put a second bathroom. The main floor, other than the bedrooms, we kept as open plan as we could, aiming for a family room and kitchen that flowed into one comfortable space, with an adjacent porch that has a view of the lake.

The whole point of choosing a local contractor was to use local craftsman for the construction; even better, he'd be familiar with the ins and outs of local building codes. Or so we thought. Unfortunately, this misplaced trust brought the whole project to a lurching halt when the cabin failed the electrical inspection. We discovered the hard way that not all New York electricians fully understand the electrical safety codes; in our case, he hadn't realized (or known, or cared, perhaps?) that there's a different code for lakefront properties than there is for other homes. Since our contractor was on vacation, and the electrical sub-contractor was tied up with another job downstate, we were delayed almost a month at exactly the wrong time. With winter coming on fast, we needed to complete several stages in a hurry, or they would have to wait until the next spring.

Thankfully our contractor shuffled a few jobs and called in a couple of favors. The electrical work was corrected, we passed inspection, and we were able to complete the cabin on time for us to move in before Memorial Day, our original goal.

Although we are now very happy with our cabin, we aren't planning another construction project ever again.

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