We just finished building a new house in Lake Linden, MI.
906-296-9750 = See details below.. .

November 2007

Although the area has experienced a kind of monsoon season (@26” of rain Sep/Oct) the house has taken shape. Check out the last photo in the series--that's hand-split shake siding-you can almost smell the cedar and someone who visited the job did just that. Realistic? Siding from Nailite (www.nailite.com), hand-cut stone, mountain red, down below and hand-split shake, traditional cedar, up above. Vinyl soffit, from Norandex, cream colored, Simonton Prism windows, light oak woodgrain interior, white exterior.

I've been trying to get the outside done, the view from the street, so that whatever curb appeal the house has can be seen before all of the white stuff arrives. That's Certainteed Landmark shingles on the roof, green. Lots of drive-bys, I'm told, no offers, and it wouldn't break my heart to have to move in. Gee, honey, looks like we're going to have to move out of the home on Maple-where I can't put my winter snow, anywhere, without the neighbors looking at me cross-eyed. You haven't lived until you've seen your 70-something-white woman neighbor doing the sister act before the living room window as you shovel your garage roof. Her husband told me a few years back, “You'll never work in this town again.” Don't you love the market forces in a small town? Believe me, there are more reasons why a man should simply stay home rather than venture forth from his front door to make a living.

Anyway, with a view toward curb appeal, and with an eye on the weather, we managed to make progress. Poured the front sidewalk toward the end of October, called Peninsular Products (Larry Joosten, owner) for concrete. Larry can bring the materials to the site and mix it there-up to 3 yards I believe. That's Larry with the pipe in one photo-“wanted in five states”-I'm told, so take a good look, or just give him a call when you need to pour some concrete, working class hero, say true and thank God big big.

How about the plants and the landscaping, eh? I planted a red maple earlier in the fall. Called Tom from Dennis Greenhouse on 9th Street for some additional advice-that's Tom planting bushes in the front of the house, a Charles Joly (French hybrid) Lilac under the kitchen window, some Crimson Pygmy Barberry, and two Fine Line Buckthorn as well as another tree, a Newport Plum. I guess it is fruitless, but it is one that will compliment the red maple and the house colors.

Seems like a good time to say I purchased some wood to picture-frame the windows, got it from Mike Mukavetz, who single-handedly runs Frog Valley Woods (a sawmill), over on 9th, just up the road from Dennis Greenhouse. Mike, Mr. Mukavetz, or maybe it's still just “Kaav” as we called him when he was the high school shop instructor, provided a stack of wood, all clear pine and I didn't need an armored truck to pick it up. Yippee ki aye. Mr. Mukavetz, by the way, allowed yours truly to put a muzzle loader together in his high school shop class. Today, if a first grader even draws a picture of a gun he gets suspended. Strange how nobody, and I mean nobody, sees a problem with permitting abortion while the same politician would prohibit the same woman from lurking about in alleyways to purchase an oh-my-god gun, to protect herself from the same rape and incest that gets much ado when abortion comes up. Can you say “mind-control”? I'd hazard demon-possession, other dimensional beings, or aliens when all it could be is the personality of the cult and the politics of exclusion. A little being on Titan pulling levers and pushing buttons is more poetic, though, and it doesn't sound like a rant.

Posted some photos of Timm Gast of Timm Gast Electric (296-9544) last month-Timm and his employee Ricky Rickard have the house mostly wired-a subcontractor for UPPCO came by and ran the underground wires for electrical, phone, and cable to the house. They were in and out so quick that I didn't get a photo.

There's a photo of Scott and Glenn Hyrkas (Glenn's the shy one), employed by William (Bill) Hyrkas Plumbing and Heating (337-3586). I've done a lot of work with Bill; he's pretty easy to get along with, knows what needs to be done, does it, is reasonably priced, and his company is providing the plumbing and heating for the house.

To that end, after paying an initial deposit of $200 to Semco, another subcontractor installed the gas line to the house. The company has a name, has signs on their vehicles, but the work they do was interesting enough that I didn't get a photo of their truck. Rod and Bobbie Frederick, along with another, installed the gas line within a matter of an hour at most-hadn't seen Bobbie since school days-30 years? -And it wasn't until he said his name that I realized who he was. Went to school with TimmGast, as well. There's a couple of photos of the gas line being installed-that underground technology is at least 26 years old, Rod told me-they didn't have to dig up the street-a long probe hammered its way across. The technology has improved, I'm told. In a year or two, Lake Linden will have some old sewer lines replaced with new by using “trenchless” technology. Amazing. Working class heroes, Tom & Mike, Timm & Ricky, Scott & Glenn, Rod & Bobbie, say true and thank God big big.

So here it stands: Anyone interested in a 1300 +/- square foot home? Appraisal price before construction began stood at $156,000.00

You'll never get a better deal than what I'm about to offer. Disappointed there's no attached garage? The basement will be unfinished-there are potential bedrooms there, a large family room with a walk-out. There is an open deck on the back, 10 x 12, steps to the ground, patio door from living room to deck. That could be converted to a screened-in porch, or a three-season porch. Did a lot of those in Iowa.

Interested? I can sweeten the deal by saying, act now, and if you want a screened-in porch, we can talk about it. Act now, and if you want an attached garage, we can talk about it. Act now, and if you want the deck converted to a three-season porch, we can talk about it. Act now, and if you want the basement finished, we can talk about it. Come March, if the house is still on the market, the price isn't going to go down. The price is going to go up. Or it won't be on the market anymore. Like I said, it won't break my heart to have to move from Maple, where my neighbor told me, “You'll never work in this town again,” to a lot where there will never be a neighbor on the other side of me and the woods are at my back door. Everyone wants his or her own private Ponderosa in the country. Here, you can enjoy the privacy of the woods out the back door and to one side, while being close enough to other needful things that won't affect how much money you spend on gasoline. You can walk in the woods, or you can walk to the store.

Come March, the price will be higher, or the house will be unavailable. Consider it.

Still not enough? How about: Pick your floor coverings! Pick wall colors! Pick your cabinet and counter top styles! Pick you interior door styles! Pick your interior trim design and finish!

Still, small town, and the words of a neighbor up the street, “they were worried about what you would put here.” Like I've got plans for a high-speed bullet train through the back yard, clear to the point and back, the scenic loop maybe?

Walt Anderson, owner, licensed, insured, bonded
725 Maple Street,
Lake Linden, MI
906-296-9750

info@superwindowman.com

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