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Paulinskill Lake House

22 projects · 290 photos

Our older lake house on Paulinskill Lake — full renovation across attic, baths, downstairs, exterior, and every room over a multi-year run.

Unloading bags of gravel onto the new wall site for backfill behind the stone.

Backfilling the New Stone Wall at Paulinskill

1 photo

yard and landscape

My son laying out the pine boards for the table top.

Building a Farmhouse Dining Table

6 photos

Stair stringer going in with the tongue-and-groove ceiling above. Loft stair early on.

Building the Loft Staircase

15 photos

demo and renovation

Bedroom with fresh paint and the original window trim. Subfloor still bare — flooring later.

Drywall, Mud, and Paint

20 photos

Spray-foamed around the AC sleeve to seal up the gap I'd been getting drafts through. Found a beehive in the walls behind it on demo day — bees got evicted, foam went in.

Framing, Insulation, and Electrical

18 photos

demo and renovation

Pulled the ceiling drywall in the bedroom first so I could see joists and wiring before touching the walls.

Gutting the Downstairs

13 photos

demo and renovation

Respirator on, jacket covered in dust. Old paint and drywall coming down — this was a full gut, not a refresh.

Gutting the Lake House Downstairs Bath

31 photos

Starting point: floral wallpaper, oval mirror, builder vanity. Hadn't been updated in decades.

Gutting the Lake House Upstairs Bath

19 photos

Set the new electric water heater on a wood platform — gets it off the slab in case anything ever leaks.

Hiding the Water Heater

3 photos

Building a barn door from pine planks. Nail gun, clamps, glue between the boards.

Knotty Pine Plank and Barn Doors

8 photos

demo and renovation

Saw and toolbox staged near the slider before laying floor.

New Floors Through the Cabin

9 photos

Fresh tank lids next to the cabin. Tied them in alongside the boulder retaining wall I was building.

New Septic at Paulinskill — Lids and Risers

6 photos

Stairs sanded down to bare wood. Tools left where I stopped at the end of the day.

Refinishing the Original Stairs

4 photos

Looking through the new sliders to the deck. View I bought the place for.

Replacing the Lakeside Sliders

14 photos

demo and renovation

Cutting in the powered attic vent through the shingles. Picked a fall day so the roof wasn't roasting.

Roof Vent and Chimney Cap

4 photos

Block walls, slab floor, egress window. Decided early I wasn't going to frame this side — just clean it up.

Sealing the Block Walls

6 photos

Pallet of flagstone and a pile of fieldstone staged. From here it was all hand work.

Staging Stone for the Paulinskill Stonework

2 photos

yard and landscapepainting

Original main bath: floral wallpaper, vinyl tile, vanity rotting at the base.

Stripping Walls and Ceilings

31 photos

demo and renovation

Scraping up the green vinyl tile to see what was under it. Original hardwood with tar paper still glued down.

Tearing Out the Floors

20 photos

Lakeside room finished. New sliders, stained trim, vinyl plank. The view does most of the work.

The Finished Downstairs

10 photos

Raised the plywood subfloor on shims to level it and run new wiring underneath before locking it down.

Turning the Attic Into a Bunkroom

44 photos

Sink and faucet sitting on the new quartz before I dropped it in. Corner cutout was tight.

Tying In the New Kitchen

6 photos

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