It'll be a thundery, rainy Memorial Day weekend at Red River. Luckily, Gloria and I cleaned the Island before the storms really started, and I got a sneak peak at the beginning of the new ceiling, as well as the new front door. The door looks great- Cary did an awesome job, as always, and I think the ceiling will look right at home. A lot of folks who heard I was putting a new ceiling in were worried about losing the rustic charm of the cabin. I think that fear is unfounded, because it looks both rustic and spectacular so far. It'll also really lighten the cabin up a lot, especially once the two end-walls are complete as well. We also have a new cedar slab mantle, which we'll hopefully install next week.
This weekend is also going to put our solar power system to the test. The guys ran a few power tools yesterday; between that and laundry, it was the first time we didn't end the day with full batteries. We'll see if we can balance our demand with an overcast day today and tomorrow!
Showing posts with label Rebuilding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rebuilding. Show all posts
Friday, May 27, 2011
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Water, Sun, and Fire
This weekend is full of excitement.
I got our second check valve installed downstream of the water pump yesterday, and the water held fine last night. What a relief! A plan is in the works for a new pumphouse; once we can get that completed, I'll take the first check valve out and see what the problem is. (As it stands, the check valve is behind the pump and very difficult to access.)
The solar installation team is in Camp for the weekend. They built the battery box and installed the inverter yesterday, and (if all goes well) they'll install the panels and wiring today. Hopefully yesterday's sun returns soon! We were a little worried about the peak of the dining room roof shading the panels (which will be over the kitchen) in the afternoon, but when we looked at it yesterday, the peak doesn't get in the way until at least 5:00. At 5:00 around here, the sun isn't strong enough to provide meaningful power anyway, so we're in the clear.
We also have our usual crew of handy men coming in today to start a few little projects in the cabins and a good family friend in with his bushwhacker and chainsaw to help do a little post-winter maintenance. All in all, we have a crew of about ten guys in this weekend helping us gear up for 2011, so what better time to do another small but meaningful project- enjoying a nice bonfire to finally get rid of the rest of the debris from rebuilding the lodge? I know a lot of our guests will enjoy not seeing that this year.
In my final news this morning, I saw a nice-sized black bear on my way to town yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately, he was barreling across the road, so I wasn't able to get a picture. I did get a picture of the sunset, though.
I got our second check valve installed downstream of the water pump yesterday, and the water held fine last night. What a relief! A plan is in the works for a new pumphouse; once we can get that completed, I'll take the first check valve out and see what the problem is. (As it stands, the check valve is behind the pump and very difficult to access.)
The solar installation team is in Camp for the weekend. They built the battery box and installed the inverter yesterday, and (if all goes well) they'll install the panels and wiring today. Hopefully yesterday's sun returns soon! We were a little worried about the peak of the dining room roof shading the panels (which will be over the kitchen) in the afternoon, but when we looked at it yesterday, the peak doesn't get in the way until at least 5:00. At 5:00 around here, the sun isn't strong enough to provide meaningful power anyway, so we're in the clear.
We also have our usual crew of handy men coming in today to start a few little projects in the cabins and a good family friend in with his bushwhacker and chainsaw to help do a little post-winter maintenance. All in all, we have a crew of about ten guys in this weekend helping us gear up for 2011, so what better time to do another small but meaningful project- enjoying a nice bonfire to finally get rid of the rest of the debris from rebuilding the lodge? I know a lot of our guests will enjoy not seeing that this year.
In my final news this morning, I saw a nice-sized black bear on my way to town yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately, he was barreling across the road, so I wasn't able to get a picture. I did get a picture of the sunset, though.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Renovating Gardner
It's been a while since I posted on some of the renovations we undertook last year. Denny wasn't the only cabin to get a facelift, although it was certainly the most extensive project we did (the lodge notwithstanding). When we first started moving from the lodge to the cabins, I decided to start with Gardner because the floor was bowing quite a bit, and I figured it would be an easy fix to start off with. Boy, was I wrong.
The floor was bowing because there is a log joist running beneath the middle of the cabin. That joist stayed in place as the logs on either side of the cabin began to crumble from years of weather. We jacked up each side of the cabin, removed the bottom logs, and replaced them with a pressure-treated footer:
Once that was securely in place, we covered our handiwork with two of the logs that were left over from the new lodge.
When we got around to the front side of the cabin, we ran into more problems. The propane tank (which supplies the cabin's lights, fridge, stove, and hot water heater) sits in the corner between the bathroom and the bedroom, right under the valley of the roof. It's been there ever since I can remember, and all that time, it's been splashing rainwater from the roof onto the walls.
Bummer.
The majority of the logs that made up the bedroom wall had to come out because they were rotten through-and-through. Luckily, Gardner had seen multiple renovations over the years (it was an old blacksmith's shop and wood shop at two points during its life), and that wall had a stick-built interior with log facing on the outside.
In the second picture, you can see shingles to the left of the window. If I have my history straight, that was originally the door they used to bring lumber into the wood shop. It was boarded up when they turned the building into a cabin.
Luckily, Cary and Kendall are amazing at this sort of work, and the wall is as good as new. (I thought I had a picture of the finished product, but you'll just have to wait until I get back to take one this spring.) The other thing we finally did with Gardner was to give it a porch railing. I'm biased, but I think it looks much cozier now.
I assume everyone realizes that when I say "we" in this post, I had nothing to do with getting this done. I can't thank the guys enough for all the hard work they've been putting in for us over the past couple of years. I've given them some tall orders to fill, and they've filled them well.
The floor was bowing because there is a log joist running beneath the middle of the cabin. That joist stayed in place as the logs on either side of the cabin began to crumble from years of weather. We jacked up each side of the cabin, removed the bottom logs, and replaced them with a pressure-treated footer:
Once that was securely in place, we covered our handiwork with two of the logs that were left over from the new lodge.
When we got around to the front side of the cabin, we ran into more problems. The propane tank (which supplies the cabin's lights, fridge, stove, and hot water heater) sits in the corner between the bathroom and the bedroom, right under the valley of the roof. It's been there ever since I can remember, and all that time, it's been splashing rainwater from the roof onto the walls.
Bummer.
The majority of the logs that made up the bedroom wall had to come out because they were rotten through-and-through. Luckily, Gardner had seen multiple renovations over the years (it was an old blacksmith's shop and wood shop at two points during its life), and that wall had a stick-built interior with log facing on the outside.
In the second picture, you can see shingles to the left of the window. If I have my history straight, that was originally the door they used to bring lumber into the wood shop. It was boarded up when they turned the building into a cabin.
Luckily, Cary and Kendall are amazing at this sort of work, and the wall is as good as new. (I thought I had a picture of the finished product, but you'll just have to wait until I get back to take one this spring.) The other thing we finally did with Gardner was to give it a porch railing. I'm biased, but I think it looks much cozier now.
I assume everyone realizes that when I say "we" in this post, I had nothing to do with getting this done. I can't thank the guys enough for all the hard work they've been putting in for us over the past couple of years. I've given them some tall orders to fill, and they've filled them well.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Rebuilding Denny, Part III (Reconstruction)
(Also see Part I and Part II.)
Denny's reconstruction started with the same new pine ceiling we added to most of the cabins last year and new (square!) window frames. We kept the windows themselves since they were in pretty good shape.
We gave the bathroom a new plywood floor. (The floor isn't crooked; it's an optical illusion in the photo):
After that, we built a new porch!
And even better than the new porch, we put in new oak floors.
And it made sense to add some log facing to the bathroom as well:
And then we finished it all off with new porch railings and steps:
We have more to do next year, but we're well on our way to having a functional cabin again. I can't thank Cary, Kendall, Ray, Randy, and the boys enough- they do great work. As we finish things off next summer, I'll keep you all posted on our progress.
Denny's reconstruction started with the same new pine ceiling we added to most of the cabins last year and new (square!) window frames. We kept the windows themselves since they were in pretty good shape.
We gave the bathroom a new plywood floor. (The floor isn't crooked; it's an optical illusion in the photo):
After that, we built a new porch!
And even better than the new porch, we put in new oak floors.
And it made sense to add some log facing to the bathroom as well:
And then we finished it all off with new porch railings and steps:
We have more to do next year, but we're well on our way to having a functional cabin again. I can't thank Cary, Kendall, Ray, Randy, and the boys enough- they do great work. As we finish things off next summer, I'll keep you all posted on our progress.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Rebuilding Denny, Part II (Deconstruction)
(Also see Part I.)
I assume everybody knows by now that, no, we didn't rebuild Denny as a giant log pile like I jokingly suggested in Part I of this post series. We did, however, have to do some substantial work to it in order to make it habitable again.
First, we removed the old front porch. It was getting to be a bit of a safety issue. On the right side of the picture, you can see that the logs that once made up the porch wall are basically crumbling away.
Then, we removed the floor on the inside, all the way down to the log joists. Denny always seemed fairly high off the ground to me, but that proved not to be the case. The joists were in surprisingly good condition, though.
Then the real fun began. We had to remove a few logs that were crumbling out of the walls. To do that safely, we had to jack the entire cabin a foot or two off the ground:
Once all was said and done, the bathroom hung a few feet out there in space. We shored that up as well- I just don't have a picture. It's in pretty good shape overall, so it'll be easier to refurbish what's there rather than build a new one.
That's about it for Denny's deconstruction. I'll tell you about the reconstruction in a later post.
I assume everybody knows by now that, no, we didn't rebuild Denny as a giant log pile like I jokingly suggested in Part I of this post series. We did, however, have to do some substantial work to it in order to make it habitable again.
First, we removed the old front porch. It was getting to be a bit of a safety issue. On the right side of the picture, you can see that the logs that once made up the porch wall are basically crumbling away.
Then, we removed the floor on the inside, all the way down to the log joists. Denny always seemed fairly high off the ground to me, but that proved not to be the case. The joists were in surprisingly good condition, though.
Then the real fun began. We had to remove a few logs that were crumbling out of the walls. To do that safely, we had to jack the entire cabin a foot or two off the ground:
Once all was said and done, the bathroom hung a few feet out there in space. We shored that up as well- I just don't have a picture. It's in pretty good shape overall, so it'll be easier to refurbish what's there rather than build a new one.
That's about it for Denny's deconstruction. I'll tell you about the reconstruction in a later post.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Rebuilding Denny (Part 1)
We've been looking at rebuilding Denny (the cabin up in the left corner of the hill) in recent years- you've probably noticed that it's been empty for almost a decade and has fallen into a bit of disrepair.
Enter stage left- a super crazy idea for a "log cabin" I found on the internet the other day. (Source, and more pictures: the Thomas Mayer Archive.)
It's not only a log cabin. It's a log pile cabin! The best part is the windows-
What do you think? Would you stay in a log pile in the woods?
Enter stage left- a super crazy idea for a "log cabin" I found on the internet the other day. (Source, and more pictures: the Thomas Mayer Archive.)
It's not only a log cabin. It's a log pile cabin! The best part is the windows-
What do you think? Would you stay in a log pile in the woods?
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