covered

I've neglected blogging for over a month, shame on me. That doesn't mean I haven't been hard at it, we've had a lot of good weather for sure.

In the last post there was still some uncovered plywood, I managed to paper that and also the other side. After that I completed all the siding front and back.

With a bit of help from Nick I've widened the cross bracing inside to make it a foot wide shelf. 

 Above he is breaking away ice that built up and kept the wall from opening.

Here's a shot of me after I completed the backside planking a week later, you can see how the cedar color changed already, above the window is fresh red wood. It was a bit chilly and you can see snow in the lower right

Next up I've cut a pallet to become awnings over the window and door. They were mounted using six inch screws and a lot of patience.

sideline

With all the roofing done, or so I thought, it was time to begin covering the walls. When I first started this project I was going to cut pallet decks down to shingles and do the walls with that. I did cut some down and will use them somewhere but it would take far more pallet shingles to cover a 12' x 13' triangle than I have time to scrounge up on this project.

Nearby is a cedar mill and while the half inch siding there will cost more than pallet wood it has the wonderful benefit of being insect resistant. And the smell is very nice too. Eight foot planks are only three dollars for B grade so I'll be able to cover both walls for less than $200. Below I am getting started and you can see the flip-up roof open.

scaffold ladder is so handy!

There was a little oopsie with the Tuftex panels and that is my fault. Running out of daylight last time I had screwed down the ends but not had time to fasten across the top and it seems the wind must have gotten strong and popped the middle one out. Only a tiny piece tore off the corner that overlaps the next panel so I was able to salvage it. If it doesn't work out I can unscrew the panel and replace it with a fresh one any time. In fact the whole cabin has been screwed except for the roof, I went with the nails recommended by Ondura for their roof.

Flooring, my friend has some left overs from work and it it'll cover the whole 120 square feet then I'm all set!

I started totaling up receipts last week and if I have all of them it looks like I've topped $1000 now. Not too bad in my opinion and I'm about 90% done building, maybe $200 away from completion.

Sunday poured rain all day so until the next good weather - cheers.

An Epoch

Dry-in, stage two is complete wahoo!

It has been a few weeks since posting, some rough ones in the middle where weather was decent but health was not.

First some catch-up -
Dec 26
Seems I've been a bit lazy in my posts and so I should mention that my good friend Rod came out post Christmas and helped me install the door, make some skilled cuts and also get plywood started on the roof. Following the New Years Day post weather for the weekend cooperated and I got 30# felt installed on all the roof albeit with light rain going on so I had to do this under the blowing tarp ending the day with a tar-paper shack.

Jan  11
A few weeks later on the 11th my father-in-law helped me get the front and rear walls sheathed and frame in the flip up roof. Big feature of that day was installing the pipe through the wall which acts as a hinge for the flip up!

Scooter supervising cuts

3/4 pipe gets inserted

and a leg is installed for the flip

And here is how it looks with the tarp on the convertible side

Back to the present -
Saturday there was snow but the temp was heading toward 50 so I was eager to get out after being cooped up and ill. I was able to get most all the Ondura roofing on. It meant tromping in constant mud on the uphill side but a couple of cold toes couldn't slow things down.

My figures left me one sheet shy of completion where I'd needed to have one cut into 24" pieces to complete the last gap. Sunday was promising to be another fine day but I was tapped out on funds until my lovely bride came up with some extra and away I went!

Happy to report that all roofing is done and all the building needs is cedar siding on the front and back walls. Everything else will be the basic interior.

Tuftex panels complete the shell just as light rain comes in, the wall is
halfway lifted up here so I can screw in the bottom of each panel.

At this point it was good to feel like a complete structure. No more worries about weather ruining things means not being pressed for time even though every hour has been a joy. The wall is easy to raise and takes a couple of steps to ease it back down into closed position.

Transition from upper roof to flip-up wall	Just beyond tar paper shack
	Above Left: Rubber shelf liner will bend in the gap Above: Finishing roof panels Left: Convenient built in hangers all around The weather was nice on this day but in the summer a mosquito net will go around the  open deck.

This is how Sunday started. No more tarp after this!

Buddy decided it was warmer if he hung out in this corner.

For the next step I should be visiting the cedar mill for planks which will complete the outside shell, stay tuned for that.

Happy 2015

Waiting to be unwrapped for a days work

I got  up early and made some progress. Also the A-frame had it's first visitors today, Nicole and Mark dropped by to check it out on their way into town. It was nice to have a bit of a break.

Report for today is that all plywood has been attached to the roof so things are looking pretty solid! On the backside I sawed  the roof so it tapers in from the top and there is little overhang at the bottom. Just an odd aesthetic thing I went with.

Here I am at the top looking down as I fasten the ply to the ridge beam. Try not to get vertigo LOL

 

Not much to really show in pictures just more plywood, besides it was too dark to get pictures when I called it quits for the day. After dark set in I plugged a light into the generator and was able to install the window then clean up a bit.

After all that I spent the next day looking at roofing options. Metal barn roofing seems like an obvious choice but there is a newer product that appeals to me; Ondura.

I  think cutting the vinyl-like Ondura will be better than snipping or sawing metal. The tapered roofline on the back would make for 14 noisy feet of sawing on metal and it would leave the edge to fix up some way so sharp edges wont cut people or snag things.

One additional benefit is that Ondura comes in six foot lengths so it will be easy to carry to the site and it won't bend leaving creases like tin does. Cost-wise it came in a few cents cheaper per square foot than metal roofing.

Also picked up were spray foam insulation and 30 weight roof felt.

upwArd

Last week was spent doing a final layout, marking and cutting the rafters (which are also walls for an a-frame). More tedious than anything so not much to write about.

The rafters are complex cuts since I need the angle at top cut and then also notched to accept the beam. Then the bottoms need to be cut so they are flush with the floor. Seems pretty simple but those two angles are twelve feet apart and need to be right or else I have to haul another very long board out and that is a delay on everything that I don't need.

After all that I only had time to haul the wood up to the site and then the door which is very heavy and required some improvisation to get way uphill without breaking. But I made it!

How to move a large door with a small trailer

So this weeks installment is where things start to come together, uprights and framing begin and we finally it begins to look like a cabin.

       Plenty of helpers today.                              Getting 40# sheets of plywood up the hill took some ingenuity.

.

	I couldn't have done any of this today without a great assistant! (left) Standing 2 x 6 lumber at an angle is no solo job. She's good with a drill too. And tying off a rope to support a frame. And lots more. (right) A Jenga-like move to support the beam on an upended pallet and spare pallets stacked to make a work platform. (below left) mating the rear frame up took a couple of tries. All the bracing is temporary until next time when more wall pieces firm things up.
ready for side braces	The work site with the generator working nicely today, it'd be a bear to do all this without it.	measure twice, cut once

She got the best shot of the day.

After getting all four corners fitted with gussets it was time to close up shop.

Snow is forecast for this weekend so I can't plan too much unless that changes.

Stage One Complete

Oh man, being blessed with great weather and the long weekend gave me time to get a lot done!

All the floor decking is done, I need to saw off the stubs and put up one last 2x6 on the end.

dog tired

looking good and feeling sturdy

ready for building up now

Next will be some plywood for sub flooring and then building the A frame! I'm excited because next weekend could be more good weather.

More on the floor

Another day with great weather, I was able to measure and cut lumber, haul and generally screw around. Having planned to be in Florida last week worked out well since it was totally freezing at home. Decent temps prevailed yesterday but today it's pouring rain so here I am posting instead of working.

nice day for working, adding the second row here

Picked up where I'd left off by adding the 2x6 joist and outside band. After adding pallets 4 and 5 to the floor I could tell it was sturdy.

The 5th pallet was in but all the screws were used. I did some prep work drilling pilot holes for some of the hard to reach spots with an eye on making number six install easier. Still there was just enough daylight and good weather to run to the store for more screws so I did.

Wish I'd gotten an earlier start, to the reader it probably looks like I'm slow but it just takes a lot of time to strap things down and haul them uphill. Getting things level without a helper takes more time too so I'm using bar clamps to hold things in place. Also there is a lip sticking up since plywood will cover the pallet joists. I have to keep that lip even. (above left) No problem supporting my weight at all. (left) Blocks counterweight the floor joist while I add another pallet.

Almost wrapped but out of daylight and battery.

Coming back with more screws I added the next 2x6 so the outside band is complete for runs one and two. Got it even with the pallet and then tilted it up to level out the whole game.

As I started tacking the last pallet in place the screwdriver battery ran out completely so I had to call it a day.

Next time I will not bring the stubborn Corgi, short legs does not like going uphill much. She cost me some time. Funny though, once I got here up there she rested up and hiked her way further up in the woods just to lounge in the leaves.


I should be able to complete the third and fourth rows and thus the whole floor if we get another day with decent temps. That's my main hope before winter really stalls the project until spring.