A lot going on this week at the cabin. First, we got our hands on the Duragroove T&G pine paneling which was already put up on the majority of the ceilings. Not a small thing to unload two skids that were about 16 feet long.
Unloading the Duragroove…
It looks great and cannot wait to see it on the the walls too.
The Duragroove T&G pine paneling up on the ceiling.
We also got our color-matched gable vents as well and those were installed and trimmed in the wood sided area and installed in the old full log area to be trimmed out this week.
The new color-matched gable end vent all trimmed out.
Thanks to the great folks at the Paint Bucket in Eagle River, we began testing some exterior stain colors with different tints and formulations. Not easy when you are trying to match up 100 year old pine logs with fresh white cedar siding. We will get there now that we have a color locked in. More to come on that in the future.
The new entryway is almost complete as well with the log columns and cross beam going in.
New entryway taking shape!
This week sees the last vents go in, the other vents get trimmed out and a new exterior door go in as well.
We also got much of the electrical roughed into the new area and will be getting lights and switches in soon!
Last week saw a lot of progress. All of the new Andersen windows went into the full log portion of the cabin and the remaining areas of the porch were trimmed out.
New windows were put in in the kitchen area to round out all new windows all the way around.
The garage also was completed with LP Smartside lap siding and shake being installed over the existing plywood siding to give the garage a better look. All of the LP siding will get some coordinating paint colors.
New LP Smartside, trim, windows, and a fresh concrete apron for the garage.
We also saw the new entryway overhang take shape with the new log columns going in as well. This is a new element that the old design did not have. Since that entryway will now come into a mud/laundry room when we use the garage, we wanted something to protect it from the weather and give us more of a true entryway to come in. The most exciting part of this is that we will have found a Jeff Ayers hand carved door to install here. Jeff is known around the area as a top craftsman with his unique doors and we are excited to have found one that a homeowner was selling to use in our cabin!
A new entryway overhang with log columns (and yet to be installed log going across as well) is taking shape and will get Trex decking and a Jeff Ayers carved door.
New concrete aprons were poured as well for the front door to the cabin as well as the garage. The old concrete was not pitched properly and was cracked, so it was time to replace it and pitch it properly. We also pre-buried PVC piping underneath it for future downspouts to go into. With a ton of water coming off the roof, we wanted to get the water away from the wood with gutters and downspouts draining into piping versus just into the ground below.
New concrete apron poured in with the proper pitch, a bit higher than the old concrete and with PVC piping underneath (see the stub to the left) for downspouts. The stone wall will be rebuilt by Willie Otterpohl after the logs are stained and sealed.
This week we get the gable end vents (six in total) that have been color matched to the Andersen windows and will be installing them all around and finishing up trimming them out and the remaining cedar siding around them.
We will also be testing some of the Sascho stain colors, getting the Duragroove paneling in (try #2, no thanks to US Special Delivery in Iron Mountain who completely botched the first delivery), and beginning to get some interior walls insulated and paneled.
With a cabin dating back to the 1920s, the original windows were of the double hung variety, made of solid wood with sash pockets and weights. Lower sashes had a single pane of glass and upper sashes had nine individual lights.
The windows had removable, wood-framed storms and screens. Overall, the condition of the windows was fair. A lot of dried out putty, some cracked panes, some rotting wood, and were completely caulked shut.
That made for a tough decision. Do we try to restore these windows back to their original condition or do we find some more modern windows to replace them with?
Restoring was our first thought. The windows gave the cabin a good look and we didn’t want to ruin that.
But, as we learned, restoring old windows is not for the timid and the costs, methods, and time needed vary greatly.
