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.
What a week last week as the Weatherwize crew was on-site to begin removing the old stain and finish from the full pine logs. Remember, these logs are over 100 years old and solid pine. Nate and crew blasted them with some glass media to get them down to the original wood and then they treated some of the problem areas with their borate solution to prevent future rot.
Burning some of the wood, wood shavings, and other items in the foreground with the sun peering through the “Twin Pines.”
Stripping the Logs
So, at this point, the cabin is naked without any finish on the original logs or the new cedar siding.
The cabin stripped of all original stain/color back down to bare logs with the new Andersen windows installed (and moving toward the green, not white windows as well)
They also stained the soffits and fascia board with “Mission Brown” stain which matches the historical and original stain.
View of the back of the cabin with the stripped pine logs on left and the new white cedar siding on right with the stained fascia and soffit trim. Still awaiting the gable end vents to finish things off.
Siding the Garage
Meanwhile, Bob and crew were busy siding the garage with new LP Smartside lap siding and shakes, installing new garage windows, and installing new soffit venting and aluminum fascia trim on the garage.
Garage getting some new LP Smartside, aluminum fasica trim, new continuous aluminum soffit venting and fresh insulated casement windows. All other trim around the door and garage door and windows is also LP Smartside as well.
Installing the Windows
They also began removing the windows from the original cabin, adjusting the openings (which requires a chainsaw and some log “adjustments” and installing the new Andersen Woodwright windows.
Out with the old windows and ready to get framing for the new windows to go in.
Bob, Dan, and Matt also framed in the new basement entry door which went from a piece of plywood door, to a real insulated door. The logs in that area were in really good shape, for not having seen air or light for many years while under the deck(s).
Cleaning out the Attic and Crawl Space
I was also busy in the attic (ugh) getting rid of the last of the cellulose insulation which is now complete!
Attic beforeAttic after removing the insulation…
I also began attacking the crawl space under the fireplace room, which was filled with over 3 feet of wood shavings above the ground. Not a fun place to be for someone over 6 feet, but need to clean it out so we can get plastic down and treat the logs under the floor boards with similar borate and other preservatives.
Why would someone just think, “What should I do with these wood shavings? I know, let me fill the crawl space with them…” Well, that is what happened with them being 3 feet deep in some spots. Sucking them right out to the fire pit area. The logs underneath are in good shape.
I also need to use caution as the ceiling for the root cellar is actually UNDER these as well and is made of logs, so I need to tread lightly to not fall through.
Old ductwork piping on top of, yes, 3 feet of wood shavings which basically fill the entire front half of the crawl space. Time to get out the insulation vac contraption for another round!
This week (August 3), we await the new gable vents to arrive from American Vent and Louver who was able to get the exact match of the Andersen Window Forest Green color for them. Once we receive those, we can frame them into the upper openings and get the log siding completed for the Weatherwize crew to return to begin their final prep, cleaning, staining, and sealing.
It’s going to be an interesting week at the cabin. The log crew is here to begin the blasting process to get the finish off of the 100 year old pine logs. This involves using fine glass media at the right pressure to get the old finish off, without damaging the wood.
They then begin to hand sand down the logs to a finer finish as well as strip out any old caulk, chinking, etc. They also will repair any logs that have signs of rot before they bleach the logs and add some preservatives to help with future decay.
Then, we will replace all windows and trim and the logs and all log siding will get two coats of Sashco stain and a clear coat.
Original cabin with old finish and some white trim removed.
Finish stripped off after blasting, but before any sanding or other work. You are looking at 100 year old pine logs “in the raw.”
Top part showing the logs after blasting. Lower part with original finish and right side with the new cedar log siding.
As we looked to restore the cabin, we had quite a few needs for different species, finishes, and types of wood. The exterior siding on the cabin was a mix of different log siding with different profiles and different colors. Some repaired areas didn’t match up at all and some areas had different size logs.
The interior was tongue and groove pine paneling. A lot of it was water damaged or had “issues.” No drywall was going to be making its way into the cabin, so we had our work cut out for us to find some good wood.
Cedar Log Exterior For the exterior, we chose white cedar “half log” siding with the same profile as the full logs as the old cabin. We looked at the fake log products (concrete-type logs) but didn’t like the color profiles and the expense put them at 2-3x the cost of real wood. Yes, they would be maintenance free, but yes, they also looked like fake logs.
White cedar was chosen for its overall look, stainability, and rot resistance. We sourced this from Northern Log Supply in Michigan who provided us with the half logs for the exterior, 4×4 square trim for the windows, and pine log siding for the exterior walls in the interior. Northern Log Supply came through with four huge pallets of timber in under two weeks which we then let rest and acclimate in the garage until it was ready for install.
Pine Tongue and Groove Interior The interior walls needed to be pine tongue and groove paneling, to match what was done in other parts of the cabin. With over 1200 square feet of interior wall and ceiling space to cover in wood, we needed to have a plan of sorts. Buying T&G from the local supply yard would have been fine, but then we would have spent weeks on staining and clear coating a ton of wood at the job site before we installed it.
After looking around at the various vendors for pre-finished T&G paneling, we settled on Duragroove. We were looking for a few basics with the T&G paneling:
A color profile that would match close to other areas of the cabin (Chestnut)
Low or no VOCs in the finish as we would be surrounding ourselves in wood in our bedrooms and didn’t need to be breathing in crap for the next year as other finishes off-gassed.
High quality finishing with tight tolerances for the tongues and grooves
The ability to get to product within 2-3 weeks of ordering
After we received samples of the Duragroove paneling, it was easy to see that they hit all of the items above. A great finish that they say is UV cured after 20, yes, 20 different sanding steps. The tongues and grooves clicked together like Lego block due to their machining process. And after ordering, our 3000 pounds of pine paneling were shipped within 4 days. So, we are anxious to get the paneling up as soon as it arrives to continue the build out process.
What a week it has been up here at the cabin. As I hunkered down to “work from cabin”, the crew has been super busy and things are really beginning to take shape in a visible way. Here are some highlights:
Completed the shingles on the majority of the roof. Just waiting on the new entryway to be completed to wrap up the remainder.
Shingles on porch side of the cabin all completed after the overhead electrical service was buried and overhead feeder pole was removed from the roof.
WE Energies worked on removing the overhead electrical service and burying it underground. Was a bit disconcerting to see a guy with a chainsaw beginning to drop the power pole about 25 feet from where I was sitting and watching. I was hopeful this wasn’t his first rodeo and the pole would fall where he wanted it to go (it did).
A bit of a tip. WE Energies likes it when you bury the feeder line as that means (in theory), less outages, less trees to trim, etc. If your run is 100 feet or less from the main line to your house, you are gold and there isn’t a charge. There is a charge per foot after the 100 feet. But, the charge is less if you tell them you want to “upgrade” your service to the next amperage level. Only downside is that your new pedestal (which you have to buy) is more expensive. But, that cost is offset by the savings. Had we kept the 200A service, our price to bury would have been around $2300. By moving to 320A service, our price to bury was less than $1500 and should we need more power for the future sawmill, heated swimming pool, and indoor, air conditioned tennis courts, we will have it available to us.
WE Energies chopping down the power pole which was used for the overhead power coming into the cabin.
Completed shingles on the garage roof and trimmed out the remainder of the windows (on the log sided part of the cabin)
Began applying the white cedar half log siding from Northern Log Supply (highly recommend them…”For all your log and timber needs, call Daryl at Northern Log Supply”). The crew also began building the new covered entryway.
White Cedar half logs going on. White cedar is great for taking stain better than red cedar and has better rot resistance. These will be pressure washed to remove the mill glaze, dried, and then will get two coats of Sashco stain and Sashco semi-gloss clear coat.
Logs going onto the back side of the cabin along with the beginnings of the new covered entryway. That will receive some full log columns and cross bar and some Trex decking. Footings were poured for the columns when the stone wall footings were poured.
Nate Demers (Weatherwize), our “log guy” will be onsite with his crew beginning July 27, for three weeks to begin the log blasting, cleaning, staining, sealing, and chinking process. He dropped off the “blast” trailer which is what they will use when they media blast the existing full logs to remove all of the old stain and get them down to bare wood to begin their process.
The Blast Trailer now onsite to begin blasting the logs to remove the finish in a few weeks.
And our cool finds of the week were from a group of avid can and bottle collectors who were onsite to check out the landscape for old cans and bottles. Being a resort from the 1920s, they found some cool cans and bottles such as a 1930 Miller High Life “Girl in the Moon” can and a 1930s PBR can as well. The coolest find was buried in the hill behind the garage which were the remnants of the old wooden row boats that the resort made available to its guests. To my surprise, the side of the boat was reasonably intact and still had a DNR registration sticker (expiring in 1972) with Bernard Otterpohl’s name on it. He was the father of Willie, Sam, and the other 8 kids who lived in this very cabin while running the Otterpohl Resort.
Remnants of the wooden boats that were made available to resort guests. The registration numbers are somewhat visible.
Original DNR Registration Certificate from the wooden boat. Typo in the last name as should have been Otterpohl.
On tap for next week:
Finish the entryway over the side entrance area
Finish the roofing on the new entryway
Keep on siding
Await the arrival of our cool and new Duragroove interior pine T&G paneling. More on why we chose this and where it will be installed in a future post.
Get everything prepped and ready for the log crew to be onsite soon!
So much progress going on this week. The roofing continues as does the framing of the new windows. The log siding will also start to go up as well. It is really beginning to take shape!
What a few weeks it has been at the good ol’ cabin. Here is a summary of what has been done and what is coming up:
All of the shingles have been removed from the roof
Brand new Andersen Woodwright windows have gone in around the “new” area
The lower 4 feet of roof decking (and more in some spots) has been completely removed and replaced along with rafter tails, ledger boards, and more.
We sucked out over 900 cubic feet of the crappy and dirty and compressed cellulose insulation. More on that in another post and how we hacked together our “insulation vacuum” for under $200.
I sweated out more than my body weight, spending hour after hour in the attic getting rid of insulation, dust, dirt and more.
We added underlayment and ice and water shield over the entire roof decking area.
Began replacement of the upper sheathing and also adding gable vents in place of the previous windows.
Said HI to a friendly bat who is living in the attic
Took over 4500 pounds of shingles away as well as the rest of the attic “treasures.”
New windows in, roof ready for shingles. A new entryway roof will be constructed over the door.Sucking out all of the insulation right down to the boardsFilled up six of these 4’x12′ bags full of the old cellulose insulationPorch and cabin roof ready for shingles
A big week ahead at the cabin with a lot of activity. Monday saw the Pex tubing get installed for radiant heat in the newly remodeled area. These were installed over Ecowarm subfloor boards. The Ecowarm panels are fully coated with aluminum as the top layer and notched for the Pex. The aluminum helps to reflect and radiate the heat from the tubes into the room versus back down into the subfloor.
Roofing begins this week with fresh decking on almost the entire lower four feet of the roof go replace the rotted wood. New Grace ice and water shield on the lower 6 feet and in all valleys will go in as will new ridge vents. Landmark Pro shingles (hunter green) will go on as well.
Our beloved (and damn expensive) Andersen Woodwright windows arrive this week to begin being installed. We chose these for their design and materials which gives us some degree of maintenance-free living and they come as close as we can get to the look of the original windows.
Appliances come (a bit early…more on that later) later in the week as well to be stored for now until we are ready. They are the GE Cafe line in matte black to continue the dark iron theme of some of the interior items.
Also, thanks to You Tube, we have fashioned up our own system to vacuum out the old insulation from the attic before we blow in some new fiberglass everywhere.
Willie and crew did a great job finishing up the stone wall. He will be back once some new concrete gets poured and the logs get restored to rebuild the stone wall by the front door.
Willie Otterpohl and crew did a great job on the new stone wall. All full rocks, not the veneer stone that is commonly used in most construction today.
The entire living room wall came out. It had a bay window that was about to fall apart and and old bookcase (inside) that covered an old entryway. The living room was actually the dining room for the resort guests at one time. The entry way was how the resort guests entered without needing to go through the fireplace room or other entrances. Unfortunately, the water damage to the wall and window were too much, so fresh lumber went in.
The new wall is already framed out for about 9 feet of fresh windows to go in. The new windows will be centered on that wall, versus the bay window which was pushed to one side, due to the entryway (no longer used) that was there.
Remnants of the living room wall in front and fresh wall (covered by Tyvek) in back. New wall will have about 9 feet of windows.
The existing bathroom is also being partially demolished this week due to water damage. The roofline and side wall will be rebuilt to get rid of a weird jog in the wall and also to build a properly pitched roof on the bathroom. So, we will actually get more height for a future shower and an additional foot of width with the change. Also, a properly pitched roof will help to avoid future water damage.
The last of the old walls come down. Water damage and the need to better construct and pitch the roof over the bathroom were the main reasons to tear this apart.
Also being built is a cricket behind the existing fireplace chimney to divert water away from the masonry and flashing versus today, where the roof (and water) just go right into the chimney flashing, which is not a good thing.
After that, roofing begins big time with old shingles coming off, ridge vents going in, and Grace ice and water going down before new Landmark Pro shingles (Hunter Green in color) go on.
