This post is from several trips to Skookum, all with the goal of getting the cabin winterized. Tim Fry has been helping with the wood floor, and Wylie did a great job helping pour concrete (but we didn’t get any pictures because he ran the batteries out on my phone), and I even spent a day alone working on details. All the progress may look incremental, but it’s going the right direction.
It was tricky working around the hatch that goes down to the cellar because the steel pan decking isn’t strong enough to provide a solid base. Ultimately we got it done (right photo), although the floor may be a little softer than I would like around the hatch.
Wylie and I had a long, hard day mixing and pouring concrete. We poured a small base for a jack to add more support to the main tie beam. It probably isn’t really necessary, but at least there is the option. We kept trying to put the jack on the base before the concrete could support the weight, so it didn’t come out real well. Wylie did the finishing work, something he’ll have to live with (left photo), no doubt with long enduring shame. Most of the concrete went to the stove base (right photo). Wylie was handling the wheelbarrow and also did most of the finishing. We used red dye in the concrete, which I think makes it look much better than standard concrete.
Tim and I felt like we were really getting the hang of installing the underfloor as we moved to the front of the cabin. In the left photo we laid down a vapor barrier, then installed framing (second from left), and put in insulation — closed-cell foam underneath and rock wool above (second from right) — and then put on the underflooring sheets (right photo).
But then we ran into trouble. The gravel floor was high in the region in front of the stove base, so we had to take a hammer and bang down the gravel to get our frames low enough. This was tedious and we knocked a few holes in the vapor barrier. Then Tim came up with the idea of cutting open the vapor barrier and excavating the region under the framing by hand. Later we taped the cut with flashing tape. This was much more efficient. However, we only got one more sheet on before the end of the day, as shown above. At this point, we’re 2/3 of the way done with the underflooring.
On June 23 I went up to Skookum alone, both to get after to projects that don’t require two people and to see how much I could get done. It was, as Wylie would say, a satisfying day. I cleaned out the cellar and reinforced the stairs. I added some supports to some of the flooring we had put in, which got rid of some soft spots. I laid out the base board for the East wall of the bathroom and drilled through-holes to the cellar (left photo). The through holes will enable plumbing to the sinks, electrical conduits, and a route for the solar panels to heat the hot water tank. Later, I finished up some framing and insulation along the edge of the stove platform (right photo), but I quickly discovered framing is something where you really want to have two people.
Since it wasn’t practical to do more framing on the floor without someone to work with, I thought I’d start on framing the gables. The general idea was to plane the top of the logs (left photo) in the gables to a flat surface, then install a 2 by 10 and use that as a base for framing (middle photo). It was getting late in the day, and I thought at best I might get a decent start on the planing. However, things went faster and easier than I thought they would, and I ended up finishing up the framing for one corner of the gables (right photo above).
Some people have noted that I don’t have many pictures of myself, so I thought I’d end this post with a selfie just before I began planing the gables. Goggles, respirator, ear protection — it isn’t as bad as you might guess and it beats breathing in sawdust and getting it in your eyes. Note my smile….