Scenes of Sheet Rock

Pieces are slowly covering up the lumber.  

set backs and progress

Turns out the circuit box that was on the cabin only holds SIX circuits.  I need 8.  I guess I have to buy a new box.  darn. 

Managed to get some rigid foam in between the 2x4 studs of the loft, between the crawl space and the main room.  I feel that's enough insulation.  Now to get the drywall up over this stuff. 

Home rigged vise

I needed to squeeze this cable, and luckily I had a bar clamp nearby, and a saw table.  Got it done. 

Burner crud success

Kind of amazing.  This is the before and after.  Just leave them in a closed bag with a tablespoon of ammonia (it's got to be the fumes) and the next day,  a light brushing with a small metal brush just cleaned them right off.  crazy.

Removed Blackberries, prepped for Raspberries

Of course I forgot to do the 'before' picture, but this is the future spot for two rows of raspberries.  My blackberries got some disease that, while still looking fabulously healthy, they didn't fruit.  So, out they go!  

Gen challenges - carbon build up

I had to take the diesel gen apart yesterday, to try and figure out how bad the carbon build up was, and how to fix it.  It was bad.   This is the 'head' the top of the gen where the piston hits:

This is the top of the piston, with a copper gasket around it.  

This is the piston head after I spent time cleaning it off.  Here's hoping I didn't screw something up with my cleaning efforts: 

Posts almost up, by spiderweb

After I got the posts up around 6 feet off the floor, I decided to move to a winch system.  Of course, I didn't think this was possible, because I didn't think I had a good anchor point.  And then I realized I could use a giant C clamp and clamp it to the concrete stem wall, creating a loop the winch hook could connect to.  Then I used tons of this flat cloth rope stuff I had just been given by an electrician friend.  (1800 pound strength!) He gave me a full bucket of cut offs from his job site. 

I also tied the joints together as they were going up, because I wanted some flexibility, but I didn't want them to pop apart.  

The last 6 inches to get them into place was tough. I had to jack up the whole ceiling with 3 different jacks at the same time and then really pull the posts into place. 

Posts in, starting to rise

They are ready to start going up!

New West Window

Well, I'm getting even worse at taking before and after photos.  Here's all I could find for a picture of the small window on the (left) west side.  This was taken before I even cut the french doors in.  That's a gas grill under a cover, for scale. 

And the new window going in, not yet trimmed up:

From the inside: 

Lifted Lift

Nothing special to see here...  Turns out the loft ceiling is pretty high up. 

New Chimney in

Well, I had to move where the wood stove would sit in the cabin.  Where the previous chimney was placed didn't make sense.  In that spot, instead of trying to remove the flashing, I put in one of those tube skylights.  Here is the pipe coming up through the hole, getting the roof brackets put on:

Once I got the cone flashing on (much harder than expected, as it seems the 10" cone is NOT really designed for a 10" double wall pipe) I did the collar and lots of extra goop on all the screws and edges.   You can see the original chimney with the skylight in it in the background.  

The final chimney is straight (I seem to have leaned when taking the photo) and is made up entirely of parts that I already had, or were part of the original chimney.  I might put side brackets on, but this system is already pretty stable.   The bricks nearby are just to hold the shingles down while the roof goop dries.