Flooring almost complete

The pine flooring is just about completely installed. The last area is the master closet. I held back on that area to make sure I had enough flooring to finish the man area of the cabin.

This photo shows a closeup of the butt joints and the old fashioned nails we're using to finish "the look" of an old cabin floor. Each nail has a pre-drilled hole to help minimize wood splitting. The 2.5" nail lying on the surface illustrates the type nail used.

Once the closet is complete, we'll start painting ceilings, walls, etc. Any paint splatter that hits the floor will be removed by sanding in preparation for the floor stain and finish coats.

This week marks a couple of milestones...Darlene is officially retiring from Wake County Public Schools on Tuesday, June 12th. She worked, in a few school systems since her career began in 1970, for a total of 30 years. She'll be moving here on June 13th FULL TIME!!! I hope things don't change...she's been my 'sugar momma' for a long time ;^)

The other milestone is that I'm moving into new digs this week. I've been hard at work preparing a 'nest' for Darlene's arrival. At least we're not homeless...

Before June 12

After June 12 (the camper)

I'm sure glad I'm married to an understanding woman! I suspect we'll be moving into the cabin by no later than August 1...hopefully!

More coming,
z

Embarrassed but still working

I have to apologize for being behind in my posts for this blog but a lot has been going on and I haven't had much time to devote to updates. Hopefully this post will get everyone up to speed.

Several months ago I had a gentleman mill our floor on an antique milling machine in Roaring River, NC. He delivered the floor but it camped out in the basement until recently.

The photo to the right shows it resting in the basement before I spent 3 hours moving it from the basement to the upper levels.










Piece by piece, the floor made the trip to the main level and then a portion to the loft level. Needless to say, I was glad it was over but I knew it doesn't install itself...

On one of Darlene's visits we decided to move out of one of our storage buildings. The photo to the right is the last of 8 loads taken from the Mexican Store in the background. We call it the Mexican Store because that's what it was before we rented the building to store our household goods since last summer. We got the place for a great rental and it served us well.

I think we were both worn out after all the moving of boxes and furniture. Darlene is getting ready to unload the boxes into the basement. Most of the furniture was taken from the Mexican Store to our other storage unit in town. We can store boxes at the cabin easier than furniture. The furniture will make the trip up the mountain when we're ready to place it on the floors.

Other stuff going on has been hanging drywall and mudding...my two most UN-favorite parts of construction. Darlene wanted the opportunity to add some color to some of the rooms so we decided to install wainscoting in the guest bedroom and both of the baths and then hang drywall above the wainscoting. That took about a week. I'm not the fastest mud man plus some rainy weather slowed the drying process. Finally it's all hung and mudded and ready for primer.

Shower

The guest shower floor was completed and I added Durock to the walls of the shower in preparation for installing tile. You're looking at the shower control with a niche to the right.

The tile we picked is on site and ready to install but that task has to get in line with all the other stuff ahead of it.

Loft and entrance into the master suite

I decided to start installing the floors because when we moved all of the flooring material to the main and loft levels it was in the way. This photo shows the installed floor in part of the loft and into the master bedroom. We're using 3 sizes of flooring to create an 'old barn feel'. One row of flooring is 10" wide, the next is 8" wide and the next is 6" wide and then the pattern repeats. I am using steel flat head concrete nails where each board butts up with it's mate to continue a row. The end result is a floor that looks like it came out of an old barn.

Floor in the master

Main level guest bathroom floor

Once the nails are added I use a heavy stick handle with a section of chain attached to scar up the surface. The chain has several heavy nuts and washers attached to give random nicks and marks to make the effect look authentic. Once the floor is stained and finish coated the look should be really neat...

I started installing the main level flooring today and made some good progress.

Today's work

You can see, from the photo on the right, the entrance foyer and the start of the kitchen floor. The stack of flooring in the foreground is part of the material that's been in the way but soon will be flat on the floor.

Knotty pine doors

The knotty pine doors, that were stored in the basement, are starting to make their way to their final resting places. We bought an old door that will be perfect for the front door. It weighs a ton, has some glass in the upper third, and has been sanded by Darlene in preparation for staining and final coats...but, I used the wicked chain to distress both sides and it too will look even older when finished.

Phew...that was a lot of catching up to do. I'll try to be better about updates. The next few weeks are hectic as we're moving Darlene (she's retiring June 12) to the mountains at last. I can't wait. Our separation has been really tough on us both. Finally, I'll have a helper!

More coming (I promise),
z

The boss was pleased

The boss came up for the weekend and apparently she was pleased with the progress so far.

I mentioned a few posts ago about the barn tin that we bought in Nash County specifically for our cabin. Well this weekend we decided to install the tin on the kitchen ceiling. The photo to the right is of Darlene using the nail gun to install the tin.

You might be wondering, "have they lost their mind...rusted tin on the kitchen ceiling". No we haven't lost our minds...we wanted to add different elements to the cabin and keep it rustic in nature. The kitchen ceiling will be sprayed with satin polyurethane to protect it and keep it from flaking.




This is a shot of the ceiling 'closeup'. My question to you is..."why don't YOU have rusted tin on your kitchen ceiling?"

More coming,

z

Twiggy

Today was spent working on the twigs for the stair rails. Each piece has to be fitted, mortised and set into position before the next piece can be added.

The twigs are still green and can be bent to some degree to aid in placement. I suspect that, once dry, they will not be going anywhere in our lifetime.

The photo to the right shows about 3 hours of work. We priced these twig rails and now I know why they cost so much.

I started on the next section up but did not take a photo. Tomorrow I'll keep going up the stairs. I have 3 more sections to make. I should be done with it by early next week.

The boss is coming this weekend so I have to look like I've been busy :^)


More coming,
z

Stair railing started

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile but the work continues just at a slower pace. There are only two of us working these days. Actually one of us...Katy does a lot of sleeping and watching. Her job is to remind me when lunch is near and when it's time to go home.

It took the better part of a day to add all of the top and bottom rails to the stair posts. Some of the posts are made of milled pine while some are natural trees that require some special care to attach the rails.

The trick is getting the posts aligned along a rough uneven tree surface. After some careful thought and slow going it worked well.

Each section is dependent upon the section above it. The round post (to the left) is a pivotal post. I had to remove it several times to be able to insert the lower post. The top post went in a bit easier because I could move the top of the rough post slightly to allow the tenon to drop into the mortise.

The photo to the right shows the nearly completed stair system. The next step is to take it all apart, rough up all of the elements and then reassemble it using construction glue and final bolting. Each of the bolt holes will be filled with a plug of similar material that hides the bolt.




I'll start installing the twigs tomorrow. I suspect it will be a 2-3 day project. Each piece is selected to fit, cut and mortised into final position.


While in Oregon last summer, we visited a group of cabins built by the Steiner family. Steiner and two sons built a number of the area cabins in the early 1900's. They used material harvested off of the property and tools that were by today's standards 'primitive'. Remarkably the finished product is a work of art.

More coming,
z

Twig railing

After getting the tree installed on the second floor it was time to start the railing. You'll remember the post about the rhododendron twigs that I harvested a few weeks back. Well today I started installing the rails and then adding the rhododendron twigs to the railing.

 The photo to the right shows the top and bottom rail installed and connected to the tree.









It took about 4 hours to install what you see to the left. Code requires that a 4" sphere NOT be able to pass through any given area and this first section meets that requirement.

Now only 4 more sections to go...

More coming,
z

Still crankin' along

Darlene has been up this week and it's been mighty nice having her share in the work. She's on her last spring break from school before she moves up permanently in June.

There's been lots to do and now with an extra pair of hands it makes the job easier. We cut some trim for the cabin and installed a bunch of wood in different places around the cabin.

It's been great having her here to put her 'stamp of approval' on the progress so far. Of course, not everything meets her standard...she a tough one to please!









We're still working on the cedar tree that will adorn the loft area. Lots of bark removal and peeling has made for a nice looking feature. Using an old draw knife makes the work a bit easier. Once the bark is removed then we'll set the tree in place one last time and anchor it down.









We BBQ'ed some hamburgers for supper the other night and enjoyed sitting on the viewing porch watching the mountains. A bottle of wine topped the evening off nicely. KD, the wonder dog, stays close when hamburger is on the menu.

Today we had sheetrock delivered. We're not using much but it was nice to have the boom truck easily deliver it to the second floor. I'll be installing it next week.

Posts are not as frequent because we're moving at a slower pace so we save up before we post.

More coming,
z