Sliding doors

Friday

We picked up our first batch of electrical supplies from branches in Lynnwood and Ellensburg. As you can see from the sign, we weren't able to buy a receptacle.

Jon oiled the last three windows. Siggy climbed a tree and attached plywood to it.

Eliot re-framed the bottom course of stairs.

Saturday

Toby & Dan joined us today for the heavy work of installing the sliding doors. We cut out and furred the openings to the correct size.

Lots of strong people to lift these monsters into place.

There they are, the last of the glass!

It's impractical to oil the panels after they're installed, but we didn't want to leave a hole in the house. So we went to work getting the wood treated and the sliding panels in place.

Siobhan puttied holes left in the ceiling by overzealous nail guns a floor above. Christina sanded it smooth, so the ceilings are ready for oil.

Christina oiled the fir window screens ... and sang Bohemian Rhapsody.

Jan came to enjoy the chaos ... and knit a hat.

Siggy worked on building a pantry for the little cabin.

Toby improved the steps to the toilet for Grandma Jan.

Siobhan made a thing. Guinivere made a plastic utensil holder for the shedlet.

Folks took an afternoon archery break. Bullseyes were made.

Sunday

Remember the wall we re-framed for the electric panels? Our electrician wasn't crazy about that placement. Jon and Eliot fiddled around with the panels looking for a better option.

Guinivere and Eliot loaded up a trailer of brush to take to the neighbors' brush pile. We also grabbed some of their piles on the way up the hill.

Eliot fixed the steel-rope swing. It's safe now!

Meanwhile, Jon put another coat of varnish on the BA column and other bits of structural lumber that needed more attention.

Eliot and Guinivere took tools and pressure-treated lumber down to the canal bridge and gave it a little tune-up.

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The trim finishing journey begins

The last time we installed wood trim (almost two years ago!), we sanded and cut the material inside the cabin (it was winter) and installed it unfinished. Finishing it meant taping everything off and applying three coats of finish in place. Removing the masking was frustrating (the finish glued it to the wall in places), and in other places the finish still got where it didn't belong. Now the cabin is full of nice, finished floors, cabinets, and counters. It's not a shop. So this time, I'm sanding and pre-finishing all the boards outdoors. Thankfully, there's still pretty nice weather; that black tarp garage heats up pretty well when the sun's out. Today I got the first batch of wood sanded and a coat of finish applied. Christina installed eight receptacles in the kitchen and great room. My mom came up to enjoy the warm ambiance of the not-yet-active wood stove.

Uncrating the wood stove

I drove up to the cabin today to meet a tree contractor. Since I was up there anyway, I took care of some other business. I got the wood stove out and ready to install on Monday. I vacuumed up the tiny particles of styrofoam packaging material from last year's roofing panels that would have been much easier to clean up last year. I put the bathroom outlet back into its adjusted place above the backsplash. I corrected my installation of the heat pump wiring with a pair of reducing washers. Now it's really done. I replaced the emergency brake battery system in the flatbed trailer. I bucked a bunch of old logs into rounds for firewood.

It is DONE!

The final inspection was today. This guy is Levi, the county inspector, and as you can see, we passed! He only had two questions for me. One was about the energy efficiency credits and the blower door test, for which I had the compensating paperwork for the low-flow faucets already prepared. The second was asking for a smoke detector outside the bedroom; I pointed up and he saw that we already had one tucked into the alcove. And that was that! I got up at 5am to be certain I'd be here before the inspector, and I was ... by about five hours. In that time, I took another truckload of tool buckets down to the storage container, then picked up all the floor protection in the great room and vacuumed and mopped. It's glowing! Then I went back down to the storage container to get a hammer so I could glue in 32 wood plugs to cover the screws for the french doors. I fought with installing the screens, but the frames are too big! The manufacturer said "yeah we don't even make th...

Howell Cabin

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