Some deck boards actually fastened

Wednesday

Jon went up to apply finish to the boards. The oil finish said it should be applied above 45F, and the forecast was for a high of 47F on Thanksgiving. So we rearranged our holiday for the weather.

I started out with three hours of sanding. Boooring.

By the time I got o the cabin, the forecast had dropped, plus the can said it's supposed to stay above 45F for twelve hours, so that's not gonna happen. Time for a new plan. I remodeled the little cabin with drop cloths and heated it up to 70F. I stacked the deck boards in there for an hour and a half to warm them up.

I wasn't looking forward to schlepping 600 pounds of hardwood up an icy hill. Thankfully with the chains on the truckasaurus made quick work of the hill.

Finishing with a high-VOC oil finish meant two hours in a respirator. Sanding and finishing boring, but wow, this wood looks stunning.

Thursday

This morning began with some final adjustments on the deck foundation. I had to adjust the stair stringers; somehow I'd laid them them out wrong despite them being only two treads long. I protected the joists with some joist tape.

I added some waxy end-cut protection to the finished boards.

11:00am, and the sun is dropping behind the trees to the west. Winter in the mountains!

Finally I got started actually installing the decking. The first row always takes extra care, plus I was learning a new hidden fastener system.

I managed to get four boards installed before quittin' time. (Photo at top.) The finishing work paid off. The wood looks amazing. We'll have to take our shoes off before we go outside.

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Appliances and mirrors

In pursuit of being ready for final, I came up and installed the fridge and dishwasher with Jeff. We hung mirrors in the bathrooms.

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...

First tile

Saturday Tile! Christina got some tile installed this weekend! Jon was racing ahead trying to get backer board down. I had to finish a couple pieces in the main bathroom before anything could be done. Then I got the laundry room filled in. Hector and his son Robert came over from Yakima to provide initial tile instruction. The first step was to get all the tile for the floor laid out and edges cut. Jon had purchased most of the rest of the Ipe deck surface boards in Seattle this week and hauled them up on the trailer. Each 18 foot board weights fifty pounds! Siobhan helped me unload them and stack them under the eaves. Sunday We came back for another morning of work. Christina got almost done thinsetting the first bathroom floor. Jon finished tuning up the subfloor in the upstairs bathroom and getting the backer rock board installed. Siggy and Jon took another little bite out of the deck, cutting the first five joists.

Howell Cabin

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