More windows! More windows! July 6 & 7 work

Alisanne & I got THREE windows in Friday and Saturday July 6 & 7! Amazingly, they are all pretty level and plumb. We have one more to cut and install--on the right side (north) wall you can't see in the first picture below--which will be over the kitchen sink, if we calculated correctly. After that, no more excuses for not building the loft. Yikes!

July 2, 2007 Taking the Plunge (cut)

Working together, Alisanne & I got another window in! Using the circular saw to cut the opening--after watching my brothers do it--was pretty nerve wracking, but I did a fair job. It is so hot now, it is really miserable. Sitting on the porch after a hard day's work is very satisfying!

June 23 update--windows and air conditioner

This is one of two windows my brothers and I put in the weekend of June 16-17. The other is on the south side of the cabin (to the left as you look at this picture) Let's just say the second window went in much quicker and more smoothly than the first. But hey! We're learning. Now we have windows on the east and south sides and doors on the north and west. Yay!


Here are inside and outside pictures of the second window we put in last weekend (south side) and the little 6K BTU air conditioner we put in this weekend. It's so small because it's in the bedroom room area, which will be about 10 x 12. We thought any help in cooling would be welcome now, and we can't put in the big one yet because we're still running power from our temporary construction box.

So, I think the next task is the loft. Tum de tum tum . . . . tum!

stain stain stain and done!

This past Friday-Monday, we worked exclusively on getting the porch staining done. I thought the whole porch would take maybe two days tops, but it took four very long days. Now that it's done, we really have to get to work on the inside!
Alisanne worked with me Saturday and Sunday. This picture is from Saturday. She's on our 6 foot step ladder. Sunday, we brought back a 10 footer from her brother's shop. We didn't get a
picture of the 10 footer, but it's a monster, and helped a lot!

My 15 year old nephew Carson did some high ladder work, finishing staining the porch fascia. He was quite fearless, and Alisanne & I were impressed! He was a huge help.


By 5pm Sunday, June 10, Alisanne & I were whipped. We had been on ladders for two days (me for for 3), and Sunday turned very hot and humid. We had to give up with this much of the porch ceiling and the porch floor undone.


I went back down Monday and worked from 8:30am to 6:30pm and finally got it all done. Yay!

Details

My brothers and I fixed the little faux pax I made on the fascia over the front porch. We took down the last "temporary" braces in the trusses. And we put up the braces on the two last uprights on the front porch. Here's a photo of the front porch showing the braces.

Staining and re-staining. And maybe re-re-staining . . .

I told my family at an impromptu get-together for my oldest sis' last night in the lower 48 that I should have built this cabin 7 years ago. Nebraska wouldn't have had the long drought we suffered. Until NOW!!! I already posted about: the days it rained when we dug holes for the foundation; when we started actually building; when we wanted to get the tin on the roof; and the flood we experienced, with water creeping uncomfortably close to the cabin. Now we're staining--so we can cut holes for windows and not have to stain around the windows--and it's rained 2 of the 3 days I've applied stain. AFTER the stain was applied, but BEFORE it was completely dry. Which means I'll probably re-stain at least some of the cabin. Again. From the pictures, you can see the staining progress and the rain on the stain in the plains. Ah, Nebraska in the spring.

Did I mention the 20 mph north wind that's blown every day I've been on the ladder applying stain? With gusts to 35? That blows the stain coming out of the sprayer so much I've resorted to BRUSHING all the stain? That blows my ladder over when I'm not weighting it down?

Or the wasps that have already made nests in the overhang, and don't appreciate my efforts to preserve the wood from which our cabin is made?

Whose idea was this, anyway?

More Construction

Perhaps inspired by the other family building projects, my niece Olivia and foster niece and nephews Munif, Nuha and Mohammed built their own cabin Saturday May 19. It is constructed entirely from recycled lumber and brick. They incorporated natural lighting and air conditioning in their building design. The designer/builders are, from left: Nuha, Munif, Olivia, Mohammed