New Trusses

After a year and a half of planning and a solid weeks worth of measuring, cutting and driving nearly 2000 structural screws, all but 2 trusses are complete and most of the blue wall has been taken down!  We have 2 more trusses to do over the girl's bedroom and entry to the bathroom.  Once those are done, we can take down the rest of the wall.

After we finish the last 2 trusses we will frame in the utility room which will be on the left when you walk in the front door.  We will also change the entry into the girl's bedroom and frame in their new closet as well as a couple new windows.  The big challenge we are facing right now is where do we put all the light switches.  There is not much wall space available.

Sandpaper Ceiling

Yes, you read that correctly.  Keep in mind this place was originally built during the depression.  The ceiling consisted of picture frame material that was nailed up to form 2' x 4' rectangles.  Then large sheets of sand paper were nailed up from the bottom, grit side towards the roof.  The paper side was then painted.  Later on a drop ceiling was added but the old sandpaper ceiling was left in place.

More Demolition

In order to get the ceiling down in the kitchen and utility room, the wall separating the two had to come down because the wall was put up after the ceiling.  Most of the wall was going to come out anyway, so it was not the end of the world.  We did run into another mouse nest though.  I can't wait until the demolition is done and we don't have to worry about that any more.

More Demolition

Today started another week of vacation working on the cabin.  This is finally the week we start on the trusses.  The first step is to get the ceiling torn down.  The living room and dining room were first.  Like everything else in the cabin, there were at least 2 layers.  Luckily there was not much evidence of any rodents up there.

French Drain

We spent Sunday morning filling in the trench with the rest of the gravel and then grading the dirt a bit.  We're going to let it settle for a while before we remove the whole pile of dirt surrounding the garbage can.  We also got the bottom piece of siding back up just to fill in the giant holes in the wall.  We are just about ready to start working on the trusses now!

French Drain

In order to keep the water from washing the dirt out from under the new foundation, we put a French drain along the street side wall.  We used the old dry well to collect the water and disperse it into the ground.  On Saturday we got the gravel base and the pipe in place.  You can just barely see the T under the far left window where the drain connects to the dry well.

Street Side Foundation

On Wednesday I went up to the cabin to check on things and found that the jacks under the house had leaked and the house was sagging, a lot.  I jacked it back up and decided to put the blocks under it yesterday to keep that from happening again.  I still have 1 more block to place under the corner, but I have to cut it first.  Next up is the French drain.

Street Side Foundation

When we bought this cabin the inspector told us the most difficult part to repair would be the foundation under the street side wall.  I've spent the last year trying to figure out the best way to tackle it, which really means putting it off.  Yesterday I got some help and we got the footer pored!  All that is left now is to place a row of cinder blocks and set the house back down.  Thanks a ton Brian!

New Rim Joist

This afternoon, I ripped the old rotting siding and rim joist off and put a pressure treated rim joist in it's place.  When the original cabin was built they did not use a sill plate.  The addition that was put on in the 1960s did have one though.  The way they did it left room for me to add one under the original cabin and not have a step in the foundation.  I'm sure that was not done on purpose, but it was awfully nice of them.

Street Side Foundation

It took a good portion of the day today, but the foundation, stairs, walkway and concrete pad at the bottom of the stairs have all been removed.  Tomorrow I will level the cabin and start compacting the dirt where the footers will be pored.  I still have to replace the rim joist and sill plate.  If all goes well, I will have the footer in place by the end of the weekend.