We finished framing the last wall and had the trusses delivered at noon.
Dean and Sheldon finished hanging all the siding while I went to pick up our windows. Got those installed. Then we started standing trusses.
We got 6 of them in place, 7 more to go on Friday then it’s roof metal time!
Kitchen side window.
Bedroom egress window.
Starting to look like a cabin now!
Tomorrow is a school field trip so we’ll be doing other things, be back on Friday for more building fun.
#aklife
#cabinlife
Today we started standing walls. Got 3 done. Tomorrow will be finishing framing and sheeting then trusses will be delivered at noon.
Let me just brag a little on the beautiful weather we’ve had the last two days. So nice. Alaska tan coming my way, right before the rain. ☔
#buildalaska
#cabinlife
No rest for the weary. Finished one cabin yesterday and rolled into the new job site this morning. This is a 12′ x 24′ cabin, dry in only. (No interior or finish work!!)
We spent half a day gathering supplies. The rest of the day we set our paver/pier foundation & brackets.
Then we sized our rough sawn beams and set them into place. Leveled and squared them and cut our rim joist and laid out our joist placement.
Time flies when you’re having fun. Time to clean up and stow our tools. Monday we will knock out the floor joists and blocking. Hopefully getting some sheeting down for the floor too.
Finished!! The building that is. There’s still plenty of clean up to be done this weekend. On to another waiting project.
#alaskabuilt
#cabinlife
#lakelife
#whitespruce
We’re almost done with this little log tiny house build.
280′ square feet of interior living space. Equal storage space below. 4′ x 14′ of covered front porch. Full service kitchen and 3/4 bath. The customer will be doing the shower at a later date
So much finish work. The bathroom pocket door trim consists of 12 components! All custom made trim, nothing store bought. It’s all Alaskan white spruce. Local logs milled at SND’s sawmill. You can’t get more “Alaskan Made”.
#alaskalife
#tinyhouse
#logcabin
Where has the time gone? Between working snow removal (Dean) and running the sawmill for a month we’ve kept busy. A month ago we were riding snow machines and wearing the warm clothes. Now we’re digging drainage ditches, jumping on the trampoline and wearing summer attire.
Also last month I started experimenting with oyster mushroom cultivation and started my first tote of substrate. I had started with a grow kit from Home Depot. I grew one out last year and we enjoyed the ‘shrooms so much I thought why not grow more?
I pulled a bit of the grow block off and used it to innoculate some straw and coffee grounds. I let it sit and grow mycelium until today when I checked it and I had pinning!! Woo hoo!
Can’t wait to eat them in about 10 days or so.
The kiddos set up the trampoline today, with some difficulty. But it’s up and ready for high energy kids. While we were out a large flock of sandhill cranes flew over chattering steadily. We’ve seen several geese flocks over the last few days but these were the first cranes. Summer is here.
Dean has been in the boat every available moment. He’s so excited about the prospect of halibut fishing at will. To be honest, so am I. But I still do have a house that needs finishing…
The kids helped me prep our wine cap mushroom bed today. We raked it out, layered cardboard first, then straw. We added our spawn and then top coated it with sawdust. Over that I put some wood mulch to keep the sawdust in place.
Next on the list is an outdoor oyster mushroom bed. Maybe next weekend? And I’ve got to get another tote started indoors. I’ve got pearl and phoenix varieties for indoors.
The Oldest has plans for gardening this year, so a few more raised beds and updating our current hillside beds.
Back to work on the rec cabin build tomorrow. Another day another dollar.
#aklife
#aksummer
#winterisover
That’s how I feel this past week has gone, a busy, buzzy, blur.
We took last Friday off to spend the weekend at the cabin. I love going to the cabin but it requires a significant amount of preparation what with taking six people and a dog. So the day off from building work was spent on prepping work, grocery planning and shopping along with packing food and supplies. Then there’s the loading of the snow machines and gear, which Dean usually takes care of. So not really a “day off” from working.
But when you finally get there, the peace and quiet sets in and all that hustle and bustle is worthwhile. Then it feels like you’re a lazy little bee buzzing leisurely from flower to flower without a care in the world.
Back to work Monday and along came the snow. Dean works snow removal at nights when we’re in a snow cycle. Monday night was snow removal after building that day. Then Tuesday we started at a one hour delay and worked a short day because he had to go in Tuesday night. Weds was another short day and as soon as we got back from work we got a call for another moose salvage, so back out to collect a very young injured moose that had to be put down. Another late night. Moose takes precedence. Dean was supposed to work snow removal that night so Jake filled in so we could get the moose.
Thursday was another “day off” to work up the moose that we’d prepped and quartered the night (early morning?) before. Dean worked snow removal that night and I worked the moose.
Feeling a bit like burning the candle at both ends. Today we’re just wiped out. It’s not productive to try to build in cold temps while also being physically exhausted, neither is it safe. So we’re home again today. I’ll work on canning some of this moose meat, there’s nothing quite as good as fresh canned moose. And maybe take a nap.
I’ve never been more grateful to have so much to do.
A bee’s work is never done. 🐝
#gratefulforallthethings
#Aklife
We started a new rec cabin this week. It’s been a long break but I’m back.
This is a 14’×20′ on a picturesque lot overlooking Island Lake.
It’s always exciting to start a new project.
Hoping to end the week with three courses of logs done. We’ll see how tomorrow goes!
#aklife
#shebuilds
#winterwork
Last October we began the process of buying the house we’ve been living in since 2014. It was an exhausting task to be sure. We had some things to do to satisfy the lender but we finally closed in late January 2020.
After signing our life away, we began the process of renovating to suit our large family and our lifestyle.
In no particular order…
We had our driveway regraded as it was super steep and on icy winter days our vehicles would slide right down to the bottom of our property.
We took out the large front window to create a main entry.
Girl’s room, they picked the color and scheme.
The main bath was a blank slate.
Framing the front entry hall/master bedroom wall.
Jake grading the driveway.
Dean moving the improperly installed gasline in the kitchen ceiling. There was a lot of this sort of thing. Major frustrations.
More wall framing.
We took out the side entry door and put in a window.
Added a front window, and my new bedroom will be bright and cheerful!
Flooring going down in the girl’s new room.
My new front door.
Painting prep in the girl’s room.
The inside view of my new bedroom windows.
Girl’s room, painted and ready for final trim.
The beach themed bathroom coming together. I built a linen storage, installed beadboard wainscoting and picked some cheerful colors!
Thing 2 doing some painting.
Getting ready to make the first cut.
Pocket door in the bathroom.
Drywall going up in the kitchen.
My new vessel sink for my beach bathroom.
Tile backer board around the tub. A whole lot of prep work.
We’re no where near done, but we’ve got a good start. After winter sets in and our outside work schedule slows down we’ll start working on the master bedroom and front entry again.
We finished stacking logs on Tuesday.
Finished walls, 16 courses
The trusses were delivered on Wednesday.
Trusses and roofing materials
We got to work immediately setting the trusses. First time I’ve been in on that sort of thing. Wow!
18 Trusses set up, 3 more to go
It really is beginning to look like a house now.
The sun on the downside
A good day’s work.
Alaska on my mind... 