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Martian
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# Posted: 30 Aug 2011 14:10
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Quoting: Montanan What are you going to use to seal/finish your kitchen counters? We'll also have wood counters (not as nice as your reclaimed sycamore, though!) We want something really durable
Montanan, my Sycamore tops get sanded down to a 600 grit finish and then I rub in vegatable oil.Every now and then, I rub on some more oil. I just use a scrubber sponge with dish soap to clean, wipe dry, and reapply the oil. This is the counter in my current house. Its been in use for 12 years. I am taking it with me to the new house.
I am going to seal the bathroom sink base, though. I rub in the epoxy after sanding down to a 400 grit finish. The epoxy is really hard, but it lacks UV protection; so I lightly sand and rub on a couple of coats of satin varnish to get the UV protection. It probably isn't necessary for protecting the wood since Hedge fence post last 100 years, but Hedge turns brown when exposed to the sun. I want to see if I can keep the brighter look.
Tom
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Martian
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# Posted: 8 Sep 2011 06:57
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This past weekend was spent working on the cabinets and "dry-fitting" the sinks. The only problem with being a one-person construction crew is when the cabinet maker goes to work, the electrician, plumber, painter, etc are off the job, and now that so many details need attention, they all need to be working! Not to mention that the "money man" isn't bringing in any 'cause he's too busy with the cabin! But I'm getting so close to being able to move in that I hate having to go to work elsewhere.
Okay, I'll quit bitching and show you the pics.
Here is the bathroom cabinet.
And, from the front. 
This is the kitchen.
I picked up a bunch of Poplar for the window/door trim and the face frames for the cabinets.
There's a lot of parts and pieces on order; faucets, water heater, kitchen stove, etc. While waiting on them, I'll be milling out trim this week after work. Hopefully, everything will come together by the middle of October. I'm getting really anxious!
Tom
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trollbridge
Member
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# Posted: 8 Sep 2011 11:37
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Nice,nice,nice!!! I love your kitchen and bathroom sinks! Counter tops look great too!
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Martian
Member
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# Posted: 8 Sep 2011 20:16
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Thank you.
Tom
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Martian
Member
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# Posted: 12 Sep 2011 07:30
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Good progress was made this weekend thanks to the time spent milling the Poplar into trim last week after work.
The windows, except for the kitchen, are trimmed out.
The closet/wardrobe is in place. To save space, I used 3/4" cabinet grade plywood instead of framing and sheetrock.
There will be three drawers in the bottom, a hanging space, and storage up top.
The plumbing fixtures should be here this week. The carpenter will become the plumber.
Tom
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trollbridge
Member
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# Posted: 12 Sep 2011 09:49
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Yes...a man who wears many hats! Looks great though-nice to see lots of progress huh?
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Martian
Member
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# Posted: 13 Sep 2011 06:06
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Last night I was filling the nail holes in the window trim......being the painter. The painter was pissed at the carpenter for getting carried away with the nail gun! LOL.
Tom
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trollbridge
Member
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# Posted: 13 Sep 2011 10:25
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HA HA HA!!!! Yep!!
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neb
Member
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# Posted: 17 Sep 2011 08:59
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Very nice
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Martian
Member
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# Posted: 22 Sep 2011 07:41 - Edited by: Martian
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Thanks, Neb.
Despite being swamped with money making work, I did manage to get the plumbing roughed in this past week. You'd think that such a small system would be easy to accomplish, but it seemed to take forever to get it done. Part of that time loss was caused by my indecision as to exactly how I wanted to heat water, which material to use, and whether I wanted to have a single manifold in the utility room with seperate runs to each faucet or to run trunk lines with tees to each faucet.
I decided to use an electric 10gal water heater. On demand systems require a minimum flow of over 2gal/min, but a lot of the time to conserve water I barely turn on the faucet; so it came down to propane or electric. With the small electric water heater, I can turn it on 20 minutes before I want hot water and turn it off when I'm done and still have enough hot/warm water to last for hours. If the power goes out, the water pump stops anyway, so there's no need to keep heating water.
I decided to use Pex piping since it can withstand freezing better than PVC. It is expensive because of the cost of all the little parts and pieces which are Pex specific, but it is fairly easy to use. If I had to do it again, I'd buy the "sticks" rather than the roll of Pex.
The expense of a manifold and seperate runs led me to running 3/4" trunk lines and teeing off those with 1/2" to each fixture. Valves are installed at the point of use.
I still need to put a pan under the water heater and install the pop-off drain, but there are no leaks.
The lines are run inside the heated space. I'll cover them by blocking out the baseboard as needed.
Most of the piping is hidden inside cabinets.
The decision to compost (for now, anyway) has really reduced the amount of time/money I'll need to put in a sewer sytem. The grey water will be piped out to the side of the hill.
I've been postponing building the short wall between the bedroom and living area until I have the wood stove set, and I've been waiting three weeks for the stove pipe to arrive. The hardware store called last night to tell me its here!
All I'm waiting on now is the kitchen stove. Its been on order for a month. Once it gets here, I'll have everything I need to move in. There will still be detail work to do, but I can get those done while living there. This Winter I'll have more time to devote to things like cabinet doors, etc.
Tom
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Martian
Member
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# Posted: 27 Sep 2011 07:28 - Edited by: Martian
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This past weekend, I was able to get the wood stove going, hang the sheetrock over the back of the shower,
remake the countertop from the treehouse to match the other one,
and cut the kitchen backsplash out of exterior cement board.
I've still got to fit the sink and cut around it, but the kitchen is coming together.
Tom
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old buddy
Member
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# Posted: 27 Sep 2011 08:29
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Wow. What a beautiful cabin. If this is your cabin I'm wondering about your house. It certainly is something to be proud of. We finally got our cabin "buttoned up for the winter" and since getting to it in bad weather will be sparse, progress will slow down a little. Keep the pictures coming.....Old Old Buddy
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Martian
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# Posted: 28 Sep 2011 07:32
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Thanks, Old Buddy.
Everything I'm doing now is directed at being able to move in before Winter really sets in. Work slows down drastically in the Winter; so I'm collecting materials now to do a lot of the detail work then. There's probably another six months of detail work to do before I can say, "I'm done!"
Tom
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turkeyhunter
Member
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# Posted: 28 Sep 2011 15:04
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martain----place is shaping up....looks GREAT!!!!!
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Martian
Member
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# Posted: 5 Oct 2011 18:16 - Edited by: Martian
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Thanks, TH.
This is a big day! Its my birthday, 61st, and tonight will be my first night in the cabin! Its definitely not finished, but I've got heat, water (hot water, too), drains, and propane. I can live here!
Its been a big push over the last week or so to get to this point. I finished the water
hooked up the water heater
Ran the drains
The propane piping is also done, but I haven't taken pics of it. The propane company delivered the 500gal tank and hooked it up today.
The timing couldn't have been better since I picked up the range yesturday. It took over a month for the range to arrive thru Sears. I guess there aren't too many 24" stoves sold. The kitchen is functional, if not finished.
Tonight will be my first meal from the new kitchen. There's pork steaks on the stove simmering in garlic and onions. In a little while, I'll start some rice with spinach. I'm loving being here!
Tom
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Erins#1Mom
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# Posted: 5 Oct 2011 18:23
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It looks great. I can't believe all the work you have done in what (to me) seems to be a short period of time. CONGRATS!!!!!
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neb
Member
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# Posted: 5 Oct 2011 18:32
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Looks great.
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CabinBuilder
Admin
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# Posted: 5 Oct 2011 19:43
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I bet it feels good, having built your own place like that yourself. All thumbs up!
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trollbridge
Member
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# Posted: 5 Oct 2011 19:50
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Happy Birthday...what a great gift to give yourself-the memories of your first night in your new home :) Congratulations!
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hattie
Member
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# Posted: 5 Oct 2011 21:36
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Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday!!!!! What a way to celebrate! Your place looks fabulous!!!!
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Martian
Member
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# Posted: 20 Oct 2011 19:15 - Edited by: Martian
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Hi, Everybody. Thanks for the birthday wishes.
Well, I've been living here for a couple of weeks and loving it! Except for work, I've pretty much become a hermit. My internet connection is so "iffy" that I just get frustrated when I try to log on. Posting pics is totally out of the question.
But I really haven't done much to post about, anyway. I did oil one of the countertops; it looks good. And, I've put a 2"X12" Oak shelf on top of the short wall; the wood is weathered from being part of a feed bin for 25 years. I lightly sanded it before putting on a couple of good coats of varnish. It looks old.
Today, the attic got insulated with 18" of blown fiberglass. It got down to 26*F last night. I was going thru firewood like crazy! After spending the last two days cutting and hand-splitting firewood, there was no way I wanted to burn it that fast! I can hardly wait for it to get cold tonight just to see if that $250 was money well spent.
I kinda went overboard with the spending in my rush to get in; something had to give; it was the septic sytem. I'm going to compost........ at least thru the Winter. I'm finding it easy to do and really cheap since I have a huge supply of planer shavings, but a urinal plumbed into the grey water would be nice at night. I drink a lot of water!
There is a sense of relief from being in. I've actually taken a day off to watch football, nap, cook a nice meal, and just relax. I have everything I need to get thru the winter...... comfortably. Its nice to put a little money in the bank and not see it leave immediately.
I'll take the computer into town, sometime, and upload the pics I've taken. Meanwhile, know that all the work and sacrifice is worth it!
Tom
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beachman
Member
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# Posted: 20 Oct 2011 20:44
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MtnDon has a good point. Do not use the pre-hardened screws. I used them for my walkway and the next year most of the screws were snapped off. I had to rebuild the walkway with spiral nails - no problems since then - except we had a bad flood last year that floated half of the walkway back into the creek - took half the summer to retrieve them and set tem back in.
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Martian
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# Posted: 21 Oct 2011 07:51
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This is the second of my houses I've screwed together using construction grade screws. The first, built 12 years ago, has gone thru several storms with winds of 90+mph........and it is on 9' piers.......without damage. It cost a lot more for good screws vs nails, but my experience is screws hold better. The key is to use properly sized construction grade screws; not deck screws. In bulk, I paid $8.39/lb for over 120lbs of Torx drive construction screws......more than $1000 worth in this house. The sizes run from 5/16ths X 6" flange-headed for the foundation to #10X4" for framing to #8X2" for subflooring to #8X11/2" for sheathing. The siding and trim are all that's nailed on.
For years, I did yacht repairs. It rapidly became evident, while repairing wooden boats, that screws are superior to nails for holding power. My houses will, probably, never see the kinds of loads a boat has to survive on a regular basis on the ocean, but why just build when you can over build?
Tom
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beachman
Member
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# Posted: 21 Oct 2011 19:08
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Well said. I had ice problems and I don't think anything would have held through that. Your place looks fantastic! I'm going through some of the same things and it is a pile of work. I can't believe what you've accomplished over the summer - quite a feat! I plan to use the same plumbing pipe I see in your pictures. Looking at the drain pipes under the camp give me hope for my place. Happy BD as well!
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turkeyhunter
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# Posted: 21 Oct 2011 19:52
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looks GREAT!!!!!! glad you got moved in....
you seen any of those BIG KANSAS bucks crusing those fields yet>>>>????--->
what type internet hookup do you have at the new place.....???
i hope NOT!!! huges net.....worst internet i ever had for 10 days!!!!
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Martian
Member
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# Posted: 21 Oct 2011 21:59
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Thanks, Beachman. I like the Pex, but it is a lot more expensive then PVC. I understand straight lengths of it are available. That's what I would use instead of the rolled stuff. It took a lot of bending the curve out to get somewhat straight runs
Hey, TH. I've been dodging deer for several weeks, even in the middle of the day! It is harvest time up here, and all the combining is making the deer move around at odd times.
Internet is thru Verizon 3G; it comes and goes. I knew it would be slow out here, but, man, its really slow! I'm going to explore other options since I'm too cheap to spend $60/mo for something I can barely use.
Tom
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Anonymous
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# Posted: 22 Oct 2011 02:02
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How would a air card work?
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Martian
Member
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# Posted: 22 Oct 2011 06:41
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Quoting: Anonymous How would a air card work?
Is an air card the same thing as wireless?
The ex, who's house is 300' East from mine, just got an IPad and Verizon HotSpot. She usually has faster service than me, but it still comes and goes. Originally, I thought it was the metal roof blocking my signal, but now I think I'm in some kind of vortex. Maybe I just need to find out who uses the tower located 3 miles South of me, which I can see, and get service thru them.
Tom
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Martian
Member
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# Posted: 29 Nov 2011 07:55
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Either I'm burned out from all the work of getting the cabin built, or I have latent "hermit" tendencies which are just now coming out, but it is really hard to make myself leave the cabin! Even riding the motorcycle has lost its appeal! If I didn't have to earn some money or go get food, then I'd might never leave. Am I the only one who has experienced this after moving into their cabins? Does it pass?
Tom
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trollbridge
Member
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# Posted: 29 Nov 2011 08:43
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You have probably just been soooo focused on building your cabin and always having something to think about that now your brain doesn't quite know what to do with itself. Enjoy hunkering in-eventually you'll have other things to focus on :) I bet the same thing will happen to us when we are done cause it has absorbed so much of our time and energy!
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