Prep for siding

Yesterday we returned from a full week up north. Grandpa Glenn came along to help with the work. The weather was beautiful. We had sunny days with temps in the mid 80's all week until the last day when it cooled off a bit. The mosquito's were around, but not overwhelming like they can be. We had camp fires and roasted marshmallows several times.

Our main objective for the week as to get the cabin ready for the big siding weekend that's coming up in September. With Grandpa's help, we got the started strips installed, the J-channel in place around all the windows, J-Block, and the corner edges installed too. J-Block is the stuff that you put around the outside lights, electrical boxes, outside faucets, air vents, etc. I am extremely happy with the progress we made.



There were a couple of things we were not able to finish. The J-block around the outlets is not complete due to some issues I encountered with the size of the outlet covers. We also were not able to put the J-channel around the front door because I need to install a 2x12 treated board under the front door sill. Besides those things, the outside is ready for siding.

I changed the dining room circuit to 20 amp, so the wiring work is completely done.

Cheryl was busy with painting some of the exterior trim and also did a bunch of framing work on the ceiling (so we can attach drywall to the ceiling some day).

The most exciting thing we did was to side about two-thirds of the garage facing side.



The other thing that was really cool was getting some of the circuits hooked up. It was so nice to have some lights (particularly on the outside of the cabin).

I was really hoping to get the toilet installed on this trip, but it was just not a priority and time (and the wife) did not permit it. It's probably better. I'm learning that doing things in a temporary fashion is not really helpful to getting the long term goals done. It just ends up taking longer and costing more.

That will probably be our last family trip up for the year. School starts next week and it's already starting to feel like fall outside. We still need to get the boat out and other various fall closing tasks so we will be back up once or twice, but only for a day or too. With the exception of the siding weekend, further work on the cabin will have to wait until next year.

I'm looking forward to our siding weekend. I learned a lot about siding application this week, so I don't anticipate any major problems.

The inspection

Grandma and Grandpa agreed to watch the kids last weekend, so Cheryl and I made run up to the lake to finish up the electrical work. We arrived on Saturday morning and worked all day Saturday and Sunday. It's amazing how much more work you can accomplish when you don't have the little one's around. The inspector arrived on Monday and I'm happy to report that our electrical rough-in passed inspection with flying colors! He said he was very impressed with our work and that most "homeowner" jobs end up with 2-4 pages of problems that need to be fixed. He did ask me to change the circuit servicing the two outlets in the dining room from 15 amps to 20 amps, but that he did not need to come back to inspect it.

Now it's time to plan out our next trip up that happens in two weeks. I know we need to get the trim work for the siding in place (starter strip, outside corners, j-trim, etc) during that trip. We need to get that stuff in place so we can be prepared for our big siding weekend in September. I would really love to get the toilet installed so that we can actually use the septic that we paid so much for this year. I know I'm probably getting way to ambitious in my goals for the week, but I always do.

I would also like to point out that my wife, Cheryl has been a major contributor to all the work that we've done on the cabin to date. Without her hard work the cabin would still be an empty shell.

I will report back upon return from our next trip up...