Kenyon and I traveled to Utah for 8 days in June. I am proud to say that for the first time ever, we actually got more done than we thought we would! We were very fortunate to not have any serious weather issues and to have no other issues (cabin or RV-related) that came up. It probably also helped to have left kids at home!
Before we got there, our neighbor/contractor framed both gable ends and put all the siding up on the "road" wall gable end. Due to the extreme height, he was not going to be able to do the siding on the "valley/downhill" wall gable end. So, the plan was for Kenyon to work on that (with him) while we were out there. We would rent a forklift and we wanted to get everything done on that gable end to avoid having to rent the forklift again and we weren't sure if we would be able to get back out this summer or not. One thing we learned (unfortunately from experience) is that you cannot count on being able to use the forklift in the fall, winter, or spring because the ground can be too wet!
Items finished before we got there:
Road/Uphill gable end completed, with the exception of paint. The siding will get painted a color similar to the logs.
Road/Uphill gable end completed - view from our new neighbor's house on the other side of the cul-de-sac.
All 1st floor framing -
View of great room from front door.
View of what will be stairs/bathroom wall from front door.
View of master bedroom doorway from front door.
View of kitchen from great room/dining area
View of 1/2 bathroom and laundry room from great room
Look back at master bedroom from great room
Goals
The goals for what we would get done was to complete the downhill gable end, chink all of the corners (on the outside), chink the downhill wall (on the outside), and if possible there were 6 partial rows on the other walls left to chink on a couple different sides. Shockingly, we got all of those things done with the exception of 1 partial row that still needs to be chinked! The rows that needed to be chinked were lowest priority because those are something that Kenyon could complete on his own in a weekend if necessary.
Work assignments were as follows: Kenyon-chink the downhill wall and do all gable end completion, Sarah-chink all corners and leftover rows, Kenyon's dad-keep making more chinking! Of all the trips we've made back out there, I think this trip was the most work done and hardest physical labor that I have ever done! I basically spent 8 days on ladders ranging from 12 feet to 30 feet on the side of a mountain, lugging buckets of cement up with me. I was exhausted!
Kenyon's uncle helping with sand
Me, pretty much all week
Have to keep going...
The ladder gets awfully wobbly that high and on uneven ground!
Painter's hooks were a huge help on the ladders, so I could have two buckets. Usually the logs weren't so flat and helpful!
We had one day with pretty serious thunderstorms, but we were both working so high up on the house that we were able to keep working tucked under the eaves. It may not have been the safest thing ever, but we lived to tell the tale. The other great part about this trip was that we were able to switch around where we were working to stay out of the sun. It made such a huge difference to just switch to another corner!
The mix master
Kenyon chinking the downhill wall. Luckily, he was able to utilize the scaffolding rather than ladders. He did create his own pulley/supply system with buckets lined up and down the scaffolding for efficiency!
You'd think I could get a Werner ladder sponsorship! You can't tell on the picture as well, but you could see the Werner sticker pretty clearly on each ladder!
Hello, Old Friend!
Putting up the OSB
House wrap
I have to admit, I got a little sidetracked and forgot to take a lot of pictures at this point. Here's the spot I remembered - Kenyon painting the downhill siding.
Usually we pull out late Saturday night (before Sunday early flights) soon after dark. This time we were later than ever, not driving away until 11:11pm! I forgot until about after the sun set to take pictures, so they're not the best!
(Kenyon's dad took this picture the next morning!)
All in all, it was a very successful trip. Once again, we couldn't have done it without the help of Kenyon's dad. My friend, Amy, also came up to "visit" (read: manual labor) all day Saturday. She was a huge help with cleaning up and packing everything away since the three of us were completely exhausted after 8 days of hard work. We also had some great visits with our neighbors and had two different neighbors invite us over for cookouts. They were so accommodating they let us work until dark, let us come over dirty, and then fed us fantastic burgers and steaks and everything you could imagine! We have been so fortunate throughout this process with the help of family, friends, and wonderful neighbors!
