Week of ordering & scheduling

Spent the week on the phone and Internet getting the final bits and pieces ordered to finish up the exterior.

Hardie Panel for the upper story on the front, along with metal channel where the panels join

...and Ipe (Brazilian Walnut) for the door alcove. 

The Hardie panels are several weeks out. And I'm planning to pick up the Ipe early next week.

I also *think* I may have actually scheduled an electrician to wire-up my septic pump and alarm. This has been a source of great stress because the installer needs to do the draw-down in order to certify the system, which can't be done until these are hooked-up.  And my septic permit expires in March 2019 well before the snow melt. Gotta get everything certified before the snow flies, as soon as a few short weeks from now. We spoke today and agreed to talk Monday morning to pin down a date and time early in the week.

Full metal jacket

Katie and I finished up the last of the metal siding panels on the back of the Haus on Friday, and I finished all of the corner trim on Saturday.  It took one calendar month and 13 work days to complete the siding -- double what I had originally thought.

We avoided rain on Friday. I went up alone on Saturday: Deluge.

Friday: Back (North) side of the Haus and beginnings of the corner trim.

Trim on the NW corner.

Trim on the NW corner.

Trim on the SW corner.

Trim on the SW corner.

Trim on NE corner.

For bonus points, I put up the brown flashing between the corner and the beam along the top plate.

Now, mind you, the "siding" isn't actually done, just the "metal siding".  I'm ordering Hardie Panel to install on the top floor at the front of the Haus this coming week.  After that's completed, I'll breath a sigh of relief for this winter.

Oh, and there's also the shiplap wood to put in the door alcove. But that's undercover and can be done in poor weather.

Installing the rest of the metal flashing on front corners will have to wait until the the Hardie Panel and shiplap are installed.

Here's a quick reprise on each of the sides. (I didn't take fresh pictures of everything because it was raining.)

North siding nearly done

Took yet another Friday off in an attempt to get all this metal on the building.  We made significant progress and would have gotten further, but we ran out of screws (again). I was expecting it to rain, but we stayed totally dry all day and even got some sun, followed by a literal deluge by the time we drove home through Monroe.

I realized as we started in installing panels that I somehow failed to panels to go above the top bank of windows. BUT...because I miscalculated the width of the first panel, I had an extra, long panel that I was able to cut up and repurpose to make up the difference -- an inspired mistake.

(I was just  sure I ordered more than enough screws, but we looked all over the cabin twice. Because we drove Katie's car instead of mine, I still need to check in the back of mine to see if there are some there.)

Anyways. We made great progress and are nearly finished with the metal. I'm confident that it will take only one more partial day to get the rest of the panels up. Then I'll just need to install all the corner trim and the final beam flashing piece. (Then, of course, there's still all the caulking, the Hardie panel on the front, the entry siding, the deck railing, etc. etc.)

North / Final Siding photo blitz

So, if we're 1/2 done after 2 days, will we be 1/3 done after 3 days? 

If I've learned one thing in the past month, it's that I have an profound inability to forecast how much we'll accomplish on any given day, much less in a week. (I *think* we have two days left to finish the metal siding on the North side. But don't hold me to it.)

Katie was a master ladder climber and leaner on Friday. It took us the entire day to get the Tyvek paper and tape on the North side, and the Vycor rubberized flashing around all the windows. We had a beautiful bluebird day with cool air and warming sunshine -- perfect for working outside.

BretA was a huge help on Saturday. We focused on getting all the metal flashing on the upper and lower bays of windows. A much bigger project than I imagined. Weather? Cooler and a occasionally wet, but we were inside or under the eves most of the time.

Here are photos from both days showing the progression.

  

A stow-away. (Not a tatoo...)

Little red bug.

End of Friday.

Saturday, we focused on getting the window bays on the main and upper floors wrapped in metal flashing. Way more work than I expected, but great having Bret.

Although it doesn't look much different from the day before, we got the door and windows on the main floor wrapped in metal flashing, and also the upper bay of windows. 

Now finally ready for the siding.... But that first piece on the right side is going to require cutting around the beam, cutting out a few inches for the door, and cutting out for the beam above, and possibly angling for the roof. And before I can do that, I have to get the first piece of flashing to wrap the beam.  Stay tuned.

West siding finished!

Katie and I spent Friday at KnArrow Haus, and we were blessed to have Tom F. and Bryan & Cindy P. show up on Saturday to wrap up the siding on the third (West) side. Only one side to go!  The final results directly below.

Friday, August 31st 

I procurred 1,000 additional screws to make sure we have plenty to finish the rest of the siding. We started the day putting them in the panels that were mounted on the West side last Saturday.

With only Katie and I on site, we opted not to attempt installing any of the large panels. We focused on the fireplace shed dormer.  A fair amount of cutting and fitting, including making a spot for the fireplace's air intake.  We also got our first look at the 4"x4" corner flashing. I'm very pleased with the look.

 Then we finished up the panels on the front of the Haus.

Saturday, September 1st

On Saturday, we focused on completing the siding on the West side of the Haus, which included cutting panels to fit around the shed, and temporarily disconnecting the chimney bracket to slide in panels behind it.  

We started the day hanging Tyvek on the rest of the wall. Getting it tucked in behind the chimney and stretched across was time consuming -- a lot of hanging and stretching from platforms and ladders. We had the platform cantilevered on the pump jack so that we could reach further, so we added a counter balance (Katie) to the platform. These are few pictures she took during her counterbalancing.

Tom and Bryan were a godsend, the only reason we were able to complete the side. Note that we had 3 ladders in play most of the day. A 22' a 28' and 34' ladder. And with a couple of the ladders at the edge of the side, the ladies braced them. (I'm sure we still weren't OSHA compliant.)

With the West side finished, the pump jacks are resting quietly in the basement. Unclear if we'll need them to finish the back of the house -- I'm hoping we can do most of it with just the ladders.

Going back on Monday (Labor Day) to start flashing the windows on the back of the house.

If you're on the East side of the mountains, please drive home over I90 on Monday evening.