Four foot above full pool

The weeks seem to be passing really quickly at the moment and this one was no exception. Still no sign of the roof arriving but we are in constant contact with the manufacturers and I hope it will be only another week or two until it is ready for collection. I won’t say it will be a relief to get it on, because I know it is coming (eventually) but I will be grateful because once it is on so much more can then be achieved inside the cabin, particularly the wiring, plumbing etc which is needed before kitchens and bathrooms can be fitted out and flooring laid.

In the meantime there is still plenty to do both inside and outside and that is what we have been working on this week. The main achievement has been putting on the parging cover over the exposed basement ICF blocks, where they will be under the decking. We have used an acrylic material that looks a little like stucco when it is finished and dried (not that it ever fully dries out).

The parging material is principally to protect the polystyrene of the ICF blocks to preserve them so they can do their job of keeping the cabin warm in winter and cool in summer. Without it the weather and rodents would soon destroy it. 

A thin nylon mesh is first fixed to the blocks using screws. This helps to bind the parging material together and to resist falling off the wall. Kyle and I put the mesh on after cutting off the foam filling I applied last week to fill the gaps in the ICF blocks.

Kevin was really the only one who was skilled enough to apply the parging material and he did an excellent job. As you can see from the photos, it starts at the front door and comes all the way around the south and east sides of the cabin to the kitchen door. The deck from here along the back of the garage is up at fourteen feet and therefore the ICF blocks here, as to the left of the front door as you look at it from the outside, will be covered in something more pleasing to the eye.

Where the blocks will not be covered by decking, I will put stone work and I have been doing some research into the options for this. The ideal would be to use real stone. However, I am not yet convinced that the local material, that is readily available to me to collect and use, is the right type or colour to compliment the logs and their stain. Buying stone from local producers that is either imported into the region or mechanically hewn from the nearby mountains is very expensive and therefore I am looking at alternatives.

One (the cheapest) is to use a plastic moulding product, which in the store looks quite reasonable and realistic. When I got a sample piece out to the cabin however, it just looked like plastic and if I use it, I believe I will spoil the look of the cabin for a penny’s worth of tar.

This stuff doesn't look too bad in the photograph but a closer look in the flesh reveals that it is plastic and where it is most obvious is where the four foot long panels join together.

So I have been looking at cultured stone alternatives and after initial enquiries here, with local suppliers, I went down to Kalispell in Montana yesterday to a place recommended to me by a neighbour. They have several options that I am currently considering and I brought back with me one sample that I particularly liked. The jury is still out on this subject and, as I have plenty of time for consideration, I won’t rush into making a decision that I might later regret.

On the other hand these cultured stone blocks don't look as good in the photograph as they do in the flesh, but they have a much better feel to them and they stand up to close scrutiny much better. One advantage over real rock is that these can be stacked very close together without the need for 'pointing' between them.

We also spent another day logging in my licensed area, collecting wood for spindles, railings and posts. Shortly after lunchtime it started to rain and it set in for the rest of the day. Towards the end of the afternoon, when we were all tired and wet, we discovered that we had locked ourselves out of the truck and were about 20 kms from the nearest help and no mobile network to call for help on. Just as we were getting cold and miserable I managed to force the rear window with a fork and we were all a bit relieved. Altogether we brought back two loads. The first, was primarily posts and we added them to the pile we already have out at my place. I think we have enough posts now but there are still some we cut and prepared for transporting that we had to leave because the trailer was fully loaded. We also brought back a load primarily of railings, but with a few sticks for spindles as well and we spent a day, later in the week, making spindles for my place and another project. The ones for the other project are not as large as mine and so we have started shipping mine out to the cabin to keep them separate and nearly three hundred are now stacked in the garage, ready to be stained.

Plenty of posts for the decking ….

… and a few railings. There are more at the workshop in Jaffray.

278 (or there abouts) spindles ready to be stained. If you are really sad, you can count them and let me know.

I have also made a start on staining the inside of the cabin. I commenced with the Annex, primarily because it receives the most sun and is therefore more urgently in need of protection than the other parts. I hope to get much more of this done next week.

I started with the North Gable and here you can see a contrast between the stained and the unstained.

Both sides finished.

The shed dormer.

And finally, the two smaller dormers on the west side.

As you are aware, we have been having some fairly violent thunderstorms recently and this week has been no exception. On Friday evening I was having supper with my neighbour Louis, who owns the cottage on the south side of my property. Just before we sat down to eat, a huge cell passed over which generated massive winds that blew down four trees along the road into the Development. One fell across the power lines that bring electricity to the Development which, at the time of writing on Sunday afternoon, has still not been restored. Many more trees have been blown down on various properties on the Development itself, including four on my property. Luckily, none of them fell on the cabin but I am minded to take down at least one other, on the south side close to the cabin, which would do considerable damage if it were to fall and hit the South Gable.

Three of the four trees blown down in the storm. I am going to hold off cutting them up for fire wood incase we can use them for something in the cabin.

I am told that Cranbrook was also badly affected by the storms and that teams are hard at work trying to restore power to nearly half the homes there.  I don’t suppose therefore that they will get around to us for a few days but hey, we are supposed to be living in the bush anyway and if not 'off the grid' at least the odd power cut makes the folks from Calgary feel that they are in the wilderness. Seriously though, the water supply has not been affected because we have a large storage tank and therefore at this time of the year a power outage for a few days is not a hardship. 

The Alder tree that is still lying on the power cables that bring power to the Development.

You cannot see it on the previous photo but there was some serious burning that fortunately didn't spread.

You may also recall that a few weeks ago I scattered some wild flower seeds about the property. Well, several of them have now produced some lovely wild flowers, which it is hoped will spread next year to produce even more. I haven't got a clue what any of them are called but they sure make the place look pretty.

These are all new.

If anyone can put a name to any of them, particularly this one, I would be very appreciative.

These ones were already here along with some wild strawberries and wild raspberries.

Giant buttercup? Everything over here is supposed to bigger isn't it?

The only other news is that today I saw my first bear for 2012. It was on the highway and it was quite small. It has also been confirmed that the lake is at an all time high, a foot above the previous highest recorded level and four feet above 'full pool'. In the last couple of days it has dropped a few inches but, it is still well above full pool.