Beechmere Diary

Sandy and I drove down on Sunday and returned on Monday evening. While the early mornings were brisk, by noon, the temperature was in the mid-fifties and sunny.

There was a big thunderstorm on Tuesday that blew the tarp about and there was some leakage. We were able to siphon water from where the tarp had sagged and avoided drenching the stairs.

I put up more rafters leaving just a few to do on the next trip.

Sandy caulked and painted the trim on the cabin front.

North rafters	North rafters

On this trip, I was joined by Chris (son), Devin (grandson), and Richard (Devin’s friend).

We put up the overhanging end rafters, most of the rafters, and two sheets of roof sheathing.
are ready to put up the rafters on the next trip.

Putting up rafters	Closed up until next trip

We had a nice campfire Saturday evening. The weather was pleasant. Devin and Richard played guitar.

Before returning home, I shut off the spring water supply and drained the tank and pipes even though it was 78 degrees on Sunday.

On this trip, we were able to finish the framing and to install the siding on the loft or second floor. Now we are ready to put up the rafters on the next trip.

The siding was a challenge in that using 28 foot ladders is intimidating enough but when complicated by the uneven terrain around the cabin it can become quite uncomfortable.

I started running the power line from the Solar unit to the cabin. This will be run along the water line from the spring.

The solar system still shuts down during the middle of the night. I brought the batteries home to do a full charge and to test under a load. This showed that the batteries are not delivering the proper amount of power and will need to be replaced. I have decided to wait until early next year to do this.

Installing siding – looking east	Installing siding – looking north

On this trip, Chris and I finished the loft subfloor and rim joists, and began erecting the loft walls.

We were able to do the rear wall, the east wall, and half of the west wall. The south side has no wall.

Also, on this visit, the USDA Forester inspected and approved my EQIP grapevine cutting project. This involved cutting the grapevines on 21 acres of our woodlands. He did find a small area on the north western corner that I missed.

While the weather was comfortable for working, the nights and early morning are bracing. Some trees are losing their leaves, notably the Yellow Buckeye and elms.

There have been many dying elm trees this year and several large white oak trees that had the Jumping Oak Gall problem two years ago don’t look good at all.

The Solar system has been shutting down on the last few trips. So, I checked and cleaned all the connections. I found one battery post had corrosion and one of the connections to the inverter was not tight. The battery voltage for both batteries was 12.5 volts with no charging from the panel and 13.4 with the panel active. I decided to replace the 1000 watt inverter with a 2000 watt unit I purchased last year.

So, we will see how this works out.

This week, I was joined by my daughter and grandson.

This week, the stairs were constructed.

The first floor security shutters were installed.

The loft floor joists were blocked to reinforce the floor.

The loft subfloor was laid out. We will nail this down permanently on the next trip.

We experienced very pleasant weather although the area had two tornados and heavy rain on Thursday. evening.

I was alone for this trip. This allowed me to deal with a number of small items that needed attention.

The Grapevines project is finally finished. I am ready to call the forester for his inspection.

I was able to install the first floor Windows and door. Now we can lock up the site.

We just nailed the first floor siding around the edges before. I finished nailing the siding.

The Porch deck is now finished.

I drove down early on Wednesday. On Thursday, I packed a lunch and trudged back to the back acres to check for missed grapevines. Unfortunately, I have more work to do in the north west corner.

Chris arrived on Thursday evening.

On Friday and Saturday, we put up the joists for the loft and started installing the subfloor sheathing.

We were able to install all of the siding for the first floor on this trip.

On Monday, I drove down and was able to drive up to the building site. I put the T-11 siding on the deck and covered it with a tarp. This siding will be installed on the next trip.

After that, I laid out the closet and stairs wall. It seems that, in spite of our measuring and cutting, the west wall is 3/4″ lower than the door wall. That is not a lot, but when we put up the rim joists, this may cause a problem. So, after thinking about it, I made the stairs wall so that the north end is the same height as the west exterior wall and the south end is the height of the door wall. We may have to shim several floor joists to compensate for this.

I was surprised to find that the spring has not dried up, and the tank was full and overflowing. When I turned the valve on at the tank, and walked along the pipe, I found where water was spurting into the air. This was about 50′ feet from the outhouse. I think that I turned the water on earlier this year than usual and there must have been a hard freeze.

So, on Monday evening, I purchased a 10′ section of pipe and couplings. I also got 33 2″ x “4 x 8′ studs.

I cut out a two foot section of pipe and spliced in the replacement. I turned the water back on on Tuesday evening and walked the pipe line again. I found no leaks, although, I could easily miss any small leaks.

On Tuesday, I cut grape vines. I thought I was ready to call for the inspection, but I found more vines will need cutting.

On Wednesday, I put up the stairs wall, changed the oil in the generator, and cleaned up the building site a bit. I was not able to nail everything as I need another set of hands, or some clamps or something to pull things together.

At this point, the generator needed gas, I had read all the books I brought, rain was indicated, so I came home.

On Thursday, I drove down with the windows and door. Chris joined me later to pick up the building materials for the walls.

In spite of much rain on Friday, we were able to put up the rest of the first floor walls. We put up a tarp over the saws and generator and where we assembled the walls. When darkness arrived, we set up lights powered by the generator and worked until 10:00 pm.

On Saturday, I added another window opening above the kitchen counter area and moved all the tools back to the bunkhouse.

One unfortunate event, the water tank fed by the spring was empty. Some years, this time of year, the spring dries up. But usually, the 320 gallon tank is sufficient to last until the spring flows again in September. I don’t know if the 600 foot pipeline is damaged, or the faucet wasn’t closed properly, or someone drained the tank.

Since the spring is dry now, there is little point in trying to determine the problem. I have shut the main valve at the tank for now.