I arrived at 11:20 and was promptly met by Bert and Ernie. I was expecting Sam, from Cashmere Valley Plumbing, to visit in the afternoon so I wanted the cabin to be warmed up. I went right up and started a fire in the stove before I moved in to the trailer and had my lunch.

Sam showed up shortly after lunch and we proceeded to look at and discuss the wastewater and venting plumbing project. He was informative and helpful and we outlined the scope of the job. I would make two holes in the bathroom log wall for venting to go through and I would move the small wall between the toilet and the tub which I had incorrectly installed one inch too far one way. Sam left me with a verbal quote and said he would email a proposal to me.

Not long after Sam left, Rob, from Ridgeview Plumbing called. He had planned to call me and arrange to come up for a visit either today or tomorrow. Unfortunately he had a severe migraine and cancelled the visit. He said he would call again later.

Next I unloaded a huge amount of yard waste and stacked it onto the compost pile. There was nearly half a truck-load of lawn sweepings, but they were super dry and light so it wasn’t much of a job to carry them. There were probably ten or twelve big garbage cans full.

When I turned the truck around again to park it, I decided just for fun to shovel through the last of the snow berm, that Mike had made from scooping out the driveway, so that I could drive the truck up to the trailer. It didn’t take long and I was able to park up at the trailer for the first time this year. I did it using just 2WD. This is a very early spring.

Finally, I got the chainsaw out and bucked up parts of three logs for firewood. Two of the logs were old remnant logs in the saddle behind the privy, and the other was the other half of the log I had ripped to make the new loft stair stringer. I had further ripped about 8 feet of that half-log to make the temporary stair treads for the family visit this winter, and that was the portion that I bucked up. I wheeled all the wood I had cut down to the building in five wheelbarrow loads.

On Wednesday I started out by building a fire in the stove before breakfast. About the time I was finishing breakfast, Mark, from Action Plumbing, called and said he would be up in an hour or so. The cabin was nicely warmed up by the time he arrived.

We went through my requirements much as I had done with the other plumbers. Mark seemed to have more interest in my rather unique plumbing situation, with its low pressure artesian water supply. He had had extensive experience in Alaska with plumbing in a cold environment and he taught me quite a bit about potential problems and solutions. He also gave me a lot of new information and insight relating to my supply plumbing requirements and plans. In particular, he told me about a relatively new piping system which is far superior to copper at standing up to freezing, among other advantages. He also gave me several convincing reasons why I should install a pressure boosting system. All in all, he gave me a more comfortable and confident feeling about my plumbing project than the other two had done. I felt inclined to choose him as my subcontractor by the time he drove away.

Mark’s proposal would have me make one vent hole through the log wall. I agreed to do that because I would best know how to avoid hitting the rebar pins embedded in the wall, and I am comfortable working with logs and I want to do that job myself. I also agreed to move the small stud wall that is out of place.

After Mark had gone, I checked with an old document I found, on which I had recorded the locations of the rebar pins in the utility room, which is up against the bathroom wall where the vent hole needs to be made. I was happy to discover that the stud wall met the log wall almost exactly half-way between the rebar pins. That is either the result of serendipity or of some clever planning on my part which I have completely forgotten about. Either way it was a pleasant discovery.

Next I moved out everything that was stored in the bathroom and in the utility room in the washer/dryer location. I removed the tarp that had covered the shower stall and been accumulating dust all these years, and I vacuumed out the tub and the inside of the shower stall. I also rigged up a temporary light in that area, so it is now open and accessible and ready for the plumbers. And, I removed the screws which held the short stud wall to the floor, the ceiling joists, and to the 2x6 bathroom stud wall. Mark had said to leave that wall loose. He will install the shower stall up against the opposite wall, and then the loose wall can be snugged up against the stall after that. Using screws instead of nails for the framing was done at the suggestion of Dr. Dick and I felt very grateful to him as I backed those screws out. The job was very simple and only took a few minutes.

By the end of the day, after thinking about the project, I not only decided to award the job to Mark, but I also decided to have him install the supply plumbing. He is tuned in to my unconventional reasons to install the plumbing in an unconventional way, but he also has good and valid reasons why I should make some changes to my original plan. So he will not only improve on the installation, compared to me doing it myself, but the job will get done a lot sooner. This is consistent with my recent general change of attitude to contract out more of the work and to do less of it myself. Now that I am just about 70 years old, it is about time to get this building finished. There will always still be plenty of fun work for me to do up here in the woods even when the building is finished.

At dinnertime, after I had gone in for the night, Bert and Ernie came by for a late round of hugs and biscuits.

On Thursday morning, it was snowing when I woke up and about an inch had accumulated by then. It was beautiful. Bert and Ernie also showed up again before I finished breakfast. They looked like they were enjoying romping in the new snow.

Both Rob, from Ridgeview Plumbing, and someone from Freedom Plumbing called to talk about a visit. They both backed away as soon as I explained that I already had three bids and had settled on one of them.

With the plumbing project rolling, I went up to finish off the last of the loft staircase project (except for the handrails). What remained were the last two coats of varnish on the underside of the stringer and the 14th tread. I sanded those surfaces to prepare them for varnish.

Mark called me during that work to give me a price on his bid. I told him that he had the job and that I also wanted him to do the supply plumbing job including a pressure booster. He said that as soon as I make the hole in the wall for the vent pipe I should call him to schedule the first round of the work. I plan to make that hole next Tuesday on my next trip up.

I varnished the tread and stringer, cleaned out my brush, closed up, had lunch, and left for home at 2:30. By that time there was about six inches of snow on the ground. The roads were snowy and slick going over the pass but I made it in 2WD with no problem.