Construction Journal Entry Week of 4/24/16

4/26-28/16 I went up to Camp Serendipity for 3 days: Tuesday through Thursday.

I arrived at noon and took a picture of the rhubarb plants. Then I carried up a 4x8 sheet of white panelboard that I will use for putting together the 5,000-piece jigsaw puzzle I got for my birthday. The puzzle will be 40"x60" so I need a big tabletop to work on.

Once I had the panelboard up in the loft, I returned to the truck with the wheelbarrow and brought up all the rest of the stuff, including my gear, the chainsaw, and two cans of gas. It took two trips to haul it all up.

The weather was cool and it was only 58° inside the cabin so after I hoisted the flag, I started a small fire in the wood stove. Then I had my lunch.

I turned on the valve to water Brian, the giant sequoia, and went into the woods to check on it. It is doing fairly well but still needs the water. The other trees seem to be thriving, although they are growing only slowly, except for Paul. That tree looks pretty sick except for the top two or three inches. I am pretty sure it needs more water.

I changed my plans about fastening the log stoop to the front porch deck. Instead of pinning it with rebar dowels I decided to use lag screws. That way I can dismantle it later if I need to in order to install guard rails. I only fastened the stoop deck planks to the log supports and left the step plank unfastened. It nestles nicely in the notches and gravity holds it, as well as the whole stoop structure, down tight. Once I decide what to do about rails I will do some more fastening. For now, I will consider the stoop project completed.

On Wednesday I removed some big plank remnants off the front porch and stored them under the eaves in front of the cabin. Then I installed a wye valve in the irrigation hose and from it I strung a new hose up to Paul. I was thinking that if both valves were open on the wye the water would only reach one of the trees. I thought it would reach Paul and not Brian and that I would have to alternate opening the valves in order to water both trees.

But when I turned the water on and checked, I was pleased to see that about an equal amount of water came out at both trees. I won't have to alternate the valves at all. Instead, I can water both trees at once.

I brought another long hose and another wye valve into the woods with me thinking that I should irrigate some other trees. But they all looked to be thriving enough so that I just left the hose lying on the ground in case I change my mind later.

Next I went to work on the back staircase and cut the rough notches in the tread. It fit pretty well on the first try but it needed some more work in order to fit properly. I used a variety of saws and chisels but I did not use the chainsaw, as I had done on the front staircase treads. The work stressed my body, in particular my right shoulder, to the max. I was very sore and tired when I stopped for lunch and a nap. I began to think that maybe using the chainsaw might be better after all.

When I got up, I went back to work chiseling the notches but my body told me that I was on the brink of overdoing it. So I stopped and went to work sweeping the front porch instead.

The porch still had wood chip debris left from the stoop installation and now it had a dull layer of green tree pollen that was all over everything. I swept all of that off the porch and it really made the porch look a lot nicer.

When I was about finished sweeping, I got a call from Earl who had just returned from Palm Springs. I invited him over and he showed up just as I was finishing the sweeping job. We had a great visit for the rest of the afternoon.

On Thursday morning, I got up at 5 and started a fire in the stove. I turned on the valve to water Brian and Paul again for a couple of hours. Then I put away a bunch of tools and ropes that had been left in the living room from the front porch and stoop projects. It was about time they got put away. Then I vacuumed the first floor and the loft staircase. The place looked pretty spiffy after that.

Next I went out and did some more chiseling on the tread and got it to fit nearly perfectly. It was hard work and stressed my muscles and joints again to the point that I felt like deciding that the fit was close enough. Instead I decided to spray the tread and stringers with Board Defense the way they were and do any more chiseling later. That way the parts would be dry next week so I will be able to stain them after I decide that they fit well enough.

I left for home at 12:30 not exactly happy with my progress but at least I did make some progress.



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