When I was small our family used to go down to Ilwaco in the summers,
Dad liked to fish and it was only a two-hour drive. We'd camp in a
canvas tent, and generally had a pretty good time while Dad was out in
the boat. Until that year when it rained the entire time. Miserable,
it was, all five of us packed into a steaming, sandy tent, day after
day. I think Mom issued some kind of an ultimatum after that.
The result was that Dad bought what had been a rental fishing cabin in nearby Long Beach. (I think it was a co-worker who sold it to him.) I remember that the interior was covered with risque placards, renters adding to the collection had apparently been the custom. (Mom got rid of most of them, but we kept a few of the tamer ones.) This was in 1968 or 1969, IIRC. (And I might not RC.) The cabin was not particularly expensive, as real estate goes. Not there, not then.
Instead of a sandy moist canvas tent, with a Tilley heater and a Coleman gas mantle lamp as the only comforts, we had rooms! Beds, a bathroom, running hot and cold water, electric lights, a kitchen with refrigerator, wood heater...
It was marvelous. Palatial, in comparison.
Usually we'd spend a week or two at a time there, or a long weekend, several times a year. I spent most of one summer down there, I think I was 14. Dad had gone into partnership with another teacher, they'd built a 32-foot fishing boat and were running it as a salmon charter in summers. They'd go out fishing, early, and during the day I'd knock around the cabin, the beach, and town. When they got back I'd ride my bicycle down to Ilwaco and clean the boat. They'd be relaxing at the bar swapping fish stories and I'd be earning cash; everybody was happy. Afterwards we'd throw my bike into the truck and drive back to the cabin. Dad later sold out to his partner, I think the boat cut into the necessary farm duties a bit too much. That, and the salmon fishery collapsed. Dad didn't fish much after that, but we kept the cabin.
The extended family and friends would often gather there when I was younger, many's the time I remember the cabin being absolutely packed with people. Beds and couches all full, kids on the floor in sleeping bags, RV's and tents in the yard and on the street. Fun times. In later years, when I was off on my own and then with my own family, I'd still try to get down there once a year to enjoy it. (It didn't always happen.) The last big gathering I'm aware of was a few months before Daniel was born, so Jill did get to see one of those.
In these later years Mom and Dad were slowly remodeling the cabin. The bathroom was first, it went from the nastiest room to the nicest. They remodeled the two bedrooms next, and those turned out pretty nicely as well. Then Mom passed, and the remodeling stopped.
The cabin had originally been built, so I'm told, by somebody who worked at the school where Dad was employed. A custodian? He'd slowly gather surplus building materials, and whenever he had enough he'd go down and add on to the cabin again; I believe it had been built in at least five stages. Fairly crude construction, it's up on blocks instead of a foundation and is uninsulated. The lack of insulation is actually a positive for a building that is uninhabited most of the time, as it allows the moisture to escape when it is heated. Every 10–20 years it'd have to be jacked up again, as the blocks slowly sank into the sand. The same schedule usually applied to replacing the (perpetually leaky) roof.
At some point thieves started breaking into the cabin periodically, in spite of the fact that nothing valuable was ever stored there. (Just like in The Brave Little Toaster, it was the place where old furniture and appliances went to die.) The thieves would depart with their load of booty, things like pillows and batteries from the tube television remote, leaving broken doors, windows, and locks in their wake. The repairs always cost far more than the crap they stole. (The worst loss was some of Mom's still-life oil paintings [another of her hobbies that had come and gone] that she'd put down there. Zero commercial value, but plenty of sentimental value.) Dad finally seemed to solve the problem by leaving a sheltered shutter permanently off, making it easy to look inside to see the kind of things for which you were risking jail.
Cooking in the kitchen was always a bit of an ordeal. There was only the wood-fired cookstove, which in my memory was only used a few times for cooking. (Temperature control is a bit tricky.) Mostly it is used for disposing of paper waste, and for putting a quick flash of heat into the kitchen while the main heat was still getting going, and as a work table. We'd often bring in a Coleman stove for cooking, and there was a hot plate, and later also a microwave.
Dad had gotten tired of taking firewood down to the cabin, only to find it all used up the next time he went down, so he replaced the wood heater (a particular kind of enclosed wood stove that was getting burned-out anyway) with a pellet stove. The new rule was that you supplied your own pellets when using the cabin. This was largely a success, except that the stove could get 'clogged' with damp pellets if it wasn't cleaned out thoroughly when leaving.
When Dad died he left the cabin to me. In theory this was my reward for the executorship, or so he'd said once in passing. Perhaps a bit like the traditional White Elephant, though, a gift that is no gift, as this is a high-maintenance bit of real estate—the coastal weather is hard on buildings. Also, of his heirs I live by far the furthest away from the cabin. It usually takes us a good 10 hours to get there traveling as a family. (Traveling alone I think it still takes a good 8 hours best-case.) So, reward? Punishment? It's not all that clear.
Because I work from home, most of the time I can work from the cabin just as well, so long as I have internet access. Once Daniel is out of the house, we could spend a lot more time down here. Jill's busy schedule would actually be the limiting factor.
Or we could turn it back into a rental unit, which might defray its operating and maintenance costs. Maybe. It'd probably take a lot of work to upgrade it sufficiently to where it would be an attractive rental. And: 1) people aren't very nice to rental units, so maintenance costs would go up; 2) you'd have to schedule your own uses in well ahead of time. Kind of unattractive, as it's not like you'd actually be making money. If you have to schedule your own time anyway, why not just sell the place and simply rent something whenever you wanted to be down there? Much less headache.
Still, some upgrades would be nice. Chief among them at this point would be getting some laundry facilities, we have always keenly felt their lack. I think that putting a washer/drier back in the low corner of the kids' playroom would be a good use of that nearly unusable space. I'm not sure you can slope a drain line sufficiently from there, though, and you'd have to upgrade the electrical service. Upgrading the 60A fuse (literally) box would not be all that hard to do: just pull the meter and peel off the wall board and replace the fuse box with a breaker panel. Run a couple of extra circuits while you are there. Include 50A and 30A RV plugs on the outside wall while you're at it.
Mom had planned to remodel the kitchen, I know she had some ideas and had laid in some supplies. I remember that I supplied a length of 8ga copper wire for getting power to an electric range. She thought that putting in a range/oven by the refrigerator, in a table/work surface that spanned that wall, was a good idea. She thought that a shortie water heater could go under there, instead of the tall one that's currently occupying the corner of the kitchen. I'm not sure if we'd want to go with this plan or not.
Another option would be to put in gas, but I'm not a big fan of the big white tank out front look. Yes, operating costs are usually a bit less than electricity, but the installation costs are higher, and the actual use of the cabin's services tends to be on the low side anyway.
The big trees are dying, I think they have to come down. I think only four of them are on our property, though. Another expense, this isn't really DIY territory. (It could be: I know how it's done and Dad had the lineman's gear, which Steve found in the garage, but if you ask me it just looks like an easy way to die.)
This is the Rod Run weekend, the place is an absolute zoo. Surreal.
It was still fairly warm, we didn't bother with the pellet stove. I'd brought down a couple of modest-power space heaters, which did the job. (The cabin's electrical service is very limited.)
One ugly discovery was that T-Mobile is crap, I had zero service at the cabin. Not even text messages were usable, though I did manage to get one or two. A few months earlier I had been able to work very well via AT&T, on the very same iPhone 4S.
Turns out their claim to fall back to AT&T towers is a lie. They do such fallback, but only if AT&T lets them, on a tower-by-tower basis! And, here they do not. So much for T-Mobile.
I went for a long walk, and scoped out Dr. Roof, a business for which Jill had scraped up a recommendation. They looked substantial. I also got a recommendation for Lighthouse Realty, and in turn their recommendation for (Rowland) Bliss Construction. All this from a fellow property owner on Idaho Street.
I also left a message at Bliss Construction.
Too much, IMHO. At that rate I figured I could do it myself, even with buying good tree spurs and all the harness kit. (I already have saws.) Steve was very concerned, and inserted himself into the process. He called the guy and negotiated it down to $5,800 which is still pretty extravagant if you ask me, but on the other hand I really didn't want to have to do it myself as it's pretty easy to get hurt or killed doing that sort of thing. So, I gave him the go-ahead. He'll drive down to monitor the process, supposedly on Wednesday, and I guess we'll see. They're to leave the good firewood, but remove all the branches and crap. (Stump grinding not included, we'll just let nature take care of them.) I figure Steve can have all the firewood, to sell or whatever, as there's no way I'm going to drive 10 hours (each way) cross-State for 6 cords of firewood, which would take multiple trips even with the trailer. If we simply leave the wood there I'm sure it'd get pilfered, so Steve can just have it for his trouble, if he wants it.
Albert WoldrichSteve's not going down.
19406 U Place
Long Beach, WA 98631
David Webster (from L&A) eventually got back to me, after some rounds of phone tag. After a brief discussion he recommended that I use a Clark County firm. Easier and cheaper for my interaction with the lawyer to be remote than the lawyer's with the court.
Talking with our friend who is the real estate expert. Recommended lawyers:Landerholm 805 Broadway Street Suite 1000 P.O. Box 1086 Vancouver Wa 98666 Phone: (360) 696-3312 Fax: (360)696-2122 email clientservices@landerholm.comRecommended use Chicago Title for doing title search regarding trustee status of the farm deed. I do know that father did have the title through the county as trustee. Finding any trust paperwork could be most important. Getting the lawyer to sort through grandma's will and the paperwork generated by her lawyer regarding the trust is the trick I suspect. Grandma's lawyers office would have passed down any paperwork regarding trust formation and should still be available. As I recall, the Honorable R. Dewitt Jones was also the District Attorney at one point. Such paperwork should also have been filed. A good title company search should be able to sort that question. What also needs sorting is the differences between fathers directions (by will) and the instructions grandmothers will gave regarding dissolution of the trust as they are both quite specific but are not in sync as such. In addition, there is the possibility that under grandmother's will the BofA trust department should now be involved as alternate trustee. Many and diverse unlimited powers were granted to father, but do they allow for posthumous exercise, and if not is BofA bound by his directions as original executor or are they bound only by grandmother's original instruction? Sometimes things get hard to unsort. I have always preferred clear and concise directions.
- How did you hear from us/who recommended you to our firm?
- Please provide referral name and if an attorney of our firm was recommended:
- Your full legal name, including middle name:
- Your spouse full legal name, including middle name:
- Your mailing address:
- Your contact information: cell phone, e-mail:
- All property addresses/parcel numbers involved:
- Full legal names of potential adverse parties:
- If a business, please provide business name:
- Mailing Address if available:
- A brief description of the legal matter/issue:
- Any deadlines that we need to be aware of?
My brother talked to a friend of his who was some kind of real
estate expert. This friend recommended your firm.
Gene Cathey.
James Edward Cathey.
Jill Marie Cathey, neé Hooper.
Jim Cathey
jim.cathey.pb@gmail.com; Cell: (509) 939-4176; Home: (509) 926-7801
Three properties in Washington, owned by the estate of George E. Cathey:
I suppose this could only be the other beneficiaries: Stephen
Scott Cathey and Gene Eric Cathey. However, we are all in
accordance at this time.
N/A
N/A
I already have the Letters Testamentary regarding my late father's
estate and my role as Executor. As part of executing my father's
Will I need to subdivide the 100-acre farm, into thirds according
to a plan the three equal beneficiaries (of that asset) have
devised. The other two properties are to be transferred intact to
their beneficiaries.
We will need to get the farm property physically surveyed as part
of this, I intend to drive posts to mark boundaries. We will need
to be sure the title is clear, as there was some family talk about
a Trust that the decedant's mother might have set up to ensure
the education of the three current beneficiaries, but that might
not have been real, or still in force, etc.
We want to be sure we are not making any mistakes regarding
continued farming operations on the three subsequent parcels.
Land use, etc. Preserving the existing water right for the well
that will go with the parcel that contains the well in question.
(Is there a continued use requirement?)
We need to set up formal lease arrangements for continued farming
on the two parcels not inherited by the farmer. These of the
"$1/year plus other valuable consideration" type. The plan is
that the farming brother will pay the property taxes (the
'valuable consideration') on the leased parcels out of the farming
proceeds. Likewise, $1/year for access to the well, which is not
on the farmer's parcel. (He will eventually be drilling his own
well, so this particular lease is not expected to endure
long-term. If expired, what effect would this have on the water
right?)
Liability protection for the owners of the leased farm parcels.
Is the lease itself good enough? Do we need LLC? Separate
insurance?
Further details (we have lots of those!) upon request.
No known deadlines, but it's high time to finish disposing of the
estate. George died in September, 2018.
Sadly, the tall huckleberry bushes were all removed too. But the
bamboo was not. This bamboo needs to go, but bamboo eradication is
not easy to do. There's enough in the neighbor's yard, from whence it
came, that if we remove all of it on our side we'll still have a nice
screen.
I think that the necessary order of repairs is:
I glued a cedar shingle over where the sheathing had rotted through
over the small bedroom's window, at the eave.
Picked up the last of the wood in the back yard. It rained and I
noticed a little stream of water pouring down the inside of the
bathroom wall. I used Black Jack tar on the troughs feeding under the
patch roll roofing over the bathroom. (Dad, what were you thinking?
Tying into existing roofing properly is the key to a good patch.)
Maybe this time the leaks will be mostly stopped?
Need either 4 sheets of 3/4" CDX plywood, $36.80 each today, or
sufficient 1×7 ship-lap. Ship-lap is easier to handle alone, and
matches what was originally there.
128bf (4×4'×8') is minimum required.
Examining existing structure, looks like 1" raw, dressed to
3/4", with 3/8" (square) rabbets on both long edges, 8' long. I
can do my own rabbeting. Width might have been 8" raw, dressed to
7-ish. Width is less critical, so long as sufficient bf is attained.
Dressed 1×8 is 7-1/4 wide.
Assume 1×8 8' sticks. Those are 5-1/3 bf each. (1×6 are
4bf each.) Which means 24 (or 32) planks, with zero lossage.
CMF quotes doug fir at $9.33/ea, around 1 week leadtime
So, plywood: $147.20
lumber: $223.92
SawmillOutlets has units of #116 (T&G, grooved) 1x8x10' pine at $4.66
ea. Concerns: thickness, and durability of pine. Also, #116 groove
not so good for shingles. Looks like this material would be good
for shed repair too.
I picked up a circular saw, hammer tacker, and chalk line at the local
thrift shops. Additional cabin tools necessary:
I discovered the source of the bad smell in the kitchen that's been
bothering me for years: A little plastic jug of Malathion sitting by
the door and concealed by junk! I moved it to the shed, and the smell
is gone. (I had been worried that there was a dead carcass in the
walls or something like that.)
The cabin's Frigidaire MS-86 refrigerator dates from 1954, the
installation date's written on the manual that is tied to the back
with string. It's been running non-stop for 71 years! It has a
manual defrost button that works. Doh! So long as you manually
defrost it periodically you shouldn't need heroic efforts using a fan
and etc. to keep it ice-free.
There's a schematic pasted to the back. The 'YT' thermal
starter/overload relay is definitely acting up, but it is
still working. These are long NLA, but can be replaced with something
more modern, or even repaired. It's amazing that it's still working.
These purely mechanical systems are far more reliable than
electronics.
The waterlogged, damaged and weakened ½" plywood of the patch
can serve as walk-on surfaces during the repair.
I ordered a used 'Roof Snake' shingle pry bar and nailer, from
Poshmark of all places. It should get here before I need it. Its main
use is for driving nails under shingles, tying in shingle
repairs. (The thin snout holds the nail under the shingle, and you
hammer on the heavy protruding shoulder.)
I went a little deeper up the roof at the West wall, to get to solid
wood. The exposed rafters are all rotten, to varying degrees, and
need replacement/repair, starting at the wall itself. The plan is to
cut off the solid upper ends if necessary, then glue/screw sisters in
place. The problem is that the interior is nailed to the bad rafters,
so they mostly can't be removed and replaced without a full remodel.
I went to Astoria to fuel up and bought a Harbor Freight oscillating
cutter, for cutting into rafters where the circular and reciprocating
saws can't reach. Also a couple of 'C' clamps to keep at the cabin,
and three more 2×4's since I had the truck and the Home Despot
was right there.
Back on the job I vacuumed up the debris and cut out the rafter at the
top of the wall, and cut a 2×4 to length. (That cheap HF cutter
is nasty compared to my nice Fein, but it does work.) The
cut-off few inches (corresponding to the good part left at the top, as
the original was also 8' in length) will be used as a splint at the
upper end. I applied Gorilla glue and wedged the splint into place to
cure overnight.
I used the table saw to cut the new rafter to length. That went
poorly, as such tasks always do on a table saw, especially given the
poor condition of the miter gauge. (An exact replacement off eBay
would cost me nearly as much as the entire saw did, and I'm not sure
what, if anything, can be done to repair it.) Next time I need to get
out the handheld circular saw, and just use the table saw as a work
surface. (The table saw is ideal for ripping to width, and
for putting on the rabbets.)
The 1×8 lumber was ready (finally!) in the afternoon. I drove
to get it. $210 for 24, I guess he didn't notice my amended request
for 32 boards. I hope I have enough. Unfortunately on the trip I
managed to cave in the side of the truck bed on a bollard at a
drive-up cash machine. Doh!
On the way back I stopped at the Home Despot, and picked up some
2×4's from their 70%-off pile; $18 including a pressure-treated
4×4 that I just couldn't pass up. They're not great, but
they're good enough.
More sisters. I think I've replaced all I need to. I opened up the
roof to the 16' target, and the last section, though sheeted with
plywood beginning to rot, was clean and dry inside; no livestock. I
laid out some of the new planks to serve as a temporary work floor,
for safety. It all seems nice and solid now.
The new deck boards are a bit shy in width, most seem to be
7½". With rabbeting that'll make 6½" net each, and
I need 7'2" or so. That's 13+ boards per course, and I only have
12. (Two courses.)
Somehow I will make do.
Upon further reflection I tore into the roof (uphill) just a bit more,
to eliminate all the plywood sheathing in the work area. That was
awkward, and not easy, but I think it is necessary to re-do the valley
where the pitch changes. There is one remaining (cedar shiplap)
sheathing board at the top of the shallow pitch roof.
It seems clear (looking from above) that the 8' bathroom was added on
separately. The existing 1×8 sheathing does not align, and the
rafter where they meet looks more like it was an outside wall at one
point. The new sheathing courses will not be in phase, either.
I think I'm finally at the point where things can start going back
together.
I then got 10 more planks rabbeted for the first course. (A partial
12th plank will be the last one there, and will need to be
ripped to final width once the others are all secured in place. It
also will get only one rabbet, of course. This course is the slightly
wider one, so I should have (just) enough planks to do the job. (No
extras—I never intended to cut it that close.) The green-cut
planks are sufficiently irregular that, after rabbeting, they don't
join as tightly as I'd intended, but that also means they're
effectively just wider enough that I do actually have enough planks.
The friction-fit half-deck is very nice and solid to walk on.
I also spent some time gluing splits on the plank ends. The source
log was clearly end-checked significantly, perhaps it had sat for too
long before milling? Much more gluing will need to be done.
I next need to cut the first course planks to final length and nail
them down. Then: second course, fascia, tar paper, and shingles. And
drip strips. All by Sunday!
The remaining cedar shiplap board at the top of the second course had
lost some of one edge, so I spent some time shaping a bit of scrap
cedar to replace the edge so there wouldn't be a divot in the surface.
(This should be under tar paper, under the flashing, and is glued in
place.) I also coped the top plank to fit snugly into the gap made
because the original two courses had (I believe) been part of separate
constructions, and didn't line up with the new sister. There's still
a bit of a hole I'll have to fill, as the plank simply wasn't long
enough to span the necessary width. I then tack-nailed the first
plank in place.
I then rabbeted one plank for the second course before the light
failed and I had to stop and clean up. (I had hoped to have all the
second course planks ready to install by the end of the day. No such
luck.)
However, for a mere $12 at the charity thrift store I picked up a
another router: a stout handheld Craftsman, with wrench, base, edge
guide, (nasty) table, and some steel bits, rasps, and stones. (On the
same trip I also picked up a bench grinder, block plane, four nice
ratcheting tiedown straps for the truck, two 60W light bulbs,
combination metric wrenches (6–13mm) in a pouch, and some more
hot-dipped decking nails. All for under $100, the money destined for
a good cause in any event. I used the straps to lash everything to
the bicycle, and pushed it all home. Everything but the straps will
live at the cabin.) Getting all this taken care of and the router
ready to go took some time, of which I do not have a surplus. The
router's switch was binding, I had to do some shaving of the plastic
housing to give it some additional clearance before it behaved
properly. (I think a plastic locating pin inside the handle broke
off, allowing too much motion of the switch body. Could be fixed with
JB Weld, but I don't have any here, nor do I have the necessary curing
time.)
With the router guide (I had to flange up a missing lock wingnut, for
64¢) and a fat straight bit from the router table's set I was
able to clean up the hogged-out rabbets with ease. This is what I
should have been doing all along.
Before the day was over I got 3/4 of the second course of roof decking
done. I hope to finish up all the woodwork tomorrow.
The remaining planks went up fairly easily, especially with the
cleaner rabbets. The last two (one in each course) were a pain,
because they have to be ripped to final width, and the edges are not
exactly parallel. I used a long strip of hogged-out rabbet waste as a
makeshift straightedge, along with some clamps, and marked a suitable
tapered line on the planks. I ripped down these lines freehand on the
table saw. (This is no worse than using a handheld circular saw, so
far as safety and results go.)
Before putting up those last planks I finished off the firebreaks and
shingle backers at the roof edge. I just used 2×4 chunks for
both. I also used spray foam to finish closing up the gaps that had
opened up in the shower ceiling, I used a trouble light to illuminate
them so I could see where to spray. All I have left of the 1×8
decking is a 3" strip—far too close for comfort! I would
have run out of decking nails had I not bought more yesterday.
I used both stepladders and 2 2×4's to make a scaffold to ease
working at the edge of the roof.
I must say that the table saw is working admirably here. Ideal,
really. The belt slips if you try to cut too aggressively, and it
can't grab enough to throw the work around if you make a mistake.
Yes, it cuts a little slower, but also a lot safer. It has sufficient
weight that it never moved at all during any of the cutting.
Still to do: mark and cut the gable edge of the roof deck, fascia, tar
paper, and shingles.
For temporary duty I rolled out the thrift-shop 15# tar paper and
found I didn't have nearly enough, so I went and bought another roll.
(This will all be torn off next year when I finish properly.) The
tar-papering was done hurriedly, with no real finesse to tie it into
the remaining shingles. Just get it so it'll shed water. The Rapid
hammer-stapler made quick work of laying it in place. I nailed a
couple of scrap boards at the ends to hold it down.
I bought some heavy nylon twine to secure the tarp for the winter.
With the grommet edges all tied down to trees, posts and whatever, and
the tires on top for weight, I'm hoping it'll all stay put, and dry
underneath. (Tomorrow's task.)
I then put away all the tools, the hard part was getting the (heavy!)
table saw into the shed. I cleaned the pitch off it and sprayed the
cast iron table with WD40. I left the blue tarp over it in the shed,
as its roof is quite bad. I tidied up the front yard, the cut strips
went inside to serve as kindling/fuel in the kitchen stove.
I had bought (at Dennis) a clearance-sale 500W-equivalent Feit LED
'corncob' bulb for the kitchen. I'd found the old fixture (for 300W
bulbs) in the closet, somebody had replaced it with a utilitarian
ceiling-mount porcelain socket, which worked but was a bit too crude
if you ask me. While trying to put the original fixture back I found
that its wiring had degraded to the point where it shorted out and
blew the fuse. Sparks in my face, scary! I had some zip wire on
hand, so I rewired the fixture. (Getting the wires through the harp
is by far the hardest part. I used the old wires and dish soap to
help pull through the new.) Only as I was finishing did I find that
the insulation on the new wire was too fat for both new wires to go
through the center of the ceiling bell, so I had to rig it
temporarily. (I'll need to do the job again, with a more suitable
wire, then hang it properly.)
The new bulb just fits in the harp and is exceedingly bright,
I think it could use a thin shade to tame the harshness. (IMHO this
should be part of the bulb itself. Raw point-source LED's should
never be visible to the eye, they're just too bright [obnoxious] on
their own. A larger diffused area emitting the same lumens is vastly
superior to the eye.) I taped up some thin foam packing sheet as a
trial. Ugly, but better. Baby steps! (Wax paper cylinder taped
around the bulb? Might be too close to do sufficient diffusion, and
it's not like the LED's don't emit any heat. Also, there are
heat sinks right next to the LED's, and those shouldn't be interfered
with, so any kind of close cylinder is prohibited. Masking tape
strips over just the LED's? That might be worth a try, and reducing
the color temperature would not be unwelcome, but masking tape gets
more yellow and hard with age.) I cut some 1×5" copy paper
strips and taped them over the LED panels. Perfect! (Well, not
really, the color temperature is still too 'blue'. Perhaps strips of
mild yellow copy paper to warm the light quality would work even
better.)
I then cleaned up, and put away the ladders, leftover lumber, and
crappy plywood. I policed the remaining asphalt and tar paper, which
I will take home in a tub to discard, and started a fire in the
kitchen stove to burn up some of the rotten sheathing. Might as well
get some heat from it, and it's a fairly cool day. I made sure there
was no debris on the neighbor's lawn, but I've still got plenty left.
This all took significantly longer than I'd thought, of course, so no
departure today. Early tomorrow will also work, so long as I don't
sleep in.
I'm trying the inter-room kitchen exhaust fan Dad put in, to move heat
from the kitchen to the living room, and while it does seem to work
it's quite noisy and I basically hate it. (With the little fire going
it's actually very cozy.)
With straighter edges the laps would start out tighter, resulting in
less gap when dry.
I had a look at it, and the heavy adjustable cast-iron fence
is nice. It also seems to have reasonably sharp knives. I
rolled off the (nearly dead) belt and the old US-made 1/3 HP
motor actually started, slowly, and the cutter bearings seemed fine by
hand. I put it back together, and this time it started running and
got up to speed... eventually. I fed it a chunk of crap plywood, and
it cut!
Nothing really wrong with this, except it needs a new belt and a
pivoting blade guard, and some de-rusting. The motor's a bit puny to
make any kind of 6" cut, but for edging green planks? It'll be
fine.
I tried the hand planer and it works too. One nice thing about it is
that it actually has a cap on the chip ejection port, and can collect
a small amount internally before requiring emptying. That would
actually be handy when trimming a sticking interior door, for example,
as it wouldn't make nearly so much mess inside as my good DeWalt does.
(Ask me how I know!)
I sent this to Lila.
6021 S. Campbell Rd.
Greenacres, WA 99016
County Clark Lewis Pacific
Address
1501 NW 379TH St.
La
Center, WA 98629
Treas. Acct: 257600000
Desc: #23
SEC 28 T5N R1EWM 100 A
0 Middle Fork Road
Onalaska, WA
Treas. Acct:
2161758
Tax parcel: 032567002004
1403 S. Idaho Ave
Long Beach, WA 98631
Tax
parcel: 73026093007
Desc: SEAVIEW 093 07
Size 100 acres (Farm) 6 acres (Swamp) City lot (Cabin)
Tuesday, September 13, 2022
First day at the cabin, got a look at the removed trees. Three of the
four show signs of rot in the centers, one of them quite significant.
These trees were definitely ticking time bombs!
Wednesday, September 14, 2022
Mowed the lawn, front and back. What a mess. Looks a lot better now.
Saturday, September 17, 2022
I went up on the roof, and swept off all the debris. Bushes had
started growing over the bathroom patch, I yanked them out. The roots
did some damage to the roll roofing patch. I used Black Jack tar and
re-caulked the seams, and the fresh tears. I glued down the one
batten that had started coming up, and weighed it down with a heavy
wedge of firewood. Mostly the roof seemed solid enough, and a lot
better than I had feared. I think with these repairs it ought to be
good for the winter. The funnels to the inside have been dealt with,
at least.
I'd really like to fix the pitch of the roof, but that is A Big Job.
Sunday, September 18, 2022
I loaded the truck with firewood from the front yard. I got almost
all of it, which is about 1/3 of what is there to take. I mowed what
was exposed by the wood removal, for best appearance. Looks a lot
tidier now.
Thursday, June 8, 2023
Loaded up the truck with more wood, getting the rest from the front
yard and starting on the back yard. Probably about two loads left.
Tuesday, July 25, 2023
Loaded half the remaining wood in the backyard into the truck. One
more trip ought to do it.
Wednesday, July 26, 2023
I used a bunch of the blown-off roofing, Black Jack tar, and new
roofing nails to patch the worst of the problems on the shed. It
shouldn't leak (much) anymore, though naturally the patch will be
short-lived.
Friday, September 1, 2023
Spent most of a week at the cabin. Tore out the now-obsolete wood box
from the living room, and replaced it with a small yard-sale rolltop
desk for use as a work-from-home office. Pellet bags can live in the
side room, they are tidy and don't have to live all that close to the
stove.
Saturday, August 16, 2025
Back from my long sojurn at the cabin. The roof leak has spread into
the main bedroom, and damaged the ceiling and floor therein.
Wednesday, September 10, 2025
I returned to the cabin, bringing a $45 50's-vintage Craftsman table
saw, router with table, and a Stanley flat prybar. Also a roll of 30#
roofing felt. I have ordered 32 1x8x8 green Douglas fir boards from
the Hantho sawmill, at $8 per. I plan to buy any other necessary
lumber locally. I also brought a large heavy Harbor Freight tarp for
shielding the roof overnight, and a small light HF tarp for the table
saw. I brought 8 scrap tires, six of them recently dumped on our
property, to use as tarp weights on the roof.
Thursday, September 11, 2025
I purchased a chewed chisel, an angle grinder, sabre saw,
variable-speed drill, Craftsman 'sawzall', soldering gun, and a
framing hammer at the charity thrift store. (Hammer handle's rubber
needed gluing.) Power tools were half off this week, so these were
all cheap enough to keep down here. Also a couple of heavy long
extension cords. (I already had a cheap drill at the cabin, but it
wasn't variable speed and so can't serve as a screwdriver.)
Friday, September 12, 2025
I trimmed the holly tree suckers using the 'sawzall'. It's weak and
shrieky compared to the Sawzall I'm used to, and vibrates a lot, but
does actually work. (Real Sawzalls are infinitely better tools, but
you don't get one for $10!) I don't know if I'll need this tool for
the roof repair, but want it handy just in case. (Besides general
demolition work it can also trim trees and bamboo, so it won't go to
waste down here.)
Saturday, September 13, 2025
The table saw didn't have a switch, so I dropped $5 at the charity
thrift store to pick up a metal electrical box, power cord, switched
outlet, and a metal wall plate. I assembled this on the front of the
saw and it works great. The miter gauge, however, does not
work great, let's hope I don't need to use it.
Sunday, September 14, 2025
I deployed the tarp and tires on the roof, and removed Dad's entirely
inadequate big plywood and roll roofing patch. I had to buy some
screwdriver bits to remove the square-drive stainless steel screws
that were holding down the plywood, using the 'new' drill. (They
should all be reusable.) Ready to start the actual repair!
Monday, September 15, 2025
Tear-off begins. I got about half of the planned shingle removal
done, and into the truck bed. Underneath was bad. Water,
rot, bugs, slugs, spiders, and worms galore. Several places where
you'd plunge through the roof if you put your weight on it. The
plywood work surfaces are very useful to avoid this fate.
Tuesday, September 16, 2025
I removed the rest of the doomed shingles, into the truck. The
weather was gorgeous, significant drying of the exposed areas
occurred. Was the original sheathing over the
bathroom cedar? It's hard to tell, given the poor condition.
About half the sheeting came up with the shingles, most of the rest
can't support any weight but is still there. (All will be replaced.)
Wednesday, September 17, 2025
The cabin's beat-up ladder sucks, I bought a good, larger
stepladder. (Expensive.) Very stable and solid, it's much better for
use on the ground. I also bought two 8' 2×4's. (I wheeled all
this largesse home from the local lumberyard using the bicycle to
carry the weight. Fun.)
Thursday, September 18, 2025
Two more rafters sistered, and more wood hardener applied. The (used)
handheld circular saw actually works, and is much better for cutoff
work, as expected. I pinned the splints with nails, the screws are
too difficult to re-use. Besides all the aforementioned livestock we
also seem to have frogs.
Friday, September 19, 2025
Another sister. I discovered that Dad had wired in an 'illegal'
junction box inside the ceiling over the shower, for the light.
(There's no access to it.)
Saturday, September 20, 2025
I picked up the Roof Snake (combination hammer extension and pry bar,
for shingling repairs) at the Post Office. They had remembered my
request and had set it aside for pickup instead of immediately
returning it.
Sunday, September 21, 2025
Substantial (½") rain in the night, but the tarp seems to
have done its job.
Monday, September 22, 2025
Upon reflection, I added one more sister over the bedroom. Its (weak)
rafter was bowed down, so I propped it up inside, and glued and nailed
the sister in place. I poured wood hardener over the weak wood, and
over the non-pristine rafter at the inboard end of the opened hole.
In total that makes 6 new rafters of one sort or another.
Tuesday, September 23, 2025
After reflection I pulled the top two planks and chamfered their top
edges to eliminate the 'step' down to the one original shiplap plank
I'm keeping on each course. (This step is under the valley flashing.)
Wednesday, September 24, 2025
Got the first course planks cut to length and nailed down. (The roof
snake worked admirably to secure the plank under the flashing.) This
(wider) course looks like about 11½ planks will do the job, so I
shouldn't run out of wood. I had to do some wood replacement at the
roof edge, for the firebreak and the shingle backing board, before the
penultimate plank could be affixed. Also, miscellaneous gluing of end
splits, these planks really aren't very good.
Thursday, September 25, 2025
The fence slipped on the table saw without my noticing, and screwed up
a couple of rabbets. (I had to narrow the plank some and start over.
Twice.) It was always pretty problematic, and I don't see it getting
better. The router table would do a good job, but hogging out the
bulk of the rabbets with the saw would always be better, and easier
overall on the equipment. (The router alone would take a lot of work
to make the rabbets.) Unfortunately using the router table would be
difficult (it was purchased more as a Plan B, and because it came with
a lot of carbide bits) as the planks are large and heavy, and
moderately difficult to handle. The stout little table saw doesn't
react to the weight, anything lighter (which anything less than a
shaper would be) would not be easy. Also, the router in the table is
as lightweight as they come, and did not come with its handheld base,
so using it off the table to clean up the rabbets was not possible.
Friday, September 26, 2025
I use the saw table as a workbench for routing, and the router kept
coming unplugged because its cord is kind of short. I bent some nails
and hung the power strip from the side of the saw's base, well off the
ground which gives me just a bit more slack, and a bonus is the now
side-facing sockets don't fill up with sawdust.
Saturday, September 27, 2025
Another gorgeous day, supposedly the last. I snapped a chalk line and
cut the gable edge, then went and bought 3 1×4 8' cedar boards
and drip strips. I nailed on the eave fascia and drip strips, looked
hard at the progress I'd made and my disappearing weather and
availability, and made a command decision: Enough for this year, time
for Plan B.
Sunday, September 28, 2025
Last day: tarp securing and cleanup. I took some of the hogged-out
rabbet strips (about 3/8" square, 8' long) to serve as stiffening
spines for the tarp edges. That helped a lot. I then tied twine to
various grommet/cabin/tree points, and tied off to a couple of rafter
ends too. The tires, and some planks, ended up on top. Time will
tell if this holds up or not.
Wednesday, October 1, 2025
I picked up a rusty old Delta 6" jointer, model 6-329, at a thrift
shop. Complete and on a homemade wooden stand for $10, but the motor
isn't starting. (Hums and tries to turn, but doesn't get up any
speed. Binding bearing? Blown winding? Bad starter winding and/or
capacitor, or centrifugal switch? Wired for 220V but fed 120V? So
many choices... Will need investigation, he sold it to me for a scrap
price as a result.) This would be ideal to dress green-cut lumber on
its way to becoming ship-lap if I were to do more of this, which I
intend to. I also procured a $1 Harbor Freight power hand planer,
same intention.