King Stud.... Not just my nickname

I kid! But seriously, do you know what a king stud is? Neither did I until this weekend but we faked it pretty well in getting the doors and windows in successfully.

Doors in - check

Windows in - check

Loft complete - check

Last thing was to put the siding up and this one was a doozy. Now truthfully, this would be a very simple task if not for the mountain. I've undertaken a monumental task by deciding to build the cabin on the side of a mountain. In each step of the build, it has produced some sort of challenge in moving to the next step. In this last step, the road side of the build is only about 12 feet from the ground to the top of the wall. These panels went up quick and we were feeling pretty good about ourselves.

With small enclosed walls up, it really gives you the feeling of an enclosure.

On the mountain side though, it's about 22 feet. This makes its slightly more complicated to put up with only a 16 foot ladder. We decided to leave it to someone who has the right equipment and know-how to put it up safely. Luckily, my man Troy (who will be installing the trusses and metal roof) can do that very task. And that's a good thing because the top panels and even the middle panels were difficult nailing in at that height.

After 4 weekends of hard work, I'm not going to miss driving back up there on Friday. We had a plan to get to a point where we couldn't do any more work (safely) and we succeeded. We poured concrete columns, built the subfloor and installed the siding on the framed walls. It has been so rewarding having my father-n-law (and bro-n-law) by my side in completing this task. It will be a few more weeks before we head up there again to get the tyvek up and make sure everything is sealed up for the winter.

 

 

 

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The name of the game is... Overkill

Once again, the three of us were up at 5:30 on Friday morning and on the road up to the mountains. We spent the whole of Friday fixing what we had done wrong last weekend. Getting a 16x24 level surface on the side of a mountain square isn't an easy task. But we got it close and a builder from the area (who is going to tackle the roof because I may be crazy, but I'm not stupid) came by and looked at it for us. At this point, we are flying with no permit or respect to code but he explained that I might want to start getting those ducks in a row for issues later on down the line. That was a blow because if the inspector requires blueprints, I'm going to wreck my budget finding an engineer. The silver lining with his visit was that he said the concrete piers, pressure treated lumber, and all the screws and brackets we've used were a bit overkill but would only help us in the long run with the inspector.

 

We worked up until we couldn't see the lines for cutting and thought that might be a good stopping point in the evening.

This thing is solid. We installed staggered floor joints every 4 feet and then screwed the advantech osb on the "correct" way (going opposite direction of the joists) to keep the subfloor rigid. Here is Greg lying around on the job.

Once we got the subfloor done, it was time for an old timey barn raising. The general rule is one person per 8 feet of wall but that is for 8 foot ceilings. This bad boy is 10 feet all and there were lots of groans getting that first wall raised and braced.

And we kept going...

 

And going...

And going until the four walls were up, nailed down, braced every which way to get plumb... And then bracketed (which is once again overkill, but we decided you can never have enough brackets). We got the cripple studs and loft supports up so we only have the joists left to do.

All in all, this felt like the most productive weekend up there. Maybe because the walls and loft give it the almost appearance of an actual structure. I could already picture where the stairs and wood stove and kitchen were going to layout.

4 things to mention:

1. Buy at least twice as many screws as you think you might need. We found out the uber wireless nail gun that I'm borrowing from a buddy doesn't like the hot dipped (overkill) 3" nails so we ended up screwing most of the structure together (big overkill)
2. Mad props to my brother-n-law Greg. Saturday night, we went to Applebee's and had a sampler appetizer. He went to town on the boneless buffalo wings and blue cheese dip but ended up waking Ted and I at midnight with his loud projectile vomiting from the bathroom. He was a trooper on Sunday working through the ick and finishing strong helping us lift the loft supports in place.
3. It's an odd but wonderful feeling getting to know your neighbors. Trish and I haven't met any of our neighbors in Lubbock, but I already know 4 of my neighbors on the mountain on a first name basis. I would usually feel bothered having to stop what I'm doing to have to entertain small talk and pleasantries with each and every person that stops and gets out of their car to introduce themselves and wish me good luck on the project but instead I'm finding comfort in it. This mountain is truly shaping up to be that place where I can build life-long memories with my friends and family.
4. Last but not least, I have to lift my wife up on a pedestal. She is truly an amazing woman to let me spend the last three (and several more in the future) weekends working on our cabin. Being pregnant is no easy feat and I always come home to a spotless house and big hugs. She knows all of this work is for the little beast she's growing inside of her and the future we want to give our children that doesn't just involve the concrete city we live in. Love you babe

 

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Who has 2 thumbs and just bought $4,000 worth of windows and doors for $500? This GUY!

So starting off, I think Craigslist ROCKS! I've found a cute little pot belly stove for a great price and I feel that I've practically thieved these brand new windows. They're from a contractor who measured an entire house wrong and can't use them. Makes no difference to me because the large windows are going to look great as I frame them into my new cabin.

Recapping this weekend, Ted and I had a newcomer in the way of my brother-n-law decide to brave it out and come play builder with us. Good thing, because we had to build 24' beams of pressure treated 2x12's and lift them into the brackets. The first two were easy but would have been a bear with just two of us. The last and highest beam had to be slightly disassembled to get it over our heads and into its space.

We had originally planned on spending the first day bringing some fill down the hill to level off the ground of the bottom two rows of piers, but Mother Nature had other plans. You see, she decided to rain for a few days all over our dry mounds of ground that should have been easy to push down the hill but instead formed a massive muddy clay blob.

After two trips of tossing heavy mud onto a tarp and pulling it down, we decided we'd once again recruit our mountain angel (Dave Swope) to get his backhoe and push it down for us. So off we went to building. Once we got the aforementioned mega beams up, we made quick work of marking off our subfloor plan and laying down the pieces.

 

We got the trusses lined up and set on just as we heard the first thunder roll down into the canyon. It was quite comical to see all of our faces look at each other with an urgency to finish up before the storm hit. But we got'er done and felt very accomplished just as the rain came on.

 

It makes me happy and eager every time we pack up and I take the last pic of the trip to remind me of how far we've come but how far we've got to go. If all goes well, the three of us will embark once again in the dark of Friday morning to head up there and spend three days getting the 4 walls and the loft up.

 

 

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