Trip Date: September 21, 2020
Find this SpotThis was definitely one of the most frustrating trips, yet still a very productive one. Bob and I had raised the cabin in August, but at the end we ran out of gas with only one layer of half inch plywood on the roof. We knew we needed more than that so we figured we would just use up all of the plywood from the original 10’ x 20’ structure. I also bought 4 pieces of new plywood just in case.
We came up Monday afternoon and I set up my bed in the cabin, which was sweet. Kristen made an awesome lasagna so we heated that up and gorged ourselves. The first night at the property is always an early one, for as much as I love the drive, no matter the route, it is a huge day by the time you load, drive, unload, set up, and do a few little things in the afternoon. After dinner and a beverage of sorts, it is bed bed time.
I did not sleep well at all, but I was super excited to get going. I thought I may have been picking up hints and reading between the lines in talking to Bob that he was not overly excited to put the roof on, so this was the trip to do that. I bought some really nice, cut to order roofing material from a real nice couple in Lodi, even though the owner was an ass and we had a nice long talk about that situation. I wanted to surprise Bob by getting the roof on so that he could focus on door and window installation.
We had the material, Kristen cut the roofing paper to length when we came up together a couple weeks ago, we had directions, what else could we need? I guess you never know until you tear hell into it. We got the second layer of plywood on without too much struggle, but the wind toyed with us at times. With Mike on the inside and me up top, we took extra time and effort to find the joists and screw both layers into them. Then I went around and screwed all the various seams from the various sizes and shapes.
Then we got the paper down and it was a perfect amount; tons of overlap and an extra piece to go over the ridge. Kristen had sprayed the hell out of all the gaps in the plywood roofing, corners, framing etc. such that now with this second layer of ply and the paper, it was feeling pretty tight. This was a huge day. We BBQ’d steaks and sautéed some zucchs, onions, and sweet peppers. After a few tunes, and a walk down to visit the boys, it was early to bed.
Next morning was calm and still as it almost always is. It was metal roofing day. We knew we needed to start with the gutters, so off we went. We wanted to put some slope on the gutters, but now I think this isn’t necessary and ends up complicating the process a great deal. Also complicating the process is not buying the right materials. We learned that we had both 6” and 4” gutter, connectors, corners, etc., and of course, we didn’t have enough of either to do it in one or the other. Some was also brown and some unpainted galvanized. I bought the materials at different Homo Depots, and the closest one of those was in Reno.
We were stuck so I called around to see if we had other supply options in Susanville, Alturas, or McCarthur. Only the Ace’s had gutter, and only the 4” galvanized. It appeared I was off to Reno. On the way, I figured I might as well stop at the Susanville Ace to see if they had enough to patch it together as I really didn’t want to be gone for 5 hours. A super nice guy helped me out and I felt like I was back in business. That is, until we started to piece it all together again. It is just gutter, connectors, and corners right? How could it be so wrong?
Well I got inside corners (again) instead of outside corners. I already had done this trick and had to go back to HD in town, but of course they were the 6” ones. For fuck sake. We decided to go ahead and use the brown corners with the galvanized gutter, even with the slightly different shape. We would mash, screw, and glue them tight as best we could. We got the gutters up and were pretty happy with them, except for the need for some brackets or support of some kind along the gutters themselves. I had bags of brackets, but none worked under the metal roofing. Oh well!
Finally, on day 3, we got to installing the metal roofing. It seemed like an eternity of malfunction at the time, but now, looking back, it probably cost us a day at most. After staring at the instructions for hours, I finally felt like I understood the correct order the pieces should be installed, although Mike was less confident. We got the panels on one side laid in and only had to cut the last sheet to width. Although not easy, we had the tools to get er done. The next side went a little faster. The 2 gable ends were easy, except we didn’t look carefully enough from the ground to get them perfectly lined up, and they were about a foot short, so we probably should have splurged on another one to cut pieces to fill the gaps at each end.
Finally, the ridge cap. Again, we could have used some guidance from below, or anywhere for that matter, to line it up perfectly, but we literally used every screw they gave us to screw the shit out of all that material. The little foam strips to block the ends and openings from the ridges of the sheets worked well and went in easily. I sprayed the opening in the ends of the ridge cap with foam and felt really good about the tightness of the enclosures and it all being very well affixed to the roof. We loved the color and the look, and the proximity to the trailer and the cover. It was definitely coming together.
We were freaking exhausted. Mike took a little nappy. I showered and cleaned up, and then it was cocktail time. With tunes, and steaks, and some lasagna leftovers, it was all we could do to lift the last forkful of grub to our lips, before it was time for bed. Sleep was fantastic.
The morning was spectacular, but it wasn’t long before Mike was packing up. He helped me pump water to the trailer and to the kitchen barrel and helped me lift the second window into place on the South side kitchen wall, and then he was off in a flash. I puttered about for a while; compiling lists of tasks, materials, tools, next steps. I moved a lot of materials “out of the way”, so we could get into the next projects right away without stuff in the way. I secured the window in place, cleaned out the freezer, had a nice lunch, and moseyed on down the hill.
It really is incredible what we have accomplished this year and in only the 2 years we’ve had the land. We are basically on schedule to get all the things done we had wanted. We are within reach of having some serious water collection potential, and already have basically 2 structures to sleep in. I am amazed. What a great ride it has been.
Hart Hill with my Oldest Brother Mike Photo Gallery
