New Bunkhouse


We killed all of the grass in the whole front yard and then burned off the biomass so we could get a good start on the new, "no mow" grass. It's all about zero maintenance at some point in the future. If you only knew how many times we've fought our way through the front yard with a chainsaw, loppers and a weedwhacker.....	Here's the finished product or at least part of it. The tilled and raked area is about 8,000 square feet! It's over 150 feet long. It was a LOT of raking.

We finally fixed a slump on the back side of the dam. There had been a spring covered up in 2007 and the soil liquefied. We added drains and then cleaned everything up. We opened it up more below which should also be nice.	Here's the beginnings of Joseph's sweat lodge. We're going to get a roof over this and let him frame the floors and walls. He'll heat it with propane.

We extended the old sidewalk to the end of the driveway and Bob washed away the surface so it would look like the sidewalk placed in 1929 by O.K. Malone.	The last of the trees damaged in May came down and we trimmed the limbs and then planed the knots. This will be the post for the turn in the staircase from basement floor to attic ceiling!

Here's one of the new water tanks going in. We finished up about 10:00 that night and then I drove the 5 1/2 hour drive home..... Ugh!	The finished basement! We're ready to start framing.

We returned to the cabin on Friday, the 30th just in time for the rain to stop. We had 22 inches of rain in October, half the average annual rainfall for southern Illinois!	The next morning it was framing time. We got three walls up in short order.....

... then set the post for the stairs, a cedar tree we had to cut near the sidewalk near the cabin. It had blown over in the storm in May.	Water tank in place, cleaned out, braced and the lid bolted and siliconed.

This was one of the more elaborate cuts we had to make. After the notch, we had to cut the portion on the right to take a stair stringer.	Here was the finished product. I think these were the last cuts we made for framing on the post. We still had to cut in some flooring on the second floor.

Water tank in and plumbed, filled and almost backfilled!	When we left after a week of hard work, the basement was backfilled, the first floor was framed and the stairs to the second floor were started. Most of the second floor decking was complete except for the portion over the front porch.

Here's the view from the upstairs dormer window. There will be a queen sized bed here. I've been getting a lot of grief about building the world's most expensive hunting stand and being the laziest hunter on the planet. They also worry about me waking Mary Louise who might be sleeping beside me with a shotgun blast some fall morning.....	There are a few nooks and crannies in the upper floor. This one will get a short wall at the back with a door to a tunnel to another one like it. There will be a couple of ladder rungs at the staircase to access it through a small, child sized door.

The cedar tree finally cut to size. We left 1/2 inch for the ceiling to slide above it and beneath the ceiling joists.	Here's what it looks like at the moment. It's essentially weathered in. The inside is framed and it's time to set the windows and start worrying about a roof and some siding. When all's said and done, we'll put the deck down.

The yard is coming along nicely. Couldn't have gotten too much luckier with the sun, temps and rain.	Finally starting some trim....

Finally getting some roofing up. It is a little late in the season and the roofers are losing a lot of days to foul weather, though, so we aren't sure how fast this is going to go as we get through the holiday season....	The sweat lodge and the drive out basement....

Porch soffit, dormer trim and the first piece of roofing on the new structure. The next piece will have the solar panels on it!	Staging for roofing, windows, siding....


The roofing panels needed to be prepped vigorously. We vacuumed, wiped and cleaned with alcohol.....	Then peeled the backing off the flexible panels and stuck them down! THAT was a spooky moment. We were pretty worried, but it all went smoothly, so to speak...

Finally got some roofing on the cabin! Almost finished....	We even have most of it on the bunkhouse now, including half of the solar panels.

Shutters in place for the most part and the garage door is in and trimmed. Getting there......	After a winter of not much happening, we are finally closing in on it. That only leaves finishing the entire inside, wiring, plumbing, heating, insulation, drywall, trim, painting and floor covering to go......

Here's the new deck. It's plastic so it shouldn't warp, grow moldy or rot.	The siding is all finished, scaffolding removed, some of the debris even taken away.....

Now we have the stairs and the side deck to do, handrail, etc.	Sometimes you just have to stop and smell the roses or in the case, the Echinacea. I was overwhelmed by the color and the tiger swallowtails!

The side deck went on....	...then the lights came on...

...the sun came out...	...the floor rolled out....

I finally got stairs in....	....and at last handrail! I have to admit this project really took it out of both of us financially and physically. We were happy to share it with our family for Thanksgiving this year, though, and are very thankful that we can relax now and actually just go there to enjoy it!! Join us!

Here I am shellacking all of the cedar paneling boards for the interior paneling. It was a huge job. Now all I have to do is install hundreds of pieces of the stuff, cutting around windows, doors, stairs, lights, switches, outlets.....	In April of 2011 we got lattice under the deck, finishing that off a lot more. Looks good, doesn't it?

We continue to fight with the cedar tree, but the results are fun. I'm finally finished mortising the handrail into the irregular surfaces!	I couldn't resist throwing this one in there. The color and lighting were just stunning. This is our big screen TV. We watch it over a cup of coffee every morning for an hour or so...

The trim and paneling are progressing. All the downstairs and basement is paneled and the windows and door are trimmed. The stairs, base, crown and upstairs have a way to go.	We got the last of the paneling done in January of 2012. Now it's a bit of trim and then furniture!

01/28/12