My Journey

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

BigDawwg.....yea, I pretty much missed that one but if you'll notice on the seventh picture in that post I've actually marked the pipes' location on the sheetrock. I take pictures of everything before closing in the walls. Sometimes I'll even put the tape measure in there so that I'll know distances between junctions, bends, or whatever. Today I noticed the electricians doing exactly what you suggested.....

JD.....I've got friends living in that area and I messaged them a few days ago.....no response so it's got me wondering. It's currently raining here.....what a welcome sight it is. We've had smoke in the air for the last month.....as you say, hopefully things will change now.....



July 31, 2021.....Saturday was a big day here in southwest Montana.....it was almost lunch time when I looked down my driveway and saw the truck coming our way.....thankfully it was the 3 highly skilled carpenters that I'd hired to install my windows & doors. One thing I won't do on my own is to attempt to install a $3,000 4 panel window (as a matter of fact Anderson voids the warranty if the homeowner does the installation).....



Then 2 more windows.....one at 48" x 48" on the south side of the cabin.....



And a 36" x 36" window on the north side.....they also installed a new entry door as I had removed the original entry door earlier in the day.....



Next up was the installation of the interior doors.....





The carpenters told me that they'd charge me double if I attempted to help with the install.....so we spent our day hanging out & watching it all come together.....



We did get a load of laundry done.....it's funny these days as we're now living as close to a normal lifestyle as we have for nearly 4 years.....



We got some work done in the barn.....



Trapper literally follows me everywhere these days.....



Tanner.....not so much anymore.....sometimes I (we) feel the repetition of life here.....

 

[Riversdad]

First cool morning you get you need to take them out for a long walk in the mountains. It has to be a shock to their system to spend all of their time at a homestead after how they were used to living.

 

[BigDawwg]

Jerry,,,,,Nice Looking interior Doors, and Overall, Very Nice Job Across the Board...... and Yea,,,,,,, you'll be back on the Road again, before you know it.....
BD and Murph in Alaska.....

 

[fisher205]

You are asking this of someone that has been living in a truck camper for the last 9 years?

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Riversdad.....sounds like a good plan.....we've actually gone to the river a few times & once we drove up into the mountains to the reservoir for an ice cold swim on another 90 degree day. We need a real road trip.....

BigDawwg.....looking for a November first completion date.....renters move in & off we go.....thanks.....

artem91.....welcome.....

fisher205.....time flies doesn't it.....unreal !



August 2, 2021.....the last few days have been spent flinging drywall mud onto the walls & prepping reclaimed lumber for the accent walls. I've pretty much got an unlimited supply of the lumber.....



We drove into town and purchased a new tablesaw.....oh man, do I ever love my new tablesaw.....



I probably should have bought a stand for it but I didn't so I just used the box that the tablesaw came in.....certainly wasn't a brilliant idea but it worked.....



I'd guess that on average approximately one third to one half of each board is usable.....I'm cutting all of the unusable pieces into fireplace lengths.....



.....and returning them back to the hoarders house so that he can use it for his fireplace for the upcoming winter.....

I don't know about you but I absolutely love this picture.....dead or dead drunk is what I see.....



Now one thing about using a cardboard box for a tablesaw stand is that it just wasn't high enough and my back was not happy. But once again I'll mention that there's a certain beauty in having a neighbor that is a hoarder.....



I dropped off a load of firewood and came back with this perfect tablesaw stand.....Tanner came by for a quick look.....



Amazing ! It was the perfect height and it even has wheels.....honestly speaking here.....I just love having a hoarder for my neighbor.....



Lots of work ahead of me.....just trying to stay focused.....



Trapper.....always nearby.....

 

[Tucsontom]

I am in the middle of building a similar size home in Colorado. We have similar siding and yet to be painted.It is a light beige primer now,. We have been thinking dark gray charcoal color and what you have selected is close to what we were looking at . Would you mind sharing that color? If not - i understand. Thanks!

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Tucsontom.....I have no problem sharing with you.....I called the paint department this morning and this is what I was told.....it's 12 ounces of black mixed with one gallon of base. They simply call it "black". If you'd like PM me and I'll give you the name of the guy, phone number & store where it was purchased and you could speak directly with him. I attached for you a photo of the base paint that I used.....this particular paint is formulated for metal. Are you building yourself or hiring a builder (just curious) ? DIY seems to take forever.....now back to work.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

August 5, 2021.....I really enjoy cutting the old timber boards.....each piece is different and it's interesting to see the different looks of each individual board.....but I also need to break up nearly every task with another task.....just to keep myself focused. So.....when the carpenters installed the windows I immediately had noticed that they didn't fit correctly.....



I subsequently learned that windows & doors come in 2 standard depths (one for 2"x4" construction & one for 2"x6" construction). But the original builders of this cabin added a half inch wide insulation board so my walls were too deep.....



I went to the lumber yard and purchased a pine board and cut myself half inch strips which I then added to my windows and entry door. In the first 2 pictures you can see the strips (a bit darker wood added to the kitchen window). It worked out real nice but I've still got a bit of fine tuning to do.....





August 6, 2021.....The weather has improved significantly here in southwest Montana so it was time to start the exterior siding.....





It's now all complete except for adding a little trim and then cutting the bottom of the cedar boards with a nice clean straight line.....





I added metal flashing under the sliding glass door & the entry door.....one day I'll build a beautiful deck here.....it should be sensational one day.....no idea when that one day will come along.....



The color is nothing like what I had planned since the homeowner that I had previously spoke with told me the wrong mix of stain colors.....I came up with this color using what I had already bought.....odd that I actually like this color better than theirs.....dumb luck on my part.....

 

[pkripper]

Wow, looks great!! Glad the heat dome has moved south. My brother had his first couple of smokeless days since June and has enjoyed the cooler temps as well. Stay safe!!

 

[Arjan]

Looking very nice - well done.
That's a lot of hard work.

 

[halseyt]

House looks great! How many people are trying to hire you now?

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

pkripper.....the smoke here is still quite bad. We have a day or two of minimal smoke followed by multiple days of dense smoke.....much like the high temperatures, the smoke is getting old too....will do & you too.....

Arjan.....yep.....it's been an incredible amount of work.....still haven't had a day off since late April. But I'm finally seeing the light at the end of tunnel and it sure looks good.....thanks.....

halseyt.....well, I've yet been asked to build for anyone.....the house mover continues to call asking me to work for him.....and that's about it. A few days ago a friend in Missoula sent me a link to a trappers log cabin that's for sale & it really caught my attention. I'm tired but I'd love an old trapper's log cabin more than any style home out there. I'm definitely a Richard Proeneke / Alone In The Wilderness kind of guy.....thanks.....



August 11, 2021.....As I just stated I am indeed seeing light at the end of the tunnel. The insulation company returned to blow in the attic insulation.....



16.5 inches of insulation is what they recommend here in southwest Montana.....



It couldn't have taken an entire hour to complete the little cabin's attic.....$1,150 more invested.....hopefully it'll be a good one.....



August 14, 2021.....I got to looking at the windows & entry door and it hit me that I needed to do something about the large gaps between the windows & entry door, and the walls and after a bit of thought (you see I'm not a builder.....it does not come naturally) I headed to Lowes and bought myself a bunch of this stuff.....



I'd never used it before which is probably easy to tell when you see the picture of my first window.....



The second window didn't go much better.....actually none of the Great Stuff went well.....how does one predict how much it will grow when it leaves that can.....



On a brighter note my perennials are kicking ass in that mix of top soil & horse manure which came from this site.....



And the tomato plants.....dang, one is nearly tall as me.....that's some potent soil I've got here.....



And I also added the trim to the cedar siding along the soffit / fascia and trimmed the bottom of the cedar siding boards.....damn, look at how straight the bottom of those boards are.....



I only messed up once.....wrestling dogs smashed me in the back while I was trimming those boards.....life with 🐕's ain't always easy.....

 

[tgil]

Looks great! Laughed about the wrestling dogs! Good to see an update, I was about to start the DTs!

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

tgil.....I'm working some long days again.....the hot spell finally broke this week and we just had 1.5 inches of well needed rain which brought with it cooler temperatures. Taking my shower outdoors when it's raining and 55 degrees makes a man work long days.....I see the fall season being just around the corner.....



August 15, 2021.....So I was back on YouTube attempting to learn how to install a Trex deck.....



It took a lot of planning and a lot of thought.....



Sometimes we'd have to just step away.....



.....sometimes we'd have to rest up a bit.....



Occasionally Tanner would stop by to check on the progress.....he's so tired of this whole cabin thing.....



Things have changed in the deck building industry.....the waterproof black tape idea was new to me.....





After a full days struggle we finished the little entry deck.....



Just as sturdy as any Trex deck out there.....I was pleased with the results.....

 

[jgaz]

I love the second pic! I can relate since I have my own 4 legged “building inspector”