Gail in Cupertino , CA 18 entries to date 5 forum posts to date
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Just a couple of pics, most pics are on our website www.worldtrippers.com
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Today I got an email from someone else who is building a Topsider. They are having the same type of problems we have had in the past. In the hope of helping others I thought I should update our site here.
I have added a number of our most recent website entries. If you want to read the whole story please go to our site www.worldtrippers.com.
We bought the property in Gold Country near San Andreas/Jackson CA on Russell's birthday 2003. This has been a three year effort and we are still not done! We are tantilizingly close. We are not looking forward to the reconciliation process with Topsider to recoup some of the extra money we have had to spend to take care of the problems that we have had to correct.
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April 21, 2007
Nightmare on the 2nd floor (Part 2)
Gail with Dennis, our building inspector. He is required to review our progress every six months to keep our building permit active. (Note the blue tape on the floor, marking the locations of our future interior walls.)
We had been looking forward to the third week in April as our first chance this year to spend an extended period of time up on our mountain. Both of our sons were out of school for the entire week, and Gail and Russell had both requested time off. Of course, Cameron and Joss were in the midst of adolescence, so we couldn’t possibly spend the entire week away from home. Our compromise was to drive up on Tuesday evening and stay until Saturday afternoon. This would give us three full days (and four nights) to continue building our mountain house.
One of our tasks this trip was to rearrange the kitchen. We did this in order to accommodate a large pine dining table that we brought up (actually the dining table that Gail grew up with).
We have been in the process of fixing the entire 1,000-square-foot second floor of the octagonal kit home. The floor is made up of four concentric “rings” numbered “A” through “D” from outside to inside. Each “ring” in turn is made up of eight separate sections of framed joists covered with sheets of OSB sub-flooring.
We were told by both Jim (our electrician) and Dennis (our building inspector) that we should have bolted each of these rings together when we first installed them. (While this information was nowhere in any of Topsider’s many installation manuals, apparently it is a standard procedure known by any experienced contractor.) Better late than never, during our last trip we had begun bolting together the various sections that were already even. Russell volunteered to continue this thankless job.
Meanwhile, in the “C” (second innermost) ring, the OSB was sagging because Topsider had inexplicably installed the joists 23 inches apart instead of the required 16 inches. During our last trip, we had removed all of the OSB and added additional joists. The next task would be to re-install the OSB with new construction adhesive and screws. Gail volunteered to continue this thankless job.
Russell’s and Gail’s respective jobs took the entire first two workdays, Wednesday and Thursday. Gail worked upstairs, enjoying the company and occasional help of Cameron and Joss. Meanwhile, Russell worked downstairs by himself, facing a constant rain of sawdust and insulation that filled his eyes and mouth.
Given the massive amount of building supplies that we are currently storing on the lower-story floor, Russell constantly needed to figure out ingenious ways to fit a ladder so that he could reach the ceiling
(Cameron and Joss were only able to contribute intermittently because they had homework and other tasks to complete. Joss’ responsibilities included studying his French and doing exercises to correct his recently-diagnosed scoliosis. Cameron’s responsibilities included math and chemistry homework, as well as preparing for his upcoming SAT test. As Gail later remarked, this particular trip reminded her very much of our trip around the world several years ago, when we home schooled both boys.)
By Friday, both Gail and Russell were sore and exhausted, but the biggest job of the trip still lay ahead. At the outer rings of the octagon, the entire floor was uneven: the “B” ring was a good half-inch higher than the “A” ring. After much examination, we determined the cause of this unevenness: the “B” ring was directly above the lower-story walls. When we had originally installed seven-inch vertical lag screws two years ago to secure the walls to the ceiling above (i.e. the second-story floor), the force of the lag screws had actually raised the second-story floor a half-inch higher at those points.
The "B" ring of the floor (left) was a good half-inch higher than the adjacent "A" ring (right)
As we mentioned in our last letter, we had argued and brainstormed numerous solutions that ranged from planing the uneven bits to installing a layer of mastic (cement) over the entire floor. In the end, we agreed on what we thought would be the best alternative.
The solution, however, would be complicated. First, we would remove the vertical lag screws from the lower-story walls. Second, we would somehow bring the “A” and “B” rings to the same height, either by lowering the “B” ring or raising the “A” ring. Third, we would bolt the “A” and “B” rings together so they would remain level with each other. Fourth, and finally, we would reinstall the vertical lag screws in the lower-story walls.
Gail and Russell both set to work early Friday to devote the full working day to these tasks. We decided to tackle one section at a time. Removing the vertical lag screws was fairly straightforward, although the impact wrench was heavy, loud, and jarring.
The biggest challenge was to bring the “A” and “B” rings to the same height. Russell’s original idea was to use a long wooden brace to prop up the “A” ring and lift it higher. This was easier said than done, as the “A” ring actually lay outside of the house (the two stories are cantilevered) and it was difficult to brace against the gravel-covered ground.
Gail came up with an absolutely ingenious alternative. Instead of raising the “A” ring, we would lower the “B” ring. We would do this by setting a brace between the second-story floor and ceiling, effectively forcing the “B” ring downward. Using a long 2x8, several 2x4s and a sledge hammer, the alternative worked beautifully. We ran upstairs, set a brace, then ran downstairs and installed lag screws to bolt the “A” and “B” sections together. When we ran back upstairs and removed the brace, the two sections remained level with each other.
 
We used a brace and a sledge hammer to move the "B" ring down half an inch.
The bowing of the brace demonstrates how much force was required to do this.
The vertical lag screw (left) attaches the lower-story wall to the ceiling, while the horizontal lag screw (right) attaches the "A" ring to the "B" ring
It took most of Friday, but we finished the entire second floor. Russell was so exhausted that he fell asleep on a lounge chair in the sun, but Gail continued using the electric plane to even out the last bits. She even cleaned up downstairs and cooked dinner that night (as she did every other night), putting everyone else to shame with her amazing endurance.
Gail with her new favorite toy, the electric plane
The trip was not all work and no play. In order to make the week more tolerable, we had brought a Playstation 2 video game console and real mattresses to put on the boys’ twin beds. We also brought up a double bed for Gail and Russell (our original 20-plus-year-old wedding bed, in fact), although it would still have an air mattress on it. We found time to play several board games, catch up on episodes of “Lost,” and watch a couple of movies in the evenings. Cameron and Joss were able to play video games late into the night (using headphones) while Gail and Russell passed out in exhaustion.
One major accomplishment this trip was that we finally got rid of the four incorrect sliding glass doors that Topsider had originally supplied (they were incorrect because they had mullion cross-grids). Bill and Renaldo from Habitat for Humanity were happy to take them off our hands.
Saturday morning was devoted mainly to cleaning up, and we were surprised how quickly it went. (We still recalled the days when it took us three hours to pack up the kitchen, tents, and sleeping bags. Now, we just leave the beds made and cover up anything that we don’t want the bugs to get into). We were ready to depart by noon.
On Saturday morning, we were visited by Scott Bur of Stark Realty, who originally sold us this property four years ago. Note some of the "comforts" of home: magnetic jacket hooks, privacy screens for the boys, and a double bed for Gail and Russell.
This was a rewarding week in many, many ways. Aside from a few minor glitches, everyone had a good time, given the good balance of work and recreation. We discovered the same comfortable rhythm of coexistence that we had achieved on our world trip seven years ago. And most important, we got a lot of work accomplished , effectively completing our repair of the second-story floor.
The saddest part was that even after four nights, Gail was not ready to leave. Rain was expected Saturday evening, and she very much wanted to stay and experience it. (We have still never been up in our weather-sealed house in the rain, and unfortunately this will probably be the last storm of the season.)
Looking ahead, we still have a few tasks to accomplish before we can begin construction of the interior walls. We have to re-engineer the four corner window walls that Topsider constructed in the wrong size. There is one more section of floor that needs some additional joists to fix a sag. But we can feel the next exciting phase of our adventure just around the corner.
  
Some of the wildlife that we encountered this trip: a wild turkey, a trio of deer, and a mouse that startled Gail when she was cleaning downstairs
[Worldtrippers home] [Mountaintop home]
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January 15, 2007
Closer to closure
The challenge: how to get four large and heavy sliding glass doors up the stairs
We have talked about how strange the weather has been for the last two years. In January 2006, our mountain property experienced the wettest winter in more than 50 years, including a snowstorm that left the building site under several feet of snow. In November 2006, on the other hand, we were still having unseasonably warm weather, almost like a second spring season.
2007 brought the coldest January in almost 80 years. More than half of California’s citrus crop was destroyed in temperatures that dropped down as low as 19ºF, more than 10 degrees below normal.
In the middle of this cold spell, we decided to make a weekend trip up to the mountain to continue construction. Everyone had Monday (Presidents’ Day) off, and we wanted to take advantage of the long weekend.
Our first decision was to include just the four of us – Gail, Russell, Cameron, and Joss. Our second decision was to pack several cold-weather contingencies. Gail bought a propane-heater capable of 12,000-15,000 BTUs per hour. In case that failed, she brought an electric heater. In case that failed, she brought extra blankets and jackets. Our final contingency was that if the weather got too cold, we would simply pack up and go back home.
We drove up on Saturday morning, January 13, and arrived to discover that the plastic sheeting that covered the open doorways both upstairs and downstairs were torn off and shredded. These would need to be repaired before we could even think of spending the night.
In addition, we discovered that the freezing temperatures had caused the water pipes to burst at both the holding tank outside the house and the pump halfway down the hill. We discovered this in the middle of the afternoon when the pipes thawed out enough to start spurting water all over the place. Russell and Cameron rushed around shutting everything off. We would have no running water for the weekend.
The first thing we did was repair the upstairs plastic sheeting. The second thing we did was take the propane heater upstairs, turn it on “full” and leave it on. The third thing we did was get to work.
Joss tries to stay warm in front of a propane heater
Our last trip up had been very frustrating. We had been unable to install the front door, back door, or any of the four upstairs sliding glass windows. Back at home, Gail had picked up several planks of 1x6” lumber for framing the doorways, and she and Russell had spent an evening discussing how we would proceed. As a result, we were able to hit the ground running, and we proceeded like clockwork through the afternoon.
The first task was the front door. We ended up finding and restoring the original 2x6” footer that we had removed two months ago, and framed the rest with 1x6”s. The door fit easily and comfortably; and we had it installed in no time.
 
The front door... installed!
(Note funny hats)
(Note also, shims on both sides of the front door to make it square)
The second task was the back door. Again, we calculated that the original footer should continue to be used. Unfortunately, the original footer had been rasped enough that it was no longer usable, so we removed it and substituted another 2x6”. Again, we framed the rest with 1x6”s and had no trouble installing the door. We were finished by evening, just about when it was getting too dark and cold to continue work.
 
The back door... installed!
(Note sunset reflection in the window)
We actually had a very pleasant evening and night on Saturday. Gail and Joss went around stuffing insulation into every crack they could find. With the propane heater running, we got the upstairs interior up to a constant 54ºF, very comfortable with a jacket. We spent the evening watching the first three episodes of the new television series “Heroes” and getting completely hooked. At night, we turned off the propane heater (for safety) but left the electric heater on.
We decided that Sunday would be a lazy morning; that we would stay under blankets and covers until the upstairs got warm enough to actually move.
But we were clearly on a roll, so once we got going, we set ourselves upon the most difficult task: the upstairs sliding glass windows. We knew this would be the hardest task because we would first have to figure out how to even get these huge and heavy things upstairs. Based on an idea that Russell’s brother-in-law Matt had suggested, we discovered that we could lift both the sliding screen and glass doors off of their tracks and remove them. Russell and Cameron were able to carry them up the stairs.
After removing the sliding glass door from its frame, Russell and Cameron carry it upstairs
This left the large frame with the fixed glass pane. Although now lighter, it was still big, heavy, and unwieldy. It would barely fit through the stairwell hole between the first and second floors.
Plan A was to nail a large horizontal beam across the upstairs rafters, throw ropes over it, and try to haul the sliding glass door frame straight up through the hole in the stairwell. This plan did not work because the ropes pulling against the beam created way too much friction. We could not get the door frame more than a foot off of the ground.
Plan A: trying to lift the sliding glass door straight up
Plan B was to use our two block-and-tackle pulleys. We never actually tried Plan B, because we went directly to Plan C.
Plan C was to remove the railing from the stairs, lay the sliding glass door frame directly on the stairs, pad it, tie ropes around it, then simply drag it up the stairs. Cameron and Joss stood upstairs and each took a rope. Russell stayed downstairs and pushed from the bottom. Gail supervised from the top, making sure that ropes were pulled evenly, that the door frame cleared the hole and all obstacles, and that no glass was broken.
Plan C: using the stairwell as a ramp
(Note towels and blankets for padding. We have used Steve's quilt for so many tasks that we've even given it a name: "Pocahantas")
Plan C worked surprisingly well. By lunchtime, we had the entire door upstairs waiting to be installed.
We still had to resolve the issue of how to install the actual sliding glass door frame. Simple measurements told us that installation would be impossible unless we removed the 2x6” footer at the bottom of the doorway. However, Topsider had installed quarter-round exterior trim in such a way that we could not remove the footer without wrecking the trim. In addition, we would either have to preserve the flanges on the door frames (which would cover the trim) or remove the flanges.
 
Topsider installed the quarter-round exterior trim (stained dark brown) so that it butts up against the footer. You can't remove the footer without ruining -- and wrecking -- the trim
Gail made the decisions to remove the footer, remove the quarter-round trim, and keep the flanges. Ultimately, she would cover the flanges with additional trim wood when we finished the exterior of the house.
 
The doorway with the quarter-round trim removed
With the plan now set, it was simply a matter of carrying it out. The afternoon weather was sufficiently warm enough for us to remove the plastic sheeting from the doorway and proceed. We had our first sliding glass door installed by sunset, again quitting just about the time that it got too cold and dark to continue work.
 
Cameron uses a Sawz-all to remove the 2x6" footer
Joss removes one of the lag bolts that held the footer -- and the wall -- in place
We treated ourselves to another delicious Gail-cooked meal and three more episodes of “Heroes.” We were so comfortable with the insulation and retained heat that we didn't even leave the electric heater on that night.
Monday morning, we did not treat ourselves to sleeping in. We had hoped to install two sliding glass doors the day before, and had only accomplished one. In addition to packing up and leaving, we were determined to get another door installed today.
With the process now established for hauling a door up the stairs, we got door number two ready with no problem. We installed it so efficiently that we had time to haul door number three upstairs as well. Russell voted for moving the fourth and final door upstairs, but by now the boys were pretty tired and worn out. Cameron and Joss did succeed in installing the front door doorknobs and locks downstairs.
Cameron and Joss install the front door doorknobs
(Note omnipresent headphones)
All in all, it was a very successful and productive weekend. We have successfully closed off the entire downstairs with doors and windows. Upstairs, we have installed two of the four sliding glass doors -- the living room and Joss' bedroom -- and the third is all ready to be installed next time. (We still have four corner windows upstairs that are covered in plastic –- the apertures were manufactured the wrong size by Topsider –- but that will have to wait until spring to be repaired.)
 
Joss' sliding glass door -- installed!
Even more important, we discovered that we can come up and work even in extremely cold winter weather. With the house more sealed every trip, we will be able to create and retain heat much more easily and efficiently. All in all, we are much closer to closure.
Gail and Russell after a very productive weekend
[Worldtrippers home] [Mountaintop home]
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December 31, 2006
Giving thanks
Cameron (16) and Joss (13) on Christmas Day, 2006
It is now almost four years since we bought our mountain property, and almost two years since we began constructing our dream house. Last year at this time, Russell told people that we were a year behind schedule. This year, he’s telling people that we’re two years behind schedule.
We’ve endured semi-truck deliveries in the pouring rain, house parts that didn’t fit together (requiring nothing less than an acetylene torch to fix), short shipments, wrong shipments, warped floors, leaky roofs, mold, rats, and countless delays. When we originally planned our house, we designed a bedroom for each of the boys. At this point, we don’t even know if we’ll finish before the boys have grown up and moved out.
And yet, we feel very lucky to be in our situation. We are fortunate to have the ability and the means to pursue our dream. In addition, one advantage to keeping a Website and blog is that we have met a number of people online who have pursued a similar dream of building their own home... and had even worse luck than we've had.
We’ve heard horror stories about other people’s contractors, from contractors who won’t return calls after months to contractors who have been arrested for fraud. We’ve heard from people who started their projects years before we did, but who are currently nowhere near as far as we are.
We are often asked, “Would you do it again?” Our answer is always, “Absolutely.” Despite the problems and delays, we have learned so much. Russell is now an expert at installing decks, roofs, and windows. Gail has challenged many of her limits, including her fear of heights and edges. We have watched our sons Cameron and Joss grow from children on tree swings to strong teenagers who can help us haul heavy materials up and down stairs.
We have fond memories of sleeping under the stars, pitching tents, and building campfires. As we progress farther along, these older experiences give way to new memories of assembling a kitchen, getting water and electricity for the first time, and building a home.
We have seen incredible wonders of nature, from snow-covered mountains to families of wild turkeys to hawks so numerous that they fill the sky. We bought our property almost on impulse, based on a sunset “to die for.” We continue to see killer sunsets every time we come up here… and we hope to see many more.
Another sunset to die for
[Worldtrippers home] [Mountaintop home]
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November 19, 2006
Blowing out the windows
The downstairs windows, uncovered for the first time in more than a year
It was November 2006 and the weather was still like spring. (By this time last year, we had already shut down the house because of rain.) We figured that as long as the weather held out, we would keep coming up to do work.
On Friday evening, November 17, Russell came up a day early as usual to set up sleeping accommodations and make other preparations. Our plan for the weekend was to begin constructing the downstairs interior walls. Gail had been doing research on how to do this, and Russell’s brother-in-law Matt (who has helped build houses before) would be joining us as well.
However, the weekend’s priorities were immediately superseded when Russell arrived on site Friday night. The plastic sheeting that wrapped the downstairs exterior – and which had stayed intact for more than a year – was completely shredded. The entire downstairs – and therefore the upstairs living quarters – were open and exposed to the elements. While the days were still like spring, the nights were most definitely like winter.
 
Russell was greeted with the unwelcome sight of torn plastic sheeting on all of the downstairs windows
Russell spent a cold Friday night sleeping upstairs curled up in a sleeping bag on a hammock. Gail, Cameron and Joss arrived Saturday mid-morning, followed shortly by Matt and his two children. (Matt’s wife, Russell’s sister Joanne was out of town for the weekend.)
The new priority for the weekend would be to install all of the remaining fixed windows downstairs. Five of the eight downstairs walls are spec’ed for glass. We had already installed two of the walls during our last trip at the end of October. This left three walls. At three panes each (minus two panes for the back door), we would need to install seven fixed windows.
Russell had spent the morning prepping by removing the plastic sheeting and staining the exterior trim. Now, Matt and Gail immediately set to work installing the glass panes. By now we had the process down pat, between caulking and installing glazier points. Meanwhile, Russell took the task of cutting and installing the quarter-round interior trim. The four kids variously did homework, helped, and played.
When Joanne first “volunteered” Matt to come up and help us this weekend, nobody realized that it was the same day as the biggest Michigan versus Ohio State football game in history (both Matt and Gail are from Michigan). Matt dutifully (and reluctantly) kept his word and came up to the mountain. Feeling sorry for him, Gail and Russell brought up a small television set just in case we got reception. Coincidentally, Matt also brought up a television set. We were amazed to discover that we got crystal-clear reception of the game on both sets using only rabbit-ear antennae.
We listened to the game as we worked, and Matt was able to sit down and watch it during breaks. Unfortunately, by halftime he gave it up as a lost cause (Michigan ended up losing 39 to 42 in a very disappointing finale).
 
Matt and Gail listen to the Michigan versus Ohio State game while they install windows
Matt watches the game during a work break
By mid-afternoon, Russell discovered that we were running out of quarter-round trim. It was not an option to wait for another weekend; the trim was necessary to hold the windows in place against winds that reach 100 mph. He took the van into town to buy some more. Two hours later and $112.74 poorer, he returned with 18 more 8-foot sticks of quarter round. (Topsider was supposed to have supplied enough of this. All we can figure is that someone miscalculated.)
Russell installs quarter-round trim to hold the windows in place
While Russell had been down at Lowe’s Home Improvement in Jackson buying quarter round, Lowe’s had been up at the building site delivering our long-awaited new front door, back door, and sliding glass doors.
 
Lowe's delivers our long-awaited doors
It was now late afternoon, and Gail and Matt had finished installing glass. While Russell continued to cut and install quarter-round, Gail and Matt took a try at installing the new front door.
Step one was to remove the old (incorrect) front door that we had temporarily installed during our last trip. Step two was to put the new front door in place. Step three was to discover that the new front door was slightly smaller than the old front door, and did not fit snugly in place. Step four was to figure out what to do about it.
Gail and Matt looked for bits of scrap wood that could be used to frame the new front door. They even dismantled the old front door in hopes of re-using some of the wood. Unfortunately, the result of this was that not only did the new front door still not fit, but we could no longer use the old front door as a temporary fix.
After a promising start to sealing the house, we were back to putting up plastic sheets to cover the front door opening. Subsequent tasks on the list proved just as frustrating.
The back door had a similar problem. With the 2x6” piece of footer wood in place, the door was too large. With the footer removed, the door was too small. (We could not find any 1x6” wood, despite looking all over the site.) Matt even tried rasping the 2x6”, but that proved to be fruitless.
Gail was just as frustrated by the sliding glass doors. She had ordered “retro-fit” doors, which are slightly larger and have no mounting flanges. Gail had made this decision based on conversations with both Topsider and Lowe’s, as well as measuring our door openings and noting that we already had quarter-round trim around the openings (which a flange would cover).
Lowe’s had delivered “new” doors. When Gail called them, they explained that the “new” doors should work fine; all we had to do was take a knife and cut off the flange.
In practice, we discovered that this would not be so simple. As with the back-door, we discovered that the piece of 2x6” footer wood in each doorway made them too small for the doors. However, we could not remove the footer wood without destroying the quarter-round exterior trim.
So the question was, should we:
- Remove the flanges from the doors and keep the quarter-round on the doorways?
- Keep the flanges on the doors and remove the quarter-round from the doorways?
- Remove the quarter round from the doorways, cut the footer, then re-install the quarter round?
The larger problem was that we currently had four incorrect sliding glass doors being stored upstairs that had to come downstairs. Similarly, we had four correct sliding glass doors being stored downstairs that had to go upstairs. And we couldn’t quite figure out how to do any of that.
We decided to delay any action on the sliding glass doors until another time. We decided to delay any action on the back door until another time. And we decided to delay any action on the front door until another time.
 
Our new front and back doors... still awaiting installation...
By the time we left at mid-day on Sunday, we were all pretty frustrated. On the plus side, we had finished installing and trimming all of the fixed-pane windows downstairs. On the minus side, the front and back doorways -- as well as all four of the upstairs doorways -- were still covered in plastic sheeting.
One pleasant surprise was that Matt donated the nice, large television he had brought up. So whenever we next come up, we will have a better viewing experience than the small PC screen that we have been using to watch DVDs. That is, if we have any breaks between installing doors all over the place.
The weekend's accomplishment: the last eight fixed-pane windows have been installed downstairs
[Worldtrippers home] [Mountaintop home]
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Joss and Cameron use a chop saw to construct a box for the step-up pump
One year ago, we rushed around in a panic trying to get our mountain-top house sealed up before the rains came. What followed was the worst winter in the last 50 years.
This year, we once again rushed around trying to get our house sealed up by mid-October – although the task list was much more relaxed and manageable. In the weeks since, the weather has continued to be sunny and warm. Go figure. It’s been like springtime in October.
Rain or shine, we plan to keep coming up here through the winter, as the house is now far enough along for us to do interior work, protected from the elements.
For the weekend of October 28, our Plan A was to install the front door and back door downstairs, as well as the four sliding glass doors upstairs. Of course, for this to happen, we would actually need to have those doors onsite.
Gail has spent the last several weeks communicating with Topsider about how to get the correct materials to replace the incorrect (and missing) ones that were originally sent to us. Rather than have new doors shipped all the way from North Carolina, Gail has been working with the local Home Depot and Lowe’s Home Improvement Center to see what they have. By doing so, she has been able to save several thousand dollars from Topsider’s original bill of materials.
One of the biggest questions was whether our blueprints required new sliding glass doors or retro-fit doors. (The two are different sizes. Retro-fit doors are larger and do not have an outside “fin”). Gail liked Lowe’s price, but the retro-fit doors we would need were not in stock. They would take about ten days to backorder. So much for Plan A.
Plan B would be to install just the front and back door, which Lowe’s did have in stock. Gail ordered the sliding glass doors on backorder, and the front and back doors for immediate delivery. Unfortunately, somewhere between the time that Gail placed the order, Topsider provided the purchase order, and Lowe’s scheduled the order, the two shipments were combined into one. In other words, nothing would be delivered until everything was in stock, at least two weeks from now. Unfortunately, Gail did not find this out until the Friday before our work weekend. Needless to say, she was not pleased. So much for Plan B.
Undeterred, we decided on Plan C, in which we would begin to install the interior walls for the lower story. Gail did some research, checked with Dennis our building inspector, and came up with some simple instructions on how to construct an interior wall.
In the end, all of these plans were trumped by the warm and sunny weather that still lingered. We ultimately decided to take advantage of the sunshine and continue to do outside work for as long as possible. Therefore, Plan D would involve installing some of the fixed-pane exterior windows on the lower story.
In order to install any of the windows, we would first need to stain the trim. And in order to stain the trim, we would first need to remove the plastic wrapping that we had so carefully installed a year ago. Originally, we had planned to keep the lower story wrapped in plastic until next spring, so that we wouldn’t threaten the weather-proofing. But we decided that we could peel the plastic back one section at a time, then re-cover it as necessary.
With a final plan in hand, Russell went up to the mountain a day early on Friday, October 27. This enabled him to stain the trim on two window sections and give them a day to dry. In addition, he moved the temporary kitchen from downstairs to upstairs, in preparation for whenever we get around to building the interior walls downstairs.
 
Moving the downstairs kitchen: before and after
Gail, Cameron, and Joss arrived a day later on Saturday. We were also expecting Steve, but he would not arrive until later in the afternoon. In the meantime, we had another set of tasks to keep us busy. (Plan E, anyone?) The new water pumps next to the house and down the hill were already beginning to crack under the continued sunshine. We would need to construct boxes or sheds to cover them.
Gail set Cameron and Joss to work constructing a box for the step-up pump down the hill. Russell constructed a lean-to shed for the water tank next to the house. Conveniently, we were able to use the scrap wood from the shutter crate that we had just emptied a couple of weeks ago.
 
A box for the step-up pump down the hill
 
A lean-to shed for the water tank next to the house
In the meantime, Gail began to install the three corner windows that surrounded the downstairs window wall sections. When Steve arrived, the two of them began to install the fixed panes. By Saturday evening, all of the fixed glass for the two wall sections was in place.
Gail had to leave Sunday at midday for some commitments that the boys had back home. That morning, though (with the benefit of an extra hour due to daylight savings time), she added one additional item to the to-do list. Our neighbor had warned us about a bear roaming the area. Even though our replacement front door is on a two-week backorder, Gail had us install the wrong front door for the time being – as an extra security measure.
 
The front door -- it's the wrong door, but it will help keep any bears out
Before Gail departed on Sunday morning, she and Steve installed the quarter round trim on the first wall section. After Gail departed, Steve and Russell stayed to install the quarter round trim on the second wall section. They ended up working through the afternoon, finally leaving the mountain at almost dusk.
Nevertheless, we were impressed with our accomplishments for the weekend:
- Nine windows installed and trimmed
- Two wooden boxes constructed and put in place
- The entire kitchen moved from downstairs to upstairs
- A temporary bathroom constructed downstairs
- A temporary front door installed
There are a total of five window walls on the lower story. Unfortunately, this will be Steve’s last available weekend for the rest of the year. Fortunately, we now have the process down so smoothly that we only need two people to install the remaining fixed-pane windows. Two walls down, three to go.
  
Nine new windows installed! (three corners and six fixed panes)
[Worldtrippers home] [Mountaintop home]
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Joss and Cameron use a chop saw to construct a box for the step-up pump
One year ago, we rushed around in a panic trying to get our mountain-top house sealed up before the rains came. What followed was the worst winter in the last 50 years.
This year, we once again rush |