jbird1
Senior Member
Good stuff!!
Welcome Guest!
My Construction Project Saga
- Thread starter elfiii
- Start date
Gadestroyer74
Banned
Sure have enjoyed reading and seeing the picture you done good..
Gaswamp
Senior Member
Yeah but the home makeover is for the wife; this be all Lee
The saga continues. The Rule of the 6 P's is true - Prior Planning Prevents......
When I built the original cabin I believed the people who told me "Cedar won't rot inside concrete". The truth is Cedar won't rot in concrete provided you waterproofed it first. I didn't do that on the original cabin so now, 20 years later, here's the problem:
Out of 5 posts on the original cabin that one and 2 more were shot out. That one is rotted off 6" above ground. So - the Great 2016 Cabin Repair Project commenced.
After some preliminary demo work the first thing that had to be done was to brace the floor tenons so they could support the roof tenons. Each floor tenon got a 4x4 brace on either side of it anchored in concrete.
Once that was done and the concrete had a little time to cure it was time to demo the walls and sheathing and brace the roof tenons. At the same time we demo'ed the floor system including the sill plates.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch I was fabricating replacement posts and sill plates.
This weekend was the "Big Push". We had to bust out the old concrete footers, cut off the old post timbers, cut reverse lap joints in them, cut lap joints for the floor tenons on the replacement posts and sister them in to the old posts with through bolts. Then build new forms and pour new footers. A daunting task!
The jackhammer showed up Thursday evening and I was sorely tempted to give it a shot but being by myself prudence dictated I eschew the opportunity to do myself great bodily harm and await inbound reinforcements.
Friday morning we began in earnest and it's a good thing I finally decided to tackle this project this year. The corner post and the next one in from it were rotted out up to ground level. A couple more weeks and the back side of the cabin likely would have "sat down on the ground". You can see in the pics below what I mean. When we busted the concrete away from them that's all that was left of the post.
Now for the tricky part - cutting off the existing posts above ground and cutting the reverse lap joints and bore holes for the through bolts. But first we had to brace the existing post timbers because once we cut them off they were hanging in the air with nothing to support them. With the exception of one of the existing posts being somewhat of a "twisted sister" everything married up perfectly once we were done.
Now we were down to waterproofing, building forms and pouring concrete. We got the posts all waterproofed and forms built by sundown Friday.
Saturday morning we were at the front door of the Ace Hardware in Pine Mountain when they opened up. We loaded up 20 80lb bags of Sakrete, stopped off at Eddie May's for the breakfast buffet and we were pouring concrete by 9:15am. Finished up about 11:30 am.
The ugly, hard, nasty part is done, thank you Jesus! From here on out it's putting it back together again. Since it's pretty much stripped down to the framing I'm going to trick it out a little bit as I put it back together.
When I built the original cabin I believed the people who told me "Cedar won't rot inside concrete". The truth is Cedar won't rot in concrete provided you waterproofed it first. I didn't do that on the original cabin so now, 20 years later, here's the problem:
Out of 5 posts on the original cabin that one and 2 more were shot out. That one is rotted off 6" above ground. So - the Great 2016 Cabin Repair Project commenced.
After some preliminary demo work the first thing that had to be done was to brace the floor tenons so they could support the roof tenons. Each floor tenon got a 4x4 brace on either side of it anchored in concrete.
Once that was done and the concrete had a little time to cure it was time to demo the walls and sheathing and brace the roof tenons. At the same time we demo'ed the floor system including the sill plates.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch I was fabricating replacement posts and sill plates.
This weekend was the "Big Push". We had to bust out the old concrete footers, cut off the old post timbers, cut reverse lap joints in them, cut lap joints for the floor tenons on the replacement posts and sister them in to the old posts with through bolts. Then build new forms and pour new footers. A daunting task!
The jackhammer showed up Thursday evening and I was sorely tempted to give it a shot but being by myself prudence dictated I eschew the opportunity to do myself great bodily harm and await inbound reinforcements.
Friday morning we began in earnest and it's a good thing I finally decided to tackle this project this year. The corner post and the next one in from it were rotted out up to ground level. A couple more weeks and the back side of the cabin likely would have "sat down on the ground". You can see in the pics below what I mean. When we busted the concrete away from them that's all that was left of the post.
Now for the tricky part - cutting off the existing posts above ground and cutting the reverse lap joints and bore holes for the through bolts. But first we had to brace the existing post timbers because once we cut them off they were hanging in the air with nothing to support them. With the exception of one of the existing posts being somewhat of a "twisted sister" everything married up perfectly once we were done.
Now we were down to waterproofing, building forms and pouring concrete. We got the posts all waterproofed and forms built by sundown Friday.
Saturday morning we were at the front door of the Ace Hardware in Pine Mountain when they opened up. We loaded up 20 80lb bags of Sakrete, stopped off at Eddie May's for the breakfast buffet and we were pouring concrete by 9:15am. Finished up about 11:30 am.
The ugly, hard, nasty part is done, thank you Jesus! From here on out it's putting it back together again. Since it's pretty much stripped down to the framing I'm going to trick it out a little bit as I put it back together.
davidhelmly
Senior Member
That looks like a HUGE job but from the looks of it you have it under control! The next time I need some major repair advice I know who to call!! Keep up the good work and stay safe!! 
Triple C
Senior Member
I love this thread. Remember it when you started you redo several years ago. Let the journey continue...before you get too old. 
Browning Slayer
Official Voice Of The Dawgs !
When you finish, let me know, I'll be happy to come down and hunt..
Awesome work!
Awesome work!
Miguel Cervantes
Jedi Master
That place looks familiar. I still have tar on my shorts from the last episode of construction.
Throwback
Chief Big Taw
I don see any of the trashy locals in those pics
shakey gizzard
Senior Member
Nobody shows up on a workday at any deer camp!
That looks like a HUGE job but from the looks of it you have it under control! The next time I need some major repair advice I know who to call!! Keep up the good work and stay safe!!
My advice today is the same as it was 3 years ago. Hire somebody and pay them to do it.
davidhelmly
Senior Member
My advice today is the same as it was 3 years ago. Hire somebody and pay them to do it.
I understand that better than you can imagine!!
smitty
Senior Member
Getting it done !!That's what weekends are for !Great read and job !
We're almost back in business. It was a long, long weekend. I broke down the concrete forms Friday and made my lumber run. Saturday was a 7 am to 7 pm day. Sunday was 7 am to 4 pm. At least we're dried in. Now we're down to the Land of 1,000 Details but that's OK.
That last piece of plywood flooring didn't want to go back in the way it came out but we "persuaded" it to fit. The pics speak for themselves.
That last piece of plywood flooring didn't want to go back in the way it came out but we "persuaded" it to fit. The pics speak for themselves.
Bucky T
GONetwork Member
Looks Great!
OmenHonkey
I Want Fancy Words TOO !
Very Cool Elfii!!
Throwback
Chief Big Taw
and a case of callaway blue to drink!
davidhelmly
Senior Member
Looking good!!!
Triple C
Senior Member
elfiii...Do you and your crew hire out???
Similar threads
