Replacing the first side wall in the veranda

Last weekend I was at the cabin again and this time I needed to remove and rebuild one of the side wall in the veranda.  In addition to a window, I also had to remove a door and door frame.

I took four hours to remove the wall

Once removed, it was time to start building the new wall which would contain a 2m x 1m double-glazed window.

Here is the view from the outside…

The black covering is a thick paper which is impregnated with bitumen.  It prevents drafts but also allows the walls to breath.

I did not get the outside of the wall completed because I unfortunately ran out of boards.  There was also no one around to help lift in the glass for the windows, so I have had to cover the hole with plastic.

I’m hoping that after next weekend, I will have the majority of work completed.

A new front wall in the veranda

A took a the day off on Friday and so we travelled to the cabin on Thursday evening for a long weekend.  My thinking was that I would have more time to do the work I needed to do……..unfortunately it rained all day on Saturday!!

My task over the weekend was to remove the front wall from the veranda and build a new one; which included building a 2 metre x 1 metre double glazed window.

I started by raising up the roof using a piece of 4×2  screwed across all the roof joists and two posts pushed under to lift up the roof clear of the wall

I then removed the inside and outside walls and the windows

Once the hole wall had been removed, I could start building the new one.  The new wall has one large window in the front.  Here is the hole where the window would be.

I had to build a series of supports onto the wall, so that the wall and window can support snow on the roof during the winter.

The section on the left in the picture above , which overhangs the food cellar will eventually be removed.  In this picture you can see that I have already began building the frame of the new side wall inside of the old one.  The black paper you can see is impregnated with bitumen and helps stop drafts and protect the insulation.

On the outside I screwed batons to the wall and then screwed boards onto the batons.  An air space is left between the boards and then a board is screwed over the airspace.  This way the wall has air circulating and prevents damp and mould.

I did manage to get the double glazed window build and fitted in place, but because it rained all day on Saturday I unfortunately did not have enough time to get the outside of the wall finished.

 

Raising the roof

I have had a stressful weekend at the cabin, because I had to remove, raise and replace the veranda roof  before we travelled home on Sunday evening.

My first task was to remove the corrugated tin, which I had to do carefully because it needed to go back on the roof once all work was completed.

And then remove the roof joists

I had to cut the new roof joists to the right length and fix them in the right positions with 60cms between each one.  Once all the joists were in position I had to cover the roof with a water tight membrane and then fix laths on top.

Here are the new roof joists which are much ticker than the previous ones and so much stronger.

My final task was to put the corrugated tin back on the roof and screw them in place.

Sebastian helped with some of the work and was a great help.  He also cooked bannock breads as a snack for us!

Emma helped me fix up a double level nest box for Lapland Swifts (which next in holes in trees) which we are trying to encourage to nest at the cabin.

30 Blogs with Tips for Preserving the Bounty of Summer Fruits and Veggies

Jacqui Barrie has sent me a link to her blog, which may be of interest to some of you about preserving fruits and vegetables.

30 Blogs with Tips for Preserving the Bounty of Summer Fruits and Veggies

Insulating the cabin veranda.

I spent last weekend at the cabin removing the ceiling and walls in the cabin veranda.

We have been very lucky that he roof has not collapsed in the past, because who ever built the veranda, had one metre between each of the roof beams (there should be maximum 60cms between them).  This means that I will have to remove the roof and re-build it.  There was not insulation in the ceiling.

There was also no insulation in the walls which is why the veranda is too cold to use in the winter.

This door will be moved to the other side of the veranda and be replaced by a large window.

I will be working on the veranda next weekend and will write more next week.