A Cool, Crisp December Day @ Trout Camp

It was decided that the family would head out early Sunday morning and spend the day at TC. The weather looked good, cold-but good! We pulled into the local diner and enjoyed breakfast around 11:00 and made it up to camp close to noon.

I believe the daytime temperatures were forecast to achieve 40 degrees, but I don't believe we made it past 35. The Sun was bright, although it slumbered through its winter path just above the tree line. I commented to my daughter that its position in the sky at 1:30 would have been 4:30 during the summer. It sat at least 3-4 fist widths lower in its orbit as well. The sun rays we did get, for some of us, was enough to keep us warm enough to enjoy ourselves.

I was able to take some very accurate measurements of the roof deck that'll be sent to the metal roofing manufacturer. I was also able to do some internal support fortifying inside the shed-mahal as well. Combined, they didn't take all that long (maybe a couple hours). I battened down the plastic exterior walls and installed some support boards in the middle of them to assist with wind whipping. Seems the staples aren't quite enough to hold the plastic on the 2X4's when the pressure inside changes during windy conditions and the staples keep pulling out.

The video that I've included shows what camp looks like as I take a tour of the perimeter of our property. I've done this once before (earlier in the year) but it is a huge difference without leaves and greenery to obstruct the camera view.

Enjoy. I did!

December Day Dreaming...

We haven't been hit with the first heavy snowfall, but the outside temperatures are indicating that it can't be much longer. When it is this cold here, my mind wonders how camp is fairing. It has been almost a month since my last visit to camp and I'm beginning to think that it may be my last until February/March of 2012...I hope not!

The quote has arrived from our "local" metal roofing manufacturer for the "Shed-Mahal" and it looks good. 29 gauge, forest green metal sheeting, drip edges, and fasteners came in at just under what I had estimated. We had hoped that they would have come through with providing us a reputable person to install it at a reasonable price. We had lucked out with Steve (our excavator and gravel delivery pro) and figured that we'd be able to find a handyman looking for a little side work that would be willing to do our small job on the side or something. It is strike one, but I'm still searching and putting out feelers in the hopes that we can get professional help on scene and play the role of helper/laborer rather than foreman and crew. The initial quote for installation was high. I'll put it this way, the estimate we received combined with the metal roofing would have been more than we've spent on the entire structure thus far! What this ultimately means, if I can't locate another option, is Matt and I will be up at camp the first chance we get to put the roof in place and finish the walls. Maybe not necessarily in that order, but both are considered equally important to finalizing this addition to camp. Sure, there's more...painting, installation of the entry doors, trim work, flooring inside, windows, insulation, etc...but those tasks seem small and manageable in comparison.

When the weather turns warmer (next spring), I'll be adding a new project to the blog. This one will be videotaped from my driveway. The 22' camper needs a new roof and I plan to do it correctly beginning with a tear off of the three old layers that are up there now. I'll remove the material that will relent, but I'm not concerned with an entire roof deconstruction because... I receive some samples of a membrane that is a sandwich of multiple layers. It begins with sticky asphalt based base followed by aluminum, followed by a vinyl top layer. The material is highly regarded and used commonly when re-roofing mobile homes. The only hitch is it needs to be applied to a roof that has a 1/4" run off for every foot spanned. The Banner camper is just under 8' wide, so I'll need to have a middle rib that peaks at 1" and tapers toward the sides for proper rain water drainage. I figured that I could build a skeleton similar to a shallow boat frame inverted and fasten it to the roof. Using 1/4" luan as the wood roof and then skin it with the vinyl membrane. I'd likely trim the border with 4" wide epmd tape (I think that is what its called) to make it water tight. Then it would just be a matter of having the two tires mounted and finding a day that Dave would haul it up to camp for us.

Well, that's all for now. Things are extremely busy for me and the rodbuilding business which helps pay for all these projects and increasing work responsibilities at my full time job have me a bit frazzled, but I'll adjust...I always do.

Happy Holidays. May the true meaning of the season find its way into your hearts: spending time with loved ones, family and friends!

Dj