Thinker's Box is Ready for Winter...

     It was Tuesday, 11.08.2011 and I was back at camp.  This time out, I brought along a helper to assist me in the application of the Owens Corning waterguard "G" underlayment.  I introduced him to our usual routine, done what seems dozens of times already...unload the SUV, prepare our sleeping arrangements, check out camp, start a fire, enjoy of few refreshments courtesy of the Yuengling brewery, get some shut eye, get up early, unpack the tools, remove the tarp and then try to get something accomplished (in that order most of the time).  Camp was cold, quiet and filled with blue moonlight yet again.  Sure beats being rainy, muddy and cold!  I built a fire and it kept us warm enough for a couple hours of fish story telling.  At 2am, it was time to hit the rack.  We both passed out with little resistance and were up to face the day's chores by 7am.  Things went well and the roof is much better prepared to face the upcoming weather changes and inclimate weather than how we found it that morning.  In fact, if there are any days in the next couple months that I'm off and it is "nice"...the walls could actually be installed.  We'll see about that!

     The long roof's (not shown) installation went better than that of the steep shorter roof that you do see in the video.  Ironically, the long roof deck was actually harder to install.  It was somewhat of a puzzle on how to install the second and third runs so far from the ladders until I figured out exactly where to place the roof jacks so they wouldn't interfere with the next run and still supply me with a safe footing well over 20' off the ground.

     I would have liked to have a slightly straighter seam to seam edge on the short side, but the ice guard is sticky! When daytime temperatures rose to the mid 50-60 degree range, the adhesive backing really grips well and is a complete pain in the butt to reposition once it makes contact.

     The big thing, and this is how I rationalized the slightly imperfect lines of the short side in my head, was to have good coverage at the eave edge.  The entire decking is covered with a material that ordinarily is used to combat ice dams on the first 3' feet of the roof deck.  We really didn't have to apply it over the entire surface, but I wanted to be extra sure that we had done our best to prevent leaks down the road.  We really didn't have to deck the roof in .60" OSB either, but I figured that in the event we chose to go with conventional roofing materials (shingles) that we'd have that option with the thicker board already in place.

     On the longest and less steep side of the roof, I was able to install perfect parallel runs with 3" overlaps at the seams as specified by the manufacturer.  On the short side, because things get a little skewed on the south end, the sheeting drifts from a 3" overlap at the start to just about 1/2" at the end cut.  The roof is so steep, I'm not really worried about the imperfection as it will not hold water/or snow and poses less risk of leaking.  I would have liked for it to be a little tighter to specified tolerances, but it is what it is and will be hidden by metal roofing for a long-long time.

Please excuse the humor of my video.  This was an extremely tiring day filled with some death defying perches.  In fact, I straddled the roof peak that stands about 22' off the ground and shimmied my way from the south side to the north side stapling the roof decking at the seam along the way.  It was a great view, but had the heart pumping.  I'm glad that part is over!  My energy for the day was expended through climbing and repositioning ladders and the constant adrenaline release associated with being separated from the ground by so much distance.

Dj

Fascia Boards Installed

Jennifer and I made the trip Saturday evening out to camp.  The kids had been dropped off at Grandma's house for the night because neither had expressed an interest to make the journey.  The mall seemed more desirable given that both had some spending money because of good grades.  Speaking of academics...My son hit the honor roll and my daughter impressed us with a 4.142 principle's list once again.  Needless to say, as parents, Jen and I are blessed to have both of them as children and are quite proud of their achievements thus far in their lives!  Ok, less bragging about the children and more about camp...because it was just the two of us, we opted to camp in the SUV on the level ground of the "lower level".  The misses was impressed with how far the "Thinker's Box" has progressed and had remarked that she had simply asked me to build a small place that the ladies could use the facilities in private and this is what she gets instead.  I say, "Don't sweat the small stuff, think big or don't bother thinking!"  She's correct, though...it is quite impressive.

Anyhoo...this trip was about spending time with the little lady (alone), Jen getting in some much needed camp time, star gazing, enjoyment of the quietness of camp and observance of nature and me getting a couple things done in the process.  Evening temperatures Saturday night dropped to 25 or so degrees F.  I encouraged the creation of a fire which warmed our front sides while we gazed up at the night sky.  We turned in around 11 and I was up at 7 to install the fascia boards which wasn't all that difficult to do.  In a few easy paced hours, they were up, the tarp was re-stapled into place and new plastic put on the south facing side of the roof peak.  At that point, sleepy-head awoke, I loaded up the trailer and Mountaineer and we headed into town to grab a bite to eat before returning home.

Look for another trout camp subscription email reminder, don't think that you were mistakenly sent two this week, as I will be posting another update of some additional work shortly.

Here's the video of camp and what was completed this trip.  We're getting closer to a finished structure and I cannot wait until we can use it for storage (LOL!).

We've got a roof!

     Jim, Matt and I arrived at trout camp Saturday evening after a 3.25 hour drive.  The additional drive time was due to a stop over in Oil City to pick up 400square feet of Owens Corning Ice/Water Guard Roof Membrane from our eventual metal roof supplier.  Greg was nice enough to bring the rolls home with him and allow us to pick it up at his place after hours.  Way after hours, around 10:15-ish if memory serves correctly.  From there we took the 30 minute drive into camp.  Our camp entry was marked with the usual ritual of unpacking and preparing the sleeping arrangements, unloading the tools, ladders and gear from the trailer and SUV into the "Thinker's Box" and situating things so that we could enjoy some grub (or breakfast as Matt liked to refer to it because of the past midnight hour).  It was a cold night (mid 30 degrees) with an almost clear sky full of stars.  Just outside the perimeter of camp, small scurries and rustling leaves could be heard.  What was a bit unnerving and startling at first was the pack of coyotes that began howling, crying and whining off in the distance.  It sounded like there were quite a few of them, with definitely some offspring in the mix as well.  That had us on an elevated alertness level for a while.

     Matt continued to prep the fire, burning almost all of the untreated dimensional lumber cut offs that were scattered about, and I put the burgers, hot dogs and buns on the propane grill.  We'll need to acquire a replacement soon, the few months of elements (even while under a full sized cover) have frozen the burner temp. adjustment knobs internally and screwed with the gas delivery to the burner itself.  I was able to fire up one side and cook, but it was slow going due to a reduced output.  After we chowed down and have a few refreshments, it was time for lights out.  We slept protected from the elements, but it was till cold, inside my neighbor's cabin.

     Sunday morning began by following the lead and direction of my neighbor Matt.  The goal was to install the roof on the "Thinker's Box".  Matt and I took the high ground.  We were supported by Jim on the lower level.  Not having to climb up and down the step ladder, back and forth from the loft to the first floor, to make cuts was a real time and energy saver!

     It took about an hour.  In that time, we were able to block in the end of the roof rafters. When the OSB sheeting was installed over top of the rafters, the short end walls at the eaves aren't exposed to the outside.  With a few tubes of caulk or liquid nails, we'll have a great seal at the inside eaves.  We'll save that for next time!

     Once all the rafter ends were blocked in, Matt and I moved to the next task- - installing the extensions that comprise the support arms for the eave overhang on the north and south end of the tool shed.  We notched back two rafters and ran a 2"X4" through the notches extending 10.5" out from the face of the walls.  The end of the 2"X4" 's were screwed to the vertical side of a third rafter in to complete the connection to skeletal frame.  On the extension side, we butted a vertical length of 2"X4" to the horizontal protruding piece and screwed it together securely.  Once the .60" OSB was installed on top, the extensions became strong enough to hang from and aren't likely to sag in my lifetime.  I appreciate the abilities of Matt, because as we brainstormed the design together, the plan that we came up with seemed to work out extremely well and looks good too!

     We ran into some issues with our borrowed generator.  Thankfully it was half way through laying the roof decking in place.  As we began work on the long side of the roof, Adam's homelite generator began to run really rough.  I raced down from the loft to it to see if I could mess with the choke, because it sounded like it had begun to flood out or something...but, I wasn't quick enough.  By the time I got close, it had turned off and could not be restarted.  This reduced building efficiency to a snails pace.  Cuts, thankfully there weren't a ton of them to do, had to be made using the electricity available at the neighbor's camp.  Four trips back and forth completed the decking.  Nailing, remember we were using pneumatic tools for this part, had to resume via hand tools.  Matt and I cut the collated clipped head nails into singles and put in as many as we had time to do.  Eventually, by hand, the roof was as finished as it could possibly be on this trip out.  Another half hour to 45 minutes was spent getting the camouflage tarp up and over the roof and stapled into place.

So, what's in store for the next trip out?

     The fascia board has not been installed, nor has the Owens-Corning Ice / Water Guard.  These two tasks have been reserved for the next trip up as we simply ran out of time and daylight this time around.  I guess I'll bring up the caulk gun and seal in the loft blocking on that trip as well...

     I would like to once again extend an enormous level of gratitude and a huge "THANK YOU!" to my neighbor Matt for assisting Jim and I in this endeavor.  Without exaggeration, there is no way (NONE!) that the "Thinker's Box" would be at this level of completion without his help.  Help isn't really the word I feel comfortable using either...  What he has done for our camp is above and beyond what I would expect from anyone that volunteers to "lend a hand" to a friend.  I don't wish to go on and on about this, but I am indebted to him and his time which I realize is extremely valuable.  To be completely honest, I feel an extreme level of humbleness and a certain level of anxiety regarding what he has done for us thus far because I somehow feel we don't deserve it.  I promise that I'll return the favor when the time(s) comes and the call is placed!

That's all for now...enjoy the movie!

Putting the finishing touches on the Thinker's Box framing...

This past Wednesday, after celebrating my daughter's 14th b-day at our favorite sushi restaurant (Otani's in Mayfield Heights), I immediately headed out to TC in preparation for the following day's list of things to do.  The rush is the weather.  If you haven't had the opportunity to spend a few overnighters in Pennsylvania, let me clue you in...Whatever the nightime temperature is in Cleveland, it'll be 10-15 degrees cooler in the Allegheny Mountains.  If it is borderline cold here with an occasional sprinkle of snow, chances are they'll have 12-24" on the ground in parts.  They seem to have rain every third day, so you can imagine what happens when freezing temperatures become common.  Now, this isn't a given, but considered typical.  My fear is the snow that lurks just around the corner and the unfinished state of the Thinker's Box "shed".  It must at least have a solid roof (even if it is just the sheathing) prior to the white stuff.  When the snow starts flying, the loads will easily weigh down the tarp that is on it now and tear it to shreds.  If that happens, the affects on the interior could prove catastrophic destroying the progress that I've worked so hard to complete in such a short time.  So, in short...the roof needs to be installed!  If we can get the sheathing on the roof rafters and at least one wall skinned (the northern facing wall) before the snow starts to fly my level of anxiety will be greatly reduced.

As you will see in the video, the OSB is at camp ready to be installed, all of the rafters are in place and the walls now have been made structurally sound with in-between-the-studs 45 degree angle blocking.  I've also managed to bring the studs up to the underside of the outer roof rafters.  The only thing that needs to be addressed before the roof decking is put in place is the eves.  I'd like to extend them a foot on either end to give us a lip of protection against the elements.

As far as camp is concerned.  It looks like we've had no human visitors since my last visit.  The plastic that I stapled to the walls was intact and untouched.  I didn't see any footprints in the lower level's flat either.  The grass is still growing and I believe the seed that was laid about a month ago (if memory serves correctly) has sprouted with the most success.  So, late September seems to be a good time.  I'm guessing that we'll have to go through this routine several times before we have a nice lush area that is completely green a portion of the year.  I can't help but think that a couple falls worth of leaf debris and natural decomposition would go far in providing the nutrients necessary to hardy up the grass we have...time will tell, I guess.

Cool Photos From Camping w/The Neighbors

     Since I was too busy to shoot any sort of quality video programming to post of camping with the neighbors, I asked for copies of Carol's photography.  Here are a few (more than a few) of the cooler ones of the time we spent with weapons of war and target practice at Trout Camp back in September.

     But, first...before play time, there is always work.  I proposed a game of "pick up the rocks".  The one with the most amount of rocks collected withing their bucket in a 5 minute period of time (it was more like 10 - I think?) wins $10 cash!   My neighbor's children were all on board and the competition was fierce.  There wasn't just one bucket per kid, they collected many buckets each.  I was amazed at their enthusiasm! When the timer went off and it was time to count the tons of rocks collected and redistributed to the drive-path into camp, I discovered they all had tied! Imagine that?!  So, everyone got paid the prize award amount.  Best $30 that Jim and I ever spent.  These kids know how to work and they did a great job of clearing the rocks off the lower flat of our property.  We've got more to do, however, and there is always next time and another competition! LOL!

     After the work was completed,  we prepped a spot on the lower level and prepared the arsenal for firing.  You may notice, by my shirt, that it was HOT!  Anyway, I went over gun safety, range awareness, properly body position and stance, safe trigger finger placement, announcing safety on/off, the range was "hot", live firing, etc... We began with the bb rifle and CO2 handgun and worked our way through to the Glock.  Matt and I had some fun firing his old shot gun and I took out my rifle as well.  The best part of the event was seeing how much the kids enjoyed themselves.  I know that they appreciated the challenge of target practicing and attempting to remove the red dot of the bull's eye from the targets.  Look at the smile on "Not-a-Toyota's" face in the .gif below.  She was brave enough and had no problem going through a complete magazine of rounds in the process.  I was impressed by how well she followed instructions, her patience, and how well she hit the target. This particular model is a first generation, it is wide, it kicks with a passion, but she handled it in stride.  Maybe she'll grow up to be a law enforcement officer?  Who knows!?

I think the smiles says it all!  There is nothing like firing a .40cal glock!

Some of the crew decided that Mankala was more fun than shooting, but that's OK...Trout Camp is supposed to be about having fun and good memories.  

For their first time ever handling a firearm, I'd say that what they shot was really impressive!

It wasn't just kids proving they had good aim, the adults got in on the action as well!

Everyone got a chance to shoot the BB gun, .22 Rifle, and a few others...

Replenishment of my neighbor's water supply at our local spring.

Gun / Range Safety Instruction Speech

Unloading the weapons, before the safety speech.

Rock Collection Time!

"Not-a-Toyota", first time with a long rifle and a great shot!

We're getting there...

The tires of the Mountaineer hit the freeway around 6pm this past Sunday with trailer in tow.  I had held off purchasing the 3/4" OSB subfloor for the loft because I didn't want to risk that I'd ruin them by driving in driving rain!  The storm that blew through town in Cleveland around 5:30pm looked like a monsoon.  I chuckled to myself that the decision to hold off the purchase was a good idea.  The drive into Pa. was clear for the most part.  The bulk of the heavy clouds and I'm guessing rain had headed over the lake because I received a light sprinkle near route 11 and that was it.  On the fly, I gambled and decided to stop in Erie.  I arrived at the Erie Home Depot at 7:30pm, loaded up the 6 sheets of OSB and headed South to Camp.  No rain on the horizon, minimal clouds in the sky....this was a good sign!

By 10pm I had everything off the trailer and into the Thinker's Box where it was safe, sound and protected from any potential overnight rain storms.  I unloaded most of the items out of the SUV that weren't extremely valuable and prepared my sleeping arrangements at Pedro's place.  It was "early" and I was looking for something to occupy my time for a few hours.  There wasn't anyone on top of the mountain that I could tell so it was off to a little-less-local pub about 15 minutes down the road to watch the Steeler's game and a quick bite to eat.  A little-less-local because our local pub (within 5 minutes of camp) has closed its operation.  It had been for sale for $550K for a while and I guess the potential to serve a resident community of 468 people wasn't convincing enough for an investor to pony of the asking price?  Go figure?!

Anyway, when I left the pub...it looked like the Steelers were going to lose, but the game finalized with the win on their side.   If Manning had been healthy, it would have been a definite loss as would have Cleveland's game against them the week prior.  But, as the saying goes...Any given Sunday!

I returned to camp around 11:30pm and set my alarm for 6:30am.  I awoke to find the air cool and crisp, the sky turning bluer by the second and very few clouds.  It took a little longer for the sun to crest the mountain because of the season, but when it hit late morning...it was full force.  The work was systematic.  With only two tasks to complete, both being quite repetitive, I got into "machine mode" and got things done.  I departed camp at 3:01 and was home at 5:30pm.  

Video recap provided for your viewing pleasure.

Loft is in!

Another Thursday spent in the rain at TC installing the loft's joist framing.  The Thinker's Box now has an 11'8" X 13'4" second story "storage" area with one heck of a view.  Two luxuries that I enjoyed this time around was a cold day, a steady cool breeze and working under the protective shield of a tarp for a roof.

The overall framing went up without much trouble.  It took quite a bit of time because of the additional rigging needed to install the 2X8X12' lumber by myself.  Once I figured out the methodology and implemented the steps, it was steady work.

Once the joists were in place, I thought it would be a good time to block between them.  Instead of running one blocking row down the middle, I split the floor joist run into thirds and installed two rows.  The result was a very stiff upper deck which will only become more solid once the 1/2 tongue and groove OSB is installed on the next trip.

Weather report:  It rained from midnight through 8:45AM Thursday.  Once the rain had passed, I was able to work in cloudy conditions that changed to partly sunny, breezy and quite cool.  Because of the early morning rain, I decided not to purchase the OSB.  I'll haul it up to camp on a day that is dry and I've got my fingers crossed that this may be next Thursday?!

I'll bring you up to day next week when I return!

Dj