I have some new neighbors up here. They bought 20 acres with a little one room cabin a couple of properties closer to the main road then mine. They have high hopes of building a nice Log cabin soon and being able to stay for all but the worst of winter. This summer has been prep work for them. Getting a camping trailer set up, clearing trees and doing some road work so the big log hauling trucks can make it back there. I got a text from them saying road work had started, mostly as a courtesy since it is a one lane road and road work can make for some precarious scooching over to get by. No big deal.
I was very surprised when I drove out the next day and almost ran into a highway sized road grader working the road. Plus a car crusher sized dirt compactor. This was no little effort and a beautiful sight for my sore shock absorbers. They even spread out about a ¼ mile of gravel. The existing owners up here have been talking about fixing the road for a few years but we could never get out of the email stages. Having been dealing with the road for a few years now, I have a hard time throwing a lot of money at it since the next rainy season will probably wash away all the money we put into it. But the new folks are bright eyed and bushy tailed about getting road access for everything but the deepest snow. The unwritten rule is everyone chips in for road work expenses equally. Good for me since I live at the end but the other unwritten rule is we all agree to the expenditure before the work is contracted. No one has mentioned anything about my share of the effort yet so maybe I’ll skate on this one. Here is hoping. The weather forecasters are predicting switch to La Nina/El Nino depending on which one we have been in the past couple of winters. Whichever one is warmer and wetter than the other is what they say is coming our way.
I think I mentioned that there is a gated development being built out that I have to pass through to get to my property. Lots of million plus homes planned. I counted 9 already under construction a few days ago. Whether they are spec homes or already bought remains to be seen. They do seem to be going pretty slowly building them though. Maybe dragging their feet hoping for a drop in mortgage rates.
I know it’s a high end development because it has a big fancy electric gate. No guard shack so not super high end. I got a note the other day saying they will be selling the $50 remote openers that my neighbors and I will need to access our properties sometime in the future. That lit up the group text we have going.
The man that owns the development company is not known as a good guy around these parts. Rumor has it he doesn’t pay his bills. Snow removers from last year haven’t been paid yet not to mention the people that built the road. The big concern is that if we take a remote opener, are we tacitly becoming members of the development’s HOA. With the dues and financial obligations that come with it. No clear answer yet.
I also got a letter from the developer saying they want to change the name of our road because it starts at the end of one of their culdesacs. (Not sure how long I’ll be able to use it for winter parking) It turns out that the county has all kinds of rules for road names and one of them is that a road has to have the same name for its entire stretch. So if the developer’s choose some cutsie name that was focused tested by TicToc addled 13 year olds, we are stuck with it. We are trying to beat them to the naming rights but seem to have lost steam.
So all the drama of living under an HOA without having to pay dues, Yet.
It has not been a warm summer. Just a couple 90 degree days so far. I still wear a jacket for my morning procrastination, AKA coffee. We even haven’t gotten our burn ban notice yet. Regardless of the ban status, I still don’t burn anything because I haven’t hooked up any hoses to the well yet. Better safe than sorry.
Not much else going on though. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, the cabin has walls. It has been slow going but I am still trying to get it closed in and weatherproof before the wet season gets here. I am starting to feel like I am in an HGTV building show with a dramatic deadlines to hold my attention through the last commercial interruption. This is a real deadline though. The cabin has to be at least weatherproof before the wet season gets here around mid October or the winter weather will really do a lot of damage.
I took most of June off to figure out how I was going to familiarize myself with the plans and the associated engineering. I cant be sure if my simple design isn’t so simple or the engineer has a big investment in Simpson Strong-Tie. They make all of the steel bracing and brackets that hold buildings together. Nails and screws just wont do anymore. After I was put together the purchase list for all the brackets and straps the engineer says I need, I was beginning to think I was going to spend more on the bracing than the lumber. Until I started pricing out the #1 grade Fir posts that the engineer also says I need. The posts are really pretty, tight grained #1 grade lumber and are wallet emptiers. Too bad they are for support only and will not be visible. Has to be done so I dusted off my wallet and pried out the credit cards for a credit limit busting shopping spree.
By July 1st, I ran out of reasons to procrastinate the effort and the later sunrises and earlier sunsets put a fine point on the fact that I better get moving. I loaded the nail gun (many many times), fired up the air compressor and finally started the cabin build. Progress is slow due to the constant battle to nail warped and curly lumber together. I am getting there but it has definitely not been a breeze. I would love a breeze, but most days are just windy. It makes working on the second floor a bit tentative, I am not looking forward to putting a roof on the cabin if the wind keeps up.
The next inspection is the framing. I am pretty worried about it. First I don’t really know what I am doing so hopefully I am erring on side of over building it. Neither the designer nor the engineer have been on site to understand what I am working with. I have had to call the engineer at least once a week to get clarification on what he is calling out in the plans and I am usually more confused after the call. With all on the braces and specialty lumber, I have a feeling that the engineer has this being built to last through the next ice age, a 1000 year snowstorm, fire, flood, pestilence and any number of other biblical trials and tribulations. Some of the stuff the engineer designed in to the cabin would take an army of workers and a crane to put into place. I had a couple of friends come up from Seattle to help with the ridge beam install shown in the timelapse video. We were sore for days and there are still 2 more beams to set. I have to get the framing inspection while the weather is good. I wont be able to do any more work i.e. windows and doors and a roof if I cant get the inspector here while the road is still open. But sitting here typing about my problems isn’t getting me closer to an inspector visit. Tine to get busy.
Lots of excitement for sure. Stay tuned.
