National Grid

National Grid called (at 7PM!) and said "You need to get easements from your neighbors plus copies of deeds plus copies of tax maps. If you can not get easements, you will not get power." I am half-hoping we don't get it, since I have some goofball ideas about 12V power and PV panels that I might get to try, although realistically the budget is long gone already.

I met neighbor Harry Ostrander the other week (other side of Thisse camp) and he wants power too and he is out next to Terry Thisse. If NG (did no one in marketing notice the initials?) brings power to more than one person, the 7.6 kV primary line is free, residents just pay for the secondary line. So I need to call all these people and chase things down, and see what happens.

Notes from Thanksgiving Work (2/2)

The "after pictures" of the bedrock are shown here, plus I wander down by the lake mumbling about the dock.

Thanksgiving work - Dirt

Did not get very far on my do list when I realized that item 2 should be "dig out bedrock completely." Stayed with Tim and Cathy Buckingham in town who let me take showers and fed me as well (very nice!). Despite wearing the natty rain pants shown in the video to keep mud off my pants, I brought quite a bit of that mud into their house. This short video just shows me doing work (drill hole and dig), so not terribly interesting, but gives you an idea of what I did for 3 or 4 days.

Plans

Latest set of plans are in the documents section of the web site.

Packing

It takes awhile to get all loaded up, and I live in terror I will arrive having left something important 400 miles due south. Darn near forgot my rotary hammer and that would have been very, very bad. Hoping snow does not stop me (note the one non-Virginia tool in the pile), and likely staying in Lowville this time at the invitation of Tim Buckingham, or TimBuck2 as Gerry says. Do list this time might be:

1) Drill holes in rock (with rotary hammer) for batter boards
2) Set Batter boards and cross pieces
3) Set string and layout foundation - square it up
4) Use pressure washer to clear dirt from area of 24" diameter foundation piers.
5) Measure spot for each pier per structural plans
6) Use drill and chisels to level rock in area of each pier per structural plan (max slope of 3 in 12).

Might see if I can pick up my green lumber from the O'Brien sawmill made from our trees. Needs to be stacked up and covered with a tarp. And there is always more clearing to do, this time down towards the lake.

Batter boards - 4 per corner

Made batter boards Sunday from 2x4's and rebar. Cut 24" rebar into 8" pieces, drilled 5" deep holes (1/2" round) into ends of 2x4's and then hammered the rebar into the 2x4's. On site, I will drill 4" deep holes in bedrock and drop rebar'd boards into hole.

Not very straight despite actually trying to be straight, but in theory that is ok since I will use builder's level to identify point to level the crosspiece and attach string. Think I will use the 4 boards per corner pattern (see image from www.cedarshed.com below), not the 3 board pattern shown in a prior post.

Adirondack Lake Survey

Anyone know if lake pH is checked regularly by a scientists (not that I don't trust my pool strips - guess I could try those!)? I found a 1986 survey of fish, shoreline, geography, etc: http://www.adirondacklakessurvey.org/alscrpt.php?alscpond=040617. Chasing links, I see USGS has some 1955 photos from 12,000 feet, but quality is about the same as they used for bombing German factories ten years prior to that, so hard to read any details.

Logs into boards

The logs we cut and trimmed are scheduled to be piled into Bill Lee's trailer tomorrow by Tim Buckingham. From there, they head to Bill O'Brien's sawmill near Port Leyden to be cut into 1" rough sawn boards, which need to be stacked back here on site and covered with a tarp so they dry out slowly over the next year. Tim B is on site this week ripping out stumps and digging out dirt at foundation and a few other heavy duty tasks that require a skid steer.

Not sure what the boards are for, but maybe a pump house, or a shed, or a little camp, or a platform, or fencing, or closing in the crawl space, or steps to the lake. They need to be primed and stained to last outside of course, or sanded to be useful as shelving or paneling inside.

Batter boards

Hope to set batter boards at my next visit. This image from shedsusa.com gives you some idea of what they look like. Batter boards are needed to square up the foundation, yielding a rectangle instead of the dreaded parallelogram. Of course, our land is not flat, and this technique will not work unless the strings are horizontal, so I got a builder's level to set string height accurately.

And (of course) we have no dirt to hold up the vertical batter boards, just rock. So, I am drilling a 4" deep hole in the bottom of the 2x4 batter boards with a 1/2" drill bit and pounding an 8" rebar into the 2x4. On site, I will drill a 5" deep hole into rock for each vertical board and drop the rebar'ed 2x4 into the hole. Nothing to it. I hope.

Big rocks

Evan suggested that if these are going to be moved with a skid steer, that perhaps they could be moved to become an entrance feature.

From Halloween 09 at Stony

E: "I love the boulders! they are not easy to move, but you are talking about that...and I wondered what it would be like to have a few of them as part of the way into the cabin, perhaps forming the base for the entry platform, or, with that big one you can't get going to the lake...it might be high enough to form part of the base to the DR doors..or even have the deck post come down on it.. some of the flatter ones could be part (a landing) of the walk up to the cabin from the pkg lot ....I also liked the tree close to the house....it is amazing when trees and boulders are a part of the way the cabin hits the ground because they give an immediate sense of authority, of place, like the cabin has been there awhile......so finding ways for the boulders to be integrated into the site, into the walks and decks and maybe holding up dirt here and there where it is needed."

Halloween - work notes Part 2/2

After a minute to listen to the geese (some procastinators on their way south?), I finish comments on what is done/not done.

Work Notes - Halloween - 1/2

Walk up driveway and through site explaining what was done and what is needed.

Camp - walk from car to porch

Tried to post a movie yesterday using vimeo, but did not have much luck. Hopefully, this one is ok. Short walk from car to site.

Halloween vacation

1) Stopped on Friday morning at 9A to see building official, Paul Gyore and pulled a permit, even though no construction yet.

2) Met Bill Lee who put in the driveway. Ended up using 108 tons of driveway mix, on top of geotech fabric. He leveled out the dip, so grade is better. It seemed a bit soft, but several people swear it will gets rock hard eventually.

3) Dropped a dead 75 foot pine at top of driveway, cut into 2 logs that seemed pretty good, and chopped up the rest.

4) Trimmed and moved other logs into accessible spots (hard to move by myself), either for Ross Phelps (from Chases Lake) with his portable band saw or for someone to bring to the local sawmill. I would like 1x6 boards or 1x8 boards for use as shelving, fencing (probably want some short pieces at top where very steep), board and batten sheds, closing in crawl space, etc.

5) Met Steve Snyder and his son Tyler who moved some log piles, stacked logs on the ground in piles, and hauled brush down past septic towards road. Maybe someday rent Ace Hardware commercial chipper (has a ball type hitch) and turn it into mulch.

6) Cleared a staging area towards lake at top of driveway to store LokNLogs kit logs. Need to build platforms to store logs up out of mud. Same spot can be future grass parking area for a car or two as well.

7) Put up some 2x4’s sticking in air where future cabin corner should be. I shifted it a bit more trying to make it easier to build, and trying to see lake.

8) Cut a few dead trees down towards lake near future paths. Found 2 winding paths from either side of the lot, and one steeper direct route from middle. All 3 intersect in middle below and could angle left or right to dock.

9) Tried to push the apparently teetering rock in picnic area over the side, but it was stubborn. Maybe pull it back (skid steer) and put with other rocks in better spot.

JDIII, Joan, & Beth came up Sun morning with Ella and James, and they all fed me dinner Sunday night.

Hope to drive up again after Thanksgiving for a few days. That may be my last chance prior to snow.

Halloween at Stony

This is what it looked like when I left on Monday morning after a weekend's work (with help)...



or if you prefer a simple contact sheet of snaps (click on each photo to enlarge it)

Halloween 09 at Stony

Permission to proceed

PERMIT! - good for one year (and $5/yr to extend). I just noticed the inspect before pour. I guess when sonotubes ready? I wonder if inspections are M/F only, similar to office hours, or if they are T/W/R only. I will have to call and check.

Due north

Heading back up to Stony for the weekend. Hope to finish clearing, well, except for the path to the lake anyway. Arranged to meet permit official on Friday, and with luck some local helpers on Saturday. Weather may discourage them, but my years of riding bikes in crap have toughened me some, or so I claim. Certainly helped build up my clothing collection at least. Tossed in enough layers to survive a hard freeze, although if the forecast is wrong, I would be darn near grateful.

More pictures!!

A few more snaps from Jan from September of Dan, John III, and me.

Boards

Arranged to meet Ross Phelps who lives at Chases Lake and has a portable bandmill (Timberking B-20.) - $35 per hour while on site: "If you help or provide someone to help with offloading and stacking, it will save you money. Give me a call at (315) 955-9655 and I can meet you up there to take a look. I can also show you some samples of work I've done near the lake."

Not sure what this wood will be used for (interior paneling instead of drywall? deck flooring for outdoor decks - pine?), but golly, I have chewed up a lot already for firewood.

Halloween is coming

DO LIST
1) Meet Paul Gyore on Friday and pull permit?
2) call Kyle or get some help from someone?
3) Call/Meet Bill Lee about driveway - account at the quarry?

CLEARING
- drop the 75 foot dead pine at the top of the driveway
- remove logs and brush at edge of driveway
- burn brush that is frigging everywhere
- cut up all the downed trees into moveable sizes and stack nearby out of the way
- move huge stack of firewood on north side to be out of the way

LAYOUT - will I get here??
- measure distance in front of camp - 10 feet plus
- re-orient camp in general and flag location including south entry deck
- square up camp - corners - 34x36, so 49.5' on diagonal
- set batter boards and string
- locate piers with marking paint
- dig out piers - wash out with pressure washer?

dressing up as a lumberjack, of course

Driveway

... and back to your regularly scheduled program. Can't seem to save money on construction if I need to rent $1000 in equipment(skidsteer), so I sent a check to Bill Lee to get him started on the driveway. He thinks he can get started next week. Hoping to get that all done before the snow, so we aren't staring a muddy mess in the spring.

Glenfield and Western - the GeeWhiz

OT: I liked this old postcard of the GWRR so I put it on my blackberry as the background, and then wondered whatever happened to it, and why it ever happened in the first place. So, I ordered a book on it yesterday. Turns out the bookseller lives near Tipp Hill and his wife has relatives from Lowville.

I also found a map of the old railbed showing it crossing Rt 12 and headed west. Also, found a list of unfinished NYS railroads that says many of these RR's went bankrupt in the Panic of 1873 (quoting Wikipedia!). NYT published this article in 1901, listing the RR founders and saying that the steam line would extend from Glenfield to the NE corner of the Bennett track. What the heck was in the corner of that tract (uh, woods?).

Driveway update

Talked to two driveway guys recommended by the Barrett's quarry (maybe I should call Virkler again), and one is getting me a price today. They both know I am going to be up there at Halloween getting rid of some brush piled up in the way on the driveway, so probably not rushing. I hope one of them has a good price so I don't get stuck with this task.

Rob Andrews suggested using driveway stabilization fabric ($350/roll - quan?) to allow water to run under the gravel without washing it out. Sounds like a good idea, and hope it works. He also said it keeps stone from sinking into any earth at the bottom, which sounds a little more dubious to me, but maybe so. He is still thinking about his price as he wants to use a bulldozer and roller (on that hill? I asked), and might not get to it till spring (crap). He also suggested digging out more at the base, plus push piled up wood and brush (hmm, he said stumps?) out of the way at the top and putting some river run stone as fill up there to level. Maybe so. Bill Lee, the other Barrett quarry recommended local contractor, will look at the site today and call me tonight with a price. Hoping he can move sooner, as this needs to get done before deliveries take place.

Skylight - out for now at least, but maybe later..

Decided to cut the skylight, at least for now. Partly for cost, and partly because I don't feel great about how it works in the log roof. 85 lb snow load soars past standard Velux criteria, even on the Canadian Velux site, but they do sell a special snow load glazing with no specs. Ok specs are SOMEWHERE, but I can not find them. Plus, do I need some kind of header to keep that skylight from falling through to the floor? Hmm. I wonder how many skylights get installed in the Great White North without anyone paying any attention to snow load. Probably most of them.

Also, if there is ever snow on it :), and someone shows up and heats up the camp, the snow on the window will melt, run down the roof and refreeze forming ice dam(s). Ice dams lead to backups which lead to leaks which might continue till spring. Would a steel roof avoid that problem? It might, for another $3K. Plus it costs about a grand to install this sucker by the time you buy the curb and flashing from Velux (yeah, you can kludge it up yourself I guess, but not if you're a noob).

Mind you, I guess it could be added in later when roof is under way, but I would hope that means some REAL roofing contractor who knows what he is doing installs it. As opposed to me.

To do.. some of this over Halloween?

Notes from 24 Sept as I drove out

CLEARING (still)

• drop the 75 foot dead pine at the top of the driveway


• burn brush that is frigging everywhere


• cut up all the downed trees into moveable sizes and stack nearby out of the way


• move huge stack of firewood on north side to be out of the way


• remove logs and brush at edge of driveway - false sense of flat area is probably unsafe

LAYOUT

• measure distance in front of camp - 10 feet plus


• re-orient camp in general and flag location including south entry deck


• square up camp - corners - 34x36, so 49.5' on diagonal


• set batter boards and string


• locate piers with marking paint


• dig out piers - wash out with pressure washer?

ROTARY HAMMER

• drill rock in pier locations


• chip out rock if necessary to flatten pier spot

OTHER

• test driveway if rocks laid, or meet someone willing to do driveway

Driveway

Getting bids to get gravel put down on the driveway so it will be usable. Pretty steep though, I think it goes up about 30+ feet in elevation over 175 feet. (For those who don't like math, see http://www.1728.com/gradient.htm - yikes pushing 20%).

For comparison, Tour de France climbs are half that steepness - the Alps average 7-8% where the big climbs in the Pyrenees average 8-9%. Of course, that is a silly comparison as those climbs continue for 15 miles at high altitude. But ridiculous comparisons are more fun than mundane ones.

I measured the driveway at 175 feet long more or less at about 8 feet wide with a sorta round 30 foot circle (well, 40x20 ft space) up on top and a spot at the bottom. If that is 2500 sqft or so, then we need about 45 tons of driveway rock mix. If we try to even out the grade, and we need to do that if possible, we would need about 50 tons. Or so.

Final plans

Well, I hope these are final, as I need to start making progress on a zillion details.

Question that will not affect plans now, but matters someday. (Had a long argument with Evan about this.) Should the gas stove go in the island?

ARGUMENTS

EVAN: Yes, definitely. Part of the point of a camp is sharing the experience and the chit-chat....so having the range facing the LR and the DR allows the cook(s) to be engaged with the brother they haven't seen in a while or the niece and nephew playing checkers in the LR or even to catch a glimpse of the family returning from the lake so they know to start the soup.

MATT: No. If you put a stove in the island, you can't use it as a place to have a snack, or to have breakfast. There you are reading the paper, and you set down the paper, and oh crap, the burner was hot and the paper is on fire. We can put the stove on the other side of the sink, and get it closer to conversations, but let's not put it in the island.

Well, I am never quite sure, what do you think? And no, I am not asking if we should take the now rusting stove that is back out on the porch and cut a hole in the cabinets and drop it inside :)

Snow

Glenfield weather today - "Cloudy with a chance of rain showers early...possibly mixing with wet snow across the Tug Hill" I am so used to Virginia weather which I vastly prefer as a whole. I need to plan some weekend trips to finish the clearing and dig out the piers. Maybe I can drive Friday afternoons and come back Monday afternoons. Hmph. Need to be ready for cold weather and bad weather though.

Notes Video 3/3 - Cabin siting

Muttering about where the cabin should face. Never quite sure, but decided that we need to see the dock from the porch above all other factors.

Sept 09 Notes 2/3 - Driveway and Parking areas

Notes on the driveway areas mostly

Notes Video - 1/3 Pump, Road, Property lines

Ok, so now I know 10 minutes max for youtube... split up notes into 3 parts. These are probably dull unless you really need to know this stuff. Site documentation using my flipvideo camera as a tape recorder basically.

Movie - People on site

Thanks to all who helped me up at the Rock last weekend - Gerry - who dropped two 75 foot pines, the Murnanes - doubley so to Dan who stayed on a few days, Tim Buckingham who pulled a few dozen stumps with a skid steer and made the parking area, Janet who zoomed in with food and energy mid-week, and John D3 - the 66 yo wonder boy woodsman, - and Paula, Cory and Rach who put up with my absence.

Photos from Sept Clearing work

Or if slideshows drive you nuts, click here:

PFD-Sept09-Clearing

Tim Buckingham

Called a cousin-in-law, Tim Buckingham, who will come out with his skid steer starting on Saturday and clear the site and driveway for us. Decided that made more sense than me doing it with a rented one. I do like lower center of gravity, track type skid steers though, so if someone had offered me a Bobcat T-300 (which I have used) instead of a John Deere wheeled model 250, I would have been happy as a pig in Virginia clay. However, it will be awfully nice to have someone skilled to do this part instead of me. No shortage of work here... money yes, work no.

It begins on Saturday

Well, either that or it begins again. Always reminds me of Chaim Potok's first line: "All beginnings are hard."

I sent a deposit to LokNLogs, and the Rockdale mirror +2 ft is "on the boards." Getting a permit next week (I hope) and drilling some rock. And holding my breath.

Generators

Keep wishing I had my own, so checked amp draws for some tools. Specifically checked rotary hammer, circular saw and compressor (oh DRAT, forgot to check chop saw). Max was circular saw at about 750 watts running and if it binds, maybe 1500 watts or so. Rotary hammer thru granite does not stick, and my portable Dewalt 2 tank compressor is similar but less than circular saw.

To Do

Planning for 19th-24th

Before arrival

1. Get building permit if possible from Paul Gyore (sealed roof plan needed now, or later?)
2. Discuss concrete pour with supplier – hose reach ok? Driveway? Wed ok?
3. Get 24” long #4 rebars – 30 or so.
4. Get 16(?) 48” sonotubes (or 8 at 8’ or whatever HD has) in 12” round.
5. Make 16(?) brace boxes for the sonotubes out of 2x4 (12x12 inside clear box, and a couple of legs that can be pinned to ground (rock?)
6. Tools and materials - load up minivan. Add storage to rear and roof as needed.

On site

1. Cut trees that need to come down in future and might be somewhere near the camp.
2. Cut trees in future septic location, as we don’t want to cut a tree AFTER the camp is up if we can help it.
3. Mark north property line setback (12’6”?)
4. Layout camp footprint in soil approximately to match latest site plan
5. Remove stumps in camp footprint area using skid steer – remove soil there?
6. Scrape driveway with skid steer - add gravel or concrete to holes? IF SO, NEED GRAVEL DELIVERY AND PLACE TO PUT GRAVEL NEAR ROAD – CLEAR OUT DELIVERY ZONE WITH SKID STEER
7. Set up batter boards (may need to anchor to rock?) and using builder’s level, set mason string to height of sonotubes
8. Mark pier locations – dig out dirt there and cut sonotube height to fit.
9. Drill rebar hole, epoxy rebar in place (1 per sonotube, except if slope spot – then a couple).
10. Set sonotubes in place, and anchor wooden braces for each tube so they don’t move around.
11. Snap chalk lines to show center points for each tube.
12. At end of pour for each tube, bury a 6” SS ¼”x20 bolt upright with 3” showing to anchor sill plate.

Skid steer

Reserved a John Deere 250 skid steer ($192/day, $770/wk plus $60 delivery) and a generator ($48/day or $193/wk) from Ace Hardware in Lowville (315-376-6022, open 7A-7P). Closing in on real work, so I better call Paul Gyore.

Piers

Met with a structural engineer who gave me some off the meter advice. He said #4 rebar is fine, and 12” deep is a good idea in case any of the rock is fractured. He said if granite, then probably not fractured. He said one rebar is fine, but do two if I want to do two. Fussing to myself more and more the closer I get to starting the construction.

Smoke detectors

Thank goodness the chimney fire was noticed at 11PM before everyone was asleep, or people may have died. Yes, the cabin might have burned down too, but I know we could rebuild a cabin. I hope it's "just" a lesson learned.

Town of Watson

Called our building inspector, Paul Gyore (315-376-4247) just to check on basics.   He can be reached mornings Monday and Friday, at least right now.  He reminded me to get a sealed roof plan for 85# snow load, and a sealed septic plan, and to meet all APA regulations.   I mentioned piers pinned to bedrock and he said that would sounded normal up there on the Rock. They don't require a building permit for single family camp until you start building (basic clearing and site prep is not building) so next spring most likely. 

NYS Geology Maps

http://geology.about.com/library/bl/maps/blnewyorkmap.htm

Interesting map of bedrock types. Well, interesting if you need to drill bedrock and wonder if it is granite. And looks like it may be (green is granite, red is mixed).

Evan Lippincott

Met with my longtime friend, Evan, today to bat around site ideas and get his sense of options that work up on the rock.  He is a fount of grand ideas and positive energy.   He is not going in the same direction as me at all times, but thank goodness, because his direction is compelling and his sense of space is remarkable.

Frost is Coming

Found some weather data. Oh boy. If we want to pour sonotubes in fall, we better hurry: http://www.climate-charts.com/USA-Stations/NY/NY304912.php

Bobcats

Worried about using a skidsteer due to side slope on the land, and found these photos of a guy doing work on an impossible slope with a tracked bobcat (treads not wheels). Apparently the track version has lower center of gravity, but still this would have my heart in my mouth: http://www.contractortalk.com/f62/what-type-slope-can-mini-track-loaders-handle-11312/

Driveway

Looks like 3000 sqft in main driveway. I called Virkler and Sons in Lowville and they said "we know where you are, we were up at Gus Holliday's Saturday and Gerry Kaban’s the week before. If you have bedrock, you don’t need much of a base, just scrape off that dirt first and then put down a 2” crusher run. That would be $14.40 per ton, and for 3000 sqft you probably need about 80-85 tons, say 4 truckloads or so. " 4 inch crusher is 14.10 a ton, and 1 inch is 14.60/ton

Pressure washer NPSH

This is not the typical first blog post, explaining topic, so if puzzled, see Paul Dwyer Camp.

Need to pressure wash soil off bedrock for the foundation. Do pressure washers have a minimum net positive suction head? And will I ever get 200 gallon stock tank up that hill anyway? Farmer Gerry says No Problem.

Do the materials need a stand to keep them off the ground (hmm)? How long can you store them?