Cabin Work Trip- October 2010

At 5:15 p.m. on September 29, 2010 Greg and I left Kaysville, pulling the trailer packed with tools and supplies for the cabin. Our goal was to power wash and oil the cabin, protecting the wood, and preserving the beautiful gold color of the logs. When Dave had put a coat of stain on the porches, he was told that he should power wash the porch to remove dirt, dust, and pollen, and allow the stain to penetrate deeper into the wood. He rented a power washer, and washed the deck, then to see if the logs needed washing, he turned the power sprayer onto the logs on the front of the cabin. What a difference there was in the logs that he washed. So at his urging we brought up two power washers, one that I had bought, and one that we had borrowed.
Greg and I arrived at the cabin around 10:30, and unloaded the Suburban, and trailer. We put the 20 gallons of Chevron Shingle oil that I had bought in front of the heater in the cabin, to warm it up to room temperature. The night sky was ablaze with a million stars. The temperature outside was 45 degrees. Inside the cabin it was 52.
The next morning it was 31 degrees outside. We had to wait for it to warm up, because we were going to first wash the outside cabin walls. We didn't want the water to freeze onto the cabin. By 10:30 it was 40 degrees, and we went to work. Greg started on the west side, and I started on the east side. We did these sides first, because they required the least climbing. Then we moved tothe north and south sides.

It was amazing how much dirt, oil, dust, and grime was accumulated onto the logs. We have oiled the cabin twice in the past 13 years, but have never washed it, so the oil went right over the dirt. Notice the contrast between the areas Greg had cleaned and thise he hadn't.

The east side of the cabin did not come as clean as the other sides, because of the snow which piles up against it in the winter. Still, notice the difference in the right hand side which has been washed, and the left hand side which has not. Notice especially the lower piece of wood which covers the area just above the foundation. Yes, it really was that black to begin with.

Greg up high power washing the upper logs.

Rick power washing the south side. Notice the difference in the color from the right side which has been washed, and the side to the left of the window that has not been washed yet.

This is the north side of the cabin after it had been completely washed. Notice how bright, and clean the logs look.

The south side of the cabin after it had been completely washed. About 4 p.m. Dave arrived with a 32 foot ladder which we used to reach the very highest points on the end gables. We finally finished at 5 p.m. My arms, shoulders, and back ached from holding the handle of the power washer, and reaching it up high, spraying back and forth to clean the logs. All I had energy for that night was to take a bath, eat, and go to bed.

The next day, Friday October 1, we began oiling the outside logs. Again we had to wait for the temperature to rise above freezing, but once the sun came up we had a warm sunny day, the temperature rising above 70! Dave and I had each brought a garden sprayer which we used to spray Chevron Shingle Oil onto the logs. The oil is too thick to come out of the sprayer nozzle as a spray, but several years ago I discovered that if I heated the oil on the stove to about 100 degrees, it would spray out in a fine mist, and cover the cabin much more quickly.

We started at ten a.m. Dave on the west side and front porch, and I on the east side. The wood soaked up the oil like a sponge; much more so than five years ago when I last oiled, probably because we had cleaned the old oil off of the logs. So, with oil continuously heting on the stove, we kept our sprayers full, and continued spraying. We carried the heavy sprayers up the ladders, then sprayed oil above our heads, the hot oil dripping onto our heads, shoulders, and backs. The rungs of the ladders became slippery with oil. Up, and down, up , and down. My quadriceps began to cramp from the continual climbing.

Since we only had two sprayers, Greg used a brush to oil the trim around the doors and windows. Hannah was very excited to help, and using a small paintbrush did her part. She was very proud of the job she did.


We finally finished about 3 p.m.

Washed and oiled cabin

The south side of the washed, and oiled cabin. I didn't take any pictures of the actual oiling process, because it is so messy, with hot oil dripping everywhere. I didn't want to ruin my camera. Dave had the worst part, oiling the underneath side of the roof that overhangs the porch. He had so much oil drip on him that we were able to wring him out and get another gallon or two of oil.

After finsihing the oiling job, Dave returned the ladder to Rexburg,and Greg and I removed all of the screens, washed them, washed the windows, and replaced the screens. Muscles were sore again.

Saturday we listened to conference. But in between sessions, we cut down five dead trees around Little Jon Cabin. Greg, Jeff, and Caroline cut the logs into rounds, and then began to split.

Jeff, Greg, and Caroline set to work splitting wood.

Greg's swing is so fast, the maul head is only a blur.

Jeff knows how to drive that maul through the core of the log.

Caroline had the best form. Greg looks like he is ready to run out of the way.

Caroline celebrating her splitting of a log with one blow.

Lizzy and Spencer had fun playing with Claire. Claire grows cuter every day.

Hannah sure enjoyed her Quesadilla.

I'm sorry, but the only picture I have of Kanien is this picture of her back playing Bananagrams

With the wood all split and stacked, we should have enough to warm us all winter, or hopefully several winters.

Here is the final result: A nice, clean, freshly-oiled cabin.