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toddheyn
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# Posted: 5 May 2011 01:51pm - Edited by: toddheyn
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It has been a while since we have been back to our cabin, White Birch Acres. I had posted quite a bit last year under the topic "Large shed = small cabin?".
We were able to get back to the cabin over the Easter weekend to put together our futon bunkbed, install the kitchenette counter with the sink, stove and oven, put a porch on the front of the cabin, hang decorations on the outside, and create loft storage in the back storage shed.
You can check out our photos by going to this link -
White Birch Acres 2011
We plan on going back over the Memorial Day Weekend to get quite a bit more smaller projects done like installing the steps on the porch, raising the refigerator on the porch to a usable height, installing a metal backsplash around the stove, moving the propane tanks outside etc.
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hattie
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# Posted: 5 May 2011 06:28pm
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Your place looks great. I really like the idea of the attached storage shed. Love the name "White Birch Acres" too - it sounds very peaceful.
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rayyy
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# Posted: 6 May 2011 05:12pm
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holy cow! you got more done over Easter weekend than I got done all winter.Nice place too. :-)
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toddheyn
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# Posted: 1 Jun 2011 04:49am
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We were once again able to get back to our cabin over the Memorial Day Weekend. It turned out to be a very productive weekend eventhough we had a huge setback.
Back in April we had moderate Porcupine damage to the cabin's t1-11 siding. Between Easter and Memorial Day weekend the damage was severe. The spiny bastards ate through the sheathing to the insulation in a couple of spots. We had to take a full day to resheath the lower half of the cabin in a different material that "hopefully" the porcupines do not like as much.
After that project was done, it was back to the planned projects. By the end of the weekend, we were able to get our solar panels installed, connect them to our battery bank and then wire the cabin for lights and the 400 watt inverter, install the drain for the sink and plumbed it to a small drywell outside, installed a new screen door, installed new steps on both sides of our porch, started drilling the soffit vents, built a small table for our refigerator to raise it to a suitable height, ran tubing for our kitchen stove so that the propane tank is outside the cabin, and finally did some minor interior comfort upgrades such as a privacy curtain for our sons bunk bed, shelves for his stuff etc.
You can check out all of our photos from the weekend at this link:
White Birch Acres May 2011
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turkeyhunter
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# Posted: 1 Jun 2011 07:04am - Edited by: turkeyhunter
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you got a lot of work done. i hope the new lap siding slows 'em dowm from chewing????.............is that conc board???
should sharpen their teeth like a sharpening stone............ LOL
nice place you have. we dont have porcupines, we have dillia's.......:-(
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toddheyn
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# Posted: 30 Aug 2011 08:00am
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We just got back from spending two weeks at our cabin. The major projects were to install a DC ceiling fan, putting in our outhouse/shower and putting in snad/gravel in the storage area and under the shower. There were also a number of other smaller projects that got accomplished along the way.
The biggest "problem" that we had was dealing with the gravel that we needed. I had figured that we would need between 1.5 to 2 cubic yards of gravel for the two tasks. The local handyman showed up with a full dump truck load for us. 10 cubic yards. What was i going to do with it all???
We ended up putting in a 8 foot wide path on the side of the cabin that leads to the outhouse and storage area. We also put in a 4 foot path from the porch to the hand pump. We still have about a yard of gravel being held in reserve for repairs and future projects.
Here is the link to our photos so you can see the progress we have made.
White Birch Acres - August 2011
Amazingly we had NO porcupine damage to the cabin over the summer. The new "handiboard" sheathing we put on worked out very well. It is OSB that is textured to look like T1-11. It works great!!!
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Montanan
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# Posted: 30 Aug 2011 11:37am
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I love your place! The outhouse and shower set-up is great- as is the "washing machine!" It looks like you put the extra gravel to good use- I really like the little solar path lights. Fabulous work!
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hattie
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# Posted: 30 Aug 2011 01:07pm
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I agree with Montanan....Looks GREAT!!!
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bugs
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# Posted: 30 Aug 2011 05:29pm
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tod
What to do with extra gravel?..... Wish we had that problem. Our place swallowed up 100 yards and is asking for another 100.
You will likely appreciate the extra cubic yards you got once your back quits aching from dealing with it all. lol
You could gravel the car parking spots.
Put in a gravel spot for visiting campers/tents.
Maybe a horse shoe pit. Clang clang.
Love your pix and the whole project by the way. It is great to see youngsters outside rather than tied to a computer or tv.
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adakseabee
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# Posted: 11 Dec 2011 10:13pm
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Todd, I just finished looking at your photos of White Birch Acres, nice! It appears that you have a deep well hand pump at the end of the gravel walk. Is it a Bison Pump or a Simple Pump? Why did you select the one you did. I am planning on getting a well drilled within the next 2 years and am leaning towards the Simple Pump as it can be motorized, all metal parts touching water are stainless steel, and the pump can be lowered into the well casing after removing the handle for security. I would be very interested in reading about your pump and why you selected it. BTW, I built an outhouse to last decades in 2010 and built my 10x14 shed (my wife calls it her cabin) this past summer. I've got a 2011 Craftsman 24 HP YT4000 Yard Tractor with a 46 inch mowing deck to keep my 2 plus acres of former hayfield cut.
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todd heyn
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# Posted: 12 Dec 2011 06:15am
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adakseabee:
I don't really remember why I chose the Bison over the simple but I did research both of them. I liked the fact that eventually I could install and electric pump along side the hand pump. This could be a nice upgrade in the future. I was not concerned with a lot of security, just the convenience of having a solid maintenance free pump. To-date, the bison has served us well. I have zero compalints about it.
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