Cabin part 8: Roof and soffits

We had hoped to get the entire roof done by early April, but the weather and other circumstances were against us. The Gunflint Trail continued to get snowstorms through April, and there were still several feet of snow in the woods, making it tough to get the scaffolding up. On April 16, Steve from Superior Log Restoration returned to do a bit of additional work (he's working on the doorway, in the shot at left), and the carpenter team of Nace and Matt was also on hand to work on some of the decking.

The next day, as we were getting ready to return to Minneapolis, we awoke to ... snow. Bruce is brushing off the car on April 17 in the shot at right. Ugh.

We returned on May 2 to find that there was still snow in the woods, seen in the shot below left. We'd really hoped to have the roof decking in place by this point so the logs could start drying out, but the carpenters just could not get decent access, particularly to the very high east side. The good news is that there were no bugs yet! Progress was slow, but the decking gradually got installed.

On May 13, the power line got extended from the box in the driveway down into the cabin (3 photos below). This was a huge step, and meant that we could finally get rid of all the extension cords we'd had snaking down the driveway since last fall. We also had cables run for internet and phone, although they are not hooked up yet (and may never be, depending on cost!). They dug a huge channel in the driveway, but did a great job of filling it back in and smoothing it out.

We also got to watch the ice break up and disappear from Birch Lake. Below are two shots from the deck of our neighbors, the Meyers. The one on the left was taken on May 13, the one on the right on May 16. Minnesota's fishing opener was on May 11, so there was still a good bit of ice on the lake ... not enough to walk on, but too much to drive a boat through!

Work on the roof, soffits and fascia continued throughout May. The east side (left side of the cabin in the shot at left) is very high above the ground due to the terrain. It's about 15 feet to the bottom of the log level, and close to 30 feet to the top of the roof. The scaffolding required to get up there was truly scary; check out the middle photo of the group of three a bit further down the page.

We lived with the scaffolding in the front of the building for a very long time, too... it was not taken down until the end of May, making access to the front door a matter of crawling over and through metal bars.

The carpenters did a great job putting up the soffits and fascia, which is very detail-oriented work. These are cedar, which is a better choice than pine for wood that is exposed to weather. Kinda spendy, but right now, it looks like a million bucks.

The yellow tape in the dirt in the photo at right marks the power line where it runs into the building. Eventually this will be buried completely.

We also had a peak added over the main door, to keep rain off our heads when going in and out. This was a great addition, although a good bit of work. Below: May 15 and May 29.