My 15.75 x 30 Jemez Cabin

[MountainDon]

Starting at the bottom... The base upside down...  And Glenn got it right; it's a Cupola.



...and right side up...



Two of the corner reinforcement blocks split when I drove the #8 deck screws into them. I should have drilled pilot holes.    I should know better; those redwood scraps have been sitting around the bone dry shop for a few years. I glued the splits back together with polyurethane glue, and then decided to use ¼"carriage bolts to help hold it all together. I used some screws too, with pilot holes.

I got carried away with working and forgot to take some of the pictures I meant to.   The four sides that sit upon the base were framed like stud walls; a lower plate, corner verticals, and a top plate.



This whole unit is designed to be taken down into manageable pieces and re-assembled on the Gazebo roof up in the mountains. The 4 wall sections will be secured to the base frame with #8 deck screws, and probably a few ring shank 12D or 16D's. The corners are fastened in a similar fashion. The upper framework is fitted over the assembled wall sections. I used a 1/16" fender washer as a spacer during the trial fitting and assembly to make it easier to slip the framework onto the wall framing up on the roof top. The upper framework joints are reinforced with blind hardwood dowels. Again I forgot to take pictures, until I had glued it all together.



½ inch plywood plates are used to help support the upper framework. Holes drilled through the framework allow an extended bit holder to drive #8 deck screws through the inner top frame members to the wall framing for addition strength. The upper framework joints are reinforced with blind hardwood dowels. Again I forgot to take pictures, until I had glued it all together.



All sub sections were labeled to make final assembly easier.    This is one of the top plate wall corners.





One corner plate has a 3/8"locating dowel to assist in correctly positioning the upper frame upon roof top reassembly.



If you're thinking that's a strange upper framework for a roof, you're right. This is a Cupola with a unique touch! The "roof" portion of the Cupola is a skylight! It's the item  Lowe's took three attempts to get correct; a smoke plastic single dome, bronze anodized aluminum curb mount framed skylight. But they never gave up trying and were always quite courteous even thoough I did allow my frustration to show a wee bit, but also in a polite manner.  



The open sides of the Cupola will be insect screened. Over the winter I will build four louvered panels to be installed over the screening to keep out the rain and dress up the appearance.

I took the sub-assemblies apart and finished them with the forest green semi transparent stain that was used on the rest of the Gazebo today.

More pictures when it's mounted on the Gazebo roof peak.

[glenn-k]

Looks cool, Don.  

Thanks for the pictures you did remember to take.

[MountainDon]

Back up on the Gazebo roof one more time. The Cupola base is secured...



The four sides of the Cupola consist of two slightly different sized sections. They are screened to keep insects at bay. The sides will be later covered with louvered panels (yet to be made). I screened them in pairs, then cut the aluminum screening apart with a utility knife.



The once very tightly packed deck boards have dried some and are now far enough apart to dispense with the dust pan when sweeping. Simply sweep the dirt, wood bits, etc. across the cracks and it disappears!    Once the sides were up it was a snap to install the pre-framed roof/skylight framing and the skylight itself.



The view from the front side, from the north...



Saturday was rainy, cool, hailed some. Even with a blazing fire in the Chiminea the temperature behind the sheet steel wall protection didn't go over 75. (ambient air temp 55 to 60).



The road up the hill to our place was improved last weekend.



I missed all the fun James had with the TD9.  :'(  He cut down the steepest part and pushed the earth down to fill in at the bottom. Now even the Honda Civic can make it up with ease.  

[MountainDon]

Glenn, you related once someplace here about shooting your brother when you were kids.    IIRC he at least didn't shoot back, unlike the tree I was using for target practice this weekend.

The tree was laying on the ground, already seemingly dead, okay? I don't go around killing trees for no good reason. About 22 inches in diameter, I was using one of it's cut off branch stubs as a target, shooting at the cut off end about 8 inches in diameter. I was using the 2 inch barreled .45 from about 25 feet. The first three shots went like usual, bullets embedded in the wood. I could see the tail of two of them. I fired the fourth, Bam!, and something hit me in the groin. Not hard, just a tap more or less. I thought to myself, Hmmm, a chunk of wood? I looked down at the ground and there between my feet lay a .45 cal slug!  



There it is with an unfired cartridge and ruler for scale. The nose is slightly deformed but other than that it's not much worse for the wear.  :-?

I safely finished off the box of shells from a greater distance, out of the tree's range.  

[glenn-k]

The nose is slightly deformed but other than that it's not much worse for the wear.

That's one tough groin you got there, Don--- hmmmm able to stand up to a 45 cal. slug.  Good job , Don.  We'll have to start calling you super Don.

[MountainDon]

Aw, it was nuthin'    

[Homegrown_Tomatoes]

Hey, I like the skylight in the cupola.  Great idea and looks pretty sharp.  Showed my husband this thread and he's decided he wants a gazebo with a chiminea now, too.

Don, you're not supposed to shoot at stuff that shoots back!  Glad it was just a "tap"!!!

[Jimmy_Cason]

Don,
You are awarded with the "Lucky-Man Brass Ball" lifetime achievement award!

[hobbiest]

What he didn't tell, is that he was wearing the experimental bullet-proof cup!  If you haven't seen the movie Super Troopers, and you don't mind ridiculous comedy (think Airplane...a bit toned down), now would be the time to check it out.

[glenn-k]

I dunno, Jens.  As impressive as that bulletproof codpiece sounds, I'm afraid it would make me look stupid wearing one. :-/

[MountainDon]

... like the skylight in the cupola.  Great idea and looks pretty sharp.  Showed my husband this thread and he's decided he wants a gazebo with a chiminea now, too.  

Thank you. I was planning on doing it the traditional way, a mini model of the main roof, shingled and all. In trying to come up with something that could be constructed on the ground rather than doing aerial tricks with sharp tools I had a flash of genius. It actually came out looking better than I hoped it would.

I still plan on louvered side panels to cover the screening as this will help keep the rain out. It rained off and on all day Saturday after I completed it and once or twice as the wind blew a few droplets of rain made it inside. Most of the rain seemed to be stopped by the screen, running down and then out under the slightly raised bottom of the base if it was on the inside of the screen. (The base contacts the ridge/hip shingles at the corners)

[MountainDon]

the "Lucky-Man Brass Ball" lifetime achievement award!

Thanks Jimmy... an honor.  

[MountainDon]

Have to say one thing for city sized building lots. You don't have much choice in where to situate the building.

This weekend, a long one in celebration of Columbus day, (yes, we observe as many holidays as we can ) DW found yet another "desirable" position to place the humble cabin-to-be.   :-/

Dang cold nights, Lo overnight reading dropped to 32 F. Brrr!  There was some ice on the Elk wallow down the slope. We found one of their overnighting spots nearby; a bunch of flattened grass in a small clearing surrounded by fallen tress. Too bad I missed out on the lottery this year.  :'( Maybe we'll stake 'em out and shoot 'em with some digitals instead.   A couple of friends have suggested I retire the .338 700 BDL SS and switch to blackpowder or bow hunting with them. They always get drawn for their first choice; less completion for those permits.  :-/  

[glenn-k]

Wow -- sounds kinda nipply out. :-/

I almost ran over a 4 point and a smaller buck tonight.  Gotta get a cow catcher on my truck.

If you put a little trailer hitch and skids on the gazebo you could probably have a lot more choices of where to put the cabin.  I'm sure that may be limiting the little wife's range.

[Sassy]

Really like how you did that cupola, MtnDon!  Was wondering how it would work - looks perfect    

Haven't been posting much lately - was pretty sick for awhile - all I could do was look on the internet, do the basics around the homes.  I don't know if the 22 hr shift without lunch breaks I worked in ER had anything to do with my getting sick    but seems everytime I do something like that, everything breaks down - I'm too old for that!  :-/

[Homegrown_Tomatoes]

22 hours?  No wonder you got sick!  I used to work in a nursing home when I was in college and would pull shifts like that, and even then it was exhausting.  No way could I do it now!  Whew!

[MountainDon]

Wow, Sassy! I think you might be on to something there (about why you didn't feel so good).  

I noticed you weren't too active on the forum. Missed you.

Thanks for the kind words re the Cupola.   I'm currently puzzling over how I'm going to make the louvered panels. As far as the appearance goes I'm pleased with what I've got. But a driving rain will allow water through the screening.  :-/

I must be getting lazy as I age. I'm reluctant to build the necessary router jig to mill the grooves in the traditional manner. I'm mulling over alternative construction ideas, including the recycling of some louvered door panels I picked up at ReStore.  :-/

[MountainDon]

Another weekend, another small thing attended to. Up to now my small generator has been housed in a makeshift shelter of stacked firewood and OSB scraps. It now has a "home".

I used recycled 1x4's and 2x4's, some old 6x6 PT landscape timbers, PT 2x4 leftover from the gazebo, metal roofing leftover from the house, and some salvaged pieces of "new" 2x3. There's a cooling exhaust  air vent on the right side. I'll be adding one more panel next time up in the mountains.



The top is hinged so I can fill the generators top mounted integral gas tank.



The sections of 1x4 for the doors were so sun baked and dried out they split easily. Even pre-drilling holes before inserting the screws didn't prevent more splits. So I used some polyurethane glue to help secure the door boards to the horizontal battens. Some of the glue oozed thru some splits. I'm out of old boards right now so have to be content with the glue marks.  :'(\\



Rear view showing the rear ventilation opening. The rear bottom panel is hinged for access to gasoline storage. The generator exhaust exits through the opening. I have an auxiliary super quiet muffler I have to refit. It will be outside the box. The rear vent opening will have a 6 to 7 inch wide "shed roof" installed next time up.



*********************
It was dang cold Sat night. Thermometer read 26 degrees at 7:30 AM. By 11 AM it had warmed up to a whopping 38 degrees. Then it very briefly snowed for 20 seconds or so. Nothing to photograph.

My old abused (do as I recommend, not as I do  ) RV batteries (dating from spring 2003) did not like the cold at all. I dragged them home and will see if a desulphation cycle or two can coax a few more months of life out of them. The cold sucked some of the life out of them, and the RV furnace sucked the balance out of them overnight.  :'( Hate to buy new ones now... and then have them sit through Dec - March/April if we can't get back up there because of snow.

[glenn-k]

Generator house  looks good, Don.  20 years from now, nobody will know whether everything was perfect or not.

What happened to our global warming, Don?  Unseasonably cool here too.

[MountainDon]

One more picture... my temporary gray water disposal system

[MountainDon]

A work weekend. Great weather, sunny, no winds to speak of. Cut out more trash trees and just about the last of the deadfall. We made the wood pile longer and added a bunch to the burn pit. When and if we get snow that's going to be some fire.  



That only shows about a third.

[glenn-k]

I think you need to build at least one cordwood room.

...and... did anyone ever tell you that the second photo above looks like a giant horseneck clam (Gooey Duck) :-?

I would really be scared if I was ever attacked by a horseneck clam that big.

[MountainDon]

EEEEW!   I'm gonna stay away from wherever those are found! I believe I'm safe up in the Jemez Mountains.  :-/

[glenn-k]

It could be a start of a horror movie for the Jimmy Cason "Countryplans.Com the TV Show"

Giant Horseneck clam burrows through the floor of Mountian Don's Camper and drags him down under the ground.

Will he escape? :-?  

Stay tuned for next weeks cliff-hanger, "Man, that's really hard to swallow"

or "The creature from greywater swamp."

[MountainDon]

I think you need to build at least one cordwood room.

I was looking at some pictures of cordwood construction last night and had a strange thought when I woke up this morning. Wouldn't a nice cordwood chimney and fire place look cool? Somehow that doesn't seem too good an idea.  :-/