But the cabin is in poor shape--the stuff you see on the ground in front of it is the collapsed porch. Although in this shot the cabin looks pretty good, it doesn't show the rotten starter logs and other issues the cabin has. The owner is 76 and not able to do the extensive restoration it would need, so he gave it to us. What a nice man. He knows we will use the logs well.
The roof was replaced about 20 years ago by the current owner, and he said the cabin was lived in until 1994. The kitchen, which was to the left side of the cabin, is almost completely collapsed--it was frame construction. There is some lumber in it I would like to salvage, namely the tongue and groove random-width planks on some of the walls. The owner wants to keep the roofing tin to re-use on his barn. There are stairs going up to the second floor loft, and I'm not sure if we'll reconstruct it with the loft or not. I like the old screen door, but I'm not sure it can be saved as it's pretty weather-beaten.We will not be rebuilding it as it is now. We need a room for our house--another bedroom and a bathroom for company. Right now we have one bedroom, my office, and hide-a-beds in the log room and living room along with many air mattresses for when people come to visit. Currently if all my sons and their families are here, it's 20 people and the numbers will keep growing. We have one bathroom--you can just imagine the traffic jams! To rebuild the cabin would cost a good bit more for foundation, electricity, water, heat, etc. By adding to the house, we save one wall of construction and foundation and have easy access to plumbing, electric and septic.
I will post more photos soon--I snapped this one quickly from the road yesterday but we didn't have time to stop.
Next step--buy heavy duty trash bags, heavy gloves and face masks and safety glasses. And find my boots. You never know what might fall out of the walls or crawl out from under the floor!
That looks like some great old wood on there! I would want boots too, I can only imagine what may be living under there:o
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment on my military mom blog, it helps alot just getting to know others who have gone through it, and you certainly have, thanks for the encouragement:)
Carmen, come by anytime. I'll be checking in with you, but email me if you just need to talk. Or call. You're going to be so proud of your son.
ReplyDeleteI would like to see more "before' photos, such as the screen door, fireplace, features. Hope you are able to accomplish just what you are envisioning. Will enjoy watching the progress!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great bit of recycling! It occurred to me that it's a bit like organ donors, not continuing in their original lives, but contributing to other lives . . . this new room will serve your family well.
ReplyDeleteIt's also impressive that the cabin was lived in until relatively recently.