EMERGENCY RISK REDUCTION

In the last blog, I described the beginning of my long-neglected North Carolina cabin repair. One important decision not yet mentioned. What kind of roof would I install? Basically there are two choices: shingles, or metal. I looked closely at both, and was recommended to use asphalt shingles, similar to what was removed. However, my gut feeling urged me to use metal. I have always liked metal, so did some investigation, and decision-making. I found a roof fabrication store about 30 miles away, looked at their samples and prices, and decided on a heavy gauge, forest green roof.

However before the roof, an underlay is needed — part of which are waterproof adhesive 30” rolls in critical edge areas. Called “Ice and Water Shield”, it’s expensive but worth it. In fact, in a moment of budgetary madness, I decided to cover the entire roof with the Ice and Water. I was unsure of this decision, but now am glad that I did. Firstly, it completely waterproofed the roof. No more worries about those pesky rainstorms!  Also, it means that I have a double roof…the underlay and the metal. Hopefully between the two, leaks will be a thing of the past.

Next came installing slats, upon which to attack the metal. It was at this point that I made another major decision. I needed help!  I couldn’t handle these metal sheet by myself. The longest was 19 feet! And 3 feet wide. Through a friend, I was given the name of a handyman, and contacted him. Jose visited to look at the project and accepted. Busy, but was able to squeeze me in. He and his crew came mostly on Saturdays, and were fast and efficient. I helped where needed, but it was a pleasure to work with them. They had the expertise and right tools. No longer was I hanging off the side, or coming precariously close to a fall.

On the days when Jose’s crew weren’t around, I was working on interior rooms. Virtually every room needed work, and I had to prioritize. Most urgent were the rooms where the ceilings had fallen in. This included one bedroom, two bathrooms, and the living room. In general, I tore down existing ceiling and installed sheetrock – not a job for the faint at heart. It’s not my favorite task, especially lifting 4×8 pieces of sheetrock by myself. I did my best (with a little help from Jose on his last day.) and then plastered, sanded, plastered more, sanded again, and finally primed and painted. Quite the task.

In the bedroom and one backroom, I also sheetrocked and painted the walls. This included ‘cement board’ behind a bath and shower stall. Next came flooring as needed. In the living room, sanding and three coats of clear polyethylene on the wood floor; In one bathroom, new tiles; In the bedroom, wall-to-wall carpet. In the other rooms, I repainted the ceilings as necessary, and spot repaired areas, such as a rotten corner of the utility room.

While refurbishing both the exterior and interior, one observation kept reoccurring:  This cabin is Big! We aren’t speaking of a little ‘Lincoln Log Cabin’ with three rooms. To call it a cabin is a bit mis-describing. Rather, It is a house – with nine rooms and a deck. Three bedrooms, kitchen/dining, living room, office, two baths, and utility room. No wonder it’s taking more time — and money — than estimated!

But my attention now must refocus to returning to Canada – to bring back boxes of ‘stuff’ to make this cabin feel like a home. This is for the next blog.

Thanks for reading!  Be well.