Little jobs turn into big jobs

For two summers, we worked hard to renovate the main cabin at our camp. Windows were replaced. New paneling was installed. An ash floor was laid and the cabin looks beautiful. We began upgrading the sleeping cabin by installing new windows through most of the rooms.
Two front windows remained to be replaced.
The job looked pretty simple. The windows were going to be taller than the existing windows and that required some minor adjustments to the depth of the opening.
As I kidded with Al McTaggart out at Lowes Lumber this past week, you can never have too many items at a cottage to make repairs. The time and effort saved to pick up an extra board, some screws, and some plastic pipe really outweighs the cost of travel and time back to town to pick up those pieces. Little did I know how prophetic those words would become.
I began the minor renovations by removing some paneling that has been on the walls for over 20 years. That is when the minor renovations became much more major.
For the last several years, after any rainfall, the closed up cabin always seemed to have a musty smell. We thought it might be a leak in the roof and we had checked the ceiling for problems. But taking off that first full sheet of paneling that ran around the existing window, identified where the problem was.
The yellow insulation was black and the bottom plate of the wall was even blacker.
I went out and checked the window outside. The wood bottom of the windowsill had the consistency of soft sponge, hidden by paint. The windows were long over due for replacement. The leak into the cabin was clearly identified.
My wife and I chose not to precede any further until we had air masks at the cabin.
Last Saturday morning with a vacuum roaring, I slipped the nozzle through the plastic and began sucking away the black soot like material. When I had removed as much as possible, I then cut the plastic away and pulled out the fibreglass batting.
My original plan was to wash the wood down with pure “Javex” bleach to kill any mould. On closer inspection the disinfecting of the wood was the least of my problems. Rot had set in and the bottom plate of the wall had been totally destroyed and perhaps the floor on which it sat. The outside wall may also have some rot in it. I haven’t gotten to the beams yet.
This little project is growing. The siding on the front of the cabin will all have to be removed. I have to find someone less stout than me to wiggle under the cabin to examine the beams. The person has to be ready to work in confined spaced, in hot sweltering weather. That may prove the toughest part of the repair.
My list is growing for the repair. Some studs, some 2”X6” boards, nails, screws, insulation, and more are on my sheet of paper. A four-hour project has probably grown to a two-day project if everything goes well.
And I suspect that once the windows are in, the currant paneling and ceiling will look too dated and it too will be replaced.
I really can’t complain. The 30-year-old sleeping cabin has stood up well and these will be the first serious renovations.

–Jim Cumming,
Publisher