Today was a busy but fun day, with several different projects on the go—always nice to keep things varied.
One of the big tasks was starting the installation of the indoor composting toilet. I want it operational before Trudy arrives so she won’t have to trek out to the outhouse. The tricky part was drilling a 4-inch hole through one of the cabin logs. The hole saw is only about an inch and a half deep, so progress was slow: drill, clear out the packed wood from the saw’s cup, then repeat. Fortunately, I had a heavy-duty hammer drill to lean on, and after several tedious hours I finally made it through.
I also bailed out the boat, which was still full of rainwater from yesterday, and cleaned up some of the old roofing material I’ll haul to the dump tomorrow. While doing that, I suddenly felt a sharp sting in my elbow—turns out I was a little too close to a large wasp nest near the screened porch. They clearly didn’t appreciate the intrusion. A can of wasp spray just got added to my next hardware store list.
Another bigger project I wanted to tackle was dealing with the rotting logs on one side of the cabin. The previous owner had slapped some dimensional lumber over the bad spots, but it wasn’t waterproof and wasn’t stopping the decay. I stripped that off, applied wood hardener, and had hoped to use a clay-like wood epoxy to rebuild the log profile. But the damage was too far gone. Instead, I tried something experimental—spray foam to fill and reshape the voids, with the plan of layering epoxy over it later. Once the cabin is stained, the repair might blend in. It’s not perfect, but it’s progress.
On a lighter note, I learned something new thanks to yesterday’s Lowe’s trip. I’d picked up chalk for my chalk line and discovered there are actually five different types—ranging from temporary (blue, the classic) to permanent (red or crimson). I never knew chalk came with a permanence rating. You really do learn something new every day.
All in all, a productive day of problem-solving, improvising, and getting one step closer to having the cabin in better shape.