We managed to make it up to the mountain Friday afternoon, just in time for drinks and cigars and dinner with friends. We grilled out at a friend's cabin and we used my burger recipe. It was some good eats and some good times.



Woke up to a beautiful sunrise over Shinbone Valley to enjoy with my coffee. I love getting up early before anyone else and just enjoying the quiet of the morning with a steaming hot cup of coffee.



Mrs. Irish and I got after it and managed to get the wood stove alcove finished except for the roof. I need to order the chimney flashing and all those parts and finish up on the next trip up here. I measured carefully and framed up the inside and did the same on the outside, and was kind of amazed that when I finally took the reciprocating saw and cut through the exterior wall that it all actually lined up.

I'm going to line the inside with concrete board and then stove veneer. I will also have a mantle over the opening.





I spend more time thinking and sketching sometimes than I do actually building. I think I tear out less stuff that way.

There's always got to be some time for a little R&R by a campfire, with a glass of whiskey...



We finished up the exterior the next day.

The exterior shots give you an idea of what the rest of the cabin will look like with the cedar trim and the corrugated tin. It won't be this shiny for long as we will let it age naturally, oxidize and eventually rust. The good thing is that any panel will be easy to replace with a screw gun, a pair of tin snips and a few minutes.



I used a lot more "J" flashing than I though I would and need to order some more.



My favorite place to sit in the whole World now...



Almost looks like a working man's hands...



Of course if you're going to work hard all day you gotta eat good.

I couldn't seem to fit the rest in the last post...

Finally on Monday we were able to get all the "J" flashing installed on the "view" side of the cabin up on top of the high deck. I wasn't looking forward to this, as the upper areas are about 35' off the ground standing on a ladder on the top deck. I somehow managed to make it out alive.



All that talk about BLT sammich's the other day got me to hankerin' for one. Mrs. Irish made us some with bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, cheddar cheese, purple onions, cucumber and avocado. It was some count.



Probably the last update for a while. We are heading to the BVI in less than two weeks for a two week stay on a tiny island at a friends villa. There are no restaurants, no phones, and no stores there and it is only accessible by taking a plane, then a ferry, then a boat. So we are going to pre-cook a bunch of food to take with us. Should be interesting...

So we've gone back and forth about 20 times on what we are going to do on the inside from sheetrock to nickle gap 1x12's to all kinds of stuff in between.

I think we have finally decided on using both types of this L.P. Smartside.

This stuff has got nothing but 5 star reviews. If you look at the last review you can see I’m not the first person to consider using it on the interior of a house. It’s a small picture, but you get the feel for what it will look like on the interior of the cabin. At $6.34 for a 3/8”x8”x12’-0” piece it should be cost effective too…

We are going to just butt it together edge to edge instead of nickle gap it, and face nail it to the studs with 18 gauge brads and then paint it. Cheap, durable, easy to install and finish.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/SmartSide-38-Se...-875-in/3435522

Here’s the 4’x8’ panels. We might could use these as wainscoting on the lower level, and/or on the upper portions of the walls upstairs. I think these were actually $19.97 each at the Lowes in Ft. Payne when we were in there on Sunday.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/SmartSide-38-Se...-875-in/3058153

Good choice. I used stained lap siding in my new den and it turned out really well...at least as I had envisioned it.

That looks damn good!

I used exterior pine 105 siding. I had a buyer get what I needed but this is basically the product. Not sure where it hits in your budget.

https://www.hancocklumber.com/land-mills/sawmills/pine-patterns/105-drop-siding/

If you are going to paint, is drywall just cheaper? Maybe not by the time it's finished?

We have seriously considered real wood, but the costs seemed too high for us at this point. We also considered sheetrock, but it's not real DIY friendly. Installation and finishing that stuff is best left to the professionals, plus it just doesn't look like a cabin when you are finished. It looks like a suburban house. Which is not what we want.

In the end this product while not "real" wood is a wood product and looks like painted rustic wood. You can't stain it, but if you look back in this thread you can see that will have an entire exposed real wood ceiling and rafters in the whole cabin, so stained wood on the walls, may just be too much wood everywhere. If that makes sense.

So the bottom line is, even if we had used real wood on the walls we would have painted it or at least whitewashed it.

Makes sense. I think floor to ceiling exposed/stained wood is kinda interesting but I can see how it might be too much for others and having it broken up will be nice.

So, you going to paint this product before or after tacking it up?

It's been a while since our last update, with our two week trip to the islands and all...

Anyway, we've been pretty busy the last couple of weekends and got the exterior finished on the back side (view side) of the cabin. I had some last minute reservations once the corrugated tin started to go up, but I kept myself thinking about how I will never have to get up on a ladder this high and paint this stuff, and the longer it stays up there and the more patina it acquires, the better it will look.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but what do you guys think of the look? Keep in mind the whole cabin won't be done in the tin, just the upper elevations and the lower portions are/will be done in either the cedar shakes or the LP Smart lap siding.





I ended up staining the exposed rafters and soffit using an old el cheapo airless sprayer from Harbor Freight, and it did OK... But I'm grabbing an HVLP for the next weekend and I believe that will do a better/neater job.

I'm lucky to have my sweetheart as my carpenter's helper. We stress safety. If she were to lose a digit, I'm afraid her short lived carpentry career would be over.



When I get weary of working on this place all I have to do is look up from my screw gun and I am reminded why we are working so hard to get it built...

Looks awesome man. Gonna be a great place.

Nice work. I like how well the corrugated tin turned out.

That tin looks good contrasting with the cedar.

Thanks! It's truly a labor of love for Mrs. Irish and myself.





Thanks for the comments. I did quite a bit of research, looking and theorizing, and in the end I still had second thoughts and I still do, however I rest easy knowing that I'll never have to paint the upper areas, and I think the galvanized tin will only get better looking over time with the oxidation and rust that will develop.

At least that's the hope...

I kid around with my friends at work and tell them my second, weekend job is being a really shitty, amateur carpenter.

Graco has a new line of tips out Fine Finish Low Pressure or FFLP. Or just get a FF tip which would be cheaper. I'm not familiar with the Harbor Freight airless, I run Graco's. The fine FF tips have a lot less overspray, I use them on cabinet jobs and trim work.
David

Looks good!

I think age will help and you will like it better when the shine gets knocked down.

My thoughts exactly. The tin Will look real good once it ages a bit..

I certainly hope so. It's just too bright right now.

I thought about spraying the whole thing down with some vinegar to go ahead and get it started.

I'd hit it with vinegar like you mentioned to knock down the shine. You could set up a reflective cooker in front of the wall, if you needed to.

I like the design.

Bet you could do some nice sunbathing out there on that deck.