reasons I LOVE JOSHUA TREE

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Voids

       I had the hardest time with the layout. The flow of the space just didn’t feel right so I was going back and forth about where to put the door.  Should I actually add on and how much should I add on. The front of the cabin doesn’t allow enough space for the door to be next to the window unless I alter the size. I want to try to keep the window size the same so that was out. Ultimately the side made the most sense. As far as adding on I plan on tearing down the poorly built lean-to patio and rebuilding it 12′ out.

When I opened up the wall for the door I could not believe how hard it was to remove the 2×4’s. Come to find out each horizontal wood slat had 3 nails in the vertical 2×4. Each 2×4 had 45 nails total. As much as the structure looks like it is going to fall over, that cabin isn’t going anywhere even in a huge earthquake.

Being that the space is only like 168 square feet inside, the more windows the better. I bought a 4×4′ window for $40 at HD two years back because it didn’t have a screen so I will be installing it next to the door on the east wall.

  The south wall will be altered by removing the existing door and window. Where the bathroom wall ends (the shower pan is) will be opened up to the far end of the previous existing doorway to create an  approx 8′ opening to the porch.    

DEFINED Space

I have the bathroom all laid out and I started framing it in.  I figiured out the angle of the rafters and started installing additional support.  I normally would rip off the roof first before I install them but there isn’t much support for me to be standing on since the rafters are about a little of 4′ apart as of right now.  Besides it seems to working out just fine the way I am approaching it.   Two single words that clearly describe The Lake Fire. Pretty scary.

Dump

I had to take the dreaded trip to the dump today and take all the drywall and excess house materials pulled from the cabin.  It really made me rethink my consumption and recycling practices. Not to mention I made a huge mistake and wore flip-flops to the dump.  I can’t say I have ever done something as disgusting before, at least that I can remember. I did not think I was going to have to unload my trash while standing on trash. I was very wrong.  Every time I looked down to watch my step I saw another VHS porn…I think the last was “Full Frontal.”

It is the second day of the Lake Fire and it has been an experience.  It is incredibly smoky in Morongo, Yucca Valley, Landers, and Joshua Tree.  There is ash on everything.

Feels Good

I am finally finished with the rough-in for the plumbing.  I hate plumbing.  Truly.  The floor around the toilet and shower is all concreted and I set the toilet finally.  WE HAVE A FLUSHING TOILET!  It makes working at the cabin a little easier now!

We went with the Niagera/Stealth toilet again.  We used the same at our other homestead and our PS house.  They only use 0.8 of a gallon. Love it.

Septic

Installed the septic today with the help of another neighbor.  He does tractor work so while he dug the hole, I ran the pipe.  It was a long 7 hours but it was worth it doing it myself with a great neighbor/ friend.  I ordered a big tank with infiltrators.  Total cost to install the septic was $1445.46.  Not bad.  If I paid someone to do it, it would have cost me $3600 and the tank would not have been as nice.

I finished running the rough plumbing and ran the water around to the other side of the house and pulled it inside for the interior plumbing.

Good Vibrations

Soon enough we will have a toilet! Today I jackhammered out concrete for a toilet and shower and I started the rough plumbing.  I am going to do wet venting to avoid running more lines under the slab and reduce the amount of holes I have to put in the concrete.  The grey water from shower will run to a happy tree outside.

Because this is a homestead cabin, you just never know what you are going to run into especially with the concrete slabs.  With our other homestead cabin, the concrete was super hard.  This time the concrete was very easy to get threw and a lot thinner than I hoped but it made for an easy day.