February 23, 2016 - Changing the Snow Shed

One of the more "rustic" areas of our rustic lodge is the snow shed.  It provides us access to the cabin from the side, provides access from the house to the deck, and from the main to the lower floor.  It has always been "open" with no door on the front, shutters on the side and little siding on the bottom. The steps look like old porch steps and are step and have narrow treads.  And we use it to store a lot of firewood in the winter time (which means it is a home to all kinds of crawling and creeping critters since it is somewhat dry, dark and dingy).

Jim has decided it is time to re-enforce the area and move the entry door up closer to the front of the house.  He as also decided that our critters have to go, so the area that he is fixing will also no longer have shutters - and will have solid walls.  All this means that we will need to patch all leaks on the roof, add 2 by 6s to the shed walls for additional strength and support and insulate and finish the area with either tongue and grove cedar or drywall.  I will be adding slate pavers to the floor (access steps) that are currently concrete and we will be re-landing the steps from the main floor to the lower floor for easier access.

Here are a few photos of the beginning of this project.  Hoping we will get it done soon.  At least get the exterior sided and the door moved.

 Windows showing, lower shutters removed and redwood lathe gone.  Temporary siding added to keep away snow for now until we can add tongue and groove.  Front white shutters will be removed later as part of residing. 

Inside view of added 2 by 6s and corrected windows (they were originally installed without any flashing or header before).  The new "room" will be fully enclosed with a lot of light now that shutters are removed - so less opportunity for our little friends of the forest to nest in the area.  Back wall shown will be removed since we are moving the entry wall closer to the front.