Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Shining Cabin On The Hill

Early winter morning sun beams down on a small cabin. From a clearing in the naked forest it shines through wide open spaces between tree trunks to the nearby road as if lit up by stage lights. Look at me. I am beautiful.


























Hanging cabinets on the wall. We certainly checked and checked again, but the kitchen/bath walls are the most unplumb walls in the cabin. I wonder if attaching the drywall snugly to the studs accentuated any variation in them as they rose upwards from the floor?

To avoid trying to get the cabinets themselves fastened into a stud - that laying out well was a real crap shoot - 1 x 4 strips of wood were fastened to the studs behind the cabinets. Then the cabinets were hung on this and there was no struggle in placing the screws through the cabinets. But the wall curved in towards the center and shims were needed to keep the front face of the cabinets nice and neat. The cabinets are getting hung though.

The refrigerator will go in the right hand side and one more cabinet will be above that.




















Some of the traffic passing by slows to a crawl in every season. It is slower than rubbernecking and may need its own term. Gawking is appropriate, but a new word would be nice. The floral abandon of spring and summer is a memory. Autumn has faded into the bare greys of winter. It is now that the cozy cabin is having its season in the spotlight. What was hidden is now revealed.




















The hilltop is shining high on a mountain in the early winter afternoon sun.



















I can easily tell now when it is time to stop for the day. The low winter sun drops behind the mountain and the shining spotlight on the cozy cabin is turned off.

11 comments:

Siria said...

Yes indeed...you are beautiful and the details of your interior are being carefully tended to. How exciting! Kitchen cabinets!!! :)

rainymountain said...

If the wall "kind of bowed" when you hung the cupboards up, what will happen when the cupboards are loaded with food, dishes, whatever?
I don't really understanding why the drywall is bowing.

Lola said...

You have a beautiful home in a beautiful setting. Nothing can change that. You are progressing very well.
I really don't understand why the bowing of the Sheetrock. I thought the cabinets were supposed to be attached to the studs for stability.
I should have watched my son closer when he redid my kitchen.

Christopher C. NC said...

Rainymountain and Lola let me try to explain that. The wall was bowed, ie the drywall was not a completely plumb surface before the cabinets were hung, not because the cabinets were hung. The 1 x 4 pieces of wood were securely fastened to the studs in the wall at the top and bottom mounting levels of each cabinet. Then the cabinets were securely fastened to the 1 x 4 that was already attached to the wall studs.

When placing the row of cabinets making sure the front faces were all in line, the variation in the wall behind expressed itself by the distance that appeared between the back of the cabinets and the 1 x 4 piece of wood they were to be mounted on that was securely fastened to the suds and flush to the wall.

The wall actually bowed back and away from the cabinets not forward as if the weight of them was pulling the wall forward. Thus the shims to fill the gap between the 1 x 4 and the cabinet backs. The actual weight of the cabinets is fully supported and secured to the studs with this simple transfer to the 1 x 4. Filling them with stuff won't make them fall down.

Cheryl K. said...

Love the photo of the Hill on Fire. We are indeed not far away here in WNC - midway up a slope near the Vance Birthplace in the Reems Creek Valley. (Hence the RCFD references in a few postings about my better half's volunteer firefighter work.) We are not gardeners but own almost 12 acres of our own personal forest preserve, going up logging roads to the top of the ridge, and have to do some maintenance. I appreciate your blog for the plants you highlight, as well as the beautiful photography.

Anonymous said...

We always called them Lookylooks, Christopher. I am sure they are wowed by the shiny new cabin. :-)
Frances

Lola said...

Got it. Now it sounds good to me. I've seen this done on DIY or one of those shows. Heck, even walls have to be shimmed sometimes.

Christopher C. NC said...

Thanks Cheryl. There is still so much to explore in the area. I haven't been in the area north of Asheville much or Craggy Gardens in decades. The parcel we have is 11.5 acres. Big enough for a garden, but a little too small for a decent hike.

Frances there is a lot of looky looking going on now for sure. Even the regular commuters can see what's back there much better now.

Lola my imperfect walls are still pretty darn good for a complete novice.

rainymountain said...

All is now clear, thanks for the explanation. I was fairly sure that, given the care with which you have tackled building, I had not cottoned on to what was actually happening.

Jim/ArtofGardening said...

Good to know that you have the same problem of finding studs in un-plum walls in your new house as I do in my 114 year old house. Seeing the first photo, have you ever considered painting all the trees in your forest the same red as the columns supporting the house?

Anonymous said...

I LOVE the color combinations between the tree trunks, cabin walls and the red columns. WOW!!! No wonder you have lookylooks!

bev