Like Clarkwork

Time for a trailer update before I head north for the weekend.

Clark is coming along. The roof is as good as I’m inclined to get it — let’s call it “water resistant.” Anyone who has any knowledge of restoring these old tin cans and has stumbled upon this record has probably been laughing up his sleeve at my efforts, knowing they aren’t exactly doomed, but not exactly according to Hoyle, either. Jamie helps, reminding me not to take our eyes off the prize: do this cheaply because the cottage is going to be expensive.

Everything is temporary.

Front cabover deck before.

Front cabover deck and ceiling, after.

Rear ceiling, post clean-out.

Rear ceiling, post repair.

Where they drove off with the cable still hooked up, before…

…and after.

We’ve sanded the inside, and Jamie has begun priming. We bought some returned interior latex paint at Shagbark’s; yellow, with a light blue ceiling. Then that’s that. The electricity runs; all we need is a hookup. And it seems like the propane lines are intact so we may even have heat and a stovetop, if I can find the right fittings.

In all, this should be a cozy place to sleep and a secure place to leave the things we’ll need. Which is all to the good, because costs are starting to pile up. We could do a lot less — and may yet — because the bites come in chunks of thousands:

GMP wants roughly $2,000 for electric service.
Sewer install and hookup will total about $7,000.
A well is $5,000.
Renting a backhoe is $1,000.
My site engineer wants $2,000.
Direct-vent heat and propane tank (LP not included) $2000.

All that right there is way over our year’s budget and we haven’t even poured a pier yet. Of that list, here’s what I think we’ll do this year: Backhoe and electric. It’s a camp, dammit, not a luxury condo. Yet, at least. We may even skip the electric and go with a propane heater or wood stove for the 2014-2015 season. All the rest can come later — a sealed, insulated box is the primary objective.

Actually, as I sit here, that doesn’t sound terrible to me. A wood stove. Camp lights. A “small house.” I think I’ll fly that flag with my mate and see what we think. That would give us a little breathing room; the only hitch is electricity for running power tools. Anyone have a generator to lend?

As long as we’re tallying costs, I invested in a real chainsaw this week. Husqvarna, for those keeping track at home. 450 with a 16″ bar. It’s maybe on the rugged side — but we’ll need it, and it’ll be handy at home, too. There are four large trees left to fell and section this weekend, minimum, the ROW is still to complete, and we may find more to do when the guy shows up to pour the piers. (Another $1000? — we’ll spend $800 on bags of sackrete alone, so it may be worth it considering we don’t have steady water on site.)

Also today, a visit to the Town to apply for the building permit. It’s a deceptively simple application — I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, and I keep fearing it’s going to come in the form of a wetlands permit. I have a call in to the state to talk about that.