Another shack going up!

[Tweegs]

Finally!
I kept threatening to build a shack, but time was always the issue. I’ve finally relented and hired a builder to come in and put up a 12X24 pole barn.

It’s not all the shack we want, but at least I’ll have a place out of the weather come spring. No slab for this next season, and the 12X12 kitchen area will be an addition; both are slated to go in next summer. The budget simply isn’t big enough to do it all at once.

The layout will handle my 2X6 and still leave room to go to a 3X9 should I decide to expand my tap count later. The cupola is being sized for a 3X9 just in case.

Too far from the house to run electric, so we’ll be on generator out there. The big plus is it will be about 30 feet from the main collection point on the gravity system…easy pumping distance. Still have two more pick-up points on gravity, which will change once I’m on vacuum. Sap ladders will bring all but about 20 taps right to the main collection point. No way to get those last 20 off bucket.

I expect we’ll break ground this weekend or next.
Pics as I get them.

[lakeview maple]

Awesome for you ,it will never be big enough tho,lol always room for expansion but the first step is always the best. Godd luck and God Bless ,Al

[Tweegs]

Well, we might be in business.

It’s been both unusually wet and warm here. The water table has been too high to get started, and with the inevitability of a hard, prolonged freeze just around the corner, I was beginning to have doubts about whether it was going up at all.

The precipitation has held off for several days now and the temps are holding on. A test hole was dug, 12 inches ‘round and 48 deep, and at least for the hour or so we spent out there rambling on about construction, cars, trucks, and the cosmos, the hole remained dry. We took it as a good omen and perhaps the Gods were smiling upon us after all. If the hole is dry come morning, he can start. All we need is favorable conditions long enough to get the footings for the posts poured and set, the rest is a cake walk…well, more like a Popsicle walk, actually, but he’s being paid well.

The woods are all but done. The mains and lats are all up, graded, flushed and sanitized. I need to install 15 saddles and we’ll call the woods ready. Need a couple cord of wood yet. Both can be knocked out in a lazy weekend. I expect to have somewhere near a month to get the roof jack on, doors built for the cupola, feeder tank set, evap set and leveled, and rig up some temporary lighting. No frills this season, going bare bones, but it will be a huge improvement over last year, if…IF…it all comes together.

[Don(MI)]

Well, you sure couldn't ask for any better weather this winter, for construction! Thats for sure!

[Tweegs]

It’s on!

I'll take the weather, Don. I’m feeling rather fortunate.

The hole was dry this morning. My builder leveled the ground and staked it out today.
Materials are expected to arrive tomorrow. Should have just enough time before the weather sours to get those footings to set up.

Builder estimates 2 weeks start to finish. (Where have I heard that before?)

Regardless…Let the construction begin!

Pics as we get them.

[Don(MI)]

Looks like we have a good cold snap headed our way, I think winter is finally gonna make it here!

[Tweegs]

The posts are up, my builder will be out today to add the perlins. The clowns down at the lumber yard forgot to include the LVL ridge beam with the shipment, so they’ll eat the cost of trucking it out there today.

What a muddy, mucky, mess. 10 pounds of mud attached to each boot is wearing the builder out, and the little bit of rain we are getting today won’t help matters in the least. Figured I’d get him some relief and ordered 5 yards of crushed limestone to be delivered at his discretion.

That cold snap might be a blessing, firm up some of that muck, but I need to get the limestone inside and compacted before the ground freezes solid. Won’t do to have the evaporator wanting to settle come spring.

[Tweegs]

Here's a couple of pics:

A couple of maples between the driveway and shack:

5104

Just posts

5105

[Don(MI)]

WOW! Could not ask for a more picture perfect spot, to build a shack! Very nice!!

You will find, that sugar shacks are just more than a place to boil and make syrup.

They are a gathering place, where family and friends meet. Can't think of a better environment!

We have a picnic table in ours, along with a coffee maker, and crock pots with food and beverages are kept outside where its cool.

Good luck!

[backyard sugaring]

Tweegs, you may want to order more stone you never seem to have enough. You can spread in on the outside of your sugar shack and not be dragging mud in. Good luck. Lee

[Tweegs]

The little bit of rain turned into a day long rain, so nothing got done yesterday.

That first 5 yards of stone will get the inside of the shack and the area immediately around it.

When summer rolls around and the ground firms up again, the plan is to put a 24X32 pad in. 8X24 covered porch off the front and add a 12X12 kitchen off the back, we’ll carry the slab off the back the full length of the shack, making it 12X24 for wood and a good base for the holding tank. Front, back, and the inside of the shack itself equal the 24X32 slab. I’ll bring in more stone then, enough for the slab and to create a short drive way and parking area up next to the shack. Shooting from the hip, I’m probably looking at near 20 yards for a 4 inch base.

I’m not worried about getting too much stone. My driveway up to the house is a half mile two-track. Seems I never have a lack of pot holes in that sucker. But to bring in 20 yards now is asking for trouble. That ground is so soft I’m afraid any truck bringing it in would get stuck anywhere I had enough room for him to dump it, not to mention the frost regs out here on the dirt roads might prevent delivery altogether. Maybe when things freeze up solid (I don’t really know how those frost regs work) I can get more in here…food for thought.

[Don(MI)]

Covered porch and a kitchen? Now thats doing it right!! Sounds like a plan!
Nothing better than lunch and dinners, and snacks in between, all day at the shack!
We do a pancake breakfast at least once a year there too, with an electric griddle.

[Ecnerwal]

Before you pour the slab, dig some trenches and set drainage pipe in stone. Much easier done first than trying to retrofit it later.

[backyard sugaring]

I put 60 yds in and around my addtion on my barn wish I would have bought another 20yds. I agree have plenty pot holes in my driveway to fill. Good Luck. Lee

[Don(MI)]

Well? Any good updates? Looks like winter is back!

[Tweegs]

Yep!

The perlins and truss carriers were on and the ridge beam set as of last night. I brought in 6 yards of limestone, got more than half of it in there, needs more, but I pooped out.

Rafters were going on and the rest of the materials are supposed to be delivered today.

Moving right along.

We got pics yesterday but I didn’t get a chance to upload. I’ll add those to ones from tonight.

[Tweegs]

OK, so here are a few from yesterday.

512151225123

[Tweegs]

And from some work today.

512851275129


Temps tanked and the wind roared.
Drove my builder off, it seems.
Materials haven't shown yet, weather also, perhaps.

[christopherh]

Lookin good! wont be long. What are you using for siding?

[Tweegs]

Metal siding and a metal roof, fiberglass doors, aluminum windows.

Going to be like a refrigerator in there until the evap gets cranking.

All of the lumber used is treated. That may be overkill, but it wasn’t much of a cost up for materials.

[TimJ]

You used pressure treated lumber for building this?

[Tweegs]

We did.

The price difference between treated and untreated, for this stage of construction, amounted to under $200.

[ehausinfrats]

When I built mine a few years ago I went with untreated. Sounds almost identical to your set up. My thoughts on it were not being insulated any moisture would be gone in the 10 months that it was not being used. After all, these buildings are set up to move air.
My only regret I did not do a cupical addition on the roof. I used a steam hood on the flue pan going thru the roof and leave the syrup pan open to view.

[firetech]

Looking good Tweegs. Don't foget to get some drains in the floor. stubb up a conduit for electical and a stub for water supply.

[Tweegs]

Stringers and the rest of the perlins went on today. Doors are framed and the rest of the materials arrived. We decided to go with an 8 foot long cupola as opposed to a 9 foot just for ease of construction, and also added some width to it for better lines and overall aesthetics.

Not enough new on the building to warrant another pic, but the cupola is slated to be framed out tomorrow, I’ll get pics then.

I’ll make sure to stub it in, Herb. I don’t plan on sinking a well or running electricity out there at this point in my sugaring career, but you never know. Cheaper to stub in now, just in case.

The shack should move plenty of air. We went with 10 foot walls and a 12 foot peak (4/12 pitch), mainly to accommodate the overhangs later, open soffits and a ridge vent the full length. The shack sits in a low, sheltered, heavily shaded area and it stays pretty damp out there until long after syrup season, which has as much to do with the decision to use all treated lumber as anything else.

[Don(MI)]

Sounds great!

I remember the days of coleman lanterns! Good days!

[Tweegs]

Cupola is all framed in and some of the roofing on.

51435144

[sjdoyon]

We need to assist in filling out the survey. The research done by UVM Proctor Research directly benefits what we love to do.


Thanks to those who have completed the survey so far....but we need a LOT more participation. Please complete the survey at
http://kwiksurveys.com/online-survey...IONKG_c3f8cb68

Don't make me come out there and get you.
Dr. Tim Perkins
UVM Proctor Maple Research Ctr
http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc

[TimJ]

My question was not about price - more about the chemicals inside a building where you make food...

Perhaps I am way off base here - but I thought that was a no-no in residential building construction.

[Tweegs]

CCA treated lumber was voluntarily discontinued for use in residential construction because it contained arsenic. More common today is the Alkaline Copper treated (ACQ), which is what we are using.

While there are restrictions against using it as a counter top, we could find nothing that prohibited its use in general construction.

We do plan to have the shack licensed, and some inspectors can be persnickety, but this isn’t something a good coat of paint wouldn’t cure…of course, that would kind of defeat the purpose of using treated to some extent, it will, however, still provide some resistance to mold and insects.

[Clarkfield Farms]

Builder estimates 2 weeks start to finish. (Where have I heard that before?)

Yessir, it's a money pit alright. :) But it's worth it. Looks nice! I got more ideas from Dave's(maple flats) sugar house than I would've ever been able to think up on my own. Not sure if I can incorporate them all into what I plan on having for a sugar house but it would be fun trying.

[ehausinfrats]

Looks good!. You got to be getting excited. I built mine myself and took a better part of a year. Never the less it won't be long and te steam will be rising.

Eric

[TimJ]

Thanks for the education on the treated lumber use. I am not a builder and I guess I had old information. Looks good!

[Tweegs]

Thanks for the education on the treated lumber use. I am not a builder and I guess I had old information. Looks good!

Hey thanks,

I’ll admit your question struck a cord of paranoia in me. I had to dig in further to make sure I hadn’t just made a huge mistake. I knew that CCA lumber was discontinued in 2006 and did a quick search and found that this new ACQ stuff had been approved for use in playground equipment, where kids often put their hands in their mouth after touching it. I also found that it was not to be used as a counter top, but could be used in all other phases of construction. That was good enough for me at the time, and I authorized my builder to go ahead with it (it was his suggestion, after all) but your post prompted me to dig deeper.

I pulled up the MSDS. After filtering out all the technical jargon, it boils down like this;
It is not to come in direct or indirect contact with drinking water.
It is not to be used where food is prepared (meaning counter tops).
The most common reaction to ingesting the stuff is mild gastrointestinal discomfort.
The best way to make it perfectly safe is to apply shellac, lacquer or other hard coating over it.

Of course there are all kinds of red flags about inhaling the saw dust…something about it being a cancer causing carcinogen, but that is the same warning being applied to all types of saw dust, not just the dust from treated lumber. (Being a woodworker by hobby, I’m bombarded by this inconvenient little fact in every piece of woodworking literature I receive.)

[Tweegs]

Windows in.


51965197

[ehausinfrats]

Looks good. You got tbe getting excited!

[Tweegs]

Excited, anxious, and ready for him to be done.

Looks like the weather is going to hold for a few days, temps in the 40’s for a couple. Not so good for us, but he thinks he can wrap up by the end of the week, or be pretty close at least, as long as the weather holds. He got the back wall on today.

Plenty to do and the clock is ticking, crunch time. I’ve got a line on a factory second roof jack, SS for the price of a galvanized. Still waiting to hear why it is a second. Worst case, my equipment supplier has another in stock that they’ll discount a bit for me.

There are a couple of hard weekends ahead getting things finished up. Fortunately, good ole Murphy has kept his nose out of things so far, I expect he’ll show up about the time I try to install the jack.

[Tweegs]

Finally, phase 1 is complete, almost; still need to put doors on the cupola, but that is going to have to wait until after the season.


We had a good head of steam going when these were shot, but we weren’t really cranking yet.

54795481

[ehausinfrats]

Wow. It looks good! I gotta beleive you're busy now. The weather is perfect. One question. How bad is the drips off the roof? I did a similar building but put in a steam hood on the flue pan leaving the syrup pan exposed. I still get quite a bit of drips off the perlins. I actually put a piece of metal over the syrup pan tipped so it would drip into it.

Eric

[Tweegs]

Thanks,

We processed about 150 gallons on the 22nd, even with that wide open cupola and a stiff breeze to help pull the steam out, it rained like a son-of-a-gun in there. Got another 250 or so to run today and it’s going to be even worse, lots of snow on the roof. No steam hood isn’t going to help matters any.

Hung some aluminum over the pans for today’s run, tented and angled so the steam can escape but nothing from above will drip into the pans. Hope is that the condensation underneath will run to the low side and drip off. It’s all clean so the worst that will happen is that condensation from the under side drips back into the pan slowing the evap rate some. Hung it up high enough so as not to rap my noggin on any of it.
We’ll see if it flies.

[sugarwoodacres]

Tweegs . My neighbor took house wrap and tacked it up to beams and bought cheapy home center gutters that are inside to collect the drips and drain them off . Whats the pitch on your roof?