Antler Acres Sugarhouse construction

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

dont need a railing, its not that far to fall after a few adult beverages, it looks awesome, wife wants me to do same thing but I am going to put sliders or rails under unit so it can be moved and not taxed

[Gary R]

Thanks guy's, no railing it is! That will save a little work also. I have to put cup holders on my chairs now though Dan W, thank you for telling me about these buildings. Flat lander, I called the tax office. It does not matter if it is movable around here. If you build anything, they assess it for it's value.

Markct, BARRELS This is just a hobby! I hope it doesn't get that far. At least I'll be ready just in case.

[Gary R]

OK, the outside is finished. I need to determine if we will treat the wood on not. I originally thought of no treatment. Now I'm not sure I want an old and gray building next to my house. I don't want to go dark so motor oil is out. Any recommendations? I also need to get rid of some mold and a few gray boards, any idea's? I'm moving to the inside today. I have the electric figured out and will start on that.

I also found an amish tin knocker. He lives about 10 miles east of Oil City. He has a big shop and should be able to make anything for us out of SS. He has made large water holding tanks for their drinking water.

[GramaCindy]

OK, the outside is finished. I need to determine if we will treat the wood on not. I originally thought of no treatment. Now I'm not sure I want an old and gray building next to my house. I don't want to go dark so motor oil is out. Any recommendations? I also need to get rid of some mold and a few gray boards, any idea's? I'm moving to the inside today. I have the electric figured out and will start on that.

I also found an amish tin knocker. He lives about 10 miles east of Oil City. He has a big shop and should be able to make anything for us out of SS. He has made large water holding tanks for their drinking water.

Hello Gary R. We are in the process of building the "Mangy Moose" shack and from the advice of a great friend, painter dude, he strongly suggests to coat the pine siding and battens with a good sealer. I used a cedar color from Cabots. Soaks it up like you wouldn't believe! I didn't want to regret the decision of not coating the siding and looking at this great shack someday and saying, "I wish I would have not let it get grey."

[archerybs]

Hey Gary,

To remove mold and the grey color from your siding mix a solution of 25% bleach and 75% water. Spray on the siding but do not let it dry...rinse it off with a hose. The wood will look like it just came out of the mill. I did then before I staind my log home and it works great with very little effort.

[SevenCreeksSap]

Gary,
I cant tell from the pics, is this built on 2x8'S, I'm starting my shack and planning on making a large shed in case I ever need to move it, ( with a bulldozer) and dont want to go into the ground. It will be 12 x 24 and I'm wondering if my 2x8s are sturdy enough for the weight. Do you have your evap in yet? did it bow the floor down?

[Gary R]

There are three 3X8's that run the length of the building. This is what it is skidded on. There is one joint on the 28' length. Then there are 2X6 floor joist' on 2' centers, running side to side. 1" flooring on top of that and 7/16 OSB on top of that. The floor seems very sturdy. I don't have the evaporator yet but plan on putting some stainless under the legs to help spread the weight out. There are 1" holes drilled into the 3X8's. They stick a bar through them and use a chain to pull it. The amish use a couple of horses to pull it out of their barn. I'm sure any decent sized tractor could pull it. All the wood is rough cut so it is the full dimension.

Archerybs, thanks for the tip. I bought some Oxyclean to try first. I'm still undecided about sealing. My thoughts range from used oil for free to Sikkens at $200 for 5 gal.

[3rdgen.maple]

Go with the bleach solution for those boards that need cleaning. It works perfectly. Personally I would skip on the oil, problem being that you cant go back after its all soaked into the boards, sealing it or a light stain will still let you change colors in the future. It is also and enviromental issue with the oil, here where Im at I would be looking at a fine if I was caught with motor oil on it.

[Sugarmaker]

Gary,
Very nice sugar house! Finally carved out some time to visit you on here
I used a honey colored stain/ sealer on our sugar house and it needs stained again after ten years. But I do like the color better than letting it go gray like my head!
I like your idea of diamond plate on the floor under the arch I think that should work nicely.
Any more pictures??
Wheres that brand new evaporator?
Regards,
Chris

[Gary R]

I SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT VINYL SIDING!

OK, I had a few mold and gray spots to clean. But, when they built the building, they snapped some chalk lines on the exterior. I tried the 75/25 bleach, it didn't work that well. I tried Oxiclean and that didn't work well. So why not use them both? I will tell you there is a violent chemical reaction when you mix the both together I thought my sprayer was going to explode. I was able to crack the top and a three foot geyser of foam shot from it for a couple of minutes! Well that must be good stuff so lets use it. I ended up with two gray lines around our building. It's like the stuff took the color right out of the wood. This whole time I have been rinsing with a pressure washer with a 25deg. tip. I then decided to use straight bleach. That really cleans things up! The lines around the building finally came back to a wood color after days of doing nothing. But now you have to do the whole building because some of it is light and some darker. Using a wood preservative does not blend it to one tone of color.

I broke down and bought the Sikkens. 5 gallons ought to do, right? Nope, Saturday afternoon and need 2-3 gallons more. I had my wife check all around. She found a place and bought 3 gal. of RDS, Natural. That's what I told her. A long trip later, open the cans. Oops, I meant to say Natural Light. Well nobody had that and we had to order it. I've got the right stuff to finish but it keeps raining. It looks like early next week we can finish the sealing.

We all know what bleach attracts, PORCUPINES Every few days they have been gnawing on the front porch, not the back. We've shined a light a few times a night but haven't seen him yet. He will be dead if I catch him!

Anybody want some help refinishing their sugarhouse?

The good stuff; electric service in in and lights are up. The evaporator is going to be a couple of weeks late. That's OK because I could use a break. I have many things to do yet anyway. I need to get the wife to stack that three cords of wood soon