Snowmergency, Snowpocalypse, Snowmageddon in Vancouver
Early December 2022. It's snowing in Vancouver. This means that the pace of individual mobility is converging with the cognitive competencies of mobile individuals. Making progress on the road becomes nearly impossible. The speedometer needle in many vehicles simply stays on the resting needle, and the bodyshops and dent repairmen on duty are getting big eyes. The media is talking about a snowpocalypse. This is underlined by a video of four vehicles already wedged into each other, approached by a public bus sliding at a gentle pace. A spectacle that leads the media to boundless creativity - no wonder, they have nowhere to go. And so grandiose neologisms come into play: Snowmergency, Snowmageddon and the end-time evoking Snowpocalypse.
In the middle of this truly catastrophic state - I'm already counting toilet paper - we receive the pleasant news: "Your windows have arrived". We promptly reply that we could come to Lund the following weekend and ask if it could be arranged to deliver the windows already on Friday. Presumably due to flockdown there is no answer from the supplier. So no Lund this weekend, we think to ourselves on Thursday morning. Around noon on Thursday, the supplier calls: "We'll be there tomorrow around one o'clock. Fits, doesn't it?" - "Um, okay." Slightly panicked - Rico is still at work - I drop the toilet paper and pack the bags. And write to Paul, our neighbor in Lund, with whom we are staying in one of the cottages. And throw half the fridge into a cooler bag. And rush to the car to sled to the ferry. Rico will be waiting for me there - he comes straight there from the office.
Snowdyllic Lund
Excitingly, the BC Ferries ferry runs on time. Probably because it is not dependend on roads and it is just too warm for icebergs. In the evening, the three ladies Sabine, Peanut and Pumpkin await us cordially and with extensive face licking. The latter, by the way, is done by Peanut - Sabine is a bit funny about it. The next morning we leave for Lund, where not only a van with our windows awaits us, but also a cabin spared from the snow chaos.
Step by Step to an Installed Window
In total we ordered 18 windows and one patio door. Arrived 17 windows and one patio door. As it turns out after a clarifying call to the supplier, one of the bathroom windows was defective and was therefore not charged. However, no one was informed about this. Oh well, good employees are just hard to find.
After we have sifted through all the delivered windows and sorted some of them into the workshop - they are light as a feather, after all - we want to install the first one right away. We will proceed in exactly the same way as we will for all subsequent windows. Only the amount of "hnnnkkk" and "ufff" and "boah ey is this piece of shit heavy" varies a lot.
Preparations
Before a window can be placed in the wall, you need to take some preparatory measures. For example, it is necessary to saw small wooden wedges, on which the window will be placed. They allow us to correctly align the window and install it straight. The wedges can be placed on top of each other to adjust the height accordingly. This will end up looking like the photo below.
This is done with a large saw and a tool specially made for this purpose.
It goes without saying that the window opening should be clean, but you can still mention it. So simply remove any sawdust or other dirt with a small hand broom or hand.
Waterproofing the lower part
The next step is to waterproof the bottom of the window opening. To do this, the corners are secured with plastic protection. This is stapled down and then sealed with a waterproof membrane. We use waterproof "duct tape" for this. This is glued once along the entire underside of the window opening.
As with the roof, the principle of working from the bottom up applies here as well. Once the first sheet has been glued, a second sheet of a slightly wider membrane is applied. Just under a quarter is overlapped with the lower sheet. Then the wider sheet is folded into the window opening so that any water does not get into the wood but drains off via the membrane.
Put in the window
Once the membrane is in place, the window is inserted. This means placing the wedges and lifting the window into position. Depending on the size, manageability and weight of the window, this can be done by one or more people.
Once the window is in position, it is aligned horizontally with the small wooden wedges. Of course, a spirit level is also used in the process.
Once everything fits and the window is centered both horizontally and vertically, it is fixed - with nails. Yes, it is simply nailed into the wall. When doing this, it is highly recommended to target only the nail heads and not hit vinyl or glass. The nails are placed at least twelve inches apart. Fortunately, window frames come with pre-punched holes! You're not allowed to use all of them, though; you should only use every other one. And by the way, you can't nail directly on the corners either.
Waterproof the sides
The last step in the window installation process is to seal the sides and top of the window. Again, the waterproof Membran is used here. This time, however, it is glued to the window frame and wood, thus sealing the whole thing. No more water can get through. Perfect!
Windows 8 were successfully installed
We repeat the entire procedure several times over the weekend. The process itself is always identical, but the windows are very different. And the placement is not as easy as you might think. Because our cabin is built on rocks and they are not exactly flat. In addition, the windows in the bedroom and kitchen are not accessible from a standing position. So we need a scaffold. In Vancouver there are two. Unfortunately I couldn't get them on the car because I was counting toilet paper rolls. But since we need a third scaffold anyway, we just buy one on Saturday. So we actually manage to install eight windows by the end of the weekend. And quite honestly: We are quite proud of that.
Cabin Playlist
Music is Emotion. Music holds Memory. This is the soundtrack for the build of our Cabin at the Upper Sunshine Coast.
So finden wir jederzeit zurück zu den Momenten voller Herausforderung, Freude und Zufriedenheit.
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Cabin-Blog-Zeitleiste
All our posts about RITICOLO Cabin have been organized in this fancy looking timeline. Pretty cool, eh! Have fun looking around and leave a comment if you enjoy what you are reading.
Trees, a Wood Stove, Lumber and Paws
Vapor barrier - cabin interior
Thermal Insulation and What it Takes to Get There
Roof – The big Finale
Roofing for Dummies
Roofing - shingles or metal roof?
Cabin - New Year Progress
Cabin Timeline
Roofing – Part Two
Roofing - Part One
Gable Walls and LVL
Lofts
Header Beam – Ein dicker Balken, der alles zusammenhält Zum Bau der Außenwände hatten wir…
Things we learned so far
Framing the Cabin
Basecamp
From concrete piers to the finished subfloor
It's amazing what you can accomplish in a few weekends. During the construction of our
Demolition, Homework and some Problems
Progress - Getting Rid of Stuff
First Steps in Lund
On the February long weekend (Family Day), we pack up our MINI and head to our
Lund - The Property
