Chapter 12

The Spring Bay #1

By Jane and Woodrow Jarvis

Front view of the hunting lodge is a picture of rustic beauty and practicality.

WE erected the Spring Bay vacation cabin near the end of a road leading no­where in the northern Michigan wilderness. The site is at Spring Bay, three miles north of isolated DeTour village, on the broad St. Mary's River looking northeastward into Canada. The island-studded river lies 35 feet from our breakfast table.

We picked Spring Bay for its abundance of game and its beautiful scenery, but it has its price. We are at the 46th parallel and the winters are long and cold. We built for year-round occupancy, for comfort when howling blizzards blot out the land and the temperature plunges to about 40 below. Costs were higher because of these factors, but they could be reduced in a milder climate or if you build for summer occupancy only.

Lodge looks like this from rear entrance. King-size fireplace is for protection against rugged Michigan winters.

1. Although there was a small natural clearing on the site, a number of trees had to be felled and the dense underbrush had to be removed. The St. Mary's Hirer may be seen in the background.	2. After one neighbor came to the rescue in a bulldozer, another friend leveled off the 35 yards of gravel fill with his grader, and then roughed out what would eventually be the septic tank pit.

5. Porch section was poured 2½ 2 in. lower than main floor to prevent water seepage and to al­low room for outside finish to come below floor level.   This   overlap    renders   floor    weather tight.	6. Final excavating job was fireplace pit. Frost line in northern Michigan is 4 ft., so to prevent concrete from heaving, the pit was dug 4 ft. deep under the fireplace proper. 2 ft. under the hearth.

Fortune smiled on us in the matter of tools. The land we liked so well at Spring Bay was owned by a friend of many years, John Steel. Steel abandoned the high-powered life and made off for the north woods. Over a period of years he accumu­lated quite an imposing array of power machinery—bulldozer, truck, Jeep and trailer, Shopsmith, electric hand saw—in order to develop his wilderness holdings.

These  tools  Steel  let  us  use,  and  many other smaller ones, without charge.

But tools still are an item, or were for us. We arrived on the site with a New York apartment-size tool kit containing one pair of pliers, three screwdrivers and a tack hammer. We bought $48.15 worth of small tools and a $25 half-interest in a Vi-in. power drill. From our experience we found that the one tool which will pay for itself quickly is the electric hand saw. Get one with a bevel adjustment for cuts up to 45° with a 2-in. bite. It will cost around $50.

3. Baiter boards set near corners of project aid laying out foundation. Four weighted lines laid over boards outline foundation. Diagonals will be equal in length when all lour corners are square.	4. First permanent installation was electric power. Meter and temporary fuse box were attached to pole. Once these were in. a shallow-well jet pump was rigged to draw water from over 35 ft. away.

7. Here's the completed slab. Note the anchor bolts inserted in the concrete. These will retain the sills on which the floor joists will utirnately rest. Rocks for  the   fireplace   interior   were   gathered   locally	8. Framework went up quickly. Rafters are set on 24-in. centers to accommodate 4x8 ft. insu­lation boards. Archway through closet wall was left   as   possible   expansion   area   in   the   future.

With this you can rip through work with the speed of a startled deer. You probably can rent or hire the larger power machines, including the cement mixer.
Don't ask how many man-hours went into the place. Records became confused early in the game. We built it all with our own work or volunteer help. Part of the time the crew included three women, and it would take a brave man to venture how many squaw hours make a man-hour. Then again. Steel would drop in with his bulldozer and move more stuff in 10 min­utes than we could have moved in 10 days. Every time Steel  came calling with his dozer he made us a new driveway, which is no inconsiderable item. We have three driveways. Other friends also dropped by to help out for a day or an afternoon. On the other hand, a fisherman occasionally would pass the word where the lunkers were striking, which brought things to a screaming stop for the day.

There were no holdups for materials and we did not run into any serious shortages. One of the most intelligent things we did was to strike up an agreement with the lo­cal hardware store in DeTour. We concen­trated   our   purchases   in   one   place.

9. Rigid insulation boards ½ in. thick comprised sheathing. Temporary stovepipe outlet in wall at right was made so that builders could work on   interior   of   lodge   during   the   cold   weather.	10. It required just one-day’s work to put on the roof shingles. Never underestimate the power of your friends if you're planning to undertake an extensive   project   like   construction   of   this   lodge.

11. Main flue liner in fireplace is 8x12 in. Addi tional 8x8-in. unit may act as stovepipe outlet—a handy kink to remember if you build in a cold climate and want to use lodge during the winter.	12. The structure begins to take on a finished appearance after roof and fireplace are completed. At this stage of construction, the builders moved right into the  cabin  to tackle  the  interior  details.

In return, the hardware man classified us as contractors for our own home and there­fore entitled us to a 10 per cent discount across the board. Somehow we gathered the impression that this was not an unusual practice around the country. It saved us $100 on about $1,000 worth of builders’ sup­plies. In addition it assured us of obtaining borderline scarcity items such as galva­nized pipe, fittings and cement.

The hunting lodge fell naturally into four stages of construction: (1) foundation and fireplace, (2) framing and housing in, (3) installation of utilities, and (4) interior finish. You can move in at the end of the second stage when your total cost is about $1,200 in materials, and spread the finishing details over as many months or years as your inclination and pocketbook dictate. Our final cost ran $2,500. exclusive of land and without labor.

Foundation and flooring is a matter of personal preference. We chose concrete with a resilient tile floor. We figured we could save money by pouring the porch, floor, fireplace foundation and septic tank in one sweep. Our total concrete work cost $266.50. of which about 40 per cent was for sand and gravel fill.

Handsome interior boasts ruqged fireplace, cedar paneling. Top bunk may be lowered to form a couch.

One of the first things we had to deter­mine was the depth of the frost line. We found that it varied from a few inches beneath the cedars, to a possible 4 ft. in open fields. We didn't want the frost to freeze our water line or toss the fireplace around, so we planned for the worst and went down 4 ft. A fireplace foundation 4 ft. deep and 8 ft. square is a powerful big hole to fill. We economized on concrete by alternating a layer of rock with a layer of concrete and tamping it down firmly.

The floor and porch we poured by sec­tions into a solid slab 3 to 5 in. thick over a foot or more of gravel fill with substantial footings all around. During this operation we also poured the septic tank, using a double form for the walls. We believe we really saved money on this operation. A 500-gallon metal tank alone costs $80 or more. We used scrap lumber for the forms and about $15 worth of concrete. Cast iron soil pipe and drain tile cost another $50. We leaded the joints in the sewer pipe by melting the lead in a frying pan with a blowtorch. This provided our entire sew­age disposal system for about $65. In place of expensive cast iron soil pipe with leaded joints, you can use bell and spigot tile, seal­ing the joints with oakum and concrete. You can also make your septic tank of pre­cast concrete blocks.

We framed in by putting together wall sections on the ground and raising them in one piece. We notched the 2x8-in. roof beams over the top plate so a 2x6-in. bridge between beams would seal the opening. To strengthen the roof and front frame we bolted two 2x8x8's to the front wall and to the roof beams on the inside about 6 ft. apart above the window. When laying the roof beams, put the hump edge up.

Framing is spectacular work after grub­bing around in the ground for a few weeks. Your place now starts to take shape, and it certainly is encouraging. We slapped on the ½-in. rigid insulation in no time and the roof went almost as fast. We set the roof beams on exact 2-ft. centers, covered them with ½-in. white-sided rigid insulation, white  side  down,   in  4x8-ft. sheets,  and nailed 1-in. rough lumber through the in­sulation to the roof beams. We worked up the roof in 4-ft. jumps, marking a nailing line on the insulation along each rafter.

Now you can move in, if you are so in­clined. We did. It was a little chilly, so we sealed off the door and window openings, installed an overgrown coal stove inside and set up shop to carry on under cover.

At this point we started making doors and installing windows. With materials ranging in cost from $3 to $15 we made doors which would have cost from $10 to more than $75. Our main front door was made in Dutch door style by an old friend who paid us a flying visit. For the main door we had left an opening more than 3 ft. wide. Our friend vanished the next morning and returned at dusk with a 3-ft. wide Dutch door made of 2-in. tongue-and-groove cedar planking. The planks were glued and each section was held rigid with two %-in. threaded rods through top and bottom. The sections were rabbeted for a weather tight fit where they met in the middle.

The other two outside doors are a solid 1¼ in. thick. We made a 1x4 frame, filled in the panels with scrap ½-in. insulation backed by ¼-in. plywood, and sandwiched this between two sheets of ¼-in. plywood.

The assembly is held together with about 50 small carriage bolts. Inside doors we made with a facing of cedar paneling and center panels of 3/4-in. plywood, rimmed with 1x4 uprights and 1x6 crossbars. These are held together with about 60 screws and a few nails. The closet door we made of paneling backed by crossbars.

Picture windows can be expensive be­cause of the terrific markup necessitated by risk of breakage among large sheets. Con­tractors who buy glass in box lots and ac­cept the risk of breakage receive discounts ranging up to 80 per cent. We bought a box of 6 sheets of 48x52-in. single-strength window glass and received a substantial discount on the retail price of $169.25. With this glass and four inexpensive breezers we made three picture windows which would have cost more than $100 each. We accepted risk of breakage and found one sheet with a tiny chip, but since we had to trim seven inches from four of the sheets anyway, this didn't matter.

Double picture windows—two sheets about 3/4 in. apart—will prevent frosting in cold weather and will be warmer and stronger. But don't let moisture get be­tween them. It will fog and you can't get to it. We set in the outside casing, lathered it plenty with calking compound from a gun.

Compact and efficient, the vacation cabin is situated amid the scenic north Michigan woods.

13. Tongue and groove half-round cedar planking comprised   the   outside   finish.  Sills   are  of  cedar.	14. The electric pump and most of the plumbing were  concentrated   in   a  pit   directly   below   sink.

Set in the first sheet of glass, calked it, and fastened it in place with 3/4-in. nailing strips. Then we calked the nailing strips, set in the second pane, calked it, and nailed on the inside frame. We were care­ful to clean the inside faces of the glass before setting the panes in place and were doubly careful in handling the stuff. It may break of its own weight unless held straight up and down with a firm grip on the top or, better still, by the edges. When laying it on a table, get up high and set down one edge first.

We installed the front window full size, with step-down breezers on each side. The rear window we cut down to 41 in. on a level with the breezers, and made the kitchen window the same size.

You may shudder when you think of cutting glass that size, and well you might. It's a tricky business. We used a 4x8-in. panel of 3/4-in. plywood as a working base and built up the center warp with paper until we had an absolutely level working area. With all our precautions we broke one sheet in cutting, and the kitchen win­dow will remain a single window until we are fully recovered from the shakes en­gendered by the operation.
The time to install windows in this man­ner is on a hot dry day in summer when there is no humidity to be trapped in the air between the panes. But we couldn't wait that long. We put them in during a baby blizzard. Some humidity was trapped in the front window, but eventually it was absorbed into the wood under the heat of the sun.

If you don't want the risk or expense of picture windows, set two or more big breezers side by side. By sheer accident we incorporated some of the principles of solar heating into the lodge. The building faces due east, as we discovered when we set the north point of the compass insert in our floor. The sun floods the front window with warmth in the early morning, smiles on the kitchen window in early afternoon, and slants through the rear window while going to rest behind the trees.

We arranged the four breezers to open in instead of out. making it easier to screen the outside. But breezers that open in have a tendency to leak. We stopped this by fas­tening a piece of base shoe to the bottoms of the breezers with glue and screws. The base shoe forms a canopy to divert the water to the slanted window ledge.

Rock for the fireplace came free. The limestone in our area sheared cleanly un­der concussion. With an 8-pound sledge we cracked it into slabs from 4 to 6 in. thick. We laid the hearth with limestone, used green stone to the mantelpiece, and then limestone on up with a few greens to pick up the color.

Our fireplace unit had an opening of 33 in., which called for 8xl2-in. flues. To the right of the main flue about 2 ft. below the roof line we started a second 8x8-in. flue for a stovepipe chimney. Steel, who was building the fireplace, knew how to do it the easy way.

15. Kitchen cupboard was made of scrap lumber. Braces   were   attached   directly   to   the   studding.	16.  Stall   shower  utilized   'tin.  marine   plywood. All joints were securely nailed and well calked.

Instead of cutting a hole in the flue liner, a tedious task, he set the 7-in. thimble up against the flue liner and sealed in the whole thing with masonry. When masonry was set he reached into the thimble with a cold chisel and hammer and knocked a hole in the flue.

Long before we started construction, we began planning for the interior. The kitchen in particular seemed to promise substantial returns for some careful thought. There wasn't much space avail­able, and we wanted to exploit it to the fullest. The advice of experts was indi­cated, so we wrote the Westinghouse Elec­tric Corporation at Mansfield. Ohio. Their design department suggested a kitchen that would have everything, that fitted into the space requirements and that provided a maximum of working surface.

To the left of the sink is a 40-gallon table-top hot water heater and an apart­ment-size range. To the right is a 6-ft. up­right freezer and an under-the-counter refrigerator. The surfaces of the heater and refrigerator provide a surprising amount of working space to supplement the sink area, and the freezer is a money-saver in this bountiful land of fish and game.

The space-saving design of the lodge sets the kitchen apart and yet permits it to be included in the social center which re­volves around the fireplace and bunks. This greatly pleases Jane, who says housewives are tired of being banished to the kitchen when company comes for dinner. And with the electric range, she can set something cooking and forget it for a couple of hours.

Installation presented no baffling prob­lems. We received the very best co-opera­tion from the power company serving ourarea, the Cloverland Electric Cooperative, an REA outfit. They gave us a temporary meter on a pole, and then moved the meter to the house when we were ready for it.

We saved quite a bit by making our own shower when we put in the bathroom, building it around a $7.25 shower assembly and a $1.50 drain. We made a form 36 in. square, knocked off one corner to fit the space, cut a hole in the bottom and threaded in the drain. The walls we built up from form to ceiling with ¼-in. plywood, well tarred around the bottom and heavily lath­ered with calking compound around the joints and moldings. We made the floor of mortar, giving it a 2-in. drop from walls to drain. We wanted a rough finish on the mortar to prevent slipping. Probably a skilled mason would have taken consider­able time to get the right finish, but we seemed to accomplish it with no effort at all. The shower works beautifully and hasn't shown any sign of leaking, peeling or cracking.

During the plumbing process we installed the hot water heater, which is over the plumbing gutter midway between the bath­room and kitchen faucets. This is the most economical position, providing the shortest possible run for the hot water pipes so that heat dissipation is held at a minimum.

At this point we started getting into the wiring. The trend in wiling seems to be toward bigger and bigger wire to let the juice through easier. As one REA man told us. "You can't get a four-inch stream out of a one-inch hose. The bigger the wire, the better." We hooked up the range with 3-wire No. 6 entrance cable and a rubber-covered cord, and used the same wiring system for the hot water heater. The wiring system and range were grounded to the water intake pipe.

17. Plywood doors were hung with T-hinges. Brace across   the   door   is   stiffener,   prevents   war page.	18.  Bunk  frames are  2x4's.  Area under the  lower bunk  will be  used  for storage of hardware, etc.

We utilized three of the four circuits provided in the fuse box in addition to separate circuits for the range and water heater. No. 1 circuit powers the front light­ing system of fluorescents, No. 2 is a kitchen circuit for the pump, freezer, refrigerator and extra outlets, and No. 3 serves the rear wall, utility room and outside light. In the process we ran a wire from the spare circuit around to the closet on the far wall. figuring we might need it there sometime and it was better to put it in before the paneling went on. We installed plenty of outlets—seven double outlets in the main room and two in the utility room. In ad­dition there are spare outlets on six of the lighting fixtures and on the range.

Through local circumstances the hot water heater is giving us a break on our electricity bills. Cloverland Electric offers no rate reduction for an electric range but they do for an electric hot water heater of more than 30 gallons capacity. The rate drops to one cent per kilowatt hour for the 300 hours after the first 200. And the com­pany doesn't call for a time clock on the hot water heater. Your local utility company probably has a similar scale applied to power used for hot water heaters.

Although apparently not plagued with overloads at peak hours, our power com­pany does have another cross to bear. This is the propensity of frustrated hunters to test their marksmanship on line insulators. When this happens an entire area is plunged into darkness, which the company calls an "outage." On these occasions everything stops. The water pump is elec­tric, the stove is electric, the coffeepot is electric, the blanket is electric—so at times we have to carry water in a bucket, cook in the fireplace, and dig spare blankets out of mothballs.

Each fall, in its monthly bulletin, the company begs piteously that hunters please refrain from shooting off the insulators. Each spring the bulletin notes with relief that the number of "outages" has dropped considerably as the fishing rod replaces the gun.

Major economies can be effected in ex­terior finish, insulation and interior finish if conditions are right. Costs for the model hunting lodge are based on 2-in. log siding as an exterior finish at 22 ½ cents a square foot, ½-in. rigid insulation at 7 cents a square foot, and western cedar paneling for interior finish at 19 ½ cents a square foot. Want to cut that down some? Then consider these alternatives: eliminate the insulation if you don't plant to live in the place during extreme cold weather. Nail exterior finish and interior finish directly to the studding. Use shiplap for the outside finish, at 10 cents a foot, and the lowest price ¼-in. plywood for the interior at 5 to 7 cents a foot. Or use these finishes with the insula­tion. Or try shiplap as an interior finish. Make up your own combination. The outside of the lodge takes 1,000 square feet of finish.

19.   Built-in  bookcase  occupies  one  end  of bunk area.   Jarvis   is   boring   holes   for   clothes   pegs.	20. Heat lamps were used to get a floor tempera­ture   of   75   degree  preparatory   to   laying   tile.

The inside, counting cabinets, closet, bathroom and doors, re­quires 1,200 square feet. The 49 cents a square foot we paid for completed wall ma­terials can be cut in half in a milder climate or for summer occupancy only.

With most of the other work done, you're now coming to the Pullman bunks that make the hunting lodge such a compact unit. The bunks require a fair supply of 2x4's, four 6-in. T-hinges, two 30x72-in. innerspring cot mattresses, about 16 ft. of covering material at least 48 in. wide, and 300 or so upholsterer's tacks. The covering material is about all that will show when you re finished, so it sets the decorative scheme. We chose Boltaflex, a plastic ma­terial manufactured by Bolta Products Sales, Inc., of Lawrence, Mass. It is flexible, easy to work, almost impervious to dirt and wear, and has a lustrous leather finish available in a dozen colors. We wrote the manufacturer and received detailed in­structions on how to use it.

Set the lower bunk 6 to 8 in. farther out from the wall than the upper bunk. Decide on the height you want the lower bunk to be, subtract 8 in. for the cushion, and nail together a frame that high from the floor. We made ours a little higher than normal to keep the dogs from licking Jane's face when she's sleeping. Make two frames for the cushions 71 in. long and 29 in. wide. Use 2x4's with notched joints and a brace across the middle. Cover the frames crossways with 1-in. scrap, setting the boards about ¾ in. apart for air space. Smooth the cor­ners and the bottom front edges of the frames.

Lay the frame on a table and center on it first the mattress and then the Boltaflex. Turn back the Boltaflex 3 or 4 in. to give a double thickness over the wood and tack down the leading edge on the underside of the frame. Use upholsterer's tacks an inch or so apart. Make sure the material is started straight. If it runs off on the bias, you're going to have wrinkles.

Pull the stuff fairly tight across the middle of the mattress, turn up the edge again and tack it to the side of the 2x4 frame. Start from the center and work evenly both ways to the ends. Finish off the underside of the top bunk with panel­ing.

For a locking device make a 2x4 opening in the upright supports at each end of the top bunk. Determine the levels, fasten the top bunk to a 2x4 with the hinges, and inset the 2x4 into the rear wall studding. In­stalled in this manner, the top bunk can be raised and lowered easily and is quite rigid when up. Two short lengths of 2x4 inserted into the side openings will hold it up. Finish off the job with a wall ladder at the head made of ½-in. pipe and flanges, and at the foot with a bookcase.

Now you're ready for the floor. If you have a concrete floor in direct contact with the ground, your floor covering should be asphalt tile. It's the only type of permanent covering recommended for ground floor concrete. It seemed rather difficult and we were wondering how much it was going to cost us to have our floor installed. Then Jane read that Kentile, Inc., specialized in a lay-your-own-floor deal.

21.    Starting   from   the   center   of   the   floor,   Jane follows floor plan drawn up by the tile company.	22.   At   last—the   lodge   is   finished.   Notice   how the small but complete kitchen was squeezed in.

This sounded good to us, but what color? So we wrote to the Kentile company at Brooklyn 15, N. Y.. and asked them to design a floor.
Kentile's design department came back with a beauty. They made bold use of colors with three red bars in the kitchen and en­trance areas and set a compass insert that pointed up the big front window. Although our floor was not the smoothest bit of con­crete in the world, we laid the tile without trouble according to the instructions con­tained in the installation kit. There you are.

You're just about through now, with the floor laid. Bring in your kitchen equipment and plug it in. Ground the range to the water intake pipe under the sink. You'll want your guns and fishing rods handy, so drill a few 1/2-in. holes in the wall at a slight slant and set in birch dowels for pegs. There's a space behind the Dutch door for another half dozen pegs on which to hang jackets and things.

Built-in   bookcase   contains   recess,    right,    which accepts 2x4 locking block when top bunk is raised

23.  Cedar  paneling  gives  interior a  rich appear­ance. Enclosed space over bathroom is a closet.	24.   Lodge   required   only   the   addition   of   table, chairs, and drapes to make it completely livable.

And you might run a line of pegs around the utility room at head height, say 30 pegs or so, for boots and tools and fishing gear. You have stor­age space over the bathroom, inside and over the closet, under the bunks and in the utility room. In the bathroom, between the shower and wall, you will have a space 20 in. deep and 14 in. wide. Make a linen closet there with scrap pieces of plywood and keep the distaff side happy.

The  lady  of the  house  will  be  happy enough anyway. The model hunting lodge.

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