The Cedar Strips, Insulation, and Wiring

The next step in the process was to install all the cedar closet liner across the purlins and battens. This would ensure the entire inside finish of the bothy was red cedar. John had purchased a whole bunch of stuff off various online marketplaces at good prices, and we topped up the rest from Lowe's.

Installation was straightforward, we used a brad nailer gun with one person nailing and another supplying, cutting and installing as needed. As the pieces weren't always dead straight we had to take a checkpoint every 4-5 strips to be sure we were still relatively plumb, which wasn't too difficult.

We installed the rough finish side on the interior to match the finish of the other lumber we milled ourselves, which worked out well in terms of aesthetics.

Instead of installing all the cedar strips first followed by the insulation, we progressively added the insulation boards to the roof as we finished the strips. This was to save time on having to move the ladders around to get to a section of the roof.

We did a test install on the insulation at the first level wall, but then took that off as we needed to run the wiring around the bothy between the cedar strips and the insulation.

We also did a little side project and re-conditioned a bunch of bluebird boxes. We re-primed and painted them, and then my daughter put subtle but very beautiful designs on them to blend them into flower bed areas, trees, and other habitat around the farm.

Below you can see the type of cedar strips we were using. A pack typically consisted of mostly 4 foot strips and some 3's.

Once a lot of the strips were installed across the walls and roof, the bothy interior really started to reveal itself. It was so cool to see John's vision materialize. Really beautiful.

I caught these photos below of John at the end of the day, sitting in his chair. It wasn't clear if he was solving a problem or just enjoying the emerging bothy, either way he seemed pretty content.

In the photos below you can see we've almost finished all the cedar strips installation and roof insulation, save for the other side of the bothy roof. We've also installed the windows.

Additionally we've installed the framing for the plywood that we will put on top of the roof insulation. We did this by ripping pressure treated 2x4s with a table saw at an angle, and then nailing them up to the rafters and battens.

In looking at these photos of the gable ends I'm reminded how many times I made a diagonal cut on the wrong side of a cedar strip that we were aligning into the roof line. We wanted the rough side on the inside, but for some reason my mind would get mixed up and invariably the strip would have to be recut. Even John made the mistake once or twice, although I'm pretty sure it may have had something to do with my communicating what was needed. In any event, we got through it without wasting too much cedar.

Inside one end of the bothy we also installed 1x6 flooring for storage above the joists, and so we could put a heat pump and other hardware as needed. Below you can see the 1x6s, we left a gap in the middle for a portion of the platform so things can be stowed up there and gotten easily.

We also installed diagonal braces to strengthen the structure, since these are above the flooring they won't be seen easily. For the other end where the ceiling is exposed we did not install braces so that the lines were clean floor to ceiling.

A very nice shot of the wall that will be above the hearth end of the bothy. The different cuts of cedar and the symmetry of the whole thing is really pleasing. There is still work to be done with the nail punch in some places, but the overall look and feel is really coming together.

The next step was to install the wiring for appliances, lighting, outlets, and switches. John worked out a map and specs, and started by putting in some of the basic lighting elements that would be run across the joists and up the rafters.

Per the below photo, I gave him lots of encouragement, because he said he needed it.

Below shot you can see the various switches, lighting installations, and outlets that we ran across the bothy. We used John's multifunction oscillating cutting tool to make all the holes in the cedar for the sockets and switches. That little thing was useful but also more than a little dangerous....no room for error there or else it's off to the hospital.

We used a variety of 10, 12, and 14 gauge wire as needed for the array of elements, and installed the circuit box at the end of the cabin where the electrical feed came in through the pipe we had built in the foundation that then came up through a 2 inch hole John drilled in the framing.

On the outside John installed the wires directly onto the purlins (thru the cedar strips) using u-nails. Putting the wires outside like this kept the inside walls nice and clean. John also drew up a diagram of how he placed all the wires so that should it ever be necessary to know for maintenance or other we would have a good idea of where everything was. It was also important for later build processes where we didn't want to drill through the wire mistakenly as we wouldn't be able to see the wire when installing the insulation or other items.

At this point we switched gears and went back to the roof to install the plywood and felt paper so we could be safely under roof and dry. We would return to complete the insulation and taping on the first level after we got her dry, and then move on to inside blocking and finishing work and kick off stonework post that.

Before I finish this post, a few photos daughter must have taken one morning at what looks like a very slow start to the day. I don't look very ready to work and John is enjoying his coffee...