Cabin refinishing--we're done!!

Today we finished up our slave labor on the cabin refinishing project. We worked hard and the cabins look great. It is a rather thankless job, however. At this late date we worried about the weather holding out so we worked straight through the week without taking a preparation day. We plan to take two days off next week! We are so glad to be done. Sister Cole handed us a piece of candy and a pink piece of paper when we completed the last cabin. It said, "Your job is now done, So let's have some fun, Your pink slip is here, So let's give a cheer! We celebrated by booking a Hawaiian cruise in February for the six of us. It is too bad we don't get paid for our labors...the funds would have come in handy for travel. Here is a pictorial of our work project:

The first step was clearing all the weeds. Here is Reed doing some heavy duty bush-whacking.

The next step was raking the weeds and grasses that were cut.

Then we loaded the grasses and hauled them off. After that we put a spray nozzle on a hose and thoroughly cleaned the cabin exteriors. When they were dry we started the prep work.

I masked the foundations. Here I am checking to make sure the tape stuck to the metal flashing.

We had cardboard templates for the windows. We taped them over the windows. The front and back doors and back door railings had to be masked as well.

Elders Cole, Felter and Conlin working on the backside of a cabin. Elder Cole did all the spraying with a backpack sprayer. The others did brush work.

I am following the sprayer and brushing up any runs or drips. And yes, we have a few light-hearted moments such as when Elder Felter stuck this tape on his wife's behind without her knowing.

Reed has a paintbrush taped to a pole to reach the high spots while I get the ones where I can reach. The other three just removed the cardboard from the windows, bagged the masking paper from the foundation and wiped up drips on the window frames.

The paint crew--Elder and Sister Conlin (Reed and Kathy), Elder and Sister Felter (Gary and Suzanne), Sister Cole (Deon) on the ladder and Elder Cole (Roger)

We went through 10-25 gallons of stain/sealer/waterproofer per day depending on the type of logs used in the cabin construction. I used a 60 yard roll of masking paper on each cabin. I'd hate to count the number of rolls of tape we used. We all have lots of slivers. We smell paint thinner even during the night. Our hands may never be the same. Actually, my knees are what took a beating with all the bending, stooping, crouching and climbing. Ouch!

Here are the 3 musketeers at the close of a workday. They are hauling the trash to the dumpsters and putting the supplies back in the shed for the next day.