Spike Carlsen
Build and landscape with low-maintenance materials and you’ll work less and relax more. At the author’s cabin on Minnesota’s North Shore, a weed-free stone firepit plus a rock retaining wall and no-mow clover (instead of grass) keep outdoor chores to a minimum.
The fact that you’re reading a magazine with “Lake Superior” in the title makes the chances that you own, know someone who owns or really would like to know someone who owns a North Woods cabin, pretty close to 100 percent, I bet.
In the United States, there are more than 7 million cabins, cottages and camps, according to the National Association of Home Builders. Statistics Canada estimates about 2.1 million families have such second homes.
These getaways are near and dear to our hearts, but like all things we treasure, they need a little love and attention. In other words, cabins are like children; left to their own devices, they can act out. Cabins aren’t just “little houses.” They’re dwellings we orphan for days, weeks or months at a time. That creates its own unique set of problems, but there are ways to keep ahead of future cottage tantrums.
Here are a few guides to maintaining a solid relationship with your home away from home – especially while you are “away.”
Think Like Water
Mice might chew through electrical cords and tree branches may crash through your windows, but nothing – nothing – will wreck your cabin with more doggedness than water. Water falls out of the sky, seeps up from the earth, freezes on roofs, spurts from pipes and dribbles from appliances.
A recent survey by Water Damage Defense, a group specializing in water-damage prevention, revealed 40 percent of all homeowners have experienced some kind of loss through water damage. If you have a basement, that soars to a whopping 98 percent.
So much of keeping your cabin healthy revolves around water. Keep water where it’s supposed to be and in a liquid state and you, and your cabin, will be happier. (Just wait until you read the scary tales coming up).
Up, Open & Running
When it comes time to open up the cabin – a rite of spring for cabin owners – set aside one work weekend and tell yourself (and anyone else who tags along) that these first days will be mostly work and not so much play.
The good news? Investing in this work up front will mean fewer unpleasant surprises later in the summer and more time to enjoy your cabin.
To get your cabin ready and running this summer:
• Un-winterize. Reverse the steps you took last fall (see the “Good Night, Cabin” side story, and read it in reverse). Once you get your water system operational, let the water run for at least 30 minutes to flush out crud and microbes from the pipes, pump and filters.
• Beat back Mother Nature’s attempts at reclaiming the space. Trim any overhanging branches. They not only can damage your roof and wear away shingles, but offer a convenient pathway to your roof for squirrels, carpenter ants and other critters only too happy to munch on your getaway dream.
• Cleanse your gutters and downspouts. Water travels the path of least resistance, and if it can’t make it down the downspouts, it will pour off the eaves and dump moisture against your cabin’s foundation, where it can wreak all types of havoc. Experts suggest keeping the land directly around your cabin sloping away at a rate of at least 6 inches in the first 10 feet to usher away any moisture that does land near the foundation. You can create that slope by bringing in extra soil as you do your spring landscaping.
• Give your decks some CPR. Decks need to breathe to prevent premature rot. Use a dull handsaw to gently push crud and dirt down through the cracks so your deck boards can breathe and air out. While you’re cruising the deck, pull any nails that have popped up and replace them with 31⁄2-inch galvanized or coated deck screws. If you have cosmetically damaged but structurally sound deck boards, remove the fasteners, flip them over and screw them back down.
• Pressure wash! There’s no better tool for removing grime and mildew from walkways, driveways and patios than a pressure washer. Rent one for an afternoon, and you’ll see such dramatic results it almost falls into the fun category. They’re also great for cleaning boats, siding and decks, but beware, ill-used high pressure can damage these things, too.
• Don’t forget the fun stuff. Are your boat and fishing licenses up to date? (Go buy them and chat with the local vendor.) Do you have plenty of life preservers for everyone and do they fit? (Kids grow, who knew?) Is the boat gas that sat in the can all winter funky? (If you didn’t add a stabilizer, consider humane – and legal – disposal.)
Spike Carlsen
When building outdoors, Spike advises using pressure-treated wood rated for “ground contact.” It costs more than lumber rated “above ground” or “treated to refusal,” but means less maintenance down the road (or down the stairs in this case).
• Filter out the funk. Change furnace filters if you have a forced-air system. Open windows and increased activity mean air filters actually get dirtier in summer than in winter. While you’re at it, change water filter cartridges based on manufacturer’s directions.
Three Scary True Tales
I might start by saying, “I don’t want to alarm you ...” but, in fact, I do want to alarm you.
As cabin owners, my wife and I – and our neighbors – have learned lessons the hard way.
Just one incident cost more than $50,000.
The lesson learned? If you’re going to be gone for any extended length of time, install remote sensors and backup systems. They’re cheap insurance, most are easy to install and operate, and they provide great peace of mind. Think of them as baby monitors for cabins.
• Scary Tale #1: We keep our cabin thermostat set at 45° F while we’re away during the winter, but that doesn’t prevent things from freezing when the furnace pilot light or the power go out.
We entered our cabin one January evening to discover a thermometer reading 10°, frozen pipes and a shattered toilet around a toilet bowl-shaped chunk of ice.
Our relaxing winter shore getaway with skis on our feet became our miserable work weekend with wrenches, towels and hairdryers in our hands.
Better late than never, we invested $100 in a sensor that calls us via telephone when the heat drops below 45° or the power goes out. Other systems send out warnings via the internet. There are even super-simple systems with which a light set in a window flashes to alert neighbors if the temperature has dropped too low. Whether you go high- or low-tech, for the love of relaxing winter weekends, buy one!
• Scary Tale #2: Our next-door neighbors also kept their cabin heated at low temperature throughout the winter, but rarely visited. Back in the city, they got a cry for help from their cabin when they opened a sky-high electric bill. Seems that, though they’d turned off the water to their fixtures, they’d failed to shut off the water into their hot-water heating system. A pipe burst, draining the tank, so the happy little auto-fill pump churned water into their basement for three weeks trying to get that tank full.
The basement was a loss and the rest of the house didn’t fare much better. They could have avoided all this with a waterflow monitoring system that automatically shuts off the water if it senses excess or unusual water usage.
• Scary Tale #3: We have a sump pump to move water up and out of our crawl space. When the power goes out, usually during a storm at the time you need a sump pump the most, the pump can’t operate. After discovering for the third time our crawl space had become a swimming pool, we invested $250 for a battery-operated backup sump pump. It was easy to install, is self-charging and actually works. Thus we keep the space for crawling and not for swimming.
Spike Carlsen
In building his own cabin, author/handyman Spike Carlsen chose to use wood accents liberally, from floor literally to ceiling, and in everything from storage shelving to outdoor features. He also made liberal use of windows – including sky lights – to invite the outside into the small space of the cabin. “Wood floors, beams and paneling cost more up front,” he says, “but require less upkeep in the long run. Plus it’s hard to beat their warmth.”
Spend More Now, Save More Later
Since maintenance and repairs are inevitable, consider investing in top-notch products that save you work, hassle and expense down the road when you repair or replace something.
Buy the more expensive exterior paint that lasts 25 years instead of 10. Buy caulk that will do the job for 50 years instead of two. Install shingles with a 50-year warranty instead of 25.
If you need to replace your deck, consider using synthetic TREX or tropical Ipe wood. These products cost two to three times more than treated wood, but will last a lifetime. Some have guarantees, but work with long-standing companies.
If you do wind up with burst pipes, make the repairs with PEX pipe instead of copper pipe. PEX, or crosslinked polyethylene, is neither a rigid PVC nor metal pipe. It has more “give” in the event of a freeze up.
Most of all, remember to give your cabin a little love, and it’ll love you back.
Minnesotan Spike Carlsen is author of several books, including a memoir of his North Shore getaway called Cabin Lessons, A Nail-by-Nail Tale.
Spike Carlsen
Spike placed the water heater, pressure tank, water filters and most of the plumbing in one small easy-to-heat, drain and maintain crawl space.
Good Night, Cabin
If you plan to abandon your cabin for any length of time, especially in winter, water and what it’s doing will be one of your main concerns.
Owners run the gamut from those who keep their cabins heated at 70° F all winter to those who shut off the heat completely. If you vacate your cabin and keep the space unheated, it’s imperative to get ALL of the water out. Every cabin is different, with its own quirks and eccentricities, but check off these basic good-bye, cabin, chores:
✔ Shut off the main water valve. Completely drain the hot and cold water systems, including water heaters and pressure tanks (shut off the power to these first). Open your faucets while you’re doing this so water can fully exit the pipes and faucets.
✔ Don’t forget to drain the little oddball water hideaways like washing machine hoses (the average age of a busted one is eight years), water filters, dishwashers and ice-maker water lines.
✔ Flush and bail most of the water from your toilet bowl and tank, then add RV antifreeze (RV and marine antifreeze is non-toxic, unlike auto antifreeze). Also, pour about a cup of RV antifreeze into your sink, shower and bathtub drains. Steer clear of regular auto antifreeze as it can damage your septic system.
✔ Open and drain outdoor faucets and remove hoses.
✔ Since your septic system won’t be having much “input” to stimulate the heat-producing bacterial action, cover your septic tank and drainage field with 8 to 12 inches of hay. It’s not guaranteed to keep things from freezing, but it will serve as good insulation in extreme cold, especially during winters without much snow cover.
If you fall into the not-so-handy category, contact a plumber or handyman service to perform the winter shutdown.
There are also local cabin watchers who will not only help with shutdown, but will do periodic checks on the building during the winter.
If you want to tackle things yourself, search “winterizing tips” online or check your university extension websites, which offer good information.