Creekside Dwellings ~ The Cabin Exterior Updates

Since I've been sharing more of the cabin with you, I thought I should move to the exterior and then back indoors.  If you've been following along, you know our mountain cabin is a fixer-upper, with everything needing to be redone from plumbing to electrical, top to bottom, ceiling to floor...a total renovation.  We haven't focused too much on the exterior because we've wanted to get the inside finished.  I must admit, I'm a bit reluctant, because the exterior isn't too pretty...but it is what it is.  This December will be three years since we began and it's still in the works!

To date, about the only things we have done to the exterior of the cabin and other buildings on the property has been:
~remove all the excess phone and cable wiring attached to the siding
~replace support beams for upper porch
~replace doors and storm doors
~remove old lower concrete porch and enlarge the porch using natural stone
~remove the old bridge and replaced with new bridge and stone stairs
~new gutters
~touched up the porch ceilings here and there with a little white paint
~wash the exteriors and boy did they need it!
The exterior of the cabin, the garage, log cabin, and storage building were all filthy.  I was able to use a ladder to get the other buildings cleaned but as far as the cabin, I was only able to wash as far as my extension brush would reach, beginning with the upper porch and working my way down to the lower porches.  I will say, it's amazing what a little soap and water will do to an exterior that hasn't been touched in many, many years.  The dirt and grime were dripping off and I was happy that it made such a difference.

I used an exterior house cleaner with water in a big bucket and an extended handle scrub brush.
I am doing one last rinse on the roof.







The left side has been cleaned but is still wet.  The black dirt and grime were dripping down the sides as I scrubbed and rinsed...it was hard work, so that was a pretty sight!
(On the drive to the left is construction debris and equipment.)




It looks so much nicer now that it's clean!








Ferns are literally everywhere here in the mountains.  When they come up near a tree or fence, I'll add stone from the property as a border to help protect them.  Free plants...I love that!




This is the old bridge.  It was made from two long tree logs that spanned width of the creek and wood planks across the top.  The logs were still sturdy but had dropped down a bit on one side of the creek and the handrails were no longer sturdy so we decided to replace it.




This is the new arched bridge.  Stone stairs were added and a split rail fence on one side for a handrail.  The old location blocked the creek view from the cabin, so we decided on a new location which works so much better.  There is a swing across the creek, you can see it just a bit on the left through the tree.




The stone had just been installed and I had transplanted moss along the edges.  The stone needed to be washed off again with some clean water.










On the upper part of the property we have Adirondack chairs and a fire pit.  There is no yard debris pick up around here, so we mostly burn limbs and clippings.






This is the front creek that we enjoy from the front of the cabin.







The old front porch was concrete covered in a black tar type covering that was peeling up and the concrete was cracking and pulling away from the cabin.  We had that broken up and hauled away, installed new support posts and enlarged the new stone porch out past the posts to give us a larger front porch.

My fall touches for the front door.  Yes, this arrangement is partly forsythia (spring flower already in the basket... shhh, don't tell!) but I've also added some fluffy balls just purchased for fall.  At least the colors are fall colors!!!




This is the side porch, just to the right of the front porch and off the kitchen.  This was here when we bought the cabin...bonus!!!




We have really enjoyed this porch.  We have morning coffee, breakfast, lunch and dinners here on the porch, while enjoying the views and sounds of the back creek.










This is the back creek.




To appreciate how far we've come, here are some "before" pictures.
The previous lower porch and old posts...

After we removed the black covering...




This is a "before" showing the old entry doors, posts, porch, etc... she had been left and forgotten!

Even though we aren't even close to being finished, she does look a lot better, doesn't she?!

I want to show you the new bridge and swing, I'll do that soon!

Go here and scroll from the bottom up to see where it all began!