WildSnow Weekend – Clever Window at Field HQ

Sawzall — a tool you can’t do without.

Hands are rarely idle at our high camp, WildSnow Field HQ. This summer we’ve been building a spring house. It’s actually a temporary shelter for our water tank tap, but “spring house” sounds more rustic. We spent the weekend making a small dent in the project. The task was to install a window for solar gain so it will stay a bit warmer during the day.

Friends stopped by at noon and we enjoyed lunch on the deck in the midst of peak fall colors. Then we worked until thunderstorms shut us down at 7:00 pm.

The 12 square-foot spring house gives Lou a chance to use his $40k inventory of contractor tools. He’s proud of the fact that he’s worn out three Sawzalls over the years. He recently bought the most powerful one available and it cut thru the 1/2 inch plywood sheathing nicely. Too bad it also cut halfway thru one of the framing studs before he could let go of the switch. “Yeah,” he said with a smile, “This thing is FAST!”

The used window, a $20 special from Habitat for Humanity, is made by Pella and has an enclosed Levalor blind behind the third layer of the triple glaze. Don’t know if we’ll need that feature for privacy in the spring house (is NSA watching us draw water? Wait, is that a drone hovering out there!?). Lou is so intrigued with the clever window that he is going back to buy its twin to install in the privy. With a flick of the plastic tab, he’ll have privacy on the throne when he wants it.

Fall in the Colorado Rockies – beautiful!

Here’s a recap of last week’s posts: