Handyman Guide > Winterizing a Cabin

Housing shortages, in many eases, force a great number of families to purchase homes which were never built or intended for winter occupancy. As a general rule, these houses are rather flimsily built, lacking insulation, central heating and other major items which are normally found in a house built for year-around living.


There are several things that can be done to such a house to make it considerably more comfortable during the cold weather, and many of these improvements can be done by the home mechanic in his spare time. One question he must decide for himself is how thorough a job to do. If he owns the house and plans to use it as his home for many years, then it would certainly be worth his while to do as complete a job as possible. If he merely rents the house and is unable to get sufficient cooperation from his landlord, then his interest is to make the house as livable as possible - but at a minimum cost.

Many summer cottages are so flimsily and jerry-built that the problem of heating begins with making the exterior walls and roof airtight or at least plugging up some of the obvious cracks in the siding. One quick and rather inexpensive way of doing this is by tacking sheets of heavy waterproof paper on the outside and covering these with composition siding, such as asphalt designed to resemble red bricks. This comes in rolls and is easily nailed on. A somewhat more expensive, but certainly more attractive method, is to use wood shingles over the waterproof paper. This work can be done during spare time over the course of a summer and will insure the outside walls being air tight.

More heat escapes through the roof of a house than at any other point, so steps must be taken to reduce this loss as much as is possible. If it is possible to get at the under side of the roof or the floor of the attic, then insulation applied here will give the best results (see INSULATION). Many cottages, however, have no attic or even sufficient space under the roof to allow this work to be done. One alternative measure would be to cover the ceiling with insulation board. The other would be to put down another layer of roofing which would serve in some degree as insulation as well as make the poorly constructed roof watertight.

Many summer cottages do not have basements and, in fact, do not even have complete foundations, the structure being supported on blocks or posts at the corners. In a case like this cold winds will blow under the house and if there are any openings or cracks in the flooring, and there usually are, cold air will be constantly displacing the warm air in the house.

There are practicable ways to deal with a situation of this sort. One is to build foundation walls of stone, brick or cement blocks around the house. Wood should not be used for this purpose as the lower portion would rot from contact with the damp ground. By building foundations around the entire house, cold winds would not be able to blow up through the floor, and the task of insulating the plumbing would be easier because the still air would not drop to the same temperature as the outside air.

When putting in such foundations, a concrete footing should be put down first and this must be below the frost line. After this has set hard, the wall is built on top of it. Allow space in the wall for windows, because during the summer months you'll want some ventilation under the flooring to prevent excessive moisture collecting here and possibly rotting the under portion of the floor boards.



Continue to Preparing the foundation








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The Workshop
Equipping the Workshop - Heating - Fire Precautions - The Workbench - Saw Bucks - Tool Rack.

Home Construction
Elements of the House - Building Materials - Lumber - Molding - Kinds of Wood and their Characteristics - Plywood Wallboard - Roofing Materials - Concrete - Mixing Concrete - Cement Mortar - Concrete Forms - Concrete Blocks - Cinder Blocks - Bricklaying - Fieldstone - Anchoring in Masonry - Soldering.

Furniture
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Painting
Paint Brushes - Storing Brushes - Varnish - Water Paint and Plastic Paint - Types of Paint - Paint Thinners - Mixing Paints - Preparing the Surface - Painting Flaws - Removing Paint - Exterior Painting - Painting New Wood - Repainting - Metal - Interior Painting - Calcimine - Painting Woodwork - Old Wood Trim - Staining - Fillers - Varnishing - Bleaching - Enameling - Painting Radiators - Painting Concrete - Shingles - Stoves and Stove Pipes - Whitewash.

Heating
Home Heating Systems - Chimneys - Coal Furnaces - Fuels - Burning Wood - Furnace Dampers - Starting a Coal Fire - Removal of Ashes - Coal Stokers - Oil Burners - Kerosene Heaters - Thermostats - Boiler Dampers - Fuel Economy - Warm Air System - Steam System - Vacuum System - Hot Water System - Radiators - Boilers - Maintaining the System - Insulating the System - Home Insulation - Storm Windows - Weather Stripping - Insulating Your Home - Blanket and Rigid Insulation - Unfinished Attic and Exterior Walls - Winterizing a Cabin - Preparing the foundation - Winterproofing a Cottage - Fireplaces - Reducing Condensation - Humidity.

Plumbing
The Plumbing System - Fresh water supply - Low Water Pressure - Hot Water System - Hot Water Heaters - Hot Water Tanks - Dirty Hot Water - The Sewage System - Sewage Disposal - Cesspools - Septic Tanks - Clearing Sewer Pipes - Clearing Drains - Plumbing Traps - Toilet Traps - Noisy Plumbing - Leaks in Water Tanks - Frozen Pipes - Clogged Water Pipes - Hard Water - Faucets - Shower Mixing Valves - Leaky Flush Tanks - Flush Valves - Removing Toilet Bowl - Leaky Pipes - Draining the Plumbing - Sealing Traps - Draining the Heating System - Types of Pipe - Insulating Pipes - Water Corrosion - Cleaning Fixtures.

Electricity
Definition of Terms - Ohm's Law - Alternating and Direct Current - Sources of Electrical Power - The Electrical System - Overloading the Circuit - Rewiring - Reading a Meter - Precautions - Fuses - Types of Cord - Splicing Wires - Replacing Plugs and Switches - Home Lighting - Electric Motors - Signaling System - Transformers - Burglar Alarms - Repairing the System - How to Install a Bell System.

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