VOC hut maintenance
From VOCWiki
Hut maintenance is an important responsibility of the club. This page is intended as a repository of ongoing and needed hut maintenance projects.
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Brian Waddington Hut
Last updated November 2007. The Brian Waddington Hut is in generally good condition.
LED lights
The current method of turning the LED lights on is to attach a wire to a screw terminal on the charge controller. People trying to do this without tools (a screwdriver) end up breaking the end of the wire off. We should install a switch. The wiring could be a little more elegant. We should bring some extra wire and locate the switch down by the door.
We might want to make the photoelectric panel more nearly vertical. This should stop the snow sticking to it in the winter when it is needed most, though it will slightly reduce its summer efficiency.
Kersosene Heaters
The heaters are dysfunctional and have been put in the basement, along with an empty propane tank, a propane heater, and assorted junk. We should get some tough folks to haul this stuff out.
Carbon Monoxide Detector
There is a CO detector & smoke alarm at the hut, but it needs a 9V battery to run. A better solution would be to replace it with a 12V CO detector like this one and run it off the solar & battery system full time.
Windows
It was noted in August 2007 that it was hot in the hut but we couldn't open the windows because of the mosquitos. An easy way to fix this would be to design and construct mesh screens for the windows. These could be installed on the outside of the windows in the summer (since the windows open in). They would have to be removed for winter. The windows frames are such that the screen could be a couple inches bigger than the window horizontally, but must fix exactly vertically. For this reason, it would be best to cut the screen frames to size on site and assemble them at the hut. Some sort of simple latch would also be required to hold the screens in place (perhaps similar to the outhouse door latch?).
If we bring up some 1/8 inch Plexiglas we can double-glaze the rest of the windows (only a couple are not double-glazed already). This should make the Hut surprisingly warmer, as the rest of it is well-insulated. Should measure the size needed, next time we are up there.
Possible Roof Leak
There might be a leak in the roof cap. During the 2007-2008 new years trip water was found dripping from a couple locations along the ridgeline beam in the loft of the hut. This could be one of several things:
- Heat from inside the hut melting the snow on the roof, which melts and comes in through a leak in the roof cap.
- Snow blowing under the roof cap earlier in the year, then melting underneath the roof cap and dripping down into the hut.
- Condensation forming on the underside of the roof. (Should be stopped by a vapour barrier however). This seems unlikely
- Condensation forming on the vapour barrier (should not happen due to roof insulation). This seems unlikely since no condensation formed on any other inside walls, only on the windows. The roof is better insulated than the walls due to the snow on top of the roof.
Harrison Hut Door, paint and steps
The Harrison Hut needs a new door, steps, and more paint. Now that the new bridge across Meager Cr is in, we will go up an make a list of things that should be done. Roland Burton is presently coordinating repair efforts. The door is already flown in, but needs to be installed. We could make some steps out of stones, or not. Some paint is up there; we need a nice day for painting.
Brew Hut
For available tools and supplies see Brew_Hut_rebuild/Tools_list
Thing to carry up to the hut
- Guitar, with spare strings
- some VOC Journals (see Brew Hut page for which ones)
- We should bring up a sponge or something for mopping water off the floor during the wintry months. No rush.
- One of the west side window latches is broken and needs to be replaced.
Things to do at the hut
- Put rocks and/or wire mesh at the side of the Hut to keep wolverines from crawling under it. Materials are available on site. A wall of rocks along the south edge of the hut (back wall on the inside) will help keep the wind from blowing a lot of snow under the hut. Rocks along the sides will obstruct access to spare building materials which are currently stored under the hut.
- Ground the hut for lightening protection using wire, connectors and grounding plate that are up there.
- A new industrial style sweep has been brought to the hut but not installed. A drill and some sheet metal screws are required to install it.
- Install window weather stripping that is up at the hut already
- Coleman stove pump needs a little TLC. It seems that the pump needs to be dismantled and reassembled every time it gets used. The problem seems to be that the leather gasket in the pump shrinks and stops making good contact. Taking the pump apart and stretching out the leather gasket seems to fix the problem, but only for a day or so. There are some recent complaints in the log book about this. The stove is one of the older models with the cylindrical fuel tanks, so it may be difficult to get parts for the pump.
- Coleman lamp has similar problems.
- The outhouse door handle has came out of its screws. A robertson screw driver is needed to put it back on.
Notes
- Outhouse was painted with Behr 10 year Solid colour stain (from Home Depot) on September 9, 2007. The name of the colour is Russet. This paint is also used on the woodshed. 1 gallon did 2 coats on the outhouse and 1 on the woodshed.
Burton Hut
The Burton Hut was renovated and insulated by VOC in 2006. It was in good condition February 2008. Upstairs window is hard to open/close.
Coleman Stove
The coleman stove is troublesome, leaking fuel making it difficult to get running well. It is possible to use it, and on Feb 17 2008 a party of 5 did all our cooking and snow melting using it, but it wasn't ideal. It might be worth carrying in a replacement stove. The stove that is up there, though fairly new, is not fixable.
Hut Libraries
The club strives to keep libraries of the VOC Journal, and editions of the VOC Songbook in each hut. See the entry under each hut, for which books are at each hut. We need to make a list of which journals are at each hut, and we need to bring up a few to complete the libraries.
