This project was built and designed by Mark from Gunflint Designs.
Mark returns to his family’s decades-old hunting cabin to finish a major exterior overhaul before deer season arrives. The cabin, originally built in the early 1970s, had suffered years of rot and water damage, and this round of work focused on sealing it up tight, repairing structural rot, and giving the whole place a fresh, mouse-resistant finish.
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Where the Project Stood
Before this round of updates, Mark and his family had already replaced one full wall of the cabin and demolished an old fireplace that had rotted out over the decades. New windows had gone in, and a new back door was added to improve access and visibility toward the property’s best views without spooking deer passing below.
Grading work around the foundation had also been tackled earlier, since the original siding sat at or below ground level for years, trapping moisture against the walls. With soil pushed back and drainage improved, the stage was set to finish wrapping the rest of the structure in steel siding.
Closing In the Exterior with Steel
The main goal for this stretch of work was finishing the steel siding on the remaining side of the cabin, tying everything together at the corners. Steel was chosen specifically for its durability and resistance to rodents, since previous experience with insulation had shown how quickly mice, raccoons, and other critters could move in and make a mess.
Instead of running the steel straight down to the attached porch and calling it done, Mark chose to treat the cabin wall completely separately from the porch structure. This meant more work up front, but it kept the cabin wall protected from moisture even if the porch surface needed repairs again down the road. Given how much the old porch decking had already contributed to wall rot, this separation was worth the extra effort.
Dealing with a Rotten Porch Structure
To access the wall behind the porch, the decking boards and porch frame had to be disconnected from the cabin and pulled away just far enough to work behind it. What started as a simple unbolting job turned into a bigger fix when the front ledger board supporting the porch turned out to be completely rotted through, along with a cracked board that had been holding the whole frame to the structure.
Rather than rebuild the porch from scratch on the spot, Mark reinforced the existing frame with available lumber, bolting boards together for extra strength and running longer screws where the original end-grain fastening wasn’t holding well. This approach was treated as a durable short-term fix meant to get through the season, with a full porch rebuild planned as a separate project down the line.
Mouse-Proofing the Gaps
One of the more clever details in this build involved closing off tiny gaps where steel panels met uneven framing. Mark used scrap material to fill these spaces, reasoning that a determined mouse could otherwise find a ridge in the steel, climb it, and chew through sheathing undisturbed given enough time.
By eliminating any flat resting spot where a mouse could sit and gnaw without being disturbed, the goal was to remove every potential entry point before buttoning up the wall completely. This kind of preventative detail is easy to overlook but makes a real difference in keeping pests out long term.
Finishing Touches and Interior Cleanup
With the steel siding complete on all sides and the roofline finished, Mark turned his attention indoors. The interior was cleared out, old insulation and debris were cleaned out with a blower, foam sealant was used to fill gaps around the windows and corners, and windows were covered in plastic to prep for painting.
Rather than insulating right away, the plan was to leave the framing exposed for a season or two to confirm the new steel exterior was truly keeping rodents out before closing up the walls for good. A coat of white paint sprayed across the interior walls and ceiling made an immediate difference, brightening the space and making decades-old, stained wood look clean and new again.
Looking Ahead
With the exterior and interior largely finished, the next project on deck is installing a new wood stove and running a proper chimney through the steel roof. That update, along with a planned deck rebuild next year, will round out the full renovation of this long-standing hunting cabin.
This project is a solid example of how tackling rot and pest-proofing early can save a lot of headaches later, and how simple updates like paint and better siding can make an old structure feel brand new without starting from scratch.
See Mark’s plans here: https://www.gunflintdesigns.com/project-plans
Matt’s Take
These are my personal thoughts and tips based on my own experience in the shop. This section is not written, reviewed, or endorsed by the original creator of this project.
Steel siding is a great call for a building like this, especially anywhere rodents or moisture are a constant battle. One thing worth keeping in mind if you’re considering a similar approach: steel panels expand and contract more than wood or vinyl with temperature swings, so make sure fasteners and trim allow for a little movement. Screws that are too tight or panels fastened without room to breathe can lead to oil-canning or stress cracks over time.
Separating the porch structure from the cabin wall is a smart move that a lot of people skip when they’re in a hurry to button things up. Keeping those two systems independent means water or rot in one area doesn’t become everyone’s problem. If you’re dealing with old ledger boards or end-grain fastening like Mark found here, it’s always worth checking for hidden rot before loading any weight back onto that connection — what looks solid on the surface can be mush underneath.
The mouse-proofing detail is something I’d encourage anyone working on an older structure to take seriously. Rodents don’t need much of a gap, and once they’re in insulation or wall cavities, they’re tough to get rid of. Spray foam, scrap blocking, and hardware cloth in vulnerable spots are all cheap insurance compared to redoing insulation down the line.
Leaving the walls open for a season before insulating is a patient, practical approach. It’s a good reminder that sometimes the best fix is giving a repair time to prove itself before you commit to the next step.