29 06, 2019

My love of log cabins

2019-06-29T09:59:28+00:00

Iphone October 2011 513

Several years before I built my first log cabin, long before I ever thought of building them for a living, log structures fascinated me.

If I saw one I couldn’t help but climb them and give them a hug!

I should have seen what was coming. sigh.

I guess I’ve built fifty of them since this photo was taken and performed some degree of restoration on a couple hundred more, and, I have explored and studied well over a thousand. I know cabins.

I wish I could go back in time and tell that young man in the photo what I know today. But, I can’t. So… you all are stuck with hearing me ramble on. lol

Have a great day everybody!

Originally posted 2015-08-04 12:23:20.

My love of log cabins2019-06-29T09:59:28+00:00
29 06, 2019

A log cabin with flair

2019-06-29T09:59:27+00:00

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Here’s one of the two log cabins that make up this home. There are some interesting details to be seen on this home.

Overall she is very appealing, although there are some features that I would have done differently, such as the stove pipe and the odd window in the gable end… but you know architects. 😉

* (there is an unwritten rule that all builders must make a subtle jab towards architects at least once a week lol)

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Originally posted 2015-08-01 14:25:34.

A log cabin with flair2019-06-29T09:59:27+00:00
29 06, 2019

Log cabins are visually powerful

2019-06-29T09:59:20+00:00

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A few months back I shared the construction of this cabin but I just glanced over the story of the kitchen/bath addition off of the end.

It’s time to revisit here.

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I have found that the log cabin (or stone) part of a home always dominates the visual impact of the entire home of which it is a part.

I have built homes where the log cabin only made up one room of a much larger house and yet everyone’s comments, and everyone’s memory, with regard to that home was always the log section.

And so it is with this cabin, and it’s adjoining addition which was so overshadowed by it’s bigger brother.

I don’t know why that is… maybe it’s because there is some kind of inner fascination with log structures that lies within us… or maybe it appeals to some hidden gene within us… maybe because a log structure is something out of the normal daily experience of most people. I don’t know.

And so, maybe the strong visual impact of a log cabin is why one that is built well is so appealing, and one built poorly is so, so bad.

Originally posted 2015-07-28 13:13:37.

Log cabins are visually powerful2019-06-29T09:59:20+00:00
29 06, 2019

Log cabins are like cows

2019-06-29T09:59:19+00:00

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They tend to cluster together, in fields, far back off of the road.

Originally posted 2015-07-28 12:42:13.

Log cabins are like cows2019-06-29T09:59:19+00:00
29 06, 2019

A custom crafted log home vs a log cabin kit

2019-06-29T09:59:16+00:00

CabEx1

Which would you choose?

Assume that each cabin cost the about the same… (they likely did).

The first one is a log cabin that we designed and built using antique logs and locally gathered materials.

The other is made from a log cabin kit built by someone unknown to me. It is larger than the one we built.

I would really appreciate hearing your thoughts.

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Originally posted 2015-07-26 13:18:57.

A custom crafted log home vs a log cabin kit2019-06-29T09:59:16+00:00
29 06, 2019

Building a log cabin… part 4

2019-06-29T09:59:15+00:00

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We put a shiny galvanized metal roof on this cabin. Cheaper than copper, it’s a great option if you want the “old farmhouse look”. This roof should hold up for decades but will need regular painting, about every six years.

If you look in the background you can see my faithful pickup truck loaded up, carrying tools and equipment to the next job. The cabin’s owner would take over from this point and would finish the grading, landscaping, and interior work.

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Originally posted 2015-07-25 22:01:43.

Building a log cabin… part 42019-06-29T09:59:15+00:00
29 06, 2019

Building a log cabin… part 3

2019-06-29T09:59:14+00:00

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A cabin goes up quickly when we have a man for each corner of the cabin, carefully crafting each notch.

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Stubborn logs sometimes need to be disciplined into place.

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After the logs are all up on the cabin we do a final trim of any protruding notches.

A chainsaw is wonderful tool.

I once asked my grandmother what was the greatest invention she has seen in her lifetime. She had been born before cars, airplanes, computers, and men walking on the Moon. Her response was “the chainsaw… before it’s invention men had to work so hard to cut a piece of wood”. I miss that wonderful woman so.

You know it’s funny, in today’s world so few people have the skill of working with a chainsaw. I’ve had master carpenters with 10 years experience apply to work with us, requesting to paid more than I make, who have never used a chainsaw, or an axe, or even knew what an adze was, I would prefer a inexperienced apprentice, ready to learn, than someone who walks in with an attitude of superiority knowing nothing of our unique skills.

If you are thinking of building a log cabin one day in the future, begin now to learn the use a chainsaw, and a axe.

And use safety equipment.

And don’t smoke cigarettes.

BTW… this is a paid actor pretending to use a chainsaw.

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Eventually, with enough effort, the pile of old logs began to look like a log home.

Originally posted 2015-07-25 14:08:42.

Building a log cabin… part 32019-06-29T09:59:14+00:00
29 06, 2019

Building a log cabin… part 2

2019-06-29T09:59:13+00:00

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The perfect size crew to build a large log cabin is seven. That will give you two stonemasons, four carpenters (one for each corner of the cabin) and one lead man… who oversees the entire project and fills in for any man out that day.

A large crew like this comes in handy whenever it’s time to lift a heavy log into place.

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An adze is a very handy tool to have when assembling a log cabin.

An adze is a tool that is centuries old, a tool that most people have never heard of, and a tool that really has no practical use other than for folks who work with logs and timbers, and yet in this modern era it’s still often the best tool for certain aspects of woodworking.

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Even with the aid of a crane to lift the logs up to us on the second floor, there is still a lot of lifting needed to get the log into place.

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Almost there… Almost there!

I don’t know, maybe we’ll have to use the “log-stretcher” on this beast to get it to reach. 😉

 

Originally posted 2015-07-24 14:08:39.

Building a log cabin… part 22019-06-29T09:59:13+00:00
29 06, 2019

Building a log cabin

2019-06-29T09:59:12+00:00

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We built this cabin for a client who wanted to finish the interior himself (so I do not have any finished photos of the interior… sorry about that). But I do have some great photos of the cabin being built from a “men who build log homes” perspective… images that do a great job in illustrating the work that goes into building a log cabin.

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This is a footer. It is made of four or more inches of concrete and steel re-bar.

It is perfectly level and square.

This is the rock upon which the cabin will be built.

It’s not very glamorous. It will soon be forgotten and buried, never to be seen again. But this feature of a house is what holds them all up.

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The foundation comes next. We poured a concrete wall on top of the footers that will support the first floor system.

Next we waterproofed this with a spray-on black sealer and then put up fiberglass board to protect the sealer.

Now it’s time to lay the stone which will support the log cabin. The masons begin their craft.

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The logs are then brought in. This is a pile of the shorter length ones. All vintage oak salvaged from an old barn in disrepair.

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All we need now is for the men to assemble this cabin… and they begin to arrive.

Originally posted 2015-07-23 13:55:30.

Building a log cabin2019-06-29T09:59:12+00:00
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