The log guys worked on “dry fitting” the cabin’s logs.

My favorite notch is a half-dovetail. It’s attractive and easy to make. The half-dovetail, and the V-notch, are the most common notches found on old old cabins. One other great advantage of the half-dovetail is that any water that might find its way into the joint is pulled back outside due to the slope of the notch.

This cabin is made from logs that were salvaged from an old barn. I really like barn logs, they are generally more massive in size than house logs and in better condition… they have not experienced any “home improvements” over the years.

Originally posted 2015-07-06 14:28:59.

Here is the back of this log home.

The additions off of all three sides of the main house are “timber-framed”, using antique framing members from an extremely early 19th century home. (I’ll share some photos of that going up soon)

The addition off of the back serves as the home’s kitchen with a nearby porch on both sides… one being visible in this photo. Half of the kitchen offers a cathedral ceiling all the way to the peak of the roof, and the other half has a bedroom loft above it (you can see the shed dormer that brings lots of light into that sleeping space).

A lot of homes in this area feature exterior covered entrances to the basement and that is what we added to the end of this addition.

The little room seen around the chimney serves as office.

Originally posted 2015-07-04 14:34:52.

I’ve designed and built a lot of log cabins through the course of my career.

I don’t have a favorite one, it’s too hard to choose. It’s like asking “which child is your favorite?” You love them all equally, each is unique, each is precious.

But this cabin is my my most recent attempt at perfection. I don’t think I quite achieved that goal but I’d like to think that I’ve gotten a bit better on each of my cabins as I’ve progressed through the years.

Originally posted 2015-07-02 15:21:46.

Do you remember me telling you recently the story of me helping a man out who wanted a nice log cabin but needed to build it himself due to “lean wallet syndrome”?

Do you want to hear a good “what goes around comes around” story?

Well, it turns out that the next door neighbors to this cabin had a young daughter at the time, who would grow up and fifteen years later marry a fine young man who dreamed of owning a log cabin. And what a cabin he wanted.

A couple of years ago I built that cabin… and the story of it’s construction is coming up next!

Originally posted 2015-07-02 12:41:46.

There is a small log cabin hidden in this little house.

The log section of the house is to the left of (now) central chimney.

The owner of this weekend getaway (a well-known radio personality) hired me to come in and expose the logs on the interior and create a stone fireplace.

The new owner of this cabin was six foot six.

I’m six foot two.

The ceiling height in this cabin, from finished floor to the bottom of the round-pole ceiling joists, is…. six foot six.

Clearly we would have been giants compared to the original members of this household.

I wonder… will our standard eight-foot ceilings one day, two hundred years from now, be considered unacceptably too low?

Originally posted 2015-06-30 19:35:04.

This was not a glamorous job.

It was dirty and nasty… and cold.

We didn’t fulfill anyone’s dream in designing and building a masterpiece. We simply repaired an old cabin and gave it decades more of a serviceable life.

There are no great finished photos of a decorated home to share, nor will this cabin ever be featured in a magazine or a book.

Nor was there any money to be made… my company would have to go on for months on it’s next job to make up for lost revenues on this project… but the fine folks at Innisfree were thankful for our efforts.

If you are ever interested in helping out some fine folks with a small donation this is a worthy cause…

Originally posted 2015-06-29 14:09:25.

We replaced the rotted logs on this cabin with matching antique logs, and then we re-chinked the entire cabin (improperly installed chinking is what created the rot problem).

And then, the entire cabin was given a couple coats of fresh paint.

Originally posted 2015-06-29 13:56:50.

We once restored a log cabin that was in such bad condition that it was still standing thanks to the strength of the wood paneling within the home.

The logs that we extracted were well rotted out and were easy to remove. We installed some temporary bracing before doing so which added far more support to this structure than those logs were adding.

The homes built today would have long ago collapsed under such circumstances.

Originally posted 2015-06-29 13:37:30.

The path to this owner-built log cabin split with one option leading to the front porch, complete with a lake view or this little porch around back of the home, with a view of the woods.

Either way, a rocking chair would be inviting you to sit for a while.

I really liked the view of the cabin as I approached the back porch… some really nice antique oak logs to appreciate.

The back porch is small, but cool and shady… and right outside of the kitchen.

And here is your rocking chair… it’s waiting for you.

Originally posted 2015-06-27 13:59:12.

Fifteen years later and the chinking looks as good as the day we troweled it on. I betcha it will last a hundred years… why anyone would go with polymer chinking is beyond me.

And, the cabin’s logs… which have never been treated, sealed, or stained… look mighty fine considering that they are nearly two hundred years old!

Originally posted 2015-06-26 18:43:44.