The greatest number of requests that I get for our service is for chinking. Most of these requests are to remove and replace improperly applied chinking done by others.

Here I am in this photo inspecting a beautiful oak cabin that was originally built in Pennsylvania in the mid-1800’s and moved to this site in northern Virginia about twenty years ago.

Originally posted 2015-07-17 14:05:12.

Here’s the cabin’s “powder room”.

Maybe, since this cabin often serves as a hunting cabin for men I should refer to it as a “gunpowder room”.

Originally posted 2015-07-16 13:19:36.

Once completed the cabin begins to blend into the landscape.

Trees will soon be planted.

The owner will let the siding turn naturally grey. The only feature on the exterior that will ever need attention will be the wood windows. A coat of paint every six years or so.

The copper roof no longer sparkles like a new penny. I guess we all go through a snappy youthful period in our lives but it quickly fades. Thankfully there is much to appreciate with maturity.

It will be a different world two hundred years from now… I and everyone else alive will be gone, but I believe this home will still be standing to witness that time and will still be enjoyed by the unnamed decedents of the current owner.

Maybe, one of them will discover my initials written on the back of a piece of paneling.

Originally posted 2015-07-14 13:37:51.

At this point in the construction, with the chinking finished and the siding going up, we could easily start to imagine what the finished cabin would look like.

Originally posted 2015-07-12 14:10:29.

With the copper roof installed our attention quickly turned to the in installation of the windows and then the chinking of the exterior of the cabin. We would soon have the house closed-in from the weather.

Originally posted 2015-07-12 13:53:39.

Isn’t it nice, on those days when you could use an extra hand, that someone just floats in to help you out?

Originally posted 2015-07-09 13:54:22.

The logs are now all set in place.

The crew begins work on the prep work so that we can install a roof over the cabin.

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

OK… here’s the last photo of the log cabin partially assembled… I thought there were some details here that I ought to point out (for those interested).

You can clearly see the tags that are nailed near the ends of the logs that tell us which log goes where (remember this cabin was pre-assembled on a wood yard… there are several benefits to doing it that way)

All the messy plastic that you see is to protect the newly laid stonework from freezing in the cold night air. It makes a big difference. If fresh mortar freezes before it sets it will fail and crumble out just like sand.

Originally posted 2015-07-08 14:00:11.

Just look at all those cute little logs laying on the plywood decking… they are all notched, numbered, and ready to be set into place. They are so short because a window is close to the that corner.

I call these logs… “bragging logs”. It never fails that the man who gets to lay a corner like this will do so quickly and then brag about how great he is because he once set three courses of logs in five minutes… by himself.

Originally posted 2015-07-08 13:48:04.

No one will ever call me a purist.

Now, I have done my share of historic restorations, but my preference is building new homes that are traditionally designed while also incorporating antique and locally available materials wherever I can.

Here we see in this photo huge 19th century oak logs, nearly eight inches thick and each well over a foot in height. And, you can see plenty of new lumber as well. I use the best of materials that are available, from whatever era they were made.

And, the same strategy holds true for the tools we use. If you look closely you will see a modern chainsaw, and next to it a Japanese hand saw, then on top of a log you will see a large antique chisel known as a slick, for the fine shaving of large pieces of wood such as the notching of a log cabin. And next to that slick, is a large sledge hammer for those times when a log needs convincing who is the boss.

Originally posted 2015-07-07 21:50:13.