Inside Pictures III - July 31, 2012

    The top picture shows the northeast corner of the loft. This will be a bedroom with a full closet. Both loft bedrooms will have a 4 foot by 4 foot window on the end wall, as well as a 5 foot by 5 foot window in the dormer. These windows will provide excellent ventilation and natural light. You can also see the lights of Butte through the dormer windows at night.

    The last picture shows the southeast corner of the loft, where the second loft bedroom will be located. This one will also have a full closet.

Inside Pictures II - July 31, 2012

    The top picture shows the southeast corner of the main floor. This will be the master bedroom. To the left of the bed behind the lamp your can see the fourth door frame. This is also a double door, which will be installed when the interior is started. You can see that I have some carpet on the floor now. Eventually, the entire main floor will be hardwood. Possibly tile in the master bathroom!

    The second picture is the first of the showing the loft. I store my lumber here now; when the house is completed, this will either be an area for a pool table, or a sitting and play area for grandchildren.

Inside Pictures I - July 31, 2012

    I was asked yesterday if I could post some pictures of the inside of the house. I haven't really done much to it yet, but here goes!

    The first picture shows the northeast corner of the main floor. The is where we will put a half bath, the mud room and the washer and dryer. you can see on the right there is a door frame. The door will be installed when I begin the interior.

    The second picture shows the northwest corner of the main floor. This will be the Dining Area/Kitchen. The window on the right will be over the kitchen sink. The door frame in the background is where the second of four doors will be installed when we begin the interior.

    The third picture shows the southwest corner of the main floor. This will be the family room. In the corner will be a stone fireplace. Above this area the ceiling goes right up to the purlin and ridgepole logs. (About 27 feet up) The white door in the background will be replaced with a much nicer door.

Erosion Control - July 30, 2012

    Yesterday I took a good look at the condition of the culvert at the end of the driveway. last year I had to shovel out a lot of silt that was threatening to plug the culvert. I put piles of small rocks in the ditch on the side of the driveway to stop the silt from coming down to the culvert. Not so good!

    It appears there is still a small amount of flow going through the culvert, so I shoveled some more silt out, hauled a load of larger rocks from Melrose, and built a series of about 18 rock dams in the driveway ditch. Hopefully, this will stop the majority of the silt from coming down the ditch, and allow the cleaner water to wash out the culvert. If it is not washed out by next spring, I will get my cousin and his backhoe, and we will completely redo the culvert setup.

Garage Progress - July 27, 2012

    I have completed all of the garage I can for 2012. I am down to two logs left and they are different sizes so I cannot match them to the walls. One of the first things I will do in 2013 will be to cut more logs, haul them in and peel them. I plan to finish the garage next year, then begin working on the interior of the house.

    I had to do quite a bit of caulking to seal cracks on the garage logs. I feel the cracks were due to the logs laying out in the elements for two years. Even with the logs stained, there were more cracks than I saw in the house logs. This will be cured when I cut fresh logs next year.

    This picture just shows the garage in relation to the house. You can see the two logs I have left in the foreground.

Railing Completed - July 30. 2012

    Yesterday we finished staining the deck railing. I also clear coated the facia boards on the sides of the house where the rain runs off the roof for added protection from the elements. I was going to stain the facia boards on the front of the house too, but the wind came up and the stain can blow around as it is applied.

Log House Update - July 31, 2012

    I have been very lax with postings to this Blog so I am catching up tonight.

    I had a question asked about what a "Chinkless Fit" was. In a typical log cabin, the logs were notched on each end and there was space between the logs the entire length, this space was "Chinked" with mud, moss, cement, etc. The chinking could be from 2 inches to 5 inches wide. The top picture here shows a corner of the house. I use a product called "Log Jam" to put a bead of caulk about 3/8 inches wide to cover the seam between the logs.

    In the bottom picture, you can see what the seams look like before I apply the "Log Jam". If I am doing a great job scribing the logs and cutting them to shape with the chain saw, you would not be able to get a credit card between the two logs. I have some this close, but not all. The difference in color between the two pictures is one was in direct sunlight, the other was in the shade.