Logs, logs and more logs. Third sill log.

This week we cut 28 logs in Elk Park, and hauled them to the building site. I now have the last sill log and plenty of logs to keep me busy for a while. While talking with Myles Carpenter Jr about what he learned while he built his log house, he said he would build the deck around his house before he started laying the logs on the walls. This would have eliminated a lot of work going up and down a ladder to scribe the logs. It would also have made it safer. I have decided to build the deck on the three sides as soon as I complete the installation of the sill logs. I will take a trip to Myles' log house and look at his deck construction for ideas on how to build our decks. 
Here is the third sill log going in. I slabbed the bottom flat, center

lined the log, and marked and drilled all the holes for the anchor bolts. Tomorrow I will scribe and cut the notches and bolt the log to the sill. I will then peel the last sill log and install it. Since there are no anchor bolts to align on the daylight end, the last sill log will go much quicker.

First logs installed

Here are the first two sill logs prepared and bolted to the sill plate. The next step is to choose two more logs that will be the sill logs on the ends. These two logs will have a section shaved off the bottom so they lay flat on the sill plate, then they will be notched to fit over the first two logs. I will lay out the center line on both of these logs so I can mark and drill the holes for the anchor bolts. Once the sill logs are completed, the logs will go up much faster.

I need to get back up into the mountains and cut and haul more logs next week. I also need to finalize the door and window placements and sizes so I can start using the split log method. This will allow me to use much shorter logs. (Easier to find, less peeling, less waste, etc.)

First logs on the wall

Here is the set-up for splitting a log in half to make two sill logs. Note the chainsaw sitting upright towards the closest end of the log. (This is an extremely dusty part of this project! The chainsaw, in this position, kicks the sawdust and shavings right in your face.) The second photo shows the finished product. I sprayed the flat side of both halves with an oil preservative, laid out the center lines on top of both halves, and marked and drilled the holes for the anchor bolts. Then I bolted them to the sill plate with two feet of log extending beyond the edge of the walls on both ends. I had to use coupler nuts and threaded rod to extend the length of the anchor bolts as the anchor bolts are too short for this application. The anchor bolts we used are made to bolt down 1  1/2" or 3" stock; logs are much thicker.