Decking joist hangers September 5, 2009

Here is Jerry Phillips putting up the last joist hanger on the house, for the deck. Tomorrow, I will finish peeling the last four logs for the deck supports, and start cutting them all to length. I will then plunge cut a slot in the base of each log so they will fit over the blades cemented into the deck support pillars. I will paint the base of each log with tar so water does not wick up into the wood and cause damage in the years to come. Then they will all be installed and supported with 2X4's so we can scribe the lines for the double thickness of 2X12's that will serve as the outer rim of the deck. 

A day of rest

Jerry Finley (center) came to help me build for a week. On Saturday, my cousin Jim Hendrickson (left) and Jerry Phillip (right) took us on a fishing trip into the mountains where we caught cutthroat and rainbow trout. It was quite a trip to get to the lakes on dirt bike and four wheelers.

9th round completed September 1, 2009

I completed the 9th round of logs today. The walls are all over 78 inches tall now.  The next round of logs will be full logs. 

Yesterday, I went into the mountains with Myles Carpenter and we cut and hauled logs for the deck supports. I will determine the length for each of the 16 support logs tomorrow with a laser level, and plan out the proper logs for each location. I will peel all the logs this week; paint the bottom ends with hot tar so water cannot wick up into the logs and begin installing the deck support logs next Tuesday.

8th round completed August 27, 2009

Today, Jerry Finley (pictured) and I completed the 8th round of logs and started installing the 9th round. I can't see over the walls anymore!  After the 9th round we will have to go back to full logs across all the windows and possibly the doors. The blades for the sonotubes were completed today so we can pour the sixteen pillars for the deck supports. I will begin building the deck next week.

Seventh round of logs completed. August 24th, 2009

Here you can see the driveway being built. It will loop around the bottom of the house, then around between the house and the garage with a parking area at the back of the house. See below for a picture of the 7th round of logs completed.  We also poured the footings for the deck last week. I burned up another chainsaw today. It is covered under warranty and will be back in a week.

I took a day off yesterday and went fishing with my cousin and another friend, Jerry. We went to Gate to the Mountains. We caught a few trout and three walleyes. The sheep you see here were 50 feet from the boat. They never quit eating.

We also saw about a dozen eagles and several deer. Below is a picture of the Gate.

This body of water is a reservoir on the Missouri River.

Sixth round completed August 14th, 2009

I finished the sixth round on Friday the 14th, and peeled the four logs for the seventh round with the help of my brother Jerry. On the 15th, my cousin Jim and I dug the holes for the 16 footings that will support the deck. On Monday, I will build the forms for the footings and prepare for pouring them this week. The road builder showed up on Saturday and started to build the driveway. He will be back tomorrow the 17th, to work on it. We are going to look for another source of better logs to install once I get above the windows and doors and need full length logs again; less knots, less taper, and straighter.