June 8, 2015 Insulation and wall boards

I started installing the 1" by 6" tongue and groove lodgepole pine boards on the walls in the loft. I am installing the boards on the two major walls at a 45 degree angle, and on the rest of the walls they will be installed parallel with the floor. I thought this would have a more interesting look.

   We have been installing batting insulation in the walls and ceiling of the two loft bedrooms and the bathroom. I have them insulated as if they were a house with R19 in the walls and R38 in the ceilings. If I don't want to heat the rooms, I can close the doors and very little heat will get through the walls. There will be a baseboard heater controlled by a thermostat in each room so these rooms will never be dependent on any other source of heat to be comfortable.

June 2, 2015 Installed foam insulation in the house and garage

   Today we started blowing the insulation into the ceiling and end gables of the house and garage. We also blew foam into the south facing framed wall in the basement. I contracted for 2 inches in all areas, which is equal to R14 insulating value. I was helping the contractor put plastic on all exposed surfaces that we did not want to get foam overspray. He sprayed 4 to 5 inches of foam into all end gables and walls as payment for my help, which brought the R value to 28 - 35. This has made a huge difference in the insulation effectiveness. After I installed the batting in the ceilings, which added another R factor of 38, I could open the windows and shades in the house at night, close them in the morning, and work in the loft all day and the temperature stayed comfortable.

May 28, 2015 Finished stairway supports in basement

   Today I finished the support structure for the main floor stairs. Last year I had two supports in the middle of the basement landing. The four uprights allowed me to properly install the two steps on each side of the landing.

May 27, 2015 Wired all loft circuits into panel

   Today I finished wiring all the loft circuits into the 100 Amp panel in the loft bedroom closet. This included running one 2 - 2 - 2 - 4 cable from this panel to the main panel in the basement. I no longer have to run extension cords all over the loft while I am working.

May 27, 2015. Building again!

   I'm back in the log cabin building mode. Yesterday I just finished installing all the outlets, light and fan switches in the house loft, and wiring in all the breakers in the loft electrical panel. I decided to install 8 angled can lights in the ceiling over the downstairs family room, and the open area in the loft. I will install them tomorrow and wire them into the electrical panel. I had  insulation people scheduled to blow corbon in the ceiling and end gables of the house and garage tomorrow, but they fell behind schedule andy will not come until Friday. Once the insulation is dry, I will install additional batting in the ceiling to meet or exceed an R value of 48.

   I ordered the ceiling tongue and groove boards for the house ceiling and the walls in the loft. The ceiling boards will be 8" and the wall boards will be 6". They should be delivered next week.

   I found the four exterior doors for the house, three doors for the loft bathroom and bedrooms, and two bedroom closet doors. I am waiting on the vendor to get back to me on prices. I will install the doors before I install the lower ceiling boards so i can run wiring through the logs to light switches beside the doors, in the log walls. I will have to drill through about 4 feet of log to complete the installation.

   I will continue posting pictures when the insulation has ben installed.

Take care, and thank you for reading my blog.
Doug A

September 5th, 2014 Built stairway from main floor to basement

I had to support the ceiling joists above the pictured platform before I cut the complete hole in the main floor, including the joists for the stairway installation. This was totally new to me so I had no idea how long to cut the hole in the floor. As you can also see in the picture, the two sets of stairs (Two treads each) coming off both sides of the platform are offset. Next year I will install a different system to support the ceiling joists so these stairs will be centered on the platform. I will be going back to Montana next month and I will help a friend, Nick Daley cut the beams I will use. We will cut them on his homemade portable bandsaw mill. All screws on these stairs were also countersunk and plugged. I will probably seal these using a clearcoat. Both sets of steps will then be finished with a step quality poly sealer.

I will also have to install a header above the platform, and install TGI rails on each side of the floor opening. Then I will be able to install the finish trim around the entire opening to the basement. The hand rails for these steps and the steps to the loft will be completed at a later date.

August 30, 2014 Built stairway to house loft

On August 30th, I finished the stairway to the loft as far as I could go. The last four steps (Log stringers and treads) have been completed. They will not be installed until the hardwood floor is installed on the main floor. All the screws on the platform, stringers and treads were countersunk and sealed with wooden plus, then sanded smooth. All of these steps will be stained a true cedar to match the rest of the logs on the main floor. The two lowest steps you see are temporary steps made from 2 X 12's that will be removed when the permanent ones are installed.