June 17, 2015 Ceiling boards and sheetrock

Here is the first light fixture installed in the loft. The corners will all be trimmed out with pine .

We are starting to sheetrock the loft bedrooms, closets, and some of the bathroom walls, as well as the end gables and the framed basement wall. the bathroom walls will be completed next summer after the plumbing has been installed.

June 12, 2015 Wall boards and Ceiling insulation and boards

Here you can see the wall boards are all completed, and we are installing the R38 batting in the ceiling. All the tongue and groove ceiling boards will be 1" by 8" lodgepole pine.

   Here is the north loft bedroom with the ceiling boards installed on the angled ceilings and on the ceiling of the dormer. All three dormers, one in each bedroom, and one in the bathroom, will be finished the same way. The dormer ceilings all have R38 batting installed in them.

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