![\"Milling](\"http:\/\/bearpenfarm.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_3385.jpg\" "\\"Milling")
<\/a>Milling the logs<\/p><\/div>\n
In December of 2008 I cut the timber for our logs, borrowed a portable sawmill and milled the logs that we would need.\u00a0 The mill I borrowed wouldn\u2019t cut the longest logs, which were 24 feet six inches long, so I hauled these logs to my friend Gary\u2019s mill and we cut them there.<\/p>\n
Once the logs were milled, stacked and drying, I borrowed a backhoe and dug the hole for the foundation and cellar.\u00a0 This I did in January of 2009,<\/p>\n
<\/a>I like to do everything myself, so I borrowed this backhoe from a friend and went to digging…<\/p><\/div>\n
intending to build the foundation that summer.\u00a0 My plans were changed by the Great Ice Storm (see related article in this blog).\u00a0 We did get the footing poured that summer, but because of the ice storm cleanup it would be a year before the foundation would get built.\u00a0 This project was delayed until the spring of 2010.\u00a0 We wanted<\/p>\n
<\/a>The finished footing–Fall of 2009<\/p><\/div>\n
to lay up a stone foundation, so we used the same backformed masonary technique we used when we built the house.\u00a0 This involves building a straight and plumb plywood form, laying the stone so each rock face is 12 inches from the form, then filling in behind each course of rock with concrete and reinforcing wire.\u00a0 Maria would pick the<\/p>\n
<\/a>The beginning of phase lll<\/p><\/div>\n
stone, Austin would mix the mortar or concrete, and I would lay in the mortar and stone.\u00a0 Most nights I\u2019d be out there about ten o\u2019clock with a flashlight finishing the joints.\u00a0 Before we finished the front wall we set a 1000 gallon cistern in the hole.\u00a0 This doubled our water storage and hopefully would<\/p>\n
<\/a>West wall of the foundation, about 2\/3 done<\/p><\/div>\n
prevent us from ever hauling water again.\u00a0 We finished the foundation in early November, just about the time the weather<\/p>\n
<\/a>The north side<\/p><\/div>\n
got too cold to do rockwork.<\/p>\n
<\/a>The cistern in place<\/p><\/div>\n
In the spring of 2011 Austin and I set the oak beams that span the basement, and I put in the joists and subfloor so we would<\/p>\n
<\/a>Using our heads<\/p><\/div>\n
have a platform for raising the logs.\u00a0 We started up with the walls on the first of June, which also was the day that it got really hot, and stayed that way for the rest of the summer.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Floor joists<\/p><\/div>\n
I would load several logs on my trailer and pull it into the drive-through in our barn so I could do my notching in the shade.\u00a0 Once I had a log dovetailed, I would pull the trailer out and move the log to my 12-inch joiner, which is powered by my 1939 Allis Chalmers tractor via flat belt.\u00a0 A couple of passes would plane the log down to clean wood.\u00a0 Then I would pick the log up with the forks<\/p>\n
<\/a>setting in a long log<\/p><\/div>\n
on the front-end loader of my Belarus tractor and move it to the building site\u2019 where the boys and I would wrestle it into place.\u00a0 Then<\/p>\n
<\/a>Walls are getting higher!<\/p><\/div>\n
back to the barn to lay out another notch.\u00a0 Austin and Jed were a great help to me that summer.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know how I could have done it without them.<\/p>\n
By the first of September the walls were up.\u00a0 Next came the pole joists and rafters, then the 2X6 tongue and groove roof decking.\u00a0 Full size 2X4\u2019s set on edge made<\/p>\n
<\/a>Rafters<\/p><\/div>\n
a space for the 3\u201d foam insulation, then 1X4 lath across the 2X4\u2019s and finally, towards the end of October, the metal roof went on.\u00a0 \u201cLet it rain\u201d, says I\u2014\u201cwe have a roof!\u201d\u00a0 It had<\/p>\n
<\/a>Insulating the roof<\/p><\/div>\n
been a long, hot summer but we finally had something that looked like an addition to our home.\u00a0 A good coating of redwood-stained CWF brought the logs to nearly the same color as our original house.<\/p>\n
The winter was spent siding the gable ends, finishing the sleeping porch deck and adding soffits, gutters and downspouts. \u00a0In the spring I began the challenging job of chinking the exterior. \u00a0This involved cutting plasterers’ lath (expanded metal also known as “blood lath” because it is very sharp, and shreds your fingers) to fit the space where the chinking will go. \u00a0 After it is stapled in place it is filled with a mortar mixture, then worked to the right shape with a small trowel. \u00a0That summer I planed down a bunch of the side lumber that came off the logs when I milled them and made tongue and groove paneling for the inside gable end above the north bedroom wall.\u00a0 Lately we put in the ceiling for what will be our bathroom and are now adding a \u00bd-inch subfloor to the existing \u00be-inch subfloor so that the finish \u00be-inch flooring will be the same height as the floor of the house.\u00a0 Next I will frame the wall that will divide the two rooms and start the plumbing and electrical work.<\/p>\n
After I wrote that last paragraph a lot has happened. \u00a0. \u00a0Through the winter of 2012\/13 I framed the wall between the bedroom and bathroom and put in all the plumbing for the bathroom. My buddy Frank graciously volunteered his time as an electrician, so we got the whole thing wired. \u00a0Through the summer I insulated the cracks between the logs (outside chinking was done) with that expandable foam in a can. \u00a0It took a couple of cases but this method really makes a tight seal between the logs so no air can infiltrate the chinking. \u00a0Then came the whole chinking thing again, this time on the inside.<\/p>\n
While all this was going on, Maria was working her magic with tile in the bathroom. \u00a0I built a curb with rounded edges out of treated lumber and she laid a beautiful mosaic scene on the shower floor, then went up the back of the shower with a scene of cat tails, reeds, a duck, and more. \u00a0When the shower was finished and the interior wall was sheet rocked and painted, I trimmed the interior windows and doors with ash lumber that I’ve been saving for years. \u00a0It is from the tree that fell on the Hogan back in ’08 or so. \u00a0I milled the lumber back then, all I had to do now was dig it out of the stack and plane it to size. \u00a0I also used the ash to build a cabinet to go under the bathroom sink.<\/p>\n
By now it was late July of 2013. \u00a0We decided to blow off our planned vacation (again) and finish the addition enough so we could move in. \u00a0Rather than make my flooring from scratch like I did on the house, I actually bought finished ash flooring from a place in Melbourne. \u00a0It took a few days to nail it down but boy does it look great! \u00a0A few more days installing baseboard and trim and we were ready to move in. \u00a0What a difference from our old stuffy bedroom. \u00a0The new one is big and airy and soooooo comfortable. \u00a0We love it, and we also love our nice spacious shower and Maria REALLY loves that flush commode!<\/p>\n
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Back in the 1980\u2019s when we built our log house, we were somewhat restricted in the size of our house because we were building with logs.\u00a0 We also didn\u2019t feel like we needed a very big home.\u00a0 A bigger house … Continue reading