So You Want to Build a Little Log Cabin in the Woods?: A How To...And How Not to Book

By T.T. Green

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jul 23, 2002
• ISBN: 9781465325365

T.T. Green

About The Author (Back Cover) T. Stark graduated from a major University with a Ph.D. degree. She became a forester and conducted research on forestry in many foreign countries. She viewed four hundred-year-old log buildings in Russia and was inspired to carry out her dream. When she retired in 1992, a widow at age 60, she set about building her dream home of logs. But there were problems far beyond her control. She decided to help others who shared the same dream of building their own log homes by describing the process and the things that can go wrong. She does it all with humor!

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Copyright © 2002 by T.T. Green.

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Contents

Acknowledgements

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Acknowledgements

The author is indebted to Ross Brooks for editing and review of this manuscript. The help of neighbors is greatly appreciated in the long and difficult task of building. Three patient cats who suffered through days of neglect and an old lady too tired to play with them must be recognized too.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Fig. 1 A log barn built with logs scribed using ‘Swedish Cope’.

Fig. 2 A house built with flat-on-flat style logs and near completion.

Fig. 3 a, b Diagram of the construction of window bucks showing how electric lines can be incorporated into the buck design.

Fig. 4. Diagram of the cross-section of the foundation showing one method for placing J-bolts and log tie downs.

Fig. 5. Diagram of a four-point jack used to support log columns within the building.

Fig. 6. Log styles showing how the corners are constructed.

Fig. 7 a, b. Three different styles of corner notching and placement of insulation.

Fig. 8. Photo of a house nearing completion showing how the purlins are placed relative to the internal columns and loft joists.

Fig. 9. Photo of a flathead borer hole in a log.

Fig. 10 a, b. Photos of bark beetle etchings and the holes of powder post beetles.

Fig. 11. Photo of rot in the softwood of a pine log.

Fig. 12. Diagram of the method for measuring diagonals on a foundation or log walls.

Fig. 13. Diagram of the placement of floor joists to support the log walls.

Fig. 14. Diagram of the splicing of two log ends together on a long wall.

Fig. 15. Method for marking the center line on a log before putting it on the wall.

Fig. 16. The foundation and construction of a buttress wall for long log walls.

Fig. 17. Two methods of cutting curf to allow the proper seating of flooring in a log building. Also, slip-joints.

Fig. 18. Photo of the caulking of logs and the ‘mildew’ that can grow on the surface in damp climates.

INTRODUCTION

I have waited several years to write this book. It took that long for the pain to ease to where I could sit down and do it justice, without all of the invectives that were so keenly felt when it was all happening.

If you visualize planning something with extreme care and then doing that something where nearly everything that could go wrong, did go wrong, you will have a sense of what this book is about. It is written to help others who may want to start a log home with hopes of clear sailing to avoid the disappointments that I experienced.

I was a widow who had built with logs before, using my own two hands, and knew a good bit about what I was doing. I am a professional forester, so logs come with the territory. But the fact that I was a lone woman had to have some effect on the chain of events that plagued the project. The chances of all of these things happening again to any individual living are slim, but it did happen just this way to me. All that I can say in my own defense is that every word is true, although names, places and times are missing to protect the inept, dishonest and down-right useless souls who came my way!

I do not want to cast a shadow on the entire log home building industry. There are many good companies that provide quality products and workmanship in the log homes that they sell. If you can handle the price, then I suggest that you do some research first to determine which companies have satisfied customers. You should always look at samples of the houses that these companies have built or provided logs for. And don’t just look casually. Take a good look. Are the joints clean and well-fitted? Are the corners 90 degree angles? Was the building put up on their lot and tested for soundness of fit before it was dissembled and sent to you? Are the logs clean and free of rot or insect larvae? You may need some professional help on these points. Whatever you do, don’t give up. A log home is a source of awe and envy and a thing that you will cherish for the rest of your life, particularly if you build it yourself.

This is by no means a complete, ‘How to …’ manual, but it will give you insights into the types of decisions that you must make and allow you time to make them before the building actually hits the dirt and you are under the gun to get it up. I hope that the humor that follows will not deter you from continuing to read, because the experiences presented here are real and can help you a great deal if you ever want to own a log home. But remember, all this could not possibly happen to you. This was a one-in-a-million coincidence of events. Most people in the log home industry are good, hard-working folks who want to help you.

Chapter 1

MOVING AND SHAKING

Anyone who has ever read the story of the Three Bears, or White Fang has probably wanted to own a cabin in the woods at some time or other. That was my dream for as long as I can remember.

For years I had dreamed of moving to a very special piece of land that had a wonderful view and everything that I ever wanted in a home site. Twelve years before I was ready to build, I made trips to the area to find property. I lucked out and found just what I wanted in 1987. That was good planning because by the time I actually moved there, I could not have afforded the land.

For several years I looked at one parcel and then finally made a cash offer on it. The owners declined the offer and took the property off the market. Since my time there looking for property was limited to a few days each year, I decided to visit a local realtor. I ended up with two comical old fellows who sat in the office and told funny stories for nearly two hours and then finally took me out to look at one parcel. I did not say much when I saw it, but my heart was doing flip-flops as we walked the 40 plus acres! In fact, the second I first laid eyes on the land I knew it had to be mine. It was beautiful, even though badly neglected. It had never been lived on and was once part of a much larger parcel. I immediately visualized a little log house on one knoll and a log barn on another nearby. And there was even a good place for the greenhouse that I wanted to build! There was nothing there then except some beaten down fences, no road, water or electricity, but I could fix all that! On parting with the realtor, I said, Well, it is not quite what I wanted, but I will think about it. Thank you. That was true. It was a bit bigger than I wanted.

The whole way home, some 650 miles, I was ecstatic and could hardly sit still. I was tapping and singing the whole way! I made the offer the next day. But I was called late at night a week later and told that someone else had made a higher offer on the land. All I could do was to sit tight. That deal fell through, fortunately, because I made a higher offer. The counter offers went on for several weeks and after a number of rejections for a higher price, we settled for something close to what the owner had been asking originally. I cannot help but think that the other bidder that I was supposed to be bidding against, was made up by a couple of scheming old realtors to get a higher price, but I was determined to have the property, in spite of them.

For the next twelve years, I visited the land twice each year, during my slow times and came to love it dearly. I would spend hours digging thistles or building fences. The land was totally barren and was leased for cows. On Christmas one year, the weather was clear so I took a trip to the promised land only to find that the cows that were supposed to be out by September first were running up and down a muddy field, in mud up to their knees! Worse still, the hillside that formed my main view had been logged and not replanted so that it was a barren, brown mountain with not a scrap of green left. What little green appeared the next spring was promptly killed with herbicide, leaving seven years of grey sticks to look at and showers of thistle seed on my pastures. Timber companies rarely spray for thistles. But this was my lifelong dream and I was not about to let a few thistle seeds ruin it. I would dig all the harder to get rid of them.

For a good fifteen years prior to the move, I indulged myself in some productive daydreaming each Christmas season, which was when I had some time to myself. I would drag out the plans for the log house and pour over them, revise them, and make new drawings with my various pieces of furniture drawn in place. All the furniture never seemed to want to fit, but I derived great pleasure from the exercise. One year the log house would be a little larger, the next, when funds were short, a little smaller.

Then I set the date for retirement, a bit premature, but things were not getting any better at work, the politics were getting to me. I wondered if I could last another three years. Now the annual log house planning sessions began in earnest. I decided to build a log barn first and live in that. I figured that I could make it for a year without a bath and that an outhouse would do, since the county would not let me have two septic systems on the property, one for the house and one for the barn. I figured the practice on building the barn would help with the house, even though I had built six log buildings before by myself, but they were all barns and sheds, no houses. The barn plans were drawn to scale first and the details of how the logs would be raised using a hand winch and some heavy planks worked out, but I still took out the house plans each time and modified them, just for the fun of it. It was getting close to the time for reality when I would have to face the barrage of bills and county regulations, and no amount of planning could be too much.

In the last year before the move, I went to the site during my fall trip and arranged with a well driller to put in a well. I also talked with a heavy equipment operator about putting in a road, power underground, septic and a water system. I spent several days in the county offices trying to get permits for the well, power, barn and other improvements. The worst was the permit to build on the site. Zoning for the area was such that I needed a larger parcel in order to put a house on it legally. My attempts to buy land from an adjacent logging company had failed earlier, and now I was faced with having to petition to get a building permit. This was a lengthy process and involved a public hearing that I could not attend. There was talk of a pending regulation that would make it impossible to build on a parcel of this size after a certain date, so time was pressing. Fortunately, a kind public servant in the county office took pity on my plight and called me while I was at work several states away to tell me of the impending regulation and to provide a quick, easy solution. Needless to say, that kind gentleman does not work for the county any longer!

During that fall, I spent some time talking to log home companies. There were about ten in the immediate vicinity and I examined their logs with the close eye of one who knew forest diseases and insects and knew what to look for. Most of the companies offered turned logs which were not natural looking, but would make a fine building. Some had fire-killed trees that were well seasoned, but quite old and would not be suitable. Most wanted too much for a log barn, $50,000 and up. When I was about to despair, I found a company that would provide the logs for a barn of the size that I wanted for an affordable price, around $12,000. The logs looked to be quite good and were made in a style called Swedish cope where the upper log is hollowed out to fit tightly over the curve of the lower log. In order to get the logs to fit together, they use scribing or a tracing system that copies the contour of one log onto its neighbor. Then a chain saw is used to cut out the excess wood so the logs will fit tightly together. I had never used this style before and decided to give it a try. A contract was signed, a copy of my plans were given to the company and I was back writing to the county where I planned to live to get the needed permits. Because I planned to live in the barn for a year, I had to pay for a house permit for the barn, even though the structure was to be a barn and barn permits were dirt cheap. Oh well, it was no matter. I was determined to build on this place no matter what it cost!

On my last trip west to the homesite, I arranged with a contractor to build the basement and put on a floor by a certain date. I wanted a dry, secure place to store my belongings as soon as I arrived with the moving van. Since I did not know anyone, I chose a contractor from random in the phone book. The plan was for him to have the basement and first floor finished when I arrived so that I could move all of my belongings into the basement while the rest of the building was going on. The plans were duly handed to the contractor six months in advance, discussed, a contract signed, and dates agreed upon. I could let my mind rest on that?

I also bought a small trailer on that trip, sight unseen, so that I would have a sanctuary for myself and my cats until the barn