Building the Log Home
It's a new year and we just got the drawings to get started on the basement. The weather is finally warming up enough to let the excavator start digging.
While they're on site they'll also level a 20' x 20' pad to build the new observatory on as well as another 30' x 30' pad by the edge of the woods for a dog kennel. And he'll also widen the area behind our garage so we have truck access to the rear of the building and the well head.
While they're on site they'll also level a 20' x 20' pad to build the new observatory on as well as another 30' x 30' pad by the edge of the woods for a dog kennel. And he'll also widen the area behind our garage so we have truck access to the rear of the building and the well head.
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In front of the garage the basement is being dug and in the rear the the excavators are finishing up the access road and getting ready to move the kennel to its new pad. Things are coming together.
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It's was almost 60 degrees this January day so the footers were poured as soon as the excavating was finished. More cold weather is on the way but at least this part is done.
A level area about 20' x 30' was cut in the hillside above the garage for the new observatory location. It came out a little larger than originally intended but that's good - can't have too much space to build on. Just the first step towards building the new observatory.
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The dog kennel on its new graveled pad in back of the garage. The 8' x 10' building is an Amish-built double kennel with enclosed porches, and is surrounded by a 20' x 20' fenced yard made by joining two 10' square chain-link kennels together. The building is also insulated and heated. The mutts better be happy with their new quarters!
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The basement has been going up as the weather permits. The walls were completed mid-February and hopefully we'll soon be pouring the concrete floor if it will stay above freezing long enough.
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By the end of February the basement floor was poured, the pressure walls were filled with concrete and the crew had started coating the outside of the walls to waterproof them before they're back-filled. They finished pouring the floor on a Wednesday and by Friday it was winter storm time again.
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An evening sunset on the first day of the sub-floor build. In the second picture the sub-floor is complete. Time to get the excavator to backfill the basement. The only items left to do on the basement are installing the door and windows and the prebuilt staircase.
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Before the excavator could return another winter storm hit. This is the most snow we've had all winter, maybe 5 or 6".
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A week later and the snow has melted and the basement is being backfilled, the driveway and parking area graded, and gravel put down. The power conduits have been extended into the basement, as well as the water line, phone line and fiber conduit. Also, the storage shed was pulled up the hill by a bulldozer and placed on a pad at the corner of the parking lot. Right over the bank from the shed is another pad for a propane tank with an underground conduit to run the gas line to the house.
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The final bit of work is grading the driveway and regraveling it, plus cleaning out the ditch line and packing it with stone. That should do it for excavation work around here.
The windows and door have also been installed in the basement, but we are still awaiting the staircase which was delayed because of the storm. The logs were scheduled for delivery the next week, but delivery was postponed another week because of a winter storm warning of 5-8 inches of snow. Of course, after rescheduling delivery, it turns out the weatherman was wrong and we didn't see a single flake of snow. We rescheduled for the following Monday because the extended forecast said it would be OK, but Instead we got torrential rains all Sunday night that didn't stop until about 30 minutes before the truck arrived on Monday. The weatherman's batting 100% - unfortunately it's 100% wrong. Now instead of dealing with fictitious snow we have mud on our hands.
The windows and door have also been installed in the basement, but we are still awaiting the staircase which was delayed because of the storm. The logs were scheduled for delivery the next week, but delivery was postponed another week because of a winter storm warning of 5-8 inches of snow. Of course, after rescheduling delivery, it turns out the weatherman was wrong and we didn't see a single flake of snow. We rescheduled for the following Monday because the extended forecast said it would be OK, but Instead we got torrential rains all Sunday night that didn't stop until about 30 minutes before the truck arrived on Monday. The weatherman's batting 100% - unfortunately it's 100% wrong. Now instead of dealing with fictitious snow we have mud on our hands.
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It's April 16 and today is one of the days we've been dreaming of for several years: the logs are here. They are from Mountain State Log Homes in Jane Lew, WV and are dovetailed 6" x 12" kiln-dried white pine.
We went with kiln-dried logs over pressure treated because of the amount of shrinkage in the logs as they dry. The kiln dried logs have very little shrinkage or checking (I'm told typically the same allowances are made as for a framed house) and do not need elaborate bolt and spring systems in the corners or large space allowances for settling around doors and windows. The only downside to kiln-dried is we need to spray a Borate treatment on the exterior before staining the logs.
We had a log home some 30+ years ago that was pressure treated and exhibited a large amount of shrinkage and checking of the logs over the course of a couple of years. Besides the doors and windows we also had issues with shrinkage around the fireplace and had to take shrinkage into account when running plumbing lines running up from the basement. We specifically chose kiln-dried logs this time because of the issues we had previously.
We went with kiln-dried logs over pressure treated because of the amount of shrinkage in the logs as they dry. The kiln dried logs have very little shrinkage or checking (I'm told typically the same allowances are made as for a framed house) and do not need elaborate bolt and spring systems in the corners or large space allowances for settling around doors and windows. The only downside to kiln-dried is we need to spray a Borate treatment on the exterior before staining the logs.
We had a log home some 30+ years ago that was pressure treated and exhibited a large amount of shrinkage and checking of the logs over the course of a couple of years. Besides the doors and windows we also had issues with shrinkage around the fireplace and had to take shrinkage into account when running plumbing lines running up from the basement. We specifically chose kiln-dried logs this time because of the issues we had previously.
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This shipment is 1497 feet out of the 1650 feet of logs needed for our home. The pallets of logs were spread around the basement to allow easy access for sorting and to keep them out of the mud.
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A close up of one of the logs They're 6" thick and 12" high (before planing) Appalachian style with dovetailed corners and a 2" chinking groove. Joints in the log sections are cut in a shiplap fashion to help prevent air infiltrating through the joint.
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The modified dovetail corners from Mountain State are cut with recesses in the logs to allow the corners to lock tightly together. The left photo shows the inside of the dovetail corner and the right photo shows the outside. The logs are cut with either a right-hand or left-hand dovetail.
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The design for our home is 28' x 36' (1008 sqft on the first floor) with a half-loft of approximately 600 sqft. Adding in a full finished basement will give us a total of about 2600 sqft of living space. The home has heavy timber exposed rafters with 2" x 6" T&G ceiling and exposed timber joists for the loft floor. There are two 6 ft dormers in the front, a fireplace in the great room and a heavy timber staircase from the first floor to the loft. There are also wrap-around porches on all four sides of the cabin and the roofing will be charcoal gray metal to match the garage roof.
We are, of course, on a limited budget and trying to keep costs down as much as possible, but at the same time we don't won't to cut corners on quality to the point that it will just cost us more money and time down the road in repairs or replacement. Better to pay a little more now and get it right the first time. As I get older, I'll be less able to keep up with all that maintenance and I can think of better things to do in my latter years.
For example we spent a bit more to have the wrap-around porches. We love porches and pretty much live on them in the summertime, and by adding porches on all four side of the cabin we gained something we like and also get the extra benefit of protecting the log walls from the elements. The porches should pay for themselves in reduced maintenance of the logs. We also set all the wood porch piers on top of poured concrete piers instead of directly burying the pressure treated wood, which would have been cheaper. Pressure treated piers directly buried would eventually need to be replaced due to rot, but we'll probably never need to replace them on top of the concrete piers. It cost a little extra now, but I think it's worth it in the long run.
We also probably spent a bit more money by hiring experienced local professionals to do the work I can't do, usually people recommended by others who already did good a good job for us, and not the lowest, good 'ol boy bidders. We didn't know who to hire when we first bought our land, but a neighbor recommended a local gentleman that ran a mowing business who we then hired to bush hog our fields, who then recommended the excavator we hired, who in turn recommended the basement contractor and also the electrician we used. The basement contractor then recommended the plumber and so on. This worked out pretty well for us with local contractors, but unfortunately not so much with the home contractor, who was not local. We've built three homes in our lifetime and this was without doubt the absolute worst experience we've ever had with a home builder. It's been a nightmare, but I'm not going to go into any great detail on the contractor just to try to keep the page on a positive level.
On a happier note, all through the build Mountain State has been great. They helped keep the build on-track as much as they could, even sending a representative over a couple of times to do a walk around and check the contractor's work. Personally, I hope they'll never refer this builder to anyone ever again.
We are, of course, on a limited budget and trying to keep costs down as much as possible, but at the same time we don't won't to cut corners on quality to the point that it will just cost us more money and time down the road in repairs or replacement. Better to pay a little more now and get it right the first time. As I get older, I'll be less able to keep up with all that maintenance and I can think of better things to do in my latter years.
For example we spent a bit more to have the wrap-around porches. We love porches and pretty much live on them in the summertime, and by adding porches on all four side of the cabin we gained something we like and also get the extra benefit of protecting the log walls from the elements. The porches should pay for themselves in reduced maintenance of the logs. We also set all the wood porch piers on top of poured concrete piers instead of directly burying the pressure treated wood, which would have been cheaper. Pressure treated piers directly buried would eventually need to be replaced due to rot, but we'll probably never need to replace them on top of the concrete piers. It cost a little extra now, but I think it's worth it in the long run.
We also probably spent a bit more money by hiring experienced local professionals to do the work I can't do, usually people recommended by others who already did good a good job for us, and not the lowest, good 'ol boy bidders. We didn't know who to hire when we first bought our land, but a neighbor recommended a local gentleman that ran a mowing business who we then hired to bush hog our fields, who then recommended the excavator we hired, who in turn recommended the basement contractor and also the electrician we used. The basement contractor then recommended the plumber and so on. This worked out pretty well for us with local contractors, but unfortunately not so much with the home contractor, who was not local. We've built three homes in our lifetime and this was without doubt the absolute worst experience we've ever had with a home builder. It's been a nightmare, but I'm not going to go into any great detail on the contractor just to try to keep the page on a positive level.
On a happier note, all through the build Mountain State has been great. They helped keep the build on-track as much as they could, even sending a representative over a couple of times to do a walk around and check the contractor's work. Personally, I hope they'll never refer this builder to anyone ever again.
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While the contractor claimed to be an experienced log home builder this was their first build of a Mountain State home, which should have been a red flag for us. But we were excited to get started and ignored this.
In the photo 4-1/2 courses of logs have been placed in a couple of days. There are 10 courses of logs in the first floor and the builder said he would cut the window and door openings after the walls were built. This was contrary to what the log home company had told the contractor on the first day and turned out to be a big mistake. Not cutting the openings as the logs were erected meant the builder paid no heed to where the log joints were falling in the walls. Joints that should have been placed |
in window or door openings wound up in the walls instead, sometimes six inches or a foot from an opening. Truly amateurish construction on the builders part. He should have listened to what the log home company was telling him.
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After seven days the gable ends are being erected and the rough openings have finally been cut. Notice the amount of log waste in the gables. This should have been another red flag for us. We wound up with a mountain of wasted materials, not something you would expect if the builder was as experienced as he claimed.
We had to order additional materials from the log home company four times, because the builder said the company had not sent enough logs, rafters, decking, trim, screws, you name it. The log home company told me that if the builder had followed the provided material schedules there was enough material in the initial shipments to complete the home. I was told the contractor's excuse was that the schedules got wet and he couldn't read them. Seriously, you can't make this stuff up. The gable ends weren't trimmed until the center beam arrived on May 1st and was placed along with the first of the rafters. |
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We've been hearing the "hoots" of owls around our land for several months. From their distinctive calls we figure they are barred owls.
I finally caught sight of an owl resting on a tree limb on a recent misty morning, but this one looks to be a barn owl. It didn't seem bothered at all by my walking up to within 30 feet to grab this shot. We also hear screech owls in the early evenings, and whippoorwills too. |
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The 40-foot Douglas Fir center beam is up and now the timber rafters are being placed. After the rafters are in place, the roof gets decked. But this weekend it's raining again.
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It has rained a good bit this spring so we're really happy to finally have the decking boards on the cabin roof. Inside, the center beam and floor joists for the loft are being installed, which also serve to tie the walls of the cabin together. In addition there will be vertical supports from roof to basement along the beam.
But here's another problem too. The contractor stopped the roof decking boards just short of the log walls, because he mistakenly thought the porch rafters would butt up against the ends of the roof rafters (actually it turned out the porch rafters were attached on top of the roof decking). So for the next two months rain water drenched both sides of the log walls, streaking the logs with black stains. This has a created a lot of extra work for me - power washing the logs outside and sanding them both inside and out trying to remove the mess. This truly sucks (see photos further down the page).
But here's another problem too. The contractor stopped the roof decking boards just short of the log walls, because he mistakenly thought the porch rafters would butt up against the ends of the roof rafters (actually it turned out the porch rafters were attached on top of the roof decking). So for the next two months rain water drenched both sides of the log walls, streaking the logs with black stains. This has a created a lot of extra work for me - power washing the logs outside and sanding them both inside and out trying to remove the mess. This truly sucks (see photos further down the page).
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The wrap around porches are being constructed. The cement piers mentioned earlier are being poured in the first image. The middle image is the pressure-treated framing and the deck boards are going on in the third image. The decks are divided into sections with all the deck boards beveled on the ends and locked firmly in place by the divider boards, which are beveled on their sides. This will keep the deck boards from curling up as they age and makes a nicer pattern than just straight long runs. There are some minor issues with the decks but overall the contractor did a decent job on them.
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We had a bear (or maybe it was bigfoot!) pay us a visit during the night. It turned over our garbage cans, dragged out the trash bags and pulled one over the hill to dissect it. It had been raining a lot so the shale fill was soft and the mystery visitor left four large imprints going down the bank. They're a bit hard to make out in the photo, due to all the small rocks, but quite easy to see in person.
I guess I'll need to start being a little more careful in the future while traipsing around outside in the middle of the night looking at stars. |
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The trees are in bloom , including this Fringe tree, or "Old Man's Beard". And since I can''t get much done working inside right now my wife has put me to work creating new flower gardens around the place. There is a mulch plant about three miles from our home, and they sell damaged bags of mulch sometimes for less than a dollar each, so I think she's planning to mulch the whole place. I must have well over a hundred bags piled up now.
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It's beginning to look like a home. The roof is going on the porches finally, so I'm praying we will at last be watertight soon. The final delivery from the log home company, with the windows, the metal roof and all remaining materials is due in on the last Friday of June. The contractor claimed he would have the metal roof on before the 4th of July. In reality he didn't even get to the metal until July 17, and then only after we had "words".
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The build began on April 16 and the contract called for the home to be completed by June 1. He was no where near done by then and the next date promised was mid-June. That turned into the end of June, then the middle of July, and then finally, after we had our aforementioned "discussion" in mid-July, the deadline became July 27. That was my firm, final deadline for him to leave, finished or not.
Our home the day the builder left. There's a lot still undone or needing redone. I knew he would not be able to finish everything before the 27th and did not trust him to do everything right, such as caulking and sealing the windows before putting on the trim, so I didn't let him do any trim except on the dormers and upstairs window. And those I tried to watch to be sure the seal was put on. I also did not trust him to install the Douglas Fir timber staircase because he was now in a hurry to beat the deadline, and I knew that just building the stairs alone would take several days, days he didn't have left, so I did not press him to finish them. I can't install them myself and will have to hire someone, but I didn't want him butchering them on the way out the door.
We have a mostly dried-in house now, the roof only leaks around the fireplace at the porch flashing, but at least that's fixable. Trying to look at the bright side, things could have been even worse. There's a lot to do yet before winter and a lot of work I shouldn't have to do in the first place, but we'll get there.
The electrical wiring is likely going to be a nightmare. Not because of any design flaws, but because we simply could not coordinate work with this guy without everything turning into a new excuse for more money than stated in the contract. So we gave up trying. We managed one electrical run for the ceiling fan in the great room that was run up a cut in a rafter before the T&G went on, and that's it. We did get the logs pre-drilled for wiring because it was part of the basic build and he couldn't come up with a way to charge extra for that.
Normally at the end of construction you'd do a walk through to point out any problems that need fixing before the contractor leaves, but we didn't do that. We knew there were problems, but we just wanted him GONE.
There's a lot that needs to be done all around the house, and all at the same time, but I'm now doing everything I can by myself, in order to save money after all the cash we we lost on on the "builder".
We have a mostly dried-in house now, the roof only leaks around the fireplace at the porch flashing, but at least that's fixable. Trying to look at the bright side, things could have been even worse. There's a lot to do yet before winter and a lot of work I shouldn't have to do in the first place, but we'll get there.
The electrical wiring is likely going to be a nightmare. Not because of any design flaws, but because we simply could not coordinate work with this guy without everything turning into a new excuse for more money than stated in the contract. So we gave up trying. We managed one electrical run for the ceiling fan in the great room that was run up a cut in a rafter before the T&G went on, and that's it. We did get the logs pre-drilled for wiring because it was part of the basic build and he couldn't come up with a way to charge extra for that.
Normally at the end of construction you'd do a walk through to point out any problems that need fixing before the contractor leaves, but we didn't do that. We knew there were problems, but we just wanted him GONE.
There's a lot that needs to be done all around the house, and all at the same time, but I'm now doing everything I can by myself, in order to save money after all the cash we we lost on on the "builder".
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Above are a few examples dirty logs and the extra work needed to clean them up. The first photo shows black stains around my front door. In the middle photo I'm sanding the bathroom walls and the final picture shows the difference between the clean, sanded logs and the dirty logs.
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The first picture above is the rough-in for one of the living room windows. The rough cut in the logs on top was curved up and the 2x6 has been jammed in and bowed up with it. How about those wayward cuts up the side? Professional workmanship, eh? This is just one example of one window.
In the middle photo is the fireplace chase. Looks OK, right? Well, except for one minor detail: it's sealed up tighter than a drum, with no way to get inside to install the fireplace and pipes. I told the buiilder to screw one side on so it could be opened (after removing the Titanium covering) for the installation guys to get in. So what did he do? He went crazy with the nail gun instead (there was one small panel with screws and then they came back and put nails in it too). Pure genius... I spent about half a day prying the panels back off one side.
The third photo shows some of the waste piled up around the house. This is by no means all of it, but gives some idea of just how much there is. We've given away several flatbed truck loads of this stuff for use as fire pit wood and we've burned a bunch in our fire pit just to get rid of it, but there's still plenty more to go.
In the middle photo is the fireplace chase. Looks OK, right? Well, except for one minor detail: it's sealed up tighter than a drum, with no way to get inside to install the fireplace and pipes. I told the buiilder to screw one side on so it could be opened (after removing the Titanium covering) for the installation guys to get in. So what did he do? He went crazy with the nail gun instead (there was one small panel with screws and then they came back and put nails in it too). Pure genius... I spent about half a day prying the panels back off one side.
The third photo shows some of the waste piled up around the house. This is by no means all of it, but gives some idea of just how much there is. We've given away several flatbed truck loads of this stuff for use as fire pit wood and we've burned a bunch in our fire pit just to get rid of it, but there's still plenty more to go.
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Full moon coming up over the cabin and a double rainbow after an afternoon thunderstorm.
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The left photo is the master bath under construction. Just waiting on the propane water heater install before the plumber comes back to finish up.
In the center are a couple of test floor boards. We found a saw mill that had circular-sawn white oak boards in 5" and 7" widths. We had the boards milled into tongue and groove saw-face flooring. The test boards were first treated with ECO wood treatment which reacts with the tannin in the oak and turns the surface black. The boards were then sanded to the desired surface, stained with English Chestnut stain, and finally coated with Australian Timber Oil. Using oil makes the floor finish repairable.
In the right image rails have been installed around the porches.
In the center are a couple of test floor boards. We found a saw mill that had circular-sawn white oak boards in 5" and 7" widths. We had the boards milled into tongue and groove saw-face flooring. The test boards were first treated with ECO wood treatment which reacts with the tannin in the oak and turns the surface black. The boards were then sanded to the desired surface, stained with English Chestnut stain, and finally coated with Australian Timber Oil. Using oil makes the floor finish repairable.
In the right image rails have been installed around the porches.
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For my woodstove hearth I found some pieces of bluestone with fossils of wood in them at a stone supply. The soapstone and cast iron stove is made by Hearthstone, and I got it used at a store in Harrisonburg, VA for about a third the cost of a new one.
We were originally planning to install a zero-clearance wood burning fireplace in the log wall, until we discovered that zero-clearance fireplaces are only designed to go through 2X4 framed walls. We would have had to cut an 8-foot high section of the log wall out and reframe it with 2X4's. I didn't build a log home to cut giant sections of logs out, so we decided on the wood stove instead and when finished there will be a mantle and stone on the wall around the stove.
We were originally planning to install a zero-clearance wood burning fireplace in the log wall, until we discovered that zero-clearance fireplaces are only designed to go through 2X4 framed walls. We would have had to cut an 8-foot high section of the log wall out and reframe it with 2X4's. I didn't build a log home to cut giant sections of logs out, so we decided on the wood stove instead and when finished there will be a mantle and stone on the wall around the stove.
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The local contractor that built my basement is putting up the staircase for me. It's doweled and lag-bolted together. Finally, I can get upstairs without climbing a ladder. I'll do the rails myself when I can get to them.
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Sanding and staining the interior is progressing. The great room walls and beams are some of the harder staining to get done due to the 20-foot high ceiling. It was also a bit of a challenge hanging the 68-inch ceiling fan while dangling off an extension ladder. During construction I had a beam added between the collar ties so the fan would be centered over the great room. It's going to be fun changing light bulbs but I installed LED bulbs which should last many years.
I've also finished constructing the railings for the loft. They're built with 6x6 posts, 4x4 rails top and bottom and 2" spindles. The same type railings will be installed on the stairs.
The ceiling fan wiring is yet another screw-up by the builder. It was literally the only wiring he ran - a rafter was notched and a cable laid in before the T&G roofing went on. So what did the genius do afterwards - he shot nails and screws through the cable, shorting all the wires together, when the metal roof was put on. He couldn't even run one cable correctly! I had to run a new cable up the side of the rafter which I'll cover with moulding.
He also screwed up the hole to the outlet on the log wall in the upstairs bedroom, plus some other holes were so filled with debris we gave up trying to run wires in them. I had to drill through a ceiling beam (13-1/2" of wood total) just to get runs up to the loft on the front side. It took half a day to figure out how to drill into the dormer area of the great room so we could have a light in it.
I've also finished constructing the railings for the loft. They're built with 6x6 posts, 4x4 rails top and bottom and 2" spindles. The same type railings will be installed on the stairs.
The ceiling fan wiring is yet another screw-up by the builder. It was literally the only wiring he ran - a rafter was notched and a cable laid in before the T&G roofing went on. So what did the genius do afterwards - he shot nails and screws through the cable, shorting all the wires together, when the metal roof was put on. He couldn't even run one cable correctly! I had to run a new cable up the side of the rafter which I'll cover with moulding.
He also screwed up the hole to the outlet on the log wall in the upstairs bedroom, plus some other holes were so filled with debris we gave up trying to run wires in them. I had to drill through a ceiling beam (13-1/2" of wood total) just to get runs up to the loft on the front side. It took half a day to figure out how to drill into the dormer area of the great room so we could have a light in it.
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The saw-face white oak floor is down in the great room area. In the second picture I'm just getting started laying the master bedroom floor. Next the floors will be treated with ECO Wood Treatment, which reacts with the tannin in the wood and turns it black Then they will be sanded to the desired surface, stained and then sealed with Australian Timber Oil.
The last image has nothing to do with floors, but the deer came to visit while I was working. If you look hard you can find 7 deer in the picture. There were a total of nine that came by today but two were out of the frame.
The last image has nothing to do with floors, but the deer came to visit while I was working. If you look hard you can find 7 deer in the picture. There were a total of nine that came by today but two were out of the frame.
Last update 11/26/2018
