It has been a good week but hard work and the logs have been heavy. The team have really pulled out all the stops to move things along. Matthew has been off for a couple of days but we have been joined by Dexter who has building experience in Northern BC. He has returned to his routes to be closer to his wife who is expecting a baby.
All in all it has been a successful week although we weren't able to work on Friday because we ran out of sealant. Actually, we would only have managed a half day anyway because at lunchtime it started to rain and that would have stopped us using the sealant.
Each morning Kevin has divided us up into teams. Depending on numbers, it is normally a cutting team (Kevin plus one if available) and two laying teams of two people each. Between cuts Kevin has inspected our work and made us redo anything that doesn't come up to his high standards. Twists in the logs sometimes make it difficult to keep the walls vertical and braces and the occasional use of the sledge hammer has been required to keep things straight. Dexter's 210 lbs have come in handy more than once.
We started the week with putting a metal flashing on the edge of the sub-floor to protect the floor boarding from the elements once the logs are laid.
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| By the end of the first day we had laid three layers around the sides that will have conventional windows and put the frames in. |
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| Tuesday the sun decided to come out and I took this photo of the basement while discussing options for its development with Owen. I shall probably not do anything with the basement until I have lived in the cabin for a while and have a better feel for what is needed down there. |
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| By close of play Tuesday we had raised some of the walls 11 rows high. A dining area and study will be on this side of the house...... |
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... and the kitchen will be on the other side with a back door leading out on to a covered deck and steps down to the yard.
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| Braces were put on the window frames and walls to keep them vertical, with Kevin keeping a beady eye out for quality assurance/control. |
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| Wednesday we topped off the windows leaving an inch gap above the window frames for log shrinkage. New logs would require a 3" gap because they shrink more as the moisture in them drys out. |
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| By Wednesday evening the structure was starting to take shape and look like a cabin (dacha) rather than the Tzar's Winter Palace, as some have been imagining. |
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| Thursday we got to work on linking the garage to the main cabin, front (all my work) and ........ |
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| .... rear, which was easier said than done but we got there in the end. |
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| One can start to gain an impression of what it will eventually look like from the road. |
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| For those that are interested in the detail, this photograph shows a plan view of one of the joints between he garage and the main cabin. The logs are not over-lapped here because there would be deep gaps on the inside of the joint due to the shape of the rounded side of the D shaped log. Instead they are tied together with one of the 12" screws, from the top, diagonally into the opposing log and from different sides alternately every row. Here you can see the screw coming in from the right in the centre groove where the sealant goes. The gap between the logs will be filled with caulking. |
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| And this photograph shows just how deep the screws go into the row below to pull them together effectively. The screws have lasted well and to date only one has broken due to over-torquing. |
The work has been hard and we have had a second casualty, Ron, who has had to pull out due to back problems. We are all pretty exhausted by the end of the day and generally I find myself in bed by about 2130 hours at the latest ready to be up for 0630 hours the next morning. My main concern now is the weather. We have had more rain and slushy snow this weekend and the forecast for next week is not good. I am hoping that the met forecasters' accuracy rates stay at normal levels and actually next week will be bright and sunny - fat chance.
There is a lot of interest locally in what I am doing here. D shaped milled logs are not common, in fact log houses generally are less common that you might imagine. Even the planning department seemed unsure of a lot things when we went through the building permit application process. On this development there are only two log homes, mine and one other also owned by a Brit. I quite often get visitors who just drop in to see what I am doing and my neighbours frequently come along to check on progress and offer words of encouragement.
Till next weekend.
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