Once we’d completed the exterior walls, and as we waited for strong friends to assist in getting the final courses of logs (top rows), Eric and I set to building the interior walls of our home.
Interesting to note that logs not yet exposed to the sun had the bleached pine look, while the other logs, only a week in the sun, were already taking on the orange hue of traditional log homes.
This wall that we’re building over the next few days separates the main floor bath, master bedroom, and linen closets from the dining, living, kitchen area of the home. There will be one standard sized doorway that Eric plans to roughly arch with a chainsaw (and which I will need to sand to beautify).
The first (lower) log laid for the interior wall had to be shaved, chiseled, cut to ensure it would align and be level with the existing exterior walls. Our logs, which rest on the foundation’s sill plate, were a smidge over an inch lower than the sub-floor - not much more than the tongues had to be removed from the bottom of the logs.
working away at building this log home for 5-8 hours per day,
just the two of us,
…and we have completed 2/3 of the first floor.
We were not completely alone and could not have managed what we did manage without a number of helpers. David and Lucille Burke (for giving us a nice home to return to interim), Lucille Kyle and Ildaco Koster (for feeding us lunch one day), Lindsay Childs (for shopping for us, cooking for us, and generally filling in whereever there was a need), and more that I’m sure I’m forgetting - due to exhaustion.
I will add some photos of our progress tomorrow.
Here’s one:
The next few days will entail a continuation of the building on the main floor, then building the sub-floor for the second floor loft and Veronica’s room.
As for what happens next, I’m not sure. You’ll have to stay posted for information, news, videos and photos on building a log home - right here!
Below is a quick video from YouTube on our current progress building this log home.
If you don’t know us personally, it’s important to note that the logs only arrived 6 days ago and most of the work (regarding laying out the logs) has been done by the two of us. This is not said to ‘toot our own horn’ but to alert others that ‘where there is a will, there is a way’.
I am a 45 year old woman - part computer geek who is horribly out of shape. My husband is 36 and just one year ago amputated his left thumb with a chainsaw (it was sewn back on, but it not 100% functional). Believe me, if he and I can build a log home mostly by ourselves, so too should you be able to!
It’s also important to note that only 6 days before the shooting of this little video our logs arrived. Neither one of us is currently tied to a traditional job so we have been able to work a little every day at building this log home. We took one day off out of 6, and most days we only worked 4-6 hours due to heat stroke, exhaustion, social commitments, and rain. Imagine what you could do yourselves if you worked harder, and longer, days - or had more help? This is only 22 seconds long, so even if you’re on dial-up you should be able to watch it.
If you want to continue to observe our progress, be sure to subscribe to our log cabin home channel on YouTube or add this page to your favorites!
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times - Freymond Lumber of Bancroft, Ontario is top notch.
They also are our supplier of logs for the ‘build a log home’ project here. It is my pleasure to showcase their product, blaze their logo, and recommend them to you for your own log home building project.
In fact, should you call them, let them know you heard about them from Laura Childs’ website (or email me directly by leaving a comment below) and I’ll do whatever I can to help you with your project. Or perhaps Dan or Lou Freymond themselves will show a special interest in your project (I don’t want to overstep my boundaries and speak for them directly, but they are very friendly and helpful people). I think you’ll find that Freymond Lumber does a little bit more for their customers - at better than average prices and they’re happy to answer questions, provide quotes, and offer suggestions along the way in a timely fashion - than most log and timber suppliers I’ve spoken to.
The Moment We Were Waiting For…
We were all so excited about our log order coming that Veronica video taped Gord Trolley coming down the driveway. If you’re interested, you can watch it below. Far more impressive I think is the fact that Gord backed the truck back out of the driveway once he delivered the logs. His truck was a tandem load (not sure if that’s the right term) and our driveway has a few good ruts in it but Gord backed out faster and safer than I can take my own little car out of my own driveway. At any rate, here’s the video of Gord coming in….
Once Gord arrived he took a quick survey of the property, our current build status and determined to place 1/2 the log order on the sub-floor for us - making it far easier to work on the walls of our new home.
While Gord surveyed the layout and assessed the situation, Veronica was busy peeking at the logs and took this shot for us.
Gord flings up a few chunks of lumber for the first lot to sit on.
The balance of the logs, those on the trailer of the truck, are placed to the side of our building site. Gord says if we give him a few days notice, he might be able to come back and hoist the remaining up for us.
I can’t tell you how much this helps when you’re building a log home. Since most of our order seems to be 16 foot logs - and since they are 6×10″, they weigh (round about) 300 pounds each. Imagine, if you will, trying to lug a 300 pound, 16 foot long, log up a 10 foot ramp - with or without a partner! You’d get pretty tired, pretty quick, I promise!
Tomorrow I’ll show you how much you can expect to raise in a day of building a log home - even if there’s only two of you building the home!
