We’re getting ready to build the vertical, second floor, surfaces now of our log home! This is an exciting but frustrating time as the next phase will be the roof, but the frustration lies in the angles. This first wall wasn’t much of a challenge to build, but it tested my nerves when we hoisted it into place as you’ll read below.

The roof - a 12/12 pitch in the front - isn’t quite so steep in the back. Allowances have been made for full height in the second floor loft and bath areas. You may visualize the concept best by looking at the architectural plans or by waiting for photos coming up in future posts.

The shot below shows the first wall we built for the second floor of our log home. This wall only extends 2/3s of the way across the back of the house. The remaining third of the second floor will have the same rafter/roof pitch as the rest of the home - 12/12.

You’ll see the opening for the patio doors (accessible from the upper loft) and the bathroom window.

We (well, mostly Eric) built this wall laid flat on the sub-floor and then lifted it to it’s vertical position with the help of friends. Dagny Musclow, Richard Musclow, Deniz Sarac, and Eric and I. This was frightening to me - I envisioned the darn wall toppling over the sill of the top log as we hoisted, then held, the framed construction in place. Eric and Richard supported it with 2×4s and we left for the night.

I was certain that by the time we arrived back to the building site the next day it would have caught a strong breeze and kiltered over the edge. Was I wrong!

Our log home is growing, even if it was at a slower pace than I had hoped, it was still moving skyward and the building progress continues.

You can now see our home, initially tucked away from the world down a long driveway, from the road. Above the treetops the structure emerges.

Remember that the basement, our shining white Logix base, will soon be back-filled - bringing the turf just 2 feet from the bottom of the log floor. On top of 12 rows of 6×10 tongue-and-groove stacked logs you can see the first framed wall in the photo below.

The second wall we built was a headache.

If I thought lifting and securing the first wall was a headache, then this new wall was worthy of so much more pain! The calculations of the angles, leaving adequate space for the ridge beam, framing out windows, and ensuring the roof pitch on either side accommodated our architectural plans caused us to create, tear down, and re-create this wall a few times over.

Even though we rebuilt this wall a few times, we were only certain of it once before placing it on the log sill.

It was so late in the day however, that when we finished the building task, we hoisted and supported the 14′ monster in the dark and by the light of our cell phones!

Richard and Dagny Musclow helped hoist, secure, and light the path. Once lifted, the wall had to be shifted 5″ along the log wall sill, to meet up with the corner of the first wall, before being secured.

This next photo shows the windows, the supports, and the awkward angles of each side of the roof. On the right in the photo, the angle is less sharp to allow for the shed dormer and full ceiling height in the second floor living space.

A closer look at windows in a framed wall of our soon-to-be completed log home.

Although I hadn’t taken many pictures, nor documented this phase too well, our next step in building our log home was to cut and place the 2×10 floor joists into hangers for the top floor bedroom, bathroom and loft.

That phase seems so simple - especially when the room below is evenly squared as in our log home’s case - but one thing I’ve learned is that everything takes twice as long as you allow when you’re building your own home. The weather got in our way (it was either raining or temperatures soared over 28 degrees celcius), we got in our own way (too many other projects and distractions going on), and we took a 5 day road trip that was purely business, but we considered it pleasure, just to be away from building a house for a while.

Of course once the joists were in place, the next phase was to glue the top surface and lay the plywood. Again, this is never as easy as it sounds since many of our tongue and groove plywood boards had to be trimmed before placement. The ‘joins’ or edges of each plywood board laid on the sub-floor surface should rest on a joist. I believe this ensures your floor is strong, and (hopefully) squeek free for many years.

We began at the front of the house (the top floor bedroom) and worked our way to the rear (top floor bathroom). Once one side of the house was finished, we placed a double header for the loft floor (which sits directly over our dining room) - laid joists and plywood on that.

I’m not certain that all my building terms are correct here so you’ll have to check out the photos as I place them here in the coming weeks, or leave a comment or question below. We are being mindful to photograph every step of the way while we build this log home. Nothing will be covered up, hidden, or left out in the documentation. Except, of course, my minimalistic approach to photography of this phase - the top floor, sub-floor.

The photo above shows Deniz Sarac and Eric Kleinoder on our top floor loft space. Deniz is my sister Lindsay’s husband (our new brother-in-law) who usually works in the entertainment industry on Celebrity Cruise Lines. This was Deniz’s vacation - a two week stay in Canada repairing my sister’s trailer and assisting Eric on building a log home. Thanks Deniz!

Richard Musclow (of Musclow Heating, geo thermal specialists in Bancroft, Ontario) stopped in to lend a hand hoisting the tie in beam, (front of house to back of house), building a small, cosmetic wall (hiding the ugliness of a fridge side), and installing my century old, hand hewn log as my center post.

That old cedar log post won’t stay as is - I’ll be sanding, bleaching, and finishing the old log beam - but it will stay where it is. I’m truly excited to have a remant of the old farm incorporated into the new log home.

Once Eric and Richard have the beam and post installed they attempt to stabilize it all by adding a temporary 2 x 6 board from the interior wall to the spot where the beam meets the cedar log post.