If you’re building a log home and it is wearing you down in the process, read this:

If, when you tell people you’re building a log home, they look at you like you’re a spoiled woman who always gets her own way, and their opinion of you worsens when you start making comments like:

“I don’t want that in my home…”, or
“…our house has to be different than any other log house around here…”, and
“I will not live in a standard cedar stained box and call it a log home…”

Don’t sweat it. You’re a log home snob.

I’ve made many of these snobby, self-righteous, comments in the last few months. Your real friends will understand and forgive you for them. I know, because mine have forgiven me – or at least I think they have!

Yes, I’ve heard myself say these things and I’ve seen the reactions, but I’m pretty sure I have a right to say them nonetheless.

I have a right, because I’m not some spoiled goddess whose husband does all the work.

I have a right, because this is my time, my blood, sweat and tears, in and on this project.

I put the time and muscle in. I researched the product lines. I made the calls to get the best prices. I surfed the sites online. I talked to countless tradespeople, about countless home building topics. I took the frustration of being a woman in a small town asking questions that seemed only suitable for men to be asking…

Damn skippy I want our home to look different, have only the best products going into it, and be worth more in the end! It just isn’t worth it to me to do any less or expect any less – because building this log home is stretching me beyond current capabilities and skillsets while it sucks the life force right out of me!

Can You Be A Log Home Snob Too?

You bet you can! Every educated decision you make, every ounce of sweat you spill, every night you lie awake in agony over pulled muscles and aching limbs – is your right of passage to be a snob.

If you need a certificate to prove to others that you have a right to be a snob, tell me about your log home build in a comment below with your address and I’ll create one just for you!

My certificate states that a 45 year old woman, who has been called upon to help lift and hoist one end of 300 pound logs, over and over again until the walls are built, has a right.

The number of plywood sheets I have heaved over my head to get them from the ground to the first floor. And then do it all over again to get it on the second floor.

The windows and doors and lumber siding – carried, stained, moved, and moved again. And, on the same note, the hospital visits and stitches received as a result of moving doors in inappropriate footwear.

Nails hammered until arm muscles burn and you want to cry.

The heights that would certainly kill or break you badly if you fell.

Lifting, levering, and sliding 20 foot long 2×12s from the ground to the roof – 35 feet away…plus much more.

So go ahead, share your log home building stories below. I’m ready to share the crown of snobbery with you!

There has been a lot of talk in our circle lately about hybrid home. Regarding the log home we’re building this pertains to the fact that the log part of our home is the main floor and the second story (loft, 2nd bedroom and bath) is framed construction.

Over the last 8 months I have poured over magazines, books on building, books on log homes, cabins and retreats. Although I’ve always favored the stone cottage style of a country home, we don’t have time or resources to facilitate that type of build – even a hybrid.

Eric favors the log home which is why we choose to build this way. At the time we made that decision we also were eager to have the home built and be moved in swiftly. Building a log home ourselves gave us the promise and hope we needed at the time.

If you’re a regular reader you already know that we had the log portion built and were ready to move onto the next step within 10 days. We were empowered. That was over 2 months ago though.

In the last two months we have struggled with the angled roof line, gable ends, window framing, and dormers. We have fought against the elements – more rain in Ontario than any other summer in my frame of reference. And we have lost our ’stride’ by running out of steam, not having nearly enough free time on our hands, and just feeling generally overwhelmed.

Some friends recognized our frustration and anguish and jumped in giving us a huge push in the process. Suddenly we didn’t feel so alone and overwhelmed and our dedication to the task returned.

But we’re still not there yet.

The roof is only 2/3 done and the part that remains may be the most challenging yet. A large cathedral center, requiring it’s own ridge beam and rafters – seperate and at a different angle than the rest of the roof.

(Speaking of angles, this has been the largest challenge to date with this entire process of building a log home. We have two small dormers up front both different as one is in a room, the other is only a partial hanging from the roof rafters, one large shed dormer out back, a 12/12 pitch on the remaining area of the roof, etc.)

Since this post started as a discussion of log home hybrids, let’s get back to it…

If you are thinking of building a log home, and you have to build it yourself (either for personal or financial reasons), be sure you know what you’re undertaking if you choose to go hybrid.

In retrospect I would have designed our home differently (one level ranch style, all logs), if I’d known the time, skills, and work required to frame and roof such a complicated second floor as this hybrid.

On the other hand, if you have a builder, a budget, or a husband who has built a home before and has nothing but time on his hands – a well built log-hybrid home with an interesting roof has a higher resale value in the end.

Today a few close friends came by to help us build the ceiling for the second floor of our log home. Or should I say the roof? Or really was it all about the dormers?

Who knew – Veronica, Mo and I hung out mainly on the ground, the girls reading and chatting and I staining siding and running to vehicles for the odd thing.

Peter, Richard and Eric climbed up onto the second floor and didn’t come back down until many, many hours had passed.

I’ll write more about the day, later this weekend, but for now, here’s a quick video of the finished product – a gorgeous dormer overlooking the driveway and forest.

Now that the gable ends are done and lifted, and the ridge beam in place, it’s time to start hanging roof rafters on this log home!

I’m going to first take a moment and give my husband a virtual pat on the back first. Here’s a man who lost his dad when he was just seven years old. Who has never built a house before. Who is working full time already. And who was happy to give his wife anything she wanted – even though he had no idea how hard or laborious it might turn out to be!

For the record, after the house fire, I did not want to build a house. I’m not sure I even wanted to live in the same province as the house fire. Veronica (my daughter) and Eric (husband-extroidinaire) did want to build though. They wanted to champion the land that tried to drive them off it!

While I’m singing the praises of my husband I can’t miss our friends who have stepped out of their comfort zone, and/or ‘found’ time in their already over-loaded schedules to help us out.

Let’s Talk Rafters!

When rafters are going up you know your roof isn’t far behind.

Unfortunately for us, I chose the roof profile – Eric and Veronica both loving a busy roof – and we did not know how challenging building a roof of dormers and extra high entranceways would be.

So, while I applied stain, UV protection and gloss coats to our log home siding (for top floors only) during the day, Eric continued to come into the property after work hours to hang rafters in the shed dormer.

Special Challenges: Not enough of a challenge that Ontario has seen more rain this summer than any other year, or that our roof is busy with alternating angles and dormers, but Daylight Savings Time is not here yet and as Fall approaches the day’s get shorter than ever.

When:

• the work day ends at 5:30,
• the drive is at least 30 minutes,
• it takes 20 minutes to get the mindset and the tools to the second floor,
• and it gets dark by 8:30,

…there just isn’t much time for building!

Steps, no matter how small, are being made though.

As for the immediate future, Saturday looks promising on the weather network, but Sunday looks bleak again.