The Log Home Roof that Ate Our Hearts

If I haven’t said it enough yet, this roof and all the angles upon it have slowed us down considerably and sucked the wind out of our sails. With one large shed dormer, one normal window dormer (which will accommodate a reading nook for Veronica), one hanging window dormer (for balance and light), one large roof system over the center hall, and the 12/12 pitch roof for the remaining areas - this is the most frustrating part of the build to date.

The only saving grace to this roof style and all of the quirks that come with it, is that it will be a work of art when completed and increase the resale value of our home should we ever decide to leave.

Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch…Work Presumes

It is a small wall, but an integral part of the roof. Transitioning the 8 foot high ceiling in the loft to the slanted cathedral ceiling over the kitchen, the vertical 2 x 6 lumber shown in the image below will eventually be covered in siding from Freymond’s Lumber on the outside and either tongue and groove or drywall on the inside.

Building your own log home sounds romantic when you start planning but be sure to plan within your skill set. Although Eric is very handy and very smart - having never built a roof like this has stetched him beyond past experience. In retrospect I might have chosen a simpler design when I started laying out the floors and exterior look of this home.

Our architect, who is gifted in his work and extremely patient, replied to my query of structure and angles, “Larry, how am I supposed to build this roof?” with “You are supposed to hire a builder.”

Thankfully Larry didn’t end the conversation there. He did walk me through a large part of it even though I was hoping for more detail in the plans. At the end of the day I had to take everything Larry taught me and explain it to Eric - no small feat for a woman who is more of a computer geek, artist, decorator, cook - anything really - than a builder!

If we hadn’t been underinsured (no one’s fault but mine), we would have hired a builder - and we’d be in our new home already!

The busy roof design captivated our hearts when we dreamt it, thought about living under it, envisioned the home below it - but in the end it has sucked the life right out of us, chewed up our hearts and spat them out on the ground below.