Saturday I made great progress on the chinking, I now have two sides of the cabin nearly completed.  I took part of the day to cut firewood and haul it back to the cabin on my four wheeler.  I am getting excited about this fall and winter!

The time has come to start the chinking on the outside of the cabin.  I have not posted an entry in quite some time due to the fact that I have not spent very much time at the cabin over the summer. With summer almost over, and fall on its way, I decided that now is the time to begin the task of chinking all of the cracks on the outside of the cabin.  These pictures are of the first day of chinking.

The image of a cabin covered in snow brings so many things to our imagination, and I hope you can use yours to imagine what this cabin is really like. I wish I had been able to stay in it Saturday night, but the snow was too pretty Sunday morning not to go out and take a few pictures.

It has been a while since I posted and new pictures, so here is the latest view inside of the cabin, with only a few things left to do to finish it up. There will be more pictures of the outside when the chinking is completed on it.

These pictures are of the ladder for the loft, it is a kind of slow process making each rung and fitting it into the runner, but it should be very nice when it is finished. One of the pictures is of the bathroom door handle, which is made of two broken axe handles, one that belonged to me, the other belonging to Casey. We used and broke both of the handles while working on the cabin. They will always be a part of the cabin now.

This is the story of a kitchen. Once upon a time there was a lonely bare spot in the corner of a cabin, far, far away in the deep woods. Within the course of one week, however, this lonely bare spot was magically transformed into a functional, usable kitchen. Ok, except for the sink - it isn't quite ready yet. The cabinets are made from cedar slabs (leftovers from the sawmill). It provides a very rustic look.

These are pictures of the cabinets in the kitchen of the cabin. The countertops are still in production, I will post pictures of them when they are done.

These are the pictures of the wood stove, and the stone hearth. The stove pipe is installed and me and Casey started the very first fire in the cabin! It was great. The glow from the fire is just awesome against the logs.

This weekend I completely finished the floor, it now has 2 coats of sealer, and 5 coats of polyurethane on it. I have to say, it is beautiful. The bathroom is now very close to completion, with the walls done and just a few finishing touches before it is ready to furnish. Also got the kitchen faucet plumbed in and installed.

I forgot to mention in my previous post that the cabin celebrated its first anniversary last week, on September 15. If you look back to the very first entry in this blog, you will see the date on it. Quite a lot has changed in a year!
So now, on to this weekend's accomplishments: First of all, on Saturday morning about 7:15 I headed out to Corinth to pick up a drum sander at the rental store. I had read several articles about other peoples experiences with these machines, and I would say that everyone who said they are noisy, heavy, and crazy hard to work with is telling the truth. My muscles still ache from wrestling that little monster around on the floor. But when I finally got through the 20 grit and 36 grit papers, I put the 80 grit on and really started seeing the beauty of the pine floor showing through. So at 4:00 I was headed back to Corinth to return the sander. I returned Sunday afternoon and used my small belt sander and orbital sander to finish the edges, then went over the entire surface with 120 grit paper on the orbital sander. Then I applied the first coat of sanding sealer to make sure it keeps that 'freshly sanded' look.

Finished all of the chinking inside the cabin, leaving a 'covering' of cement dust on the floor, but since all the messy stuff is done now, I will be able to clean up the floor and hopefully move towards getting it sanded and finished now. The outside chinking will be put off until a few things are taken care of inside.

This post will cover about 3 different days of work. The first section of pictures that you see is of me starting to cover the walls of the bathroom with cypress planks. I didn't get very far because I ran out of planks. I have more, but I have to cut a ship lap on them before they can be installed.
The remaining pictures are all about chinking. The FUN, EXCITING part of building a log cabin. Actually there is probably nothing more boring and mundane than shoving mortar into a joint, watching it fall back out, pushing it back in, and smoothing it all into a clean edge. Not to mention that before the mortar can be placed, you must drive nails about every 3 or 4 inches into the bottom log of the joint to hold the mortar in place. However, for all it's monotony, and maybe because I'm just a boring mundane person, I kind of enjoy this process. It's the final step to making these walls a 'finished product.'

Got started framing out the bathroom. Also, before I started on the framing I mixed up 2 batches of wood preservative and sprayed the entire inside of the cabin, including the floor.

Saturday was very hot! It was 100 degrees in the shade, I'm not sure what the heat index was but I drank about a gallon and a half of water to keep up with what I was losing by sweating. I had cut out and put in the rear window on Monday evening, so today I put up the shutters. Also I constructed a platform for the water tank, which will also serve as the ceiling for the bathroom.

Saturday morning I built the shutters for the two big windows out of Cypress. They look pretty good, but they are mainly there to protect the windows and for added security when nobody is around.

Casey and I loaded the door up Thursday afternoon and took it to the cabin. Friday and Saturday I got it installed and swinging!

These are pictures of the front porch steps, which were completed a few weeks ago, and the almost completed sleeping loft.

All of the floor boards have been placed. There are a few small cracks that need to be filled, and the entire floor will be sanded.

This week I have been putting in floor boards, it's only about halfway across, but I thought I would post some pictures so you could see them.

We were able to install the remainder of the tin on the roof Saturday, a wonderful accomplishment that will keep our work safe and dry from now on!

We were able to put up the felt (tar paper) and tin on one side of the roof Saturday. We were a little disappointed when it rained all night Saturday night and then again Sunday, but at least one half of the cabin stayed dry! We decided to go with a '5V Crimp' tin instead of corrugated, mostly because it looks a little more old fashioned.

This Saturday was a busy one, that's for sure. We got almost all the decking completed, and we got a visit from some of the Hill Brothers folks who are training for a Grand Canyon hike this summer. As of this posting, the decking is finished, the next pictures should be of us installing tin on the roof.

Today was the start of the decking, we went and got the lumber from the sawmill Friday night and brought it to the cabin. We got almost all of it put up today, but we will need at least another load sawed to finish it. Click on the picture to view the slideshow of all the images.

Wow! This weekend was quite an accomplishment! As you can see from the pictures, we got all the rafters hung, let me explain how our day went Saturday:
Casey and I got to the cabin about 8:30, armed with hatchets, saws and plenty of optimism. I had to jump the tractor off, since the battery had gone dead earlier in the week, and then realized that the belt which goes from the starter to the flywheel was missing. I retraced my steps from Thursday, when I had used the tractor to spread gravel, and found the missing belt, or at least what was left of it. We managed to thread the belt back onto the pulley for long enough to start the tractor, but after pulling only 2 rafters from the woods, it decided to lay down and die, since it was no longer receiving enough voltage from the battery to spark the coil. So we then proceeded to load each pole onto our shoulders and carry them out, one by one, on foot. I say all this to explain why it took us until 11 am to finish hauling all of the rafter poles down to the cabin. Needless to say, we had a lot less energy and our optimism was running low after all the trouble that morning. But after a few minutes of rest, we started right in on the rafter manufacturing process.
We cut a flat edge on all 14 rafters, much like what we had done earlier to the floor joists. After the last one was finished, Casey said his goodbyes and departed with his wife, Jenny, to spend the rest of the afternoon with her. I went and grabbed a sandwich for lunch and headed back to the cabin. It wasn't long before I heard the sound of an engine purring and I could make out the shape of my Dad's 4x4 Toyota through the trees, following the narrow pathway that winds down to the cabin. After he showed up, things kicked into high gear. We made a great log-peeling team, as he would turn the poles while I peeled them, making both jobs much faster. We peeled the remaining 12 rafters (Casey and I had already peeled 2) and by the end of the afternoon, all 14 of the poles we had cut were perched as pretty as could be in rows on top of the cabin.
It won't be long now until we have a roof! Stay tuned for more updates!

Saturday morning I got 4 rafters put up, and one of the gable ends cut to fit. Then about noon Casey arrived with John, his father in law, and the bobcat. We worked on the road with the bobcat until about 4:00, when John had to load up and go back. We did get a lot accomplished on the road though. The rest of the afternoon we spent driving spikes in some of the joists and cutting the other gable end.

We finally got the ridge pole put in place! Also, check out the fire ring Casey built, it's pretty neat.

Saturday we woke up to about 2-3 inches of snow on the ground! Although it didn't last all day, it was really nice to see it all white outside. We went out an installed the cedar rails we made this week in the shop.

We got 8 more trees cut Saturday, and hauled them all to the cabin. Then we went and got the cedar tree we had cut earlier and put it in place as a post on the porch. The other posts will be pictured in a later journal entry.

I finished the front porch today, and also I put the log that goes on top of the door in place.

We worked from about 8 Saturday morning until about 4 that afternoon. At this point things are moving slowly, and even when you get a lot accomplished it isn't as visible as when the walls are going up. We did get one side flattened out and ready for rafters, and Casey found some cedars and rooted one up for posts on the front porch while I framed out the porch. Since the porch will have to be finished before the posts can go up, that is why I am working to get it completed first. We also found a nice wood stove on craigslist.com and picked it up Friday night.

The forecast for Saturday said sunny, and a high of 58 degrees - perfect weather for log building. I cast my vote with the weather man and called up John and Dell (my brother and my cousin) and asked if they could come help me and Casey with the cabin Saturday. Both agreed, and as predicted Saturday dawned with clear skies and an almost spring-like atmosphere. We arrived at the cabin site about 7:45, and got off to a bad start because I accidentally broke the come-along cable. But thanks to John, we got that back up and working in about 5 minutes. We got 2 more full runs set in place, which amounts to 14 separate logs that have to be cut, fitted, and spiked into place. We all went and grabbed lunch at Burgers & Stuff in Walnut, and came back and finished up about 3:00. I came back Sunday afternoon and set the two logs in place that go over the windows, but the biggest accomplishment is getting the walls all the way to the top. I'm excited about putting up rafters now!

Saturday was very cold, but at least the sun was shining and it was a good day to be working on the cabin. I didn't get out to the site until about 12:30, so my accomplishments for the day were somewhat limited. I did get one log placed, and another one peeled and ready to go on. Here are some pictures of what the cabin is looking like now, it has changed a bit from the last posting.

Here are some new pictures from this week

We are now 4 logs high on the walls, here are the pictures.

Another great Saturday for log building, Got the cable for the hoist raised up high enough probably to finish the walls now. We peeled three logs, placed two of them.

It's amazing when I look back over the last 2 months and think about how much I have learned, how much time I have spent reading, researching, calculating, and actually doing all these log cabin related things! I have learned the different corner systems, all about peeling logs, (We are accepting applications for willing persons to peel logs! J/K) and we are learning lots about how these logs fit together, and how to make them fit even better. It's one of those things that is easier said than done. It is slow and fast right now, all at the same time. Think of the wall-building as being compared to crocheting or knitting: each stitch gets you a little closer to the finished product, yet while you are stitching it sometimes feels like you are getting nowhere. Yet each time you look back at the big picture, it seems as if the time has flown and progress is happening before your very eyes. I don't know if that's a good enough analogy, but it's the best I could come up with at the moment. One log at a time...

We are now starting to put logs on the second run of the walls. It's very exciting to see the progress so far, it's actually beginning to look more and more like a log cabin! There is lots of log peeling involved at this point though, but it's motivating to see the progress as each log is set into place.

Since the time has changed, we haven't been able to do much in the afternoons because it is getting dark around 5:30 now. I have been working on the door at night in my workshop, adding the finishing touches to it with carvings of a coyote, a deer and a turkey.

This weekend was very productive, as was the week prior to it. On Thursday and Friday, Casey and I put out two loads of gravel on the road to the cabin, helping tremendously with some of the potholes and ruts that have begun to appear after almost 2 months of driving on it. Saturday I worked by myself, but got a lot done. As you will see in the pictures below, I was able to peel 3 logs and set two of them in place on the walls. Also, before any of that I sealed the ends of the joists with 'Great Stuff' expanding foam sealant. After lunch, I got the slabs for my door sawed and actually got the door built Sunday, but have not taken pictures of it yet. They will follow in a later post.

Well, it's been over a week since I've posted anything, in that time I have carried both loads of logs to the sawmill, and I was able to see some of the lumber that he sawed out of our logs. I also got the septic tank finished and in the ground, and we have cut 5 pine logs so far for the walls. We also got our last oak log cut for the very front of the porch, pictures of all this are posted below.

Saturday was a very productive day, I went out to my parents' place and we got started immediately cutting trees and dragging the logs to the loading site in front of the barn. Daddy was a BIG help getting all those trees cut and I got back in practice driving the old Ford 3000, which I hadn't driven in probably 10 years. As you will see in the pictures, we got a total of 10 logs, which will probably saw out more than enough to do the floors as well as any other miscellaneous needs for lumber we may run into. After getting everything cut and loaded, I took them to the sawmill in Ripley, where they will be sawed into lumber hopefully later this week.

Tonight I finished notching and placing 3 more of the 6 floor joists for a total of 4 in place, and two waiting to be put in. That part of things is coming along very smoothly.

Today was another very productive Saturday, starting with breakfast with my brother, John, at McDonalds and ending with me, Casey and John exhausted from all the work we had done. First of all, last night John and I crafted a lift for the back of my tractor. It is the perfect attachment for snaking logs with, it will obviously come in VERY handy over the next few months! We pulled some logs with it first thing, then started in on the task of sawing the tops of the floor joists off flat, with the help of a very handy jig that I got from Mr. Ralph. We got 2 logs and 3 joists peeled today, quite an accomplishment and one that would not have been possible without the help of my brother. Here are the pictures:

I got to the site about 5:30, Casey had been there for a little while peeling on the logs. We got our flashing cut, and made a tool to spread the roofing tar with.  After laying out the tools and materials, we jacked up one end of the log with a lever, and I began smearing the roofing tar onto the top of the post, then the flashing was placed on top of that.  Once the tar and flashing was in place, a hole is drilled into the log to allow the rebar to slip through it, so it can be driven the rest of the way into the post that it sits on top of.  After drilling, we then drove the rebar into the post, making sure that this log will not move or slip off.  The logs are now ready to be built on top of, without worrying about rot, insects, small animals or other annoyances bothering the sill logs.

The sill logs are now officially in place, we are done with all of the 'foundation' work, the cabin will begin to (hopefully) take shape from here on out.

The second sill log is finally in place! That means we are ready to finish getting it peeled, then place flashing and tar between the logs and the posts.

Today was very productive, I got to the site about 7:45 and started getting things ready. I had moved the second log into place last night, so this morning I was ready to start work. The logs in position, I started measuring and cutting the short posts on the uphill side, got them all cut off level with one another, then started moving things around to get ready for the hoist line. After Dell arrived we got the wire (I got a scrap roll of 'guy wire' from work, it is very strong and should work perfectly to run overhead as a hoist line) in place and used the winch to pull it tight. Then we started on the logs. First of all, I used a string to pull center-line of the log, then measured up from the string about 3 inches so that the log will sit perfectly level on the posts. After making several passes with the chainsaw, the remaining chunks of wood are split out with the axe, leaving a square notch in the top (what will soon be the bottom) of the log. We used a system of levers to lift the log up onto the posts. Don't ask how, and please don't ask me to do it again!

Well, let me start this by saying that this process has been a lesson in very hard manual labor! Not that I haven't done it before, but it reminds of me of how much I miss doing things outdoors. The last few weeks have been pretty productive though, we're making progress each time we work on the cabin. The support posts are in place and the sill logs are almost ready to be put on. A few more pictures taken last night after we moved this monster of a Post Oak log into place.

These pictures are from the very first day of clearing, we cleared all the way down to the cabin site. We were quite proud of our accomplishment! Actually, we were able to dig 5 of the 6 holes and pour concrete into them as footings for the support posts which will come later.