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Click TOOLS OF THE TRADE to see some of the tools and equipment we used. |
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6-14-08 Even though it rained most of the morning, the rest of the day proved very productive. We finished securing the second 1st-floor girder, set our first ridge pole support log (RPSL), and filled the rear RPSL pit with concrete. Today we had Ted, Paul and John helping out. |
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6-15-08 A perfect day for working on a log home. We began the day by bolting the RPSL to the front wall, then moved to filling our rear RPSL pit with concrete. Jillena came out today and was a big help with the concrete work. |
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6-21-08 Today we had Ted, but not Paul. John operated the excavator as we set the rear RPSL and bolted it to the wall. Jillena came out later to help Jeff start installing the ledger boards. |
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6-22-08 Jeff planned on working on getting more of the ledger beams installed, but hit a setback. The screws had Philips heads instead of hex heads so Jeff couldn't tighten them without breaking the Philips screw gun tips. We'll try to find different screws during the week. In the meantime, Jeff used the skidsteer to move some sand to the pit where the electric transformer will be set. Jillena and Jeff also cleared more brush around the pond. |
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6-23-08 Tonight, Jeff went out to begin fixing the problem we ran into yesterday with the concrete screws in the ledger beams. Because the screws have Philips heads, we couldn't tighten them enough without snapping the driver bits. We are getting stronger concrete bolts with hex heads. But before we can use the new bolts, we needed to remove the screws. |
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6-27-08 The day started out with Jeff working by himself until Paul arrived for the weekend. This time, he brought LouElla with him, who was all too eager to help out. Jeff got most of the new bolts put into the existing ledger beams. Paul and LouElla then helped get the rest of the beams installed. |
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6-28-08 & 6-29-08 With the ledger beams in place, we were ready to begin laying floor joists. The rain held off most of Saturday and we were able to lay more than half of the back third of the floor. At this point, we only plan to do the front and back thirds, and the middle third near the walls, so we can lay a subfloor around the perimeter to work off of. Sunday, we were only able to lay three more joists before the downpours started. |
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7-4-08 & 7-6-08 Jeff worked by himself most of this holiday weekend, cutting up more trees that John brought down with the excavator. There are only a few trees left in the area of the pond expansion. We'll be able to start moving dirt over to the house soon. |
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7-11-08 Two days ago, the power company set our utility pole and yesterday they hung a transformer on the pole and strung the electric lines from the pole across the road. Today they set our transformer pad near the back of our property and snaked the electric cable through our buried conduit. We worked at extending our trench to the pole and attaching our hardware to the pole. |
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7-12-08 We continued working on laying the utility lines from the transformer to the meter and then to the house. We also set up our meter and main disconnect mounting panel. Soon we'll be ready to have our electric connections inspected for activation. |
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7-18-08 The cable company arrived this morning to connect their service to our new utility pole. Paul and Jeff continued to work on installing the outdoor meter/disconnect and indoor breaker panel. |
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7-19-08 We worked on a few different projects today. First, we finished our electric work. We hooked up a weatherproof outlet box at the meter and an outlet and light fixture at the breaker box. We're now ready for the electrical inspector, who's scheduled for Tuesday! Jillena came out and worked on bedding the cable and electric lines with sand. She also worked on digging out the drain tile inside the basement which needs to be lowered to allow clearance for the 4" slab floor. |
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7-25-08 Earlier in the week, the electrical inspector came out and said we passed with flying colors! Today, the power company made the final connections and installed our meter. We now have power! Jeff and Paul used the excavator and skid-steer to fill in the utility trenches. Later in the day, they went to work at setting more floor joists. |
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7-26-08 Today was all about setting more floor joists. We had great weather and were able to get quite a few laid. |
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7-27-08 Paul, Jeff, and Jillena got the rest of the front floor joists set and most of the sheathing laid. We're almost ready to get back to raising more logs. |
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8-1-08 One more thing to do before we leave the floor work. We needed to install all of the joist cross bracing and screw all the sheathing down. With Jillena's family up for the weekend, we had Lydia and LouElla helping out which made things go a lot faster. |
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8-2-08 We installed 4 joists on each end of the middle third and finished securing the sheathing today. Now we have a temporary floor all around the perimeter to work off of. Some of Jeff's relatives were in town for a family reunion and came out to see the project for the first time. The last thing we did today was begin rigging a safety cable around the lifting poles. We'll have to start wearing harnesses as we get higher on the walls.
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8-8-08 It was an exciting day as we finally got back to setting logs again. Using the excavator allowed us to raise the logs a little faster. We still used the block and tackle to orient the log once it was up on the wall. |
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8-9-08 Jillena was able to come out today for a little while and got right to work slinging the chainsaw and prepping the fourth log for course #6. For a light crew, we got a lot accomplished this weekend. Besides setting the 6th course, we got the cooking equipment back out so Jeff could work on the last few logs on rack #4 that we couldn't finish in time last year. |
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8-15-08 More of the same today with Paul, Bob, and Jeff setting course #7. We're moving right along now, despite the constant problems with leveling the logs on the walls. |
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8-16-08 On to course #8. The pace of one course per work day is very encouraging. We hope to keep it up until we're finished building the walls. |
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8-17-08 Well, we didn't quite complete course #8 yesterday, so with Paul heading back home early, Mike came out and helped us finish drilling and pinning the 3rd log and secure the 4th log. |
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8-18-08 Tonight after work, we went out to finish course #8. Mike and Lori joined us, as well as Dave and Diane, two new volunteers. With their help, we finally have course #8 completed! Thanks, everyone! |
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8-22-08 Another Friday, and we're back at setting logs again. Bob helped out again, and we had another new volunteer - Tim. Most of the day was spent on getting the 9th course up. Our engineer, Chuck, visited our project for the first time and we went were able to address a few issues that will be surfacing in the near future. |
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8-23-08 Tim and his dad, Bob (another Bob!) came out in the morning, with Bob returning in the afternoon. Jillena ran the excavator for the first time and lifted a log up onto the wall. She operated it like a real pro. We're still working on setting wall logs, approaching the height where we'll be able to set the 2nd floor girders. |
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8-24-08 Our friends, Mike and Lori helped today while we continued to work on course 10. |
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8-28-08 Jeff spent today pressure-washing logs, including our ridge pole. (click on the image to play video) |
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8-29-08 We finally started something new for a change - setting the 2nd floor girders. With the walls just under 10 feet high, setting the girders will give us the height we want for our future 2nd floor. We got both of them set across the walls in one day! |
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8-30-08 For Labor Day Week, we had many of Jillena's family visiting and helping, even Aaron! One of the Bobs also helped in the morning. Tom also popped in just before lunch. Great timing, Tom! We also had a surprise visitor today. Our focus today was carving the saddle notches for the girders and setting course #11, which meant putting up the east and west wall logs in sections, to fit around the girders. |
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8-31-08 We got a few more pins driven today with LouElla's help, but the highlight of the day was sending Aaron up a lifting pole to take pictures. |
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9-1-08 Working more on course #11 today, mostly on custom fitting the log sections on the east wall. |
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9-2-08 We finished custom fitting the log sections on the east wall. It was such a nice evening that we got the lights out and began setting course #12. |
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9-3-08Jeff and Paul worked alone today so we don't have many pics of the work completed today. They did get the north log of course #12 set. |
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