Yogip,
Sincerely, you truly need to come and take that class and here is why. You are probably very well educated in the current method of foundation, however, if you do no follow the correct method of foundation and log support ,the logs will crush the first floor and compress to ruin the remainder of the building. I hate to be the one waving the red flag but it just must be done. Do not build a log home using current foundation support methods! Take the class!
Blondie
Hello all.
I'm signed up for the February class in Las Vegas; my flight is booked, hotel room in Harrah's already paid for, and my vacation approved, and I'm looking forward to attending and moving over into the members side of the site. No need for the, “Take the Class” mantra. I'm taking it, without doubt.
A few years back I purchased 3.3 acres of land in S.E. Alaska from the state.
Lot's of “No's” there that I like.
No roads, no utilities, no taxes, no close neighbors, no building permits, no zoning regulations, no building inspections.
Some other very nice upsides; I have a little over 450ft of saltwater shoreline on the fjord, two small streams one of which may be suitable for microhydro (depending on how it's flow varies over a year).
Downsides are that I'll need to bring everything in by boat from a public dock about 3 miles away (not so bad, really), and that prices for anything are going to be higher due to shipping costs.
That and the fact that I'll only be able to work on the place one a year for about 30 days at a shot as I work overseas. Each time I travel to the property it will be nearly 36 hours of travel time one way.
Currently my rough plans are:
February 2016- Attend the Class in Las Vegas
Summer 2016- Fly up to the property to clear the building site, pour the piers for my foundation,
maybe install a water tank on the property, and possibly cut down some trees for
the house.
Summer 2017- Stack the walls and get a roof on the structure.
I have issues I'll need to overcome:
Limited time on site each year.
Inability to get any heavy equipment on site.
The site is moderately sloped, so the downhill side of the home is going to be well off the ground.
No place to store tools or materials until I build it.
No way to gradually collect tools and materials (I'm overseas 11 months of the year). I'll have to time the arrival of ordered tools and materials to coincide with my arrival.
So while this isn't going to be a cake walk, for us it's doable and my wife is fully behind this. She was raised in a home with outdoor plumbing, cooking over a wood fire, and either growing or gathering 90% of their food. A log home in the woods is just her cup of tea.
welcome, LowKey.
sounds like you have a plan!
how big were you thinking of building?
Alaska's a beautiful place for a log cabin!!
So, what's the problem?Originally Posted by LowKey
Hello all.
I'm signed up for the February class in Las Vegas; my flight is booked, hotel room in Harrah's already paid for, and my vacation approved, and I'm looking forward to attending and moving over into the members side of the site. No need for the, “Take the Class” mantra. I'm taking it, without doubt.
A few years back I purchased 3.3 acres of land in S.E. Alaska from the state.
Lot's of “No's” there that I like.
No roads, no utilities, no taxes, no close neighbors, no building permits, no zoning regulations, no building inspections.
Some other very nice upsides; I have a little over 450ft of saltwater shoreline on the fjord, two small streams one of which may be suitable for microhydro (depending on how it's flow varies over a year).
Downsides are that I'll need to bring everything in by boat from a public dock about 3 miles away (not so bad, really), and that prices for anything are going to be higher due to shipping costs.
That and the fact that I'll only be able to work on the place one a year for about 30 days at a shot as I work overseas. Each time I travel to the property it will be nearly 36 hours of travel time one way.
Currently my rough plans are:
February 2016- Attend the Class in Las Vegas
Summer 2016- Fly up to the property to clear the building site, pour the piers for my foundation,
maybe install a water tank on the property, and possibly cut down some trees for
the house.
Summer 2017- Stack the walls and get a roof on the structure.
I have issues I'll need to overcome:
Limited time on site each year.
Inability to get any heavy equipment on site.
The site is moderately sloped, so the downhill side of the home is going to be well off the ground.
No place to store tools or materials until I build it.
No way to gradually collect tools and materials (I'm overseas 11 months of the year). I'll have to time the arrival of ordered tools and materials to coincide with my arrival.
So while this isn't going to be a cake walk, for us it's doable and my wife is fully behind this. She was raised in a home with outdoor plumbing, cooking over a wood fire, and either growing or gathering 90% of their food. A log home in the woods is just her cup of tea.
Every time I have strayed from the teachings of Skip Ellsworth it has cost me money.
I love the mask mandate. I hardly ever have to bruh my teeth anymore.
Yes, it is.
I know the mantra here also includes the sage wisdom, "Build as small as you can afford", and I think I'll be complying with the spirit of that bit of advice even if I vary a bit from the letter of it. Presently I'm thinking of building, over time, three structures (one per year, maybe) that I can connect after the fact with enclosed walkways. So it may end up in the 3000 sqft range 4-6 years down the road when they're all done and tied together, but the first year I actually start to build something that falls between 600-1200 sqft. I'm already thinking square structures vs rectangular or other shapes. With the slope on the property (not to mention the over abundance of unusually large ,compared to lower 48 sized> black bears) I think I'm going to keep the uphill side of the house at least 8 ft above the slope (I want a wrap around deck with very wide roof overhangs).
So, small to start...yet large-ish later on down the road..
Uncertainty about when to prep the logs, amongst other things.
We get around 140 inches of rain a year, and humidity is just a bit high as you might imagine. I've talked to locals, who say that as long as I keep the logs off the ground that there shouldn't be any issue with rot, but I'm not sure if I should peel them first (should be easier, and all other things being equal what I'm inclined to do) or to leave the bark on to protect the log from mold, ect. Obviously I won't be there to turn them over the year they sit.
If I could/can swing it, I'd build a bare bones shed to keep the rain off of them, peel them, and let them air dry for a year*, but I'm worries that they would warp over that year without being rotated periodically.
The trees will be felled in the summer. It's the period of the year with the least rain, and I'd like to avoid working way out in the woods during the short winter days, in a freezing downpour if I can.
I know some of this stuff will get covered in class, and some of this might be better planned after class, but given the travel/time constraints I need to have my ducks in a row as much as possible well before hand.
*That way I start the build with a pile of logs to stack, not a pile of logs to peel and then stack.
lowkey, logs require very little prep. with our way of building it is preferred to fell the trees when the sap is down but it is not required. after felling, peal them. after pealing, spray with preservative. be sure to have your logs on log racks. if your logs are racked for a year they would definitely have the potential to warp. might consider a team of guys for your 30 days to cut and stack the logs in 1 30 day period of time? took us 9 days to stack our cabin's log walls
If your logs sit off the ground on sacrificial logs only at each end, there will likely be problems with sag. However, if you used 4 or more sacrificial logs spaced evenly, far less likely to have a created log warping problem. Just one idea to help.
edkemper
Class: Valentine's Day weekend 2009
Feel the Bern!
Lowkey,
Our logs were on racks from 2 to 4 years because we did our own logging and it took a long time.
We had almost no warping of logs and if you are talking 2' logs and rack them as Ed said I don't see how they would do much warping.
Of course we were using Hemlock and there are no straight hemlocks anywhere in the east so I guess warping is relative like anything else.
And there are ways to use warped logs if you have a couple. Also if you put your racks up on short logs to get them further off the ground it helps with the vegetation growth up between them while they wait. Vegetation is one of the worst things on your logs especially in wet climates.
If your logs are anywhere near as crooked as mine, you will rack them with the crown up and pretend to yourself that they are getting straighter with every week in the sun.
Every time I have strayed from the teachings of Skip Ellsworth it has cost me money.
I love the mask mandate. I hardly ever have to bruh my teeth anymore.
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