Sept. 28th, 2008 - Second Course

Jeff spent several days pulling logs up the hill and to each side in preparation of stacking the second course. This is the most time consuming and least fun part of the process. You can see the log balancing precariously on the front left corner of the house and get an idea of the challenge it is. Acutally its tied and pretty well controlled so its really not as precarious as it looks.

He gets anxious to lift each log up when he gets it in position, but it seems to be better to do all four at once. Plus, this week we had to wait for the city and engineer to inspect the first course before any more logs could be stacked. The city inspector, our friend Micah, came on Tuesday, signing off on it. But getting the engineer to the property was another story. It was actually not necesary for him to see it, as long as the city checked that it was built to the plan specifications. So, since the engineer was conveniently out of town, Michah suggested we just email him pictures. Good idea. It took awhile for him to respond, but he did sign off on it and finally, by the weekend we had the ok to go ahead on the second course.

After bit of a frustrating week, Jeff was excited to get to the property on Saturday and lift logs. Overall it went pretty much as it should. It is amazing how well these chain hoists work lifting these huge 1000 pound logs.

Sometimes they need a bit of a nudge to get past the other log and as you can see below, Jeff positioned a 2x4 so the log would slide over it and around the other overhanging log.

Brooke and I hiked around and took pictures, she loves it there.

Once the log is stacked, Jeff climbs up there and drills holes in the log.

He then inserts the rebar piece and sledgehammers it into the log below. We'd bought a demo hammer that was supposed to be able to pound the rebar in, but it wasn't strong enough. It would have to be done the old fashion way with the sledgehammer, but Jeff says it works pretty well. He does plan to start hiring a laborer every few days to help with the hammering.

So, after a full weekend of lifting logs, hammering, and drilling, he was pretty tired. The body part that suffered the most was his butt from straddeling the log and sliding along as he worked. Guess he'll get used to it.

So, the second course is up!

The log pile is starting to get smaller and the second load will arrive in a few weeks.

8 logs stacked 40 to go... Yes, Jeff has remeasured and recalculated ceiling heights, deciding we can do without 2 courses of logs. This saves time and money and we think shaving a little height off will actually look better too.

Sept. 22th, 2008 - Interior is Graded & First Course is up!

The graders were finally able to get out to the property to level the interior and secure the lifting poles. We'd considered grading some areas of the exterior, but decided to wait till we were ready to dig the utility trenches and do that all at once. It is so nice to have a solid, flat area inside the house now. Jeff was then able to get the third and fourth log stacked to complete the first course. He's very glad to be past that step, since it was difficult getting the holes and rebar lined up. The rest of the courses won't require this because the rebar is pounded in after the log is stacked. The toughest part is getting the logs up the hill and in the proper position to lift. Each side is different, requiring a different process and it takes a few hours per log to complete. But, now having done each once,Jeff has learned what works and what doesn't work. Hopefully now that the first course is up, progress will speed up a bit. This week, we will need to have the first course inspected by the engineer and then the city. Hopefully this can be done sooner rather than later and we can get back to stacking logs. 54 logs to go...

Sept. 12, 2008 - Stacking Second Log

The graders weren't able to get to the property that week, apparently they were busy. So, before we could stack the next log, we had to shovel more dirt around the log to secure it in place. This is what I got to do the day I helped. The next day Jeff was able to pull the second log into place. Again, the pulling up was no problem, and this time the holes were drilled properly, but there was a complication with the chain hoist. The chain had gotten off track and stuck, so Jeff had to move a chain hoist from the other pole and run a new chain. It needs some pounding to get all the way down, we have since bought a new bigger sledgehammer for this. Next: Grading and stacking more logs.

Sept. 7th, 2008 - Stacking First Log

Jeff spent a few days dragging logs to each side in preparation for stacking. As expected, the back and far side were the toughest. Not really too difficult, though somewhat time consuming.

So, Saturday Jeff was ready to stack the first log. Emmet, who has a cabin across the street and comes up every few weekends from San Diego and Chris also across the street is a weekender from Glendale, were both in town and were excited to help. These guys had helped before with one of the lifting poles and Emmet had contributed a bunch of helpful chains and lines.

Jeff decided to start with the back wall. The first step was to attach the chain hoists to the lifting poles, which was fairly easy. Next, measure the rebar and drill holes in the log to match. Then, attach the chains to the log, preventer lines to the tree behind, and another cable with come-along to the tree to keep the log pulled horizontally to line up with the rebar. One last step was to wrap the rebar with roofing felt, which Jeff is doing below.

And, finally to pull the log up. With Jeff and Chris pulling the chains, the log was pulled up with no problem.

So, the log was up, piece of cake... But, the holes and the rebar didn't quite line up. Jeff regretted measuring and drilling the log after rolling it down into the narrow space between the wall and the hill. Drilling the exact angle and placement, took a few tries.

After some wiggling and pounding, the first log was in place. Only 55 to go!

Next: Get the interior leveled out and dirt packed around the front two lifting poles to secure them. Keep stacking logs...

August 31, 2008 - Lifting Poles (Part 3)

Despite a busy work week, Jeff was able to lift the third lifting pole into place on Friday, August 29th. Having more leverage from a higher tree behind and after learning a few things from the first two, this one went up considerably easier. He had the help of Michael, a friend of ours up here who is a contractor and recently finished building his house. Using the come-along and tree behind, all went as planned. Jeff using the come-along. Michael manning the lines. On Sunday, with the help of Mike McCarthy, Michael and six of his buddies, the fourth log was raised.

While its so nice to have so many volunteers, it turned out to be a few "too many cooks in the kitchen." It was tough to keep everyone communicating and on track especially when Michael and his buddies were all speaking Slovakian to each other.

So, unfortunately, one of the guys loosened a line at the wrong time and when the pole was gettting close to vertical, it swung over to one side. They had to lower it and start over. Jeff was not too happy to have to pull it up all over again, but most important nobody was hurt and the log was not damaged.

So, finally all four lifting poles are up and we are on to the next stage of the process. Next - Hiring the grader to level out the basement floor and hopefully dig the utility trenches at the same time, drag a few logs to each side to get them into position, and start stacking logs.