Now remind me again why I'm blogging in the first place? Ha! I'd like to keep friends and family up to date with my building process and possibly provide assistance to other LHBA Members through comments, pics, etc. But I'm not seeing how this blog can benefit those outside of this site. Can it be shared to the outside world or is it meant for members and viewed by visitors..?? I do think thats the case.

So I'm resurrecting my original blog  http://bradsloghome.blogspot.com/ so it can be easily accessed by all interested parties. I've enjoyed keeping up with Shilo's blog http://www.paragon-cs.com/shiloh/ which is found off-site.

Please comment if I'm all wet in my thinking.

Unfortunatly theres alot more motivation than money right now , might have to wait until spring.

Quite a bit has happened since my posting in May. I did get my permit pulled, excavation completed, and footings poured. Wow what fun to build square! Our 36x36 foundation calls for ARXX ICF blocks. I decided to do all the foundation work even though I vowed never to do another after my last ranch-style foundation. This little footprint seemed too easy to pass up plus working with Styrofoam? Lets do it! The ICF blocks were much easier than I thought. I didn't even have to cut one block as the foundation dimension allowed for a perfect fit! The 10.5 yards of concrete went in well with the exception of 2 corners that floated up about 1/2 inch...but hey, I'm working with logs! I decided to use a great suggestion of hanging the joists off the sill plate and my inspector recommended going with a "conditioned" crawl space so no venting was required. Wow this is getting easier by the day!

took class feb 2006, have been dreeming of logs since then. have got the land,power is in, septic desing done and building site is ready. Just trying to figure out witch way to go on foundation for a 30x30. can any one tell me how many cu/yd it will take for stem wall verses daylight basement or pier block.

Dave and I have found property where we would like to build our log home, in Montana. We recently went and checked it out, and assessed the condition of the shell of an existing log home there. What we found was a foundation in fabulous condition. A working well to the foundation. A roof in good condition. Studs framing the 3 story structure, for a 3200 sf log home...BUT...when it was built 10 years ago the builder used tongue and groove logs with no internal support. The walls are sagging and looking dangerous. We want to build up from foundation in the proper "Log Home Builders Assoc." fashion. Our questions are "What is the best way to approach this building?" and "How can we tell if a foundation is sound enough to support regular size logs for the main floor and upstairs (which currently is only half the cabin as the great room goes to the rafters like Skip's), as the basement level is all foundation. We figure we can either jack up the roof somehow and rebuild the walls under it OR completely tear the thing down to it's foundation. I would sure like to hear other's opinions on how to approach this. We haven't bought the property yet, but are heading down that road.
Sincerely,
Pamguin

poured cement for garage and cabin footings this morning. pump truck (135 foot!!!) arrived at 0630 and cement trucks started coming at 0700. got a total of 21 cubic feet so 3  7-foot trucks. we were placing rebar by 0900 and called it a day at 1000!! what a great day! ICF arrives Friday and ICF stacking begins Saturday:)

Our excavator finished his work on the cabin and garage footings June 30th (YEAH!). so last weekend we worked on footings. The footings for both the garage and the cabin are 10 inches deep and 24 inches wide. The cabin will have a walk out basement so has a step footing, making it a bit more complicated so we tackled that one first. took us 2 days to get it level and square but we got there! Saturday morning Jack and DJ came up to help with the garage footings. it was a scorching hot day and SO humid, we weren't able to get too much done. Jack and DJ helped us cover all the footings with tarps, as we were due for rain that night. after the rain, things were MUCH too muddy to work safely for a few days so worked on other things Sunday and took Monday off:)

got the ICF for both the garage and cabin ordered. 4 courses for the garage and 7 courses for the cabin. ~$6,300. quite a deal!

we plan on finishing the footing this weekend, pour footing cement on the following Monday and start stacking ICF the weekend of the 17th.

We've been doing a lot of research over the past month and a half since the class, it's amazing how those two days change your perspective on things.

We've made some progress and we're having fun along the way.

Progress so far:

We've finalized the house plan modifications. For the most part we're going with the stock 35 by 35 with a few minor additions to the floor plan and some changes to the bathrooms. These Plans Rock! (pun intended)

We've decided on a slab on grade with a stem wall if at all possible, depending on the soil analysis. I'll pour the footers and the stem wall, we'll have the pad poured after the walls and roof are up. We are going to go with concrete all the way around the house for the wrap around porch. The slab will be stained and patterned to give us a ready made floor, other flooring options will come later. The decision to use a slab on grade was a tough one, however, 90% of our HVAC needs are air conditioning and in our tropical climate a Slab will reduce our overall energy needs significantly. Right now I'm not planning on insulating the slab. Most of the Heating needs are confined to the 6 weeks of January and just after Christmas, which can be tempered by a good wood stove. As such, the bulk of our air conditioning needs will be de-humidification. This follows with most of the new construction I see here in the Houston area.

We've also decided on a Red metal roof, which took Pam a while to convince me, but after seeing our new friend Jeremy's shed it was a lock. It looks really good by the way Jeremy!

Looking forward to making more new friends as we progress down this path. The people we've all met so far are FANTASTIC!

I am building outside of Louisville in Brooks Ky. I have been working on my home for a little over two years. Getting geared up for a strong push through the summer. The finish work has been slowwwwwwww.

We are planning to build on the Western Shores of Kentucky Lake with a move in date in 2015. I figure now is the time to get started. The excitement is awesome. I've heard from Basil already, anyone else close?