Sun, 2005-01-09 19:03 — Steve
Howdy all!
Welcome to the new forums... how about posting a note in this thread so we can get to know each other?
For those who don't know me, I'm instructor Steve with the Association. ;)
Comments
Hello All
Sun, 2010-10-03 13:44
I am looking forward to the next class that will be held - especially after reading the post from the woman who was at the most recent class. My fiance thinks i have lost it a little but i've convinced him to come to the next class with me. I am truly looking forward to it:) I am in Philly -but hoping to move up to Jim Thorpe, PA and begin building (after the class) one day very soon...
welcome all
sorry for not welcoming you all individually. I do have a couple of comments:
1) Jon, you named your blogspot "peeling logs"! That may be the least fun part of building. If you want, you can come out to my place and peel some, since your obviously like it so much!
2) Dan, Russia, eh? There has to be a story there. 35 deg below zero is friggin cold!
3) Beauty, you'll do well in the class. I am sure your fiance will take to it after a couple hours. Everything is laid out in such an orderly fashion (you COULD learn everything they teach from the internet, but it would take you years and years. Mostly to sift through the crap and get to the stuff that actually works). Plus the member's side is worth it, even without the class.
-Peter
Introduction
Sun, 2010-10-03 07:41
I'm Jon. Very interested in log cabin building, sawmills, timber framing, and hand hewing. I've done some hand-scribed work and timber framing. I'm intrigued by the building methods described on this site.
Jon
www.peelinglogs.blogspot.com
Fri, 2010-09-24 06:01
you should try and keep your
you should try and keep your plumbing on inside walls/no outside perimeter plumbing-and try and design your plan to keep bathrooms lined up if second story or kitchen plumbing and bathroom wall back to back so plumbing becomes less costly.
i dont know if you have pex for your water lines but it expands if it freezes rather than breaks.
you should insulate your stem wall--icf--you might still be able to insulate the foundation walls if you have yet to backfill
and even if you have backfilled you could still do the inside of your raised crawl stem if that is your foundation
edit: your best info would be to talk to a plumber over there-as they would know what works in that area
THE SAINT
Log house in Russia
Fri, 2010-09-24 06:03
Howdy All !
I'm Dan...I've lived in Washington State most of my live (Olympic Peninsula and Leavenworth area) Anyway, I'm retired now and am building a log house in Russia near the city of Kazan in the southern Volga River area. The walls and roof are up, but no floor or ceilings. In the spring I hope to finish up. I need some advise from someone about basic plumbing, issulation...stuff like that. It gets cold here in the winter...minus -35 for weeks. Can sure use all the advise I can get.... Thanks for reading this.
Regards,
Dan
Kazan,Russia
email: dachniki60@gmail.com
Looking for info on types of
Thu, 2010-09-16 03:36
Looking for info on types of notching.
Rebuilding a log home from 1867 into a shop.
F1racefan
welcome to the LHBA forums! sounds like you've got a fun project ahead of you!!!! most of the folks on this site choose to build butt-and-pass style which requires very little notching. not sure you'll get too many answers here but its worth a shot. GOOD luck. Happy building:)
Last Class
Wed, 2010-09-15 06:35
Hello All, Anyone go to the last class? How did it go? Can't wait for my turn. Still working on our debt bomb closer than ever now! Looking at Jan 2011 for freedom! Hope all are well.
Hi!
Hello everyone!
I attended the Las Vegas class this month and was blown away. When I got home and went to bed that first night I did not see visions of sugarplums dancing in my head! It was joists, rafters, piers, rebar and, of course, LOGS! My new catch phrase is "Got Logs?"
I live in south central-ish Indiana in a little town called Bloomfield. Am shopping for my land and have been for several months. Guess I must be picky. I let one piece get away from me because of that. Hmmmm.
I'm looking forward to finding the right spot and am following Steve and Ellsworth's advice about finding the tools, although I already have some!
Good luck to everyone else who attended the class. It WAS pretty awesome!
Vana
PS If anyone else in S Indiana gets moving before I do, I would be glad to help just for the experience!
Vana,
Welcome to the family, sister. It'll be great getting to know you on the member's side.
Not another Canadian!
Mon, 2010-09-13 14:43
Greetings All!
I'm from Ottawa Ontario Canada and am relatively new to the forums. I hope to take the next class whenever they announce it and am pretty excited about what I'll learn.
Everytime I go camping my wife and I get to talking about owning a cottage that we could potentially move into one day. This cottage must be made of logs and I must build it myself, I can't imagine it any other way.
I'm a carpenter by trade and have been for 10 years, and have been itching to get into log building and timberframing for a while, but my attempts at working with a crew that does this have been, shall we say, life threatening? lol I've got stories to tell about that but will save it for another day.
I love to build homes from start to finish, as its a feeling of accomplishment unparalleled with anything else, and the thought of building a log home on my own without any expensive special equipment seems so impossible that I have to do it! lol I thrive with new challenges and this is my next one. I really am excited about what I'll learn at this class, I've already got a basic layout for how the log home will look. Am currently looking for land but holding off on buying till I take the class, as I want to get some land large enough to fell my own trees. It will be difficult to find a place that matches my requirements but I'm sure I'll find the perfect one if I'm patient. Anyway, look forward to participating in these forums from here on in.
Cheers!
-Ryan
Ryan
welcome! love your enthusiasm:) yeah, holding off on buying land til after the class is probably a good thing. when we went to class, we came with plans in hand only to scrap them after class 'cause what we learned changed our minds about a lot of things. and about being patient, there are some of us here who've taken YEARS to find just the right property. sounds like you'll fit in well here. welcome to the family!
Hey all, Just found this
Tue, 2010-09-14 10:14
Hey all,
Just found this site and am very interested in taking the class. My wife and I have been moving towards more sustainable living for a few years now- Raising chickens, goats, and we put in a large garden. We are flying out to Tennesse in November to look at property in hopes of retiring in a few years and building a cabin. Our goal is to buy land with cash and then save up to build without a mortgage.
I've only built some small sheds and the like previously. I've enjoyed reading the posts and seeing the photos of what other people have done. It's very inspiring!
Grimjack
Where in TN, very long state. I-40 milemarker 451 from Memphis to NC
Flying into Nashville
Thu, 2010-09-16 12:32
Hello,
I live one county North of Waynesboro and am familiar with the county. I had to retire as a police officer (over 20 years experience) due to epilepsy. Anyway, is there anything I can do to help you. You need info or a contact, just let me know. I will be glad to do all I can to help. My email address is
Mike
Thanks Mike
Fri, 2010-09-17 06:09
Hi Mike,
Thanks for the great offer. The wife and I are pretty excited about the trip. How funny that you were a cop. I'm also a cop, been on the job here in California for 16 years. We're interested in rural Tenessee for a few reasons; low crime rates, no State income taxes, good gun laws (as opposed to CA), and of course the land prices are quite a bit lower....We couldnt touch 5 acres out here for under a couple hundred thousand dollars....
Kevin
Mike,
Welcome to the site and thanks for your years of service.
We're flying into Nashville
Thu, 2010-09-16 11:58
We're flying into Nashville on 11-11-10 and we'll be looking in the Waynesboro area.
Learning through trial and error
Wed, 2010-09-08 08:39
Hi all,
I'm building a very small log cabin on my property using mostly old hand tools, found on eBay or bought in antique tool stores. I'm learning as I go, and I'm learning lots from my mistakes. Later, I'll use more modern methods to construct a log home higher on the site, and the cabin will serve first as a kid's play house and then as an outbuilding.
Is this a good place to ask questions?
Will
Mr. Gatlin
welcome. I read your blog. you have a way with words. Yes. this is a good place to ask questions. If we know the answers, we're usually more than happy to help. couldn't hurt to ask. the method you are using to build is different from our prefered method (tightly pinned butt and pass). with our method there is very little notching, which is good (from my perspective) for several reasons, but it seems from your blog you sort of like the whole notching process, so more power to you!
welcome to the forums!
Thanks!
Thu, 2010-09-09 05:00
Thank you. The blog is almost as much of a project as the cabin -- it's certainly a parallel project. My wife thought I was over-utilizing Facebook and suggested the blog.
When I construct a full-size log home, I won't be using saddle notches. Looking forward to learning more about butt and pass, and other methods.
Will
welcome. I read your blog. you have a way with words. Yes. this is a good place to ask questions. If we know the answers, we're usually more than happy to help. couldn't hurt to ask. the method you are using to build is different from our prefered method (tightly pinned butt and pass). with our method there is very little notching, which is good (from my perspective) for several reasons, but it seems from your blog you sort of like the whole notching process, so more power to you!
welcome to the forums!
Thanks!
Thu, 2010-09-09 05:00
Thank you. The blog is almost as much of a project as the cabin -- it's certainly a parallel project. My wife thought I was over-utilizing Facebook and suggested the blog.
When I construct a full-size log home, I won't be using saddle notches. Looking forward to learning more about butt and pass, and other methods.
Will
welcome. I read your blog. you have a way with words. Yes. this is a good place to ask questions. If we know the answers, we're usually more than happy to help. couldn't hurt to ask. the method you are using to build is different from our prefered method (tightly pinned butt and pass). with our method there is very little notching, which is good (from my perspective) for several reasons, but it seems from your blog you sort of like the whole notching process, so more power to you!
welcome to the forums!
advice needed
Mon, 2010-09-06 14:47
Hi All,
I purchased a cabin originally built in 1893, we took it apart brought it home and would like to reconstruct it on our property. I would like to keep it as original as possible, the previous owners had excavated the basement and used concrete block. Does any one know how the old cabins were done without a foundation under them? I've seen some with rock piers but am not sure that this would be appropiate for the period, or if it is, how to construct it so the whole thing wouldn't come crashing down. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Linda
re: advice needed
The old cabin foundations made use of whatever indigenous materials were available. Even though the Romans invented concrete, it was not readily available in the usa frontier, the pioneers often just dry-stacked stones or where old growth cedar was available used that as it was rot and bug resistant. I think cinder blocks are too flimsy and would not use them under logs-ever.
Mikey Simmons, Journeyman Log home builder class of 1987 loghomeguy@msn.com
Michael Simmons
old cabin
im in the process of de-constructing 3 cabins built in the 1830s. all three are sitting on rock piers. when its time to rebuild ( were using a total of 6 cabins to make one stucture ) well be putting it on a concrete stem wall.
Classes???
Wed, 2010-08-25 10:14
You mean there are classes on this stuff? Wish I would have known that. I winged it and built one out of the dead ash trees in my back yard (appx 40 trees). It doesn't appear to be falling down any time soon, but maybe I missed some secret instruction. :-)
Chinking it right now. Any tips? Can't believe how much that stuff costs...
Don
well ...
the class teaches that mortor chinking is preferable to synthetic in that it costs less and lets mosture escape (so less opportunity for rot...).
what building method did you use? how long did you season your logs? the method preferred here allows the use of green logs so no seasoning required (seasoning takes more patience than i have.....)
good luck! welcome to the site:)
new member
Tue, 2010-08-24 07:03
Well, my name is Ahiranta and living in England UK. This being an American based association I hope I am still welcome here to learn from you all. Originally I am from Holland so forgive me if I make some mistake in my choice of words, but live in England with my Welsh husband. We are as lucky to have bought a property in Sweden in 2005 which is build in 1869 and contains a big house traditionally build with logs, a barn, a store house, and a garage o and a stable with outhouse build onto it. Stable is build in 1949 so is of more recent date. Any way if your interested you could do a search, the property is called Strombacken. By having spend some time in this property we have fallen in love with log build houses. In 2007 my husband was given, by his mother, the "family land" in Wales on which stood 11 miners cottages which were all demolished in the 1960s. This land was bought by my husband parents in the 50s but sadly my husband father died 6 weeks after arriving on the land from a heart attack. Since then the land has been lying there without being used. Its not a tremendous big piece of land but big enough for what we have in mind. A little stream runs over the land. We would love to build log cabins on it, so we can spend some month's each year up Wales, and bring friends and family with us for walks in nature etc. The plan is to divide our time between Sweden, England were we live in a small counsel house, and Wales. Because the property in Sweden is already build out of logs does not mean we will be knowing what we are doing when starting to build in Wales so any advice of any one will be welcomed. We want to build it all without lending any money because we value our freedom highly. Although on paper we look rich we are not, in England we would be classed as being of NO class, which is our personal joke , or better still UNDERCLASS, hahaha. First of all I am going to find out what butt and pass means. I saw it on one of the pages within the website and I have no idea what it means although I have a quess that that is the system they used to build our buildings in Sweden. Any info about building a so called removable log cabin would be lovely too. Ok hope to hear from at least one of you. Kindest regards, Ahiranta
ahiranta
Welcome!
when you're doing research on our building method be sure to look for 'tightly pinned butt and pass'; that's important! again welcome!!
New
Fri, 2010-08-20 06:00
Greetings from Texas! Glad to be here. My husband and I have always dreamed of a log home but felt it was out of our reach. This has given us new hope. We have our land and by the first of the year 2011 we will be debt free! We will be starting an organic farm in Indiana where I grew up. I bought the land from my parents who are raising grass fed beef for their retirement. I want to start an online delivery service of organic vegetables and marry it with my parents grass fed beef. I believe everyone deserves access to good food. The idea of building my own log cabin with no debt makes my heart race! Anyway enough about me. Thanks for having me God Bless hope everyones dreams come true!
kbsatlive
hey there n welcome..we might have more than a love of log homes in common : ) what part of indiana??
Reply
Fri, 2010-08-20 21:16
It is a very small town called Sharpsville in Central Indiana. My parents have 120 acres there, I grew up on a farm. I never thought I would miss it. When your a kid you think, Man when I get out of here I'm going to get me a nice job in town! No more shoving poop for me! Now after 20 years I can't wait to go home. Where are you all from? Are you into green organic living too? Have you been to the class? I can't wait! We are doing David Ramsey Debt Snowball, so far going well. My husband and I are both RNs. We had about enough of big pharma, Mancento and Walmart-They lie. We are ready to be farmers! Not glamerous but real. Nice chatting hope all is well with you.
Welcome kbsatlive, I work
Welcome kbsatlive, I work in Kokomo and we are building just outside Logansport. The wife is into organic gardening and I would like to raise a few bison.
Hey neighbor!
Sat, 2010-08-21 18:36
That is so great! I'm very excited for you. My husband and I thought about Bison also. We are starting small with chicken, eggs maybe ducks and geese and veggies. Next I think we'll try pigs and work our way up! Good luck on your home!
cabin pics
King Lewey,
I am checking out your pics. What are the dimensions of your structure?
Thanks
Vegas in Sept!!!
Hi danlaurajacobson,
Hi danlaurajacobson, the cabin is a 30 x 30. it is 1 1/2 stories with a half loft bedroom going in upstairs. Congrats on taking the class in sept, it is definitely a life changing class. It was the best decision I have made, make that the 2nd best decision behind my wife.
chicago
i grew up in the city. i took the class 3 years ago ( you will love it ) im BIG into eating good food : ) and green living. im building a few log homes on a grass fed beef farm that also does organic/biodynamic market gardening. its a pretty amazing place. i dig your idea with your farm..the beef on the farm here is GREAT. ill be moving to the land myself after these cabins are finished.
Ramblinman502
Sat, 2010-08-21 21:12
I Love Chicago. We used to take the train up there. It's a great city, not too big but big enough. Your place sounds amazing. My parents have an old farm house that was built in the 1890's I want to covert it to a B&B someday. I thought if people could come to a working farm where people are doing things the right way-Maybe we could change things you know? Goodluck on your cabins, I know you'll do great!
Indiana
My wife is from Southern Michigan and I lived in northern Indiana for 40 years ... Logansport area is really nice, but are you ready for all the snow????
We're building here in Texas ... what part are you in currently?
Captn, I grew up in
Captn, I grew up in Northern Illinois (rockford) for 22 years. I have been living in the Logansport area now for 18. The winters are milder than the northern part of the state and seem to keep getting milder every year. Last year I was only able to get the snowmobile out one time and only put about 30 miles on it.
King Lewey
Well, we only saw snow once last year .. and it melted as soon as it hit the ground!
Another New One :-)
Well hello,
I'm so thankful The Lord brought me to this site! I have always dreamed of owning a log cabin and until recently I thought it was going to be just that.... a dream. I am very excited for the Las Vegas class and booked my hotel and airfare today! I don't know a lick about logs or building stuff with them but I sure am ready to get started. I can't imagine the satisfaction that comes with building your own home.
See y'all in Vegas :-)
ajwilt
Well hello,
I'm so thankful The Lord brought me to this site! I have always dreamed of owning a log cabin and until recently I thought it was going to be just that.... a dream. I am very excited for the Las Vegas class and booked my hotel and airfare today! I don't know a lick about logs or building stuff with them but I sure am ready to get started. I can't imagine the satisfaction that comes with building your own home.
See y'all in Vegas :-)
welcome AJWILT. congratulations on signing up for the class. you won't regret it. as ramblinman said 'its quite a ride'! we're in the middle of building now and can definitely say YOU ARE RIGHT! there's nothing quite like the satisfaction that comes with building your own home....especially when you're doing it debt free.
Welcome to the family
Psalm 127:1
Panderson03
Well hello,
I'm so thankful The Lord brought me to this site! I have always dreamed of owning a log cabin and until recently I thought it was going to be just that.... a dream. I am very excited for the Las Vegas class and booked my hotel and airfare today! I don't know a lick about logs or building stuff with them but I sure am ready to get started. I can't imagine the satisfaction that comes with building your own home.
See y'all in Vegas :-)
welcome AJWILT. congratulations on signing up for the class. you won't regret it. as ramblinman said 'its quite a ride'! we're in the middle of building now and can definitely say YOU ARE RIGHT! there's nothing quite like the satisfaction that comes with building your own home....especially when you're doing it debt free.
Welcome to the family
Psalm 127:1
Thanks Panderson03! I really appreciate the welcome and wanted to say thank you for pointing me to that scripture. It immediately became one of my favorites. May God bless your new home.
~ajwilt
Glade to be here
Thu, 2010-08-19 08:33
Hello everyone,
It is good to be here and know there are other with the same dream i have the will powerto go get! Looking forward to hear more of every one's commits and progress.
I'm looking for land NOW to make this cabin become a real.
America
land is the first step
well, i guess taking the class is the first step, then the land, but welcome, and good luck!
land??
i dont have ANY land and im building 2 log homes right now..and two next year.. then my own. i think desire and passion are good first steps. you never really know where the road will take you. the class is key..it will be a game changer. its there youll learn to think in a differently about building a log home..or most anything else.
Welcome AmericanStar
after you take the class you'll have access to a whole HUGE list of websites documenting student's log home building journeys:)
glad you found us. WELCOME!
hello im a noob
Wed, 2010-08-18 17:18
hello everyone my name is brandon.... im seeking guidence for my 1st home which i have decided to go with a log home.... ive always loved the way log homes look and i hope im headed in the right direction.. ive searched around and will be on this site for a while so when i get out the army i can have a nice place for me and my family... i wont be able to attend the class anytime soon but hope i can gain some knownledge so i dont screw this up..