10 Rows and Stain Choices

We now have 10 full rows of logs up. We plan to do a total of 12. We need to get a some extra long logs for the top row (cap logs) the logger has one for us, but needs to get one more. So, we won't be putting up the last two rows until we get those logs. We don't want to do the 11th row, because we will need to measure the 12th row logs and then pick the best logs that will help make it the most level for the 11th row. Right now, the corners are within 1 - 1.5 inches of each other. The goal is 1 inch - once we started, we never thought we'd get that close!

To give you some perspective, here's a picture with Kenyon's dad standing in front of the house. He is an average-sized man!


This is a shot from the downhill side with Kenyon there to give you perspective.


We need to pick out a stain color. If you want to vote please feel free to let me know - understand that this is not a democracy but I am willing to listen to opinions! Our plan is to have a green metal roof and then on the inside to have a really light color stained ceiling and floors and keep in mind that the outside wall color will also be the inside wall color. So, while we like the dark for contrast and the looks, we don't want the inside of our house to seem too dark. The dark streaks on the wood won't be there in the final thing - this log just didn't have everything scraped off.

The Crane!

(Note: I posted 2 posts today, but the second one is so long, the first one probably won't show up on your page. Because, I'm pretty sure if you're reading this, you are riveted to your seat by the excitement.)

After much deliberation and weighing all the options, we decided to use a boom truck/crane to put up the rest of the logs, the best deal actually came from hiring an operator to do it rather than renting the truck ourselves. He came all day Friday and half a day Saturday. Here he is setting up:


Here is the crane in action.


It was just so tall! With the crane, he could pick up the log and swing it over into place within 15 minutes. It is amazing!

After the first day, we had 5 logs on plus some time taking logs off the top and building up the scaffolding. He just left the truck overnight, we let him borrow our old truck to drive home in. We figured we didn't need to worry about it, since his truck is worth a whole lot more than ours! In fact, after filling up ours with gas the other day we realized that 14% of the value of the truck, is the gas.

In an effort to speed up the process, we precut a lot of rebar in different lengths, here's our organization.

Then, since we're getting up higher and higher, we needed a method of getting the rebar up to where they needed without someone having to go up and down the ladder. Here's our makeshift "dumb waiter". Who knew that the bag they gave us in business school would come in so handy?! Shout out to the Krannert Graduate School of Management!

It gets so unbelievably hot up there during the day because we're in direct sunlight the whole time. I have discovered though, a nice spot of shade up until about 12:30pm, I hang out here a lot!

At the end of the weekend, we have put up 11 logs, 8 with the crane and then 3 on our own using the forklift. We can only use the forklift on the close wall and were able to get one on each side, but it's too tall now to use the forklift on the side walls anymore. So, we currently stand at 9 rows + 1 log of the 10th row. We don't have any pictures with the one log, but here's 9 rows. After 9 rows the walls are about 12 feet tall above the concrete. After the 10th is finished it will be about 13'6". It looks like we'll probably only need 12 rows. Next time we'll make sure to put a person in the picture so you can get some perspective on just how tall it really is. Seriously, it's big.

Back to Work!

When we last left our heroes, the snow and rain halted their progress for the winter. It was mid-November and we had to stop with 6 and 1/2 rows of logs on the walls. We decided in an attempt to even slightly reduce the amount of snow/water in our basement and through the drain to try to cover up the house a little bit. We put most of the remaining logs on top of the house and then got some huge tarps and put them all over the house. We didn't actually expect it to keep all the snow out, but we hoped to try to lessen the impact. It definitely worked, although by the end some of the tarps were pretty torn by the wind! Here's a picture about 7-10 days after we decided to stop working - I think you'll see why! We did go back and put more tarps on after this picture was taken. Oh, and I feel it only proper to mention that when I say "we" put tarps on, I was not the one climbing all over the logs putting the tarps on. I'm more of an idea person.

Flash forward to last weekend, in order to get moving, we needed to get all those logs back off the house and onto their racks. We got a forklift again, although it's slightly smaller than last year because they didn't have the bigger size one. Of course, that makes me nervous, since I'm the one whose life is at the mercy of the forklift.



When we got to the 3rd log in the row (of 31) it was a Doug Fir, which is a heavier and stronger log - it was too heavy for the forklift. So, we thought about it, surveyed the area, and decided, how bad could it really be if we just roll this log off the side? We looked at all possible scenarios, and decided that it wouldn't be too bad. Based on the positioning of the log, we were fairly sure it wasn't going to roll down the mountain. So, Kenyon got the crow bar, and started rolling it.

And you know what, it was uneventful. The log rolled off, the uphill side hit first and then when the downhill side hit it bounced the first end up a little but that was it. Other than an indentation where the first end hit, you would have never known.

We did manage to get most of the other logs off that weekend, and finished the job later. We did have to modify our compound this year. With the busy little guy we have on our hands we knew that he wouldn't stay in one area very well, so we got what I like to call, "The Corral". I also got some of those play mats to put on top of the mulch just to make it a little safer. With the amount he has fallen on the swingset at home and cut his face on the mulch, I knew we'd need something. But the kids had a blast on the little climbing toy. Before you start worrying, we have made sure that the kids are not up there when we are using any heavy equipment this year!