Ridge Pole Up!

I know I haven't posted our updates lately, so let me catch you up and then I'll post the pictures. We finished the walls - there are 12 rows of logs and they are about 16' 5" from the top of the basement walls. When you finish your walls, the goal is to have all 4 corners within 1" of each other. Before you start, this seems completely reasonable; however, once you start stacking these logs, it seems like that is going to be impossible. We're not talking about perfectly shaped/pieces of wood - we're talking about logs that not only are not at all even but also there are no two alike. I can't believe it, but we actually ended up about 1 3/4" off across all 4 corners. I understand that you are probably like us back when we were naive about such things - but now that we're wiser, we recognize that this is nothing short of amazing.

The next step was to start installing the Ridge Pole Support Logs (RPSLs). These are vertical logs that will support the Ridge Pole which supports the roof. The log has to sit on a piece of all-thread which is sticking up out of the cement floor. The log is pre-drilled so that it will set on the all-thread.

My job was down in the basement with Kenyon's dad. His job was to help guide the log down and make sure we had it coming down in the right place. My job was to be laying on the basement floor to make sure we were lowering it onto the all-thread. Watching a 2500lb log being lowered down with one strap almost on top of you is a bit surreal.





Since I'm guessing that the average reader is not interested in all of the specific details I will gloss over them a bit. I may try to do a post on the LHBA Forums with the details of some of our ideas that made things easier. So, we did 2 RPSLs.



Next, is the girder. This log supports the floor for the 2nd floor. You cut a hole in each side of the house and "thread" the log through the holes. It was a bit tight through the 2nd hole, but it made it.









We finished up with the 3rd RPSL and the Ridge Pole. The Ridge Pole has a tip end diameter of 18" and the butt end has a 33" diameter. It weights between 3500 and 4000 lbs!






Our next steps are to put in some small support logs to support the first floor. Then, we will have the rafters, tongue & groove ceiling, other set of rafters, insulation, plywood, and then the roof. We are going to try to get all of that done before the snow makes us quit. It seems a bit ambitious, but we're crazy, so why not? We do have a lot of help coming out to visit in the next few weeks so that will be great!

We did decide on a stain. We're going with #10 - it's the one on the end.