Shiloh

It has been a while since I last updated the site. We are going to be beginning the actual roof work within the next several weeks so I thought it was good time to catch everyone up on what has been happening.

One of the main concerns we have is insuring that the logs are ready for staining. Removing all the cambium from the logs is necessary in order to ensure that the stain adheres properly to the logs. Unfortunately removing the remnants of cambium left over from when we peeled the bark off the logs is neither easy nor quick. We have been using a pressure washer to remove the last of the cambium and just yesterday Rachel finished up the last log.

This picture clearly shows the difference between pressure washed and non-pressure washed:

In addition we have been sanding some areas of the logs where there are nicks from the logger’s equipment.  This is a fairly easy, if tedious, task of taking the time to look over each log and using a “flap disk” mounted on an angle grinder to smooth out the imperfections.

Several weeks ago we had our rafters and tongue and groove delivered. The rafters are 22 feet long 4 x 12s made from southern yellow pine. There are sixteen “untreated” rafters and eight that are pressure treated. The untreated rafters can be moved for short distances by two people – one at each end. I suspect they weight 200  – 250 pounds. Oddly some rafters really seem to weigh more than others. And not just a little. I can only assume that some were not as dried as the others. The pressure treated ones probably weight closer to 400 pounds and can only be lifted by two people on one end at a time. They haven’t been dried yet and will require six months or more of drying before they can be stained. However, we are going to put them in place and stain them after we have moved in (hopefully) so it won’t slow things down. Simply moving these rafters around is a challenge in itself.

Dad and I began staining the untreated rafters over the last weekend. After two days of hard work we have seven sanded, cleaned and stained. That leaves nine needing to be stained and the remaining eight pressure treated rafters need to be sanded. Unfortunately, during the sawing and transport of the rafters there were quite a few nicks and dents that have to be cleaned up.

Here is a a couple of the rafters after they have been stained:

* Note to self — next time we go through this process be sure and buy a portable sawmill. It would not have cost much more to buy a mill and mill my own rafters. They would be in much better shape when it comes time to stain and hey it would be cool to cut your own rafters. Any time you get to buy really big power equipment it’s a win right?

About two weeks before Memorial Day it began getting hot. It is now routinely in the 90′s. Last weekend the heat index was over 100 for both Saturday and Sunday. It makes working a particular challenge. We can’t really work as long as normal and the work is just slower. Ironically the LHBA (Log Home Builder’s Association) website recently had “summer is for building log homes”. Understand that the LHBA is headquartered near Seattle, Washington so their weather patterns are much different than ours. I would say the exact opposite…summer is for going to the beach  Spring, Fall and most of the Winter is for building log homes in the southeast United States.

* Another note to self — next time we go through this process and build in Florida we should have the logs delivered in February and peeled by April. We should then  pour the foundation in early September and begin “serious work” — laying logs — as soon as it starts getting reasonable in temperature. The house should be built to the point where central heat and air is installed and running by Memorial Day. This is even more important the first note to self.

Not really a whole lot to show, but we are pressing on. I want to have the roof finished by the end of July or early August so we can take some time off before hopefully finishing things up the last part of the year.