I Built a Log Cabin From Scratch For Under $11,000

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Anyway, after acquiring most of the equipment and deciding on the actual site, we were ready to begin. In July 1991, my wife and I began clearing the site. We removed the trees by attaching a 150' cable approximately 30' up the length of larger trees, and then pulling them over using the loader. This allowed us to remove the trees and stumps with little digging. Then we filled in the stump holes and smoothed the site by dragging a cross tie around and around behind the pickup truck.

Our next step was to put up the batter boards (used temporarily to check leveling). We squared these boards by measuring diagonally across the site and leveling them, using a 100'-long water hose with a 1' length of clear plastic tubing attached to each end. Our site had a 40" drop from front to back, but by using our water-hose level, we were able to level the tops of the boards all the same height.

We then stretched strings connecting the batter boards, and used a tape measure and plumb bob to lay out the locations of the 55 pads in order to support the block pillars and fireplace foundation. Then came the digging. The foundation pad holes were dug 28-by-28-inches square-by-18 -inches deep. The tops of all of the concrete pads needed to be level with each other, or in 8" differences (8 inches higher or lower), since standard concrete blocks are 8" high. In the center of each hole, we drove a 1-by-1-inch wooden stake, which indicated the top level of the concrete to be poured in each hole. We then used the water-hose level and a piece of PVC pipe marked in 8" increments to level the tops of the stakes.

Once the tops of the stakes were leveled to each other — or higher or lower in their 8" increments — we filled each hole with concrete just to the top of the stake. This gave an approximately 28inches square-by-2 inches thick concrete pad in the ground for each 16-by-16-inch square block pillar to rest on.

The next day we marked the exact location where each pillar was to sit on its pad using a tape measure and plumb bob and working from the batter board strings.

We then began laying blocks and mortar to the height of the batter board strings, making sure to check level as we went. When we finished, we had 55 foundation pillars at least 24" high, with not more than a quarter variation in height or squareness when measured diagonally across the foundation. We were quite pleased; having a square, level foundation would make the rest of the construction much easier.

On top of each block pillar, we placed a 16-by-16-inch piece of quarter-inch-thick roll roofing material to prevent wicking of moisture to go up through the blocks. On top of the roll roofing, we put two pieces of 2-by-8-by-16-inch pressure-treated boards side by side, in order to prevent the 8-by-8-inch wooden sills and beams from coming in contact with the concrete blocks.

Next we selected 24'-long logs that were straight enough to clean up into 8-by-8-inch square sills and floor beams. We sawed them, along with 100 2 1/2-by-10-by-8-inch floor joists and 2,500 square-feet, one-inch-thick boards at random widths for the subfloor. The sills were lifted in place using the loader and bolted to certain block pillars of the foundation in which we had cemented 1/2 all thread rod. The beams and floor joists were notched and nailed in place, and then we nailed down the sub-floor. This was done by Thanksgiving 1991, and we had a wonderful holiday dinner with both of our families feasting "on the house."

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