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

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Ceiling joists were sawed 3" x 12" x 12' long, and notched to fit in the outer perimeter wall logs on one end. The other end of each joist was notched into 8" x 12" horizontal beam in the center of the house.

This post, beam, and joist system would support the entire 72' x 24' upstairs floor.

Then came what was the most difficult part of all for me: putting up the 3" x 10" center ridge beams. All of the rafters would be nailed to these beams at the peak of the roof. The beams were sawed 35' long to keep splices to a minimum, as the ridge beam would span the entire 72' length of the house, plus an additional 4' overhang on each gable end. Another ridge would run from the center of the main section of the house across the 24' x 24' living room and 4' beyond so it would also have a 4' overhang on the front gable. The ridge was supported by 6" x 6" vertical posts which were notched 3¼" wide and 6" deep at the top to allow the ridge to set into the posts. The tops of the posts were 20' above the downstairs floor. The upstairs would not be installed until after the roof rafters were in place, because we weren't able to use a crane to lift the ridges and rafters in place.

The ridge beams were placed in the notches on top of the 6" x 6" posts using a gin pole, a 50'-long green pine pole, which was about 10" in diameter at the base and tapered to about 5" at the top. I used the loader to lean the gin pole beside the outer wall at an angle that placed the top of the pole about 30' above the center of the house. I anchored the bottom of the gin pole to a 1,500-pound concrete counterweight that I made from excess concrete when we were pouring the foundation pads. After nailing a block of wood on each side of the pole where it met the outer wall, the pole was stabilized. I attached a block and tackle to the top of the pole, directly over the center of the house, and then hoisted each ridge up and lowered it gently down into the notches on top of the 6" x 6" vertical posts. Three splices were joined together, the ridges were nailed to the supporting posts, and several temporary braces were added.

The Rafters Go Up

Now we were ready to put up the rafters. We sawed the rafters 3" x 10" x 18' long. We left the bottoms of all the rafters, beams, and ceiling joists unsawed and skinned the bark off with the drawknife before putting them in place. We did this mainly to increase the strength, but also to add to the rustic look we wanted.

We used a chain saw to make angles and birdmouth notches, and then hoisted each one into place using a 5" diameter cedar pole about 25' long. Actually, it was just a smaller version of the pine gin pole we had used to erect the ridge beams. This time we placed the pole against the ridge beam, opposite the side that the rafter would be nailed to, and hoisted each one into place with a rope and pulley fastened at the top of the pole. As the angled end of each rafter butted against the ridge beam, the birdmouth notch would fall into place on the log wall. Then I nailed the top of the rafter to the ridge beam and the bottom end where the birdmouth notch met the top of the log wall. After all of the rafters were up, we decked the entire roof with 1"-thick random width boards. Then we covered the board decking with roofing felt and our house was finally dried in.

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