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

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

A Roof Over Our Heads

By this time it was early spring 1992 and our next task was to insulate the roof and install the tin. First we sawed 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" beams, placed them on top of the roofing felt, and nailed them to the roof rafters. This gave us a 3½" depth over the surface of the roof for insulation. We simply rolled fiberglass insulation out and stapled it to the 3 1/2" beams.

Over the insulation, we nailed 2" x 4" strips across the tops of the 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" beams. The tin was then nailed to the 2" x 4" strips. This tin had been specially cut, at no extra cost, in 18' 6" lengths by the manufacturer so that there would be no overlaps from the peak of the roof down to the eave. After nailing on ridge caps along the peak of the roof, the worst part was over. We had been building for 14 months now, and we were finally beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I felt confident that we would have a long-lasting, leak-proof roof over our heads.

Installations & Electrical Wiring

Next I began framing window and door openings. First I sawed out openings in the log walls where we wanted our windows and doors to be. I finished the openings with 3" x 6" boards, using spikes nailed directly into the ends of the logs. By this time, the logs had shrunk and settled as much as they were going to.

We then covered two of the gable ends with 1" batten boards. The gable end in the living room will be finished with plate glass. The we studded and covered the interior dividing for bedrooms and bathrooms with 1" boards. The bathroom and laundry room subfloors were stripped with boards, and then insulated and covered with vinyl flooring. The rest of the house will be floored with heart pine boards.

By this time, it was Thanksgiving 1992 — time to install the chimney and build a fireplace. I had always wanted a river-rock fireplace, but wasn't confident enough in my ability to build a fireplace entirely of rock. However, I was confident that I could fabricate a steel cone and chimney and then suspend it over a round stone fireplace that would only have to be built about 3' high. I got a sheet-metal shop to press break three pieces of sheet metal that I welded together into a 60" tall cone with a 15" opening at the top and 60" opening at the bottom. Then I welded together 18' of sheet metal that had been rolled into 15" diameter stovepipe sections. I then welded the stovepipe to the top of the cone and installed a damper that I made from an old narrow disc. I made three eye hooks and welded them to the outside of the cone, about 3' from the bottom. I used these eye hooks to connect chains that would suspend the cone-shaped chimney from the rafters, approximately 24" above the stone fireplace.

After welding the chimney together and opening up the spot that I framed for it when installing the roof, I transported it from my shop to the house with the loader. We slid the chimney through the front door and over to the 8' x 8' opening in the living room floor where the fireplace would be built. I attached a come-along to the ridge beam directly over the fireplace spot and then hoisted and guided the 400-pound metal chimney through the hole in the roof and into place. After attaching and adjusting the three supporting chains, the chimney was then suspended in its final resting place.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print