We Built Our Dream Home In The Woods

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Of course, I knew I'd been lucky to have been able to adjust that first pole's position so easily simply by moving the truck. (This can be a difficult maneuver on uneven terrain.) Later, I refined my technique by using two winches?one on either side of the pole?to make the final adjustments. (Also, although I'd proven to my satisfaction that one person could set up a heavy timber alone, I later learned that two people—and, at times, two vehicles?could do the job faster.)

It was, of course, the unusual "slanted" shape of the excavations made by our Jeep that originally suggested the above technique to me, but I think it's worth pointing out that any hole?dug by any means?can be modified to accept logs in this manner. (All you have to do is elongate the hole in one direction with any kind of an excavating tool . . . even a simple shovel.)

Having solved the problem of how to erect that first pole, we stopped and thought about how we could best apply the procedure we'd just learned to the other uprights we had to set. (This, by the way, was a pattern we followed throughout the construction project. First we'd try a new idea on one segment of the house . . . then?if it was a success—we'd decide how to apply the technique most efficiently to the other segments.)

At length, we decided to go ahead and drop the remaining poles in their ditches, but not raise them until we were sure we could maneuver the truck around the increasing number of obstacles. Only after we had a plan of action did we proceed to erect all the poles.

OUR $40 "THINK TANK"

It's very important, we learned, to stop several times a day to think about where you are and where you're going. If you do this, you can often prevent a dangerous or awkward situation from developing, and sometimes think of a better way to go about what you're doing.

We did most of our thinking in a small, portable swimming pool that we bought at a garage sale for $40. Whenever the going got rough, or too hot?or just confused?we headed for the little "think tank" to mull things over. As it turned out, we solved a lot of problems in that $40 pool. In fact, it may have saved our marriage (along with the entire project)!

THE "SPOKE" BEAMS

After we had erected, aligned, and tamped dirt around each of the 13 vertical support poles?and built our new home's small, central utility room, which consists of nothing more than a six-sided stud-wall structure built over a poured-concrete floor?it was time to lift the six big "spoke" beams into place. (These beams radiate away from the center of the building, like the spokes of a wagon wheel . . . hence the name spoke beams. )

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