CHAINSAW PALACE

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As the walls rose, we spiked each log to the log beneath it, so that when we reached the top, every log in the house was tied securely to every other log in the house.

We found that as walls rose, we could lean our poplar log halves against the wall itself and allow several feet to extend over the wall and into the floor area. As we worked the logs up to the tops of the poplar halves, one person went inside and pulled down on the log halves so that the huge logs slid very slowly and gently down the inside slope. They didn't even bump as they reached the sub-flooring. When the walls were too high for this operation, we slid the logs in by the back door opening.

A Little Ingenuity:

I learned that I could install nearly all the roofing from inside the house.

...Turning Our Attention Inward

When we reached the proper height, we installed the rough window and rough door opening frames by using 2 x 8 timbers that we leveled and plumbed and braced. When the later logs were high enough, they were butted into the rough frames and we used 60d nails driven from the inside of the framing and into the ends of the logs.

As the logs reached the top of the window and door openings we let them stretch over the window and rough door openings and continue, when possible, the entire length or width of the house.

When our walls were completed, we framed the walls inside the house and tied the framing into the log walls. The entire front half of the house was left open so that we could enjoy exposed beams and cathedral ceilings.

Then, with the log walls held safely, we worked one end of the huge girder so that it reached the long-way from the top of the log wall to the top plate of the studded wall. Then we cut and installed posts under the girder. And in the basement we added other posts precisely under the first ones.

From the outside log walls to the central girder we installed 16-foot girders, all 8 x 10, to the system.. These girders were spaced four feet apart. All of these girders were sawed just as the other timbers were—by using chalk line and chain saw—no attachments of any sort. In fact, my leg was broken and in a cast at the time, and I stood on one foot and hopped backward as I sawed.

The Roof and Chimney

It was now time to saw rafters. To secure the proper length for rafters, we used the ancient Pythagorean theorem by measuring the length of the rafters (16 feet plus two feet of overhang, or 18 feet) and the rise of the roof (high enough to permit room in the upstairs. or third level). We squared the length (18 feet) and rise (12 feet) and added the two figures. The result was 468. Then we took the square root of 468, 21.6 feet, which was the final length of the rafters.

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