J & J Log Home

The drywall guys are done, & they were nice enough to leave the scaffolding for us to use until their next job. We spent a couple days doing the last of the "high" work while we had a chance. We bought ceiling fans that have remote control, since both fan's are quite high. All the new sheetrock has a coat of primer on it as well. We also put a clear finish on the ceiling (4x10's + 2x6 T&G flooring). We didn't want to darken things up too much, so we used a clear waterbased poly in a satin finish, so it's not too shiny. Here's a before (from a while ago): Here's after we finished 2 coats (tired arms!): Here's a couple cool pics from today & yesterday:

Well, we had walls before, but they look more like walls now. After seeing the framing for so long now, I was quite surprised how different everything looked when we walked in the door on Saturday. Future kitchen: Downstairs bedroom: Upstairs: Master bedroom: Master bath: We only have 1 more day of chinking left, so we're looking forward to that. Next weekend we hope to have all the walls primed & painted as well, then onto flooring & cabinets.

We found a drywall crew that will install & finish all the interior walls & ceiling. The supply guys showed up this morning & brought in all the sheetrock. The nice thing about not getting it from a standard "big box" home store, the drywall can be ordered in larger sheets. Here's some for the ceiling, 16' long, wow! We also taped off some logs using blue painters tape, (an idea from Chris the other weekend). Here's a picture that shows a couple rows of each, some that were taped, & others that weren't. The taping takes a bit of time, but not having to clean the logs after is worth it!! (I labeled each that were taped and not taped) Hopefully by the weekend we'll have the drywall done.

For the last two weekends we have been busy chinking the inside of the house. We have accomplished quite a bit, it seem to be going much faster than when were were chinking the outside. It might have something to do with working off of floors and it not being 90+ degrees outside. We had quite a bit of help this weekend, and it was nice having an extra day due to the holiday. On Friday and Saturday Travis ( Log Home Builder Member KingLewey70) came down to help. It turned out that he was quite the chinker, even though it was the first time he had ever chinked. He is welcome to come and help anytime. On Sunday we were pretty chinked out and decided to clean up the logs a little. For those that have never chinked before, it is a very messy and dusty task. No matter how hard you try to keep the lines perfect and the excess chinking off the other logs it seems to make it's way there. Another Log Home builder member Chris (ribbonevt) came to check out our progress and lend a hand. Chri...

The excavating company came out today to run the main power from the street to our meter base. They were also nice enough to trench our water line in as well, & helped me get it into the crawlspace, nice guys! Digging near the water meter: 48" deep trench for water supply, he was flyin' through our rock-free dirt. Here's another angle.... After this, they trenched another along the treeline for the A/C & phone cable. We'll be able to fire up the furnace soon & get the drywall guys starting. The REMC was out the following morning & wired up the meter, we have real power!

Last week we had the inspector out for the rough-in inspection, it turned out that there were still some things that we needed to do before he would give us the okay to continue. Things like fire caulking, dryer vent, and also a few things that the electrician failed to do. It probably did not help that we were not there when the inspector arrived. He tripped the temporary security system which we put in to prevent thieves from stripping the wire and copper out of the house. After we finished those repairs last weekend we called the inspector and had him come out again this week, and he gave us the okay to move forward. It seems that there are so many little things to do when building a house. Given that this is our first house and neither of use has any experience (other than google), it would be helpful if someone were to write a book that gave detail instructions on how to build a house starting with digging the footers to the final inspection. We called the painter out to put the...

We had Don come out to stain the inside logs, we used the same stain as the outside, & will be putting on a clearcoat in a week or so. Finished 2 coats of stain by the end of the day. Today we stained the front board & batten before it gets too cold out. Started: Finished:

This weekend was a weekend of building a soffit and installing rafter vents. We decided that the best thing to do for the log girder was to build a Soffit around it to protect it from Moisture. It will also allow us to hang the vanity lights without having to mount them to the logs. Jeff also installed the rafter vents, which turned out being a pretty easy project. The vents are thin styrofoam strips that are placed between the rafters and stapled on. This is done to allow air flow between the roof overhangs and the ridge vent, without the vents there could be a possibility of moisture troubles. The insulation will go over the vents and secured to the rafters.

We have not been out to do any work for about 4 weeks, do to Jeff being in Oklahoma for work. There is a lot of things that we need to get caught up on. This weekend we decided that we would finish some things that need be completed in order for the rough-in inspection. So we worked on installing the attic ladder, dryer vent and sump pit. On Tuesday we will call the inspector to schedule the rough-in, keep your fingers crossed that everything goes well. Here's the attic ladder installed for access into the closed-in loft: Here is Jeff putting the sump pit in after he dug the hole. We also started closing in the crawlspace. We intend to finish it with cultured rock, and will probably get around to it this spring. There were so many spiders underneath that I let Jeff put the bracing up. All in all I think that we had a pretty productive weekend!

Finished the Board & Batten on the gable ends this weekend. Also completed the sanding inside to prep for staining.

One of the last major things on the outside was to finish the gable ends. Getting tired of looking at the "84 Lumber Tyvek" up there. We picked up 1x12 #3 pine boards, & 1x2 #1 grade battens from a local Menards, not a bad price & better quality then other lumber yards. Saturday we installed all the 1x12 boards, I was on the ladder nailing & measuring, & Jessica was doing all the cutting on the miter saw down below. We started on the back side of the house. Once all the 1x12's were up, we nailed the 1x2 battons along the bottom & up along the roof line. Then we added the vertical pieces in-between. Here's the back side finished, it was getting a bit dark so the picture is fuzzy. Next weekend we'll tackle the front.

We finally finished the outside chinking this weekend!!! Tim was out to help again, thanks buddy :) This was Saturday finishing the front: We are officially done the outside chinking Sunday afternoon: Still waiting for some grass to grow since all the dirt work & septic/drainage is done. Here's the electric mixer we used, its a Minimix150 (found it used on craigslist).

We finally had gutters installed on the house last week. Now the crawlspace should stay nice & dry without all the water falling around the house. The guys were in & out in about 4 hours, not too bad. We finished chinking this side of the house this weekend as well: Here's the backside, all the chinking is done here, downspout, & our meterbase. The dirt guys came back & finished some final grading, & Brad & Travis came out on Saturday & finished off the last of the heating & cooling stuff. Getting close to rough-in inspection time! After another weekend of chinking we'll be done the outside, then to finish off the gable ends.

We're finally getting to the second story height for the outside chinking, so we converted on of our 32' extension ladders to a set of scaffolding walkboards. Took them apart, which gave us two 16' sections. Just long enough to go from the center out, & overhang past the overdangles. We put some 3/8" plywood over the rungs & used 1-1/4" pipe clamps from the backside to secure the wood but not damage the ladder, & added some brackets to sit on the ladder jack: Then we lifted the end of the walkboard up to the overdangle, tie it on so it couldn't slide off, then used a rope to lift the center up to the ladder jack. We also strung up a safety line behind us as extra precaution: Here's Jessica working on the chinking...

Now that we have plumbing & electric in, we have a security system installed. Motion detector + cell backup, hopefully it'll keep everything safe & sound. Our building inspector wanted any wiring behind chinking to be run in a conduit, here's one of the wall outlets: Here's one of the bathroom vents... Here's some of the pex & some electric for the upstairs bath. We're getting close to our rough-in inspection. Just have to pick out some stair railings & get them installed.

The plumbing has started and we are quite happy with the progress. We found a local plumber that was recommended by a neighbor. It is amazing how much faster you can get things done when you pay someone else to do it. He will be completed on Friday, then the electrician starts on Monday. This is work completed Monday and Wednesday. Here is a picture of the main drain running to the Septic. Here is the washer dryer hookup and drain Master Bath