LOGGING RED PINE TREES TO MAKE REPAIRS AND RENOVATIONS TO OUR LOG CABIN HOME. WE’VE TAKEN THE BARK OFF THE ONES THAT WILL BE USED, THEY’LL NEED TO DRY FOR A COUPLE OF MONTHS AND THEN THEY CAN BE TAKEN TO THE SAW MILL AND CUT INTO REPLACEMENT LOGS!
Home repair, it’s a project that never ends especially when you live in a log cabin and this year we have a big project on our hands. We’ll be renovating the cabins exterior by logging red pine trees and replacing damaged and rotted logs.
We started building the cabin in 2005, it took us 5 years to complete, and moved in the spring of 2010. That being said we have about 4 logs that are rotting and need to be take out and replaced. All I can think of is Linken Logs, you take one out and the whole place will topple down but hubby assures me that’s not the case.
We had the opportunity to do some logging for a friend so we took advantage of it. His farm happened to have red pine on it and that’s what the cabins made of so it was the perfect situation. The boys and hubby logged off the area, brought the trees home, debarked the ones we need, and the rest was cut up into fire wood to use in the fire pit.
Once the logs have air dried we’ll take them to a friends saw mill and he’ll cut them into 8X8 logs and we’ll replace the rotting ones in our home. We have no choice in delaying this project any longer. It should have been done last year but we never had the time to get to it.
After the logs are replaced we’re going to pressure wash the house, restrain it, and rechink it. It all sounds like a lot of work to me. If we’re able to get all the stain off the house we’re planning on changing the color, and if it doesn’t we’ll have to find a color to match the current stain, as that color is no longer made. My color choice this time around will be a cedar tone, although the darker the stain color the longer it lasts without having to be redone.
I love our log home but it’s a lot of upkeep. I told hubby we’ll have to sell it in the next ten years before it needs to be pressure washed and stained again. Hubby and I are getting too old for this kind of work. We did get an estimate to do it and it was $30,000. Talk about knock my socks off! Well there’s no way we’re spending that kind of money so we’ll be doing the work ourselves along with our boys helping.
Wow! That is a huge, huge project. Please keep us updated as I’ll admit I’m curious and would love to see this being done. I have the Lincoln log mentality and can’t wrap my head around it. And what is rechinking?
Barb I’m hoping to do a few videos of the process. Chinking is the stuff between each log, like calk.
Thanks for the description – amazing process, pioneer family!
Jan, I can’t wait for the process to be over. All I can see is a big mess and my OCD is stressing over it.
Dawn, We live in a log house in Idaho and we are having the same issue with a few logs on the West side of our house. How are you going to replace them?
Debbie
Debbie, Hubby will cut out the logs with a chain saw and slide a new one into place. We have a special bolt called an ollie that we use to hold them in place. Then we’ll rechink them. I’m hoping to do a few videos on how we’re doing it.
Sounds dreadfully difficult, but those of us who follow you are interested in the process. This is definitely something that isn’t covered in most blogs. You’re one of a kind, for sure.
Pat, I’ll be sharing the process for sure. I’m sure it will look fantastic once it’s done but I sure do dread it all.
Will either of the boys want to take over the house when they settle down?
Carol, our land is parceled off for them both to build their own home but our oldest wants the log home so we will turn it over to him and build something smaller for ourselves.
Had no idea there was so much maintenance with a log home. At that price can sure see why you would do the work yourselves, glad your boys can help. Will be quite a lesson for them if they ever want to have log cabin. Nobody ever mentions the maintenance when have heard about log cabin living.
We considered a log cabin when we moved to MT, think am glad now we went with mfg. home. We were already in our early 50’s when we moved there from San Diego and hubs was on road trucking.
Good luck.
JaneEllen they are lovely homes and we built ours ourselves so I loved having that experience as a family. We were aware of the maintenance it’s not the first one we’ve built but at the time we were younger and it didn’t look like such a task. Whenever hubby is ready to be done with this house I’ll be fine with that. Our oldest son will take it over and we’ll move to something smaller.
Ugh, been there, done that. We had a log home and had some serious rot going on, because it was not built correctly and the builder went bankrupt. We ended up jacking up the roof, cutting out the logs in sections, pushing them out into the yard, then reframing it with regular frame work, sheeting, Tyvek and siding. That was in 2002. We did it ourselves, because we could not find a contractor willing to tackle the project. So glad that is behind us. That was after years of staining, caulking, etc. VERY labor intensive. Never again!! They’ve lost their charm for me! I still love the look, but no longer want one. No one ever tells you this stuff! Thanks for being honest and transparent.
Arlene, I’d never build a log home again but I did love the experience. We built as a family and I wouldn’t trade that for anything but with age the maintenance portion is not on our list of things we want to do. LOL. My son want’s the house so before it needs more repair it will be in his hands and he can deal with it.