The Wilderness Model

The Following are some pictures of beginning construction on a one story home, with a crawl-space foundation. You can use any conventional type of foundation for a log home- full basement, crawl space, or even concrete slab.

Note the double band around the perimeter. It's made of 2"x10" framing and it is continuous around. It serves as the solid base the first course of logs are anchored into with screws.

Here, you see the first and second courses down. The plywood spline is already in place to create the seal between the second and third courses of logs. It is made of 3/8" exterior grade playwood, and it remains a flexible joint that can accomodate movement if necessary.

In this view, a man is applying the caulk for bonding the spline in the groove of the third course. Again, by using a flexible caulk such as Sashco's Stacker, we achieve a seal that gives with any movement in the wood. By adhering the spline to the bottom log, we create the equivalent of a tongue-in-groove, without the limitation of movement t&g logs are prone to have. Also, note the blue chalk-line running along the floor parallel to the logs. We use a chalk line as a guide to maintain a plumb wall. You simply hold a 4' level vertically to that chalk line and screw each course down as it touches the level in plumb position. The logs are screwed down about 2' apart, in an alternating pattern on each side of the groove. The screws are installed using a 1/2" drll with a driver bit. The bits are supplied in each box of screws.

The preceding photo shows a man driving a screw while the level is in place to determine plumb.

Here again is a view demonstrating use of the level to plumb the wall as you go up with the house. The corners are the most solid part of a log house. And when you keep them plumb, the rest of the walls are easy to maintain the same way.