Building a small log cabin

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My wife had two possums as pets. She named them Willie and Waylon.

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I recommend that you call a builder specializing in such work and get his advice on your case. It is necessary for a specialist on the spot to see the land on which the house will be and the trees you will cut down. This way, you will make your wooden house more qualitative
 
I recommend that you call a builder specializing in such work and get his advice on your case. It is necessary for a specialist on the spot to see the land on which the house will be and the trees you will cut down. This way, you will make your wooden house more qualitative. My husband did exactly that, and now we have a lovely house by the lake. We even ordered a sign for our house on baliandboo.com "home, sweet home," lol. We are coming there for the weekend and are thinking about additional extensions. But so far, there are not enough trees on our site for this.
 
Opossums are generally very gentle. They can’t get rabies and eat lots of ticks and insects. We do not kill them on our property. Our log cabin was built out of bald cypress from a kit. Husband changed up floor plans so we bought more material. Built on concrete slab. Took 9 months to build it. Moved in 1978 and lived there for 19 years. Raised 5 girls there. No problems hanging cast iron on those walls. Loved house, hated location. It was on a highway.
opossums are a huge threat because they can infect domestic animals who then inturn infect you with leptospirosis, tuberculosis, relapsing fever, tularemia, spotted fever, toxoplasmosis, coccidiosis, trichomoniasis, and Chagas disease .
 
..the 'Recipe', Dear Dr, is Strawbale + an inch 'blanket' of Stucco.. :cool: Ain't No 'rat' chewin thru That.. (well, ok, maybe one of the 'ROUS's.. ;)

jd
Years ago a Norwegian friend told me of how tough rats were in Norway, he said that the fish buyers had buildings made of concrete and the rats would chew through the walls to get at the fish inside. Never underestimate what rats or other creatures can do. I think my friend said that a lot of broken glass was mixed into the concrete to keep the rats from chewing through the concrete.
 
Years ago a Norwegian friend told me of how tough rats were in Norway, he said that the fish buyers had buildings made of concrete and the rats would chew through the walls to get at the fish inside. ...

Hmm.. I don't 'disbelieve' your Friend's story, but, I gotta say.. If I Ever saw a Rat - 'chew' thru an Inch / 1.5" of Concrete Stucco - then, thru a 2' thick Bale of Straw (including the steel hardware cloth that holds it all 'in'..) wall - and then Another 1.5" of Stucco.. Well... that Rat would immediately be Hired for Guard / Torture-duty at the BOL.. 😬

jd
 
I always wanted to build a log cabin... or an adobe hideout. Adobe is underrated, it has a lot to offer in terms of comfort. If I ever come into money, I'm gonna build a cabin or an adobe casita somewhere WAY off the beaten path. :cool:
 
I always wanted to build a log cabin... or an adobe hideout. Adobe is underrated, it has a lot to offer in terms of comfort. If I ever come into money, I'm gonna build a cabin or an adobe casita somewhere WAY off the beaten path. :cool:
Is it the land that you are lacking? Sometimes you can build a cabin or and adobe home with little money, by scavenging materials. May not be a palace or castle, but can provide shelter and protection from the elements.
 
I see on the ends of your cabin up high the roof you have 2 places there there logs stacked on top of each other with no stabilization in between. How do you keep that 1 log in the middle from causing the wall to lean in or out?

It looks like you have a main house and now you are adding guest/work rooms for when we come to visit ;)

It does look awesome, I didn't intend to criticize, I just was asking how you made that work?
I find what you are doing is so cool and wish I had the land, skill, time, and money to do something like that. Now I got that cabin envy.
 
I see on the ends of your cabin up high the roof you have 2 places there there logs stacked on top of each other with no stabilization in between. How do you keep that 1 log in the middle from causing the wall to lean in or out?

It looks like you have a main house and now you are adding guest/work rooms for when we come to visit ;)

It does look awesome, I didn't intend to criticize, I just was asking how you made that work?
I find what you are doing is so cool and wish I had the land, skill, time, and money to do something like that. Now I got that cabin envy.
They are pinned with half inch iron pipe
 
..the 'Recipe', Dear Dr, is Strawbale + an inch 'blanket' of Stucco.. :cool: Ain't No 'rat' chewin thru That.. (well, ok, maybe one of the 'ROUS's.. ;)

jd
Years ago a Norwegian friend told me of the fish buyer buildings in Norway, they were made out of concrete, but because the rats would chew through the concrete, when they poured the concrete they had to put in broken pieces of glass and shards of metal to keep the rats out, never underestimate what rats can do.
 
Years ago a Norwegian friend told me of the fish buyer buildings in Norway, they were made out of concrete, but because the rats would chew through the concrete, when they poured the concrete they had to put in broken pieces of glass and shards of metal to keep the rats out, never underestimate what rats can do.
My father taught me to put in glass shards to block off old sewer lines.


Ben
 
I want to build a one bedroom log cabin from trees on my land. Right now I am playing with a 16'x24' layout with a loft. I know the red oaks generally aren't great for external use, but I have MANY nuttall oaks the right size (and they need thinning). They were planted 35 years ago very densely and grew slowly so they have much more heartwood than normal. And because they grow so close together, the lower limbs mostly atrophied and fell off.
I also have an abundance of small maples and sweet gums, but the nuttalls need thinning anyway to let some sunlight in for ground cover.

So let's say I can cut plenty of straight trees at whatever size I want. I guess I need to get them to a sawmill to be squared up, or maybe just debarked? And then kiln dried.

What's next? Any suggestions on the size, both of the trees to cut and final hewn size. I would like to use butt and pass construction, and will probably build on a slab. Can I have the bottom of the walls something like concrete blocks?

Here is the current working layout:
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Are you going to sawmill them or use whole logs? If you use whole logs, I recommend a weather proof chink followed by a natural outer Spackle such as white clay, topped by whitewall or stucco after a thorough termite soak.
 
I love these cabins. But I see them off the ground and all I can think of is frozen water pipes.

If I were doing one of these, I'd drill a well and build over it. I'd pour a deep concrete foundation around that well and I'd run a hand pump up to the sink. Then I'd have a little bathroom with a wash basin and flush toilet and a place to take a bucket bath. There would be a 2.5 gallon bucket to put water in at the hand pump, to fill the toilet tank and wash hands with. A little leach field would complete the operation.

Yeah, it's a little complicated for an off grid cabin. But I ain't sitting down in an outhouse during an Iowa winter!!!
 
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