Latest Blog Entries tagged 'cabin' [Remove Filter]

This is a picture of my parents' cabin. My dad designed it himself, as well as the house I grew up in (by the way, both are painted the same colors). Note the one-and-a-half story construction, the exposed sofits and beams, the prominant front porch [Read More]

Whether the log cabin or home is being built with cedar, larch, pine or oak logs, the structural strength of the proposed log specie may be in question. Of course, certain portions of a tree can be used as structural members in building a cabin. Go [Read More]

Once in a life time you meet a great woodsman and story teller. My father met one. They were contemporaries that probably met in their younger days. The times were in the late 1920's or early 1930's, hard times for many. My grandfather owned an old l [Read More]

Usually ground water is found in the underground formations called aquifers. The soil and rock that lie between the ground surface and the aquifer act as a barrier against any possible contamination to the aquifer.The well that was installed at our c [Read More]

Now that the weather has warmed up work has resumed on the remodeling of the small bath and shower installation. Previously we had demolished the old bathroom. The two stick frame walls have been insulated and covered in a plastic vapor barrier. The [Read More]

The story of an animal traveling through a forest is left by it's tracks. At times the tracks are difficult to see. Tracks consist of bent grass, a dragged leg, or a foot print of the animal.There are three types of tracks; the nail walkers such as d [Read More]

I have not been a big fan of track lighting but it does have its place and time. In an effort to provide more light in the kitchen here at the lodge, the previous owners had installed track lights on the log trusses overhead. As if Ethel Merman step [Read More]

As I am getting ready to go "Up North" tomorrow to check on our cabin, I am reminded of a poem I discovered at a little shop in Gaylord. It perfectly describes the feeling I get when I'm in Northern Michigan.Up NorthIt's the place people go to escape [Read More]

Many times surprises occur when one goes into the woods. The surprise is often the sight of a beautiful deer or a red fox.Recently, we arrived at the front gate of the driveway to the cabin and, to our surprise, a 12 inch in diameter balsom had been [Read More]

The logs were delivered on November 9th. It was very exciting to see the semi coming down the road to our property with the logs all stacked. Felt like I was back in the lumber era of the late 1800s! Once the semi arrived, our general contractor went [Read More]

For our log cabin kit, the log size choices were 8", 10" and 12" diameter. Here were the profile styles which our log home provider offered. (You would select based upon your personal preference): Full round log D-style log (whereby it's round on the [Read More]

It has been approximately a year since the logging operation in our forest. The logs were hauled away and new growth has begun.A large pile of branches that were trimmed from the logs and some dead trees remained. It is dangerous to set the pile on f [Read More]

A GPS is a positioning device that is a mini computer for road and water travel that can be used in the wilderness. It eliminates the need of using a map and a compass.The GPS device will give your location per latitude and longitude with fair accura [Read More]

Not much has happened with the cabin since Thanksgiving. Most of the windows and some insulation were installed last week. The flooring and interior walls should be going in soon. The house is supposed to be finished by Jan. 31. Front door and dorme [Read More]

While the snow is falling outside I'm working on repairing chinking inside the lodge. Most of the chinking throughout the lodge is in great shape however there are a few spots here and there that are in need of attention.  Some areas are simp [Read More]

In my opinion, the most interesting floor plan for a proposed story and a half log cabin is an "L" shaped plan. The majority of the space is the "great room" and is the short leg of the "L". I've included sketches for one way the "L" shape plan may b [Read More]

I've been gone for quite some time and have been working with a few people as to incorporating video into the website to provide how-to videos of some of the projects that are happening around here. In an effort to provide better information as to [Read More]

I had to make an emergency trip to the cabin yesterday to check out the siding color. Randy said he was getting "bad vibes" about it from the builder. He was on a business trip and kept calling me, wanting me to mourn the house with him. We'd killed [Read More]

Sonja and Eddie took these pictures of the cabin Friday. A crew was putting pine siding on the house. We had planned to use cedar siding, but Scott called last week and asked if we would go with pine. It's more readily available, he said, and waiting [Read More]

Tues was a beautiful day, high of 17 C, unheard of usually here at this time of year (good ole global warming), and Niall and his crew barged over most of the materials for the cabin (except the windows, which never showed up, bit of a problem). They [Read More]