Dogtrot at Hightop

[Redoverfarm]

Here is a couple views you might enjoy.  The mountain pictures is just 1/2 mile from the cabin and about 400 ft more in elevation.

The sunrise is from my front door in October.

The other is my front door  about the same time.

[glenn kangiser]

Nice.

[Sassy]

Gorgeous views & very nice home!  Thanks for the history - how neat    Keep us updated when you find out any more.  What did you do with the tacks? 

[Redoverfarm]

The tacks, cut nails and other nails removed went to Virginia.

[glenn kangiser]

We are in gold country so things started happening here around 1849 -- except for the Mexican miners who were here first, but we don't feel too bad because we stole it from them, because they stole it from the Indians.

The cut nails give me a method of estimating whether a find was from pre 1890 or later as they started making wire nails in 1890.  Fun stuff

[Redoverfarm]

Well now it is the end of 9/06 and all the log walls are set.  I am still waiting for the masons to come and do the flu (only completed to the floor level).  Promise after Promise and still no blocks being laid.  If it wasn't for the fact that there are only two masons in the county I would have fired them long ago.  Oh well I still have work to do.  I sort of went at it backwards and laid off the rafters and then started on both ends and worked to the middle.  I left the middle open enough to allow for scaffolding when building the flue. If it was a shingle roof I would have probably went ahead and built the roof and cut through for the flue but since it was metal I didn't think that would work so well and would have to have built something to work off of on the 10/12 pitch. It was probbaly built better the way I did it as least to a structural strength point of view. Yes that meant that I had to splice the ridge on three places which I did to meet the flue.  I worked on framing the back room(bedroom and master bath)  and run the rafters to the point of the valleys and had to stop because I still had no flue.  All Ridge beams intersected in the flue.

Finally on 11/10 they showed up and started with the flue, firbox and etc.. And they finished on Sunday or should I saw one of them and me. They laid all but the remaining 4 feet and said they would be back the week after deer season. I told them not if they wanted to get paid for the job.  This was on the Thursday the week before season.  After a very lengthly discussion one of the boys said he would finish if I would mix mud and carry blocks. So Now I had it finished.  Had to take the mornings off the next week to take my 11 YOA hunting but he helped in the afternoons and we filled the cavity with stone and managed to pour the concrete cap.  Do you know how many 5 gallon buckets of gravel it takes to fill a flue that size which we hoisted up with a rope and pulley.  Several tons I know.

Now I had the splice ridge boards into the flu pockets.  Next little detail was at what point do they intersect to work out the valley rafters.  Well it was beyond me as I always had that intersection visually but now it was hidden inside the flue.  Well a neighbor builds house came up to help me out and in a matter of about 10-15 minutes he was calling out figures and I was cutting and had it built within an hour or so. Crisis averted.

Sorry I didn't get any pictures of this process as it was a busy time give the latenes of the year and the push to get it covered before winter. But these pictures will show the completed walls.

[Redoverfarm]

Just a little thing about the scenes I posted with the mountain range.  How come the Goverment ends up with all the good land.   This would be a wonderful place to have a house but it is National Forest. I guess it is good in a way as my son and daughters will have the same view for years to come.  But I have good views as well once some of their trees get the Husky disease.

[glenn kangiser]

The foundation of this nation was real property ownership.  That's why the settlers came here.  To insure private ownership of land, the nation's founding fathers made it unlawful for government to own land except for the ten square miles of Washington D.C., and such as may be needed for erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings. (The Constitution)

http://www.teamlaw.org/land.htm

[Redoverfarm]

I don't know if anyone caught the difference in elevation on the cabins.  Maybe the pictures don't really show but there was some.  With log cabins it is very hard to keep all four corners at the same elevation because of the difference in the logs.  Well Normally on a standard one room there were four corners.  But with two cabins I had eight corners that had to be level or the roof would have been out.  Short of using a chalk line then removing and then using the sawmil to cut them level I thought of another idea. Sort of off the wall but it worked.  I used 2X8 and sandwiched the top log which I could move up or down depending on the elevation as I went. Once that was done I used a 2X10 as a plate over the log and the 2X8.  Now I had a level surface to rest the rafters on. Oh I forgot to mention there was 5-1/2" difference between the highest and lowest corners.

Well I managed to get it sheeted and the Titanium Felt on before the winter set in. A great product. As you can see winter is starting to arrive here now 1/9/07, A little late this year but I am not complaining.  I might have gotten to work a week then the big one came.  The road turned to ice and it wasn't worth trying to haul everything up on the tractor and battle the elements.  So I didn't work on the cabin from 1/19 - 3/15.

I was still busy in the garage though staining the 2X6 TG which I will use for the flooring on the two lofts. I decided it would be easier to do both sides before installing.  The bottom side or the "v" grove side was done in  a pickle white wash finish which will be the ceiling of the downstairs room and the top side was done in a walnut stain which will be the floor for the loft.  They will sit on 4X6 ceiling beams which were done in Walnut also. Another reason I did it in this manner was that it would be easier to finish the ceiling not having to work between the beams.  And doing the floor later there might be a chance that it would weep through to the ceiling.

[MountainDon]

I'm enjoying seeing this as it comes/came together.

Thanks for the posts and photos, John.

[glenn kangiser]

That is really looking nice, John.  It is really great that this piece of history can live again.

[desdawg]

I like it John! I can see the challenges of making things match up but it is looking good. 

[CWhite]

That is going to be such a fine looking place.  With your views, and the preserved history, you'll certainly have a dream home.
I'll look forward to watching the progress as well. 
Christina

[Redoverfarm]

Well as you see I hit spring with a bang.  Sheeting the addition, installing the board and batten on the room and the gable ends.  Working soffit on the overhangs' birdboxes and the like.  Also installed the metal roof. Well into the swing of things by the time summer finally rolled into place.  Plan on starting the log chinking soon.  This is a time taking venture (inside and out).

[Redoverfarm]

Well it's into mid-summer and I have put it off long enough.  When I cleared the lot off for the cabin I de-stumped the trees and bull dozed all of the trees up into a huge pile.  Besides I needed to get the wood worked up so it would have enough time to dry for firewood.  Generally I like to leave firewood cure for at least a year. But with everything that has been going on with the cabin I hadn't had time.  So my son and I took a week and cut and split up about 8 -16' trailer loads of firewood and hauled them to the house and stacked it up.

Next my attention went to the basement.  Where after three days of pick and mattock work in the shale I managed to get the sewer lines in place.  Probably a little extra work but I laid out a toilet in the basement.  Nothing more handy (have it in my house basement)and it keeps the wife from saying" Your tracking all that dirt inside".  In addition I placed a drain at the location where the hot water and pressure tank would be placed so that winterization of the cabin could be achieved with one line to the drain.

Well like most concrete companies the minimum yardage is now 4 cu yds.  So I decided to pour both the basement floor and the retaining wall footings at the same time. Both were under 4 yds and it would have cost more to make two seperate pours. Oh the retaining walls.  Originally I hadn't intended on a retaining wall and had planned to just taper down. Once I had the basement walls up it was evident that wasn't going to work.  So I dug the footing and formed part.  The formed part is going to incorporate a platform ( I think they call it a monolific(sp?) for the generator and propane tank. (I'll try to submit photo's later of that wall).  In three years #5 rebar has gone from $4.50 to nearly $8.  Then I checked around and found some salvaged #5,6.7.8 & #9 16-18' for $4 a stick.  So I ended up using #7 for the majority of the basement and footings and grid on 24"OC.

The concrete pour went off without a hitch and even had enough left over to extend a sidewalk at the house another 4' from the left over.  I always try to have someplace extra to work the overrun in.  In fact I had built a 4' X 44' sidewalk at the house from strickly overrun concrete.  If I continue using concrete I will be able to have a sidewalk all around the house by the time I die.

[desdawg]

Wow, #7 rebar. All straight shots. Bending that could be challenging with a hickey bar.

[Redoverfarm]

desdawg

You are right. No bending.  Just a challange in cutting alone.  I had plenty so if they were a little long I just let them lap over .  A little extra support. Some of the footing was actually # 9.  The biggest problem in working the larger rebar was to have it placed midways in the floor (4"). 

Not much work today on the cabin. About 4-5" snow overnight. Temp this morn was 6F.  Kids out of school so I guess my day is already planned out.

[glenn kangiser]

Broken chunks of concrete work well for supporting rebar in a floor when dobies are too large.  They can be left in.

That is some mighty big rebar.

[Redoverfarm]

Yep been there. They had to be very thin pieces. I had a little pieces of #4 that I used also.  Couldn't go that high.  It all cost the same per stick.  I tried to use the smallest to get good coverage midways.  If it cracks it is not because I didn't try.

Built a 12'X50' concrete bridge to my house and used 1-1/2" rebar in it.  But I had a 7" deck.  Got 12"X34" I beams for that.  But thats another story.

[glenn kangiser]

You could have left out the concrete and drove across on the rebar.

Actually, I don't care what you do with concrete -- if it wants to crack, it will, but the rebar will keep the chunks together, and control joints will keep the cracks where you want them...most of the time.

[Redoverfarm]

Well Glenn I wanted something that would stand the test of time.  I don't have that much water normally but when it is up it is up.  I had a job that I would often get called out and I could't just tell them I couldn't get there.  I got the steel from a older bridge they replaced.  Poured  24" X 36" footers on bedrock, 12" thick wingwalls and  abutments. Pockets for the beams.  Found some sheets of 20-24ga steel step metal which I used for Q-deck.  A contractor puts up steel and alluminum buildings and these were the scrap sheets which they used to protect the actual sheets in shipping.  30" wide.  Got enough to do the bridge and then roof a outbuilding 12'X36' for $25.  Of everything I used the concrete was the most expensive.  I would have to go back and look but it was several, several yards.  When it was all said and done I had about $5,000 in  a bridge that would probably cost $25,000 at the time.

[glenn kangiser]

Good job and good recycling.

[desdawg]

You probably saved a yard of concrete. Displaced it with the steel. Should be plenty stout.

[Redoverfarm]

No shortage of things to do.  But today it is not very good weather to work. 5" snow Wednesday, Temp 6F on Thursday Morning and freezing rain and snow today. Doubt that I could even get to the cabin today.  I sure hope this is not the beginning of old man winter as I still have lots to do.  Well I can at least bring the project up to date from my last post.

Working on running the electric wires for the cabin portion. I went ahead as I laid the cabin up to pre-drill the locations for switches(high) and recepticles (low) .  I am sure I have forgotten a few but will cross that bridge when I come to it.  Been inserting the insulation board midways in the gaps of the logs. Also installing the chink wire (1/4" rabbit wire or hardware cloth).  So far just the exterior wire and the insulation board has taken 70 hrs.  I can probably look at another 50 hrs to do the wire on the inside.  Sure hopes that the chinking goes a little faster.

Got the well drilled in Mid August. 220 ft. Hit water at 190 with 10gpm.  Pretty good considering that I was about 75 feet from a serious revine(Virginia).   But If I hadn't I could only blame myself because I was the one that "witched" the location.

Well I started on getting the block laid for the retaining wall.  About 300 I think. I was lucky to find a neighbor in Va. that just retired as a block layer in April. 72YOA but you would never know it.  Did a bang up job at 1/3 of the price for a full time mason.  Stair stepped the wall to conform to the landscape.  I then formed up the caps and hand poured them.  Took about a week for both sides to build the forms and pour.  Tried to make all the steps about the same (2-1/2 blocks) so that I coould re-use the forms from one side to the other. Worked out pretty well.  I guess I did a fairly good job as the mason stopped one day and asked where I bought the caps at. Ha. Ha. If you notice there are two step backs in the wall to the left. The first is the location for the generator and the second is for the propane tank.  Each section is 4' deep.  The generator section will have a roof built over it that will correspond to the look of the cabin. Regulations prohibit the same for the tank.  I set them back so they wouldn't be struck by someone backing up to the basement door.

Then I switched my attention to back filling and laying the drain lines.  I had the lines stubbed off at the basement end and water would sometimes saturate the block walls. Well I extended them on outside walls and ran additional ones on the inside walls to their intersection at the end of the walls where I tied them together and ran away from the cabin.

Well it is Mid Oct and a friend brought his dozier and we fine graded the yard surrounding the cabin to pitch the water away from the cabin. Also installed Sch 35-4" pipe from the basement to the well to run the well line through.  The pump was something I didn't need right now as well as the septic.  Had to save something to do later.

That little angel above the wall is my 5 YOA inspector Emily

[Sassy]

The way you stepped the wall looks really nice!  Chinking the walls sounds like a lot of work - I put cob up in the sections between the ceiling logs - just about a 12 ft area - that was a lot of work, too.  We just have insulation in the rest, still - one of these days we might get to some of the finer details... don't seem to have the energy I had when we 1st started building