# OEM Log Cabins



## ResurrectionMan (Aug 26, 2013)

In other words, the way the built them in the 1830s.

Are they legal anywhere? They aren't in Massachusetts, unless prefab - which is Ironic since most prefab stuff now is made out of Beaver Board.


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## kasilofhome (Feb 10, 2005)

Yep, got them here and people still build them.


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

ResurrectionMan said:


> In other words, the way the built them in the 1830s.
> 
> Are they legal anywhere? They aren't in Massachusetts, unless prefab - which is Ironic since most prefab stuff now is made out of Beaver Board.


I built mine using the basic 1800s design, but I cheated some. Instead of hacking off the sides of my logs with a broadax and wasting it, I had the lumber milled off of them leaving me with a 5 inch wide by however high the log was to notch and stack. No zoning or building codes in my or surrounding counties to worry with. I just love south central KY!


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## RonM (Jan 6, 2008)

We need more photos of that cabin going up.YH........


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

RonM said:


> We need more photos of that cabin going up.YH........


Ok...


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

Hows that?


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## Grumpy old man (Aug 6, 2013)

Never buy land you can't use as you see fit . I buy a few properties a year and never would I buy anything with restrictions or no mineral rights .


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## rustyshacklefor (Sep 19, 2005)

Yvonne's hubby said:


> Hows that?


What kind of chinking are you using?


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

I chinked it with Great Stuff. After it had cured and stabilized (that takes a couple weeks) I trimmed off the excess and went over it with drywall mud on the inside. Had planned to use mortar to smooth up the outside too, but never have gotten around to it. It turned a nice shade of brown in the sunlite, I like the look so probably wont ever bother with the mortar.


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

Fantastic Photo's YH!! Thank you for posting them.
Why so high off the ground?


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

If you live in a 'Free State', you can build whatever you want. I know, right... amazing concept!


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

Pearl B said:


> Fantastic Photo's YH!! Thank you for posting them.
> Why so high off the ground?


I had seen too many of the old timers that were built too close to the ground, a common error back in the day, that had the bottom run of logs rotted out. I didnt want that to happen with mine and since I was building on land with a good bit of slope, when I set my lowest corner stones 20 inches above ground, it put the highest column at nearly 5 feet. It left me with a good crawl space, easy to get under for maintenance.


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

texican said:


> If you live in a 'Free State', you can build whatever you want. I know, right... amazing concept!


It was that way here in Ky when I came here in 1978, but the state has "upgraded" some since then. While we can still build pretty much what we want, they are now telling people how plumbing has to be done. I am sure its just a matter of time before they get their fingers in everything just like all the other progressive states.


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

Yvonne's hubby said:


> It was that way here in Ky when I came here in 1978, but the state has "upgraded" some since then. While we can still build pretty much what we want, they are now telling people how plumbing has to be done. I am sure its just a matter of time before they get their fingers in everything just like all the other progressive states.


If you have electric or water hookups, the tax assessors will know you exist... avoid these and outside contractors... and build under trees, it's still possible to avoid the tax/code grid. Talked to a plumber friend last month, and they're getting 125/hr for new construction... I could build a house for what just a plumber would cost to come out and pipe the house...


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

texican said:


> If you have electric or water hookups, the tax assessors will know you exist... avoid these and outside contractors... and build under trees, it's still possible to avoid the tax/code grid. Talked to a plumber friend last month, and they're getting 125/hr for new construction... I could build a house for what just a plumber would cost to come out and pipe the house...


Oh, the tax man knows I exist! LOL them rascals come round every year or so to make sure they are getting everything due them.


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## deadtreejeff (Sep 1, 2013)

I hope you don't end up with the same problems I had with great stuff. Left unprotected from the sun and heat it will deteriorate on the exterior. It will also act like a sponge and hold moisture against your wood causing it to rot. It will however be a great backer rod to cover with an elastomeric product like perma *****. I'm not sure your drywall mud on the inside will last very long either, due to expansion and contraction rates and the brittleness of the gypsum products. I really like your building, just hate to see you having to re-do any or all of it because nobody let you know of the potential hazards of the products you were using. We just refinished the outside of our log home and it turned out really nice. I used great stuff to seal around most of my windows about 10 years ago, big mistake! I had to replace almost all of the trim because of the sponge effect of the great stuff, and we live in a super dry climate. Rarely gets above 15% humidity. Good luck with your project, just trying to help!!


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

deadtreejeff said:


> I hope you don't end up with the same problems I had with great stuff. Left unprotected from the sun and heat it will deteriorate on the exterior. It will also act like a sponge and hold moisture against your wood causing it to rot. It will however be a great backer rod to cover with an elastomeric product like perma *****. I'm not sure your drywall mud on the inside will last very long either, due to expansion and contraction rates and the brittleness of the gypsum products. I really like your building, just hate to see you having to re-do any or all of it because nobody let you know of the potential hazards of the products you were using. We just refinished the outside of our log home and it turned out really nice. I used great stuff to seal around most of my windows about 10 years ago, big mistake! I had to replace almost all of the trim because of the sponge effect of the great stuff, and we live in a super dry climate. Rarely gets above 15% humidity. Good luck with your project, just trying to help!!


I have been keeping an eye on it and there doesnt seem to be any real problems with moisture at all or deterioration of the great stuff after the first year or so. It turned a nice brown, and kinda evened itself out where it had puffed out between the logs, now it seems to be maintaining at that point. The original plan was to trim it down and cover it with mortar on the outside, but it just isnt looking like I will need to do that. The drywall mud inside is holding up very well in spite of all the stories I have heard about expansion contraction and shifting and twisting of logs. It could be the type of logs I used, (Tulip Poplar) and letting them season and settle for a year before chinking but those issues dont seem to be appearing. It could also be that the porch roofs full length of the house and extra overhang of the roof on the ends keeps them pretty dry most of the time. Only during an extreme storm with really high winds do the logs ever get any rain on them.


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## deadtreejeff (Sep 1, 2013)

Well glad to hear it, especially about the inside.


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## deadtreejeff (Sep 1, 2013)

Do you have any finished project pics?


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

I do have a few. The first three are of our bedroom, its fairly good sized 15' x 19' which gives us plenty of space for bedroom, and Yvonne's office space. We dont really need the skeeter netting as the cabin itself is pretty tight and dont have bug issues, but Yvonne likes it. 
the fourth pic is of the upstairs family room, we had it finished first and used it for our bedroom for a while during the time I was working on the downstairs bedroom.
Photo 5 is looking into the kitchen from the living room, it is also 15' x 19' with the bar dividing it into kitchen and living room. 
6 and 7 are of the kitchen... 8 is taken from the kitchen side looking out over the bar into the living room. 
9 is a pic of my Yvonne standing on the front deck. There is now a double window in that wall behind our boy. Its the window you see in the first pic taken from inside the bedroom. 
10 is a pic of the front of the house taken from the garden area


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## plowhand (Aug 14, 2005)

Nice job! Ain't many folk would try to build that without a loader. Glad to see that there are some folks left that know how to use riggins!


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## deadtreejeff (Sep 1, 2013)

I agree, beautiful place, feels good to get those splinters in your hands and drip a little of your own blood on stuff, instead of just paying somebody to do it. It always makes me grin a little at most folks who tell me they built their home. Big difference between them and us.


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

deadtreejeff said:


> I agree, beautiful place, feels good to get those splinters in your hands and drip a little of your own blood on stuff, instead of just paying somebody to do it. It always makes me grin a little at most folks who tell me they built their home. Big difference between them and us.


Well, I have to be honest here.... While I tried to keep the blood letting to a minimum, and I did handle almost every bit of the building myself, I did hire some help with various things, like the roof... I dont do high places so I got some local boys come over and put that up for me, and the cabinet work wound up being almost entirely done by another friend of mine. He was an old retired cabinet maker by trade and I had hired him on to lend a hand because he wanted something to do. After the first couple of days of working together I managed to mess up a board with the router... he walked over and unplugged the power cords and basically told me he would take care of building the cabinets, if I wanted to help.... get out of his way and let him do things right. There was plenty of other stuff needed doing so I let him have at it. He is no longer with us, but those cabinets (his last job on this planet) are a constant reminder of him. I also hired some young bucks to build the deck out front, by the time I got to that point I was getting down health wise and wasnt ever going to get things finished without some help. That being said, I am indeed on a first name basis with just about every nail, board, screw and beam in the place, and yeah, it is rewarding to actually do the work instead of contracting everything out.


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

plowhand said:


> Nice job! Ain't many folk would try to build that without a loader. Glad to see that there are some folks left that know how to use riggins!


Thanks, I did use the front end loader on my tractor to set the first four sill logs, but from there on up I used the rig you see in the photos. I had built the rig several years before to set up a barn I was building. It was pretty easy to adapt it to setting up cabin logs and has been used for setting up quite a few log cabins here in my area.


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## chickenmommy (Aug 24, 2004)

YH, is that a porcelain on metal table top or counter top under those cast iron skillets? (pic #7) What was it originally? I have a picture in my head, interested to see if I am close


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## logbuilder (Jan 31, 2006)

Here is a little log cabin I built about 10 years ago. It is now my wood shop.


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

chickenmommy said:


> YH, is that a porcelain on metal table top or counter top under those cast iron skillets? (pic #7) What was it originally? I have a picture in my head, interested to see if I am close


It was the top off an old hoosier cabinet that I found at a yard sale. The old cabinet someone had left out in the weather and was well beyond repairable but that top makes an excellent grease shield.


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