Done for the year....

Winter is here - supposed to get up to 6" of snow today - which means a foot up at the cabin. My Dad and I arranged the remaining 4x10's into a temporary roof - nailed down some plywood and put a tar paper on top of that.

It's been a great first phase and I look forward to getting back to it soon.

The garage - someday!

I have stacked the logs I will be using for the garage so they will dry. It's going to be a while before we get to the garage.....

A view from the top

The top floor of the cabin with traditional stick built - here is the view from our bedroom.

3rd Floor complete!

My lovely wife and I finished the decking on the 3rd floor and my Dad and I built the stairs.

3rd floor joists in place....

The joists for the 3rd floor are hung and in place. We are getting there - slowly but surely!

On to the 3rd floor

Once we finished the second floor we hung the joist hangers for the 3rd floor.

Stairs from 1st to 2nd floor

Another view of the second floor

and the top of Jerry's head.

The bookworm returns!

Here's Jerry Jenkins - Uber Worm - coming up the ladder to the second floor. The 2x6 tounge and groove is also complete.

View of second floor from above

Second floor joists are in place

This design has 2 lofts - what you see here is the joists that hold up the first loft (second floor).

Another view of the first floor

It sure looks great.

First floor is in....

After placing the joists we nailed down the 2x6 tounge and groove. Looks great and solid as brick s*@thouse!

The MVP of the project....

With a tear in my eye I bid farewell to the MVP of the project - the telehandler. This past weekend the telehandler went back to NationsRent. I don't know how we could have done this project as safely and quickly as we did.... farewell my friend - job well done!

Hey - it's my Dad in the door way!

Another big step was to cut in the front door.... it sure seems like a cabin now. The door way is smaller than the size we will need for the actual door.

Joists are 2' on center....

Ok - it's a bit of over kill....

Many of you are wondering - why is he using 4x10's for floor joists and those heavy duty joist hangers?

Well - I don't have a good answer except it seems like a good idea. :)

The joist hangers are made from 1/2" steel and have a total of 10 - 3" lag screws.... ya - even by my standards this way over kill!

Now comes the floor

Now that we have all - yes I mean ALL - the logs in place we move on to the floor. The floor is supported by a 4' wall in the crawl space. After the 4' wall was in place we started placing the floor joists in place.

The domer ridge pole

As you can see from the image at the top of this page - the domer is supported by another ridge pole. This one was a bit of bugger to get into place - but Ron, Dad and I got her in place after a few tries and bit of cussin'.

It's a cabin!

The ridge pole was a lot easier than we thought to get in place. After the ridge pole we started placing the rafters - we got 4 pairs up before calling it a day.

RPSL's! Can you believe it!

After row 16 we moved promptly on to the ridge pole support logs - RPSL's. They where a bit tricky to get over the wall logs (20 feet high) - but we managed.

My Dad's buddy Ron - "Uuurah"

My Dad's buddy Ron - a Marine (there is no ex-Marine's) is also pounding on row 16....

Richard "The Beer Man" lends a hand...

My lovely bride and our good friend Richard Lyman pound away on row 16 - yes - row 16 the very last row!

Ahhh - fall in Michigan

Leaves are falling and there is a chill in the air - WINTER IS COMING AND I GOT TO GET THE ROOF ON THIS THING!!!!

Oinkel Toad! aka my brother Todd

On Sunday we had the whole Heger clan there - my Dad drove the tractor and my little brother Todd came out to pound on the logs with us. Ol' Toad is an Engineer by trade but don't hold that against him. He did a pretty good job hitting the rebar - but did smack is ankle a good one.

If you see Toadly on the street today - don't wave to to him - his arms are going to be so sore that he won't be able to lift them up without whimpering......

Row 14 is up!

Row 14 went on this weekend - only 2 more to go. On row 15 I will place the second cross beam that the 3rd floor will rest upon.

It's not the fall that kills you...

it's the sudden stop!


Well it is now over 20 feet to ground on the inside side of the cabin and if I remember Myth Busters correctly - we are getting to the point where it could be a bit dicey if you fell.

I strung a rope 30 ft in the air (using my stable braid rigging line of course!) from one tree to another, intersecting the structure. Then I went to the local rock climbing store and got set up for safety! Now if you fall you ***should*** be fine. Let's hope we never find out! The picture shows the over head line with the two leads hanging down. I use my camera phone for the pictures so the quality isn't the best - but you get the idea.

An even dozen!

Yes sir, yes sir - it's an even dozen! As the rows get higher the work gets slloooowwwer - hauling the tools up, down and around just takes time. We need 16 rows so we are down to the final 4 rows..... I hope to have them in by next weekend. It might be sooner if I can russel up some help. After the rows are done it is RPSL's and the RP.

10 rows and time for scaffolding!

We are now on row 10 and it was time for scaffolding. It is over 16 feet down on to the inside of the cabin - far enough that it might leave a scratch if you fall.

The scaffolding was fairly cheap to rent - $675 a month - and makes my wife and mom very happy!

Southern Yellow Pine I Believe....

Here is a view of the ends of the 4x10's. Man are these joists a thing of beauty. I can't wait to get them in the cabin.

All the way from 'Bama!

Tuesday night I received a call from the trucker that he had my load of 2x6 tounge and groove and 4x10 joists..... he arrived around 7pm and we got the last load off just after dark.

Though he will never read this - thanks for your help and sharing your passion for Christ. It was good to meet you.

The North American Tufted Bobkeip.....

A few weeks ago a good buddy of mine stopped by to help out - Bob Kiep. Doesn't his name sound like some small woodland bird.... "and now you see the black tufted Bobkiep in its natural habitat..."

Anyway - he was a great help as usual! Remember to report any sightings of the black tufted Bobkiep to your local DNR office!

Enter the Gas Man!

No Art Primeau doesn't need Bean-0... he has extensive experience in the oil and gas biz and know's why gas goes up instantly when someone burbs in TX but takes weeks to pass through a 50% drop in oil prices.

Even with the lecture on gasconmics Art was able to master the telehandler and swinging the hammer. No sissy blisters for him like the book worm got a few days earlier....

Cousin Tommy to the rescue!

My cuz Tommy came by for the day and we worked him silly.

He's a young buck who swung the hammer with the best of them! He promises to be back - we shall see, we shall see.....

Book worms can swing hammers!

Yes friends - this is indeed Jerold R. Jenkins - book publishing mogal - pounding away today on row 8 of our cabin. Jerry's delicate hands haven't seen anything worse than a paper cut for years - but after today he has a couple of real-life blisters to show off to his fellow book nerds!!!

Thanks Jerry -you're welcome anytime - and I might even let you drive the telehandler next time!

The H3R Top-Secret Plans!

Here is the plans to make your very own H3R. The only cost for this amazing time and labor savings device is 2 dozen of your very best homemade chocolate chip cookies!

Hummmm cookies!

Hard at work - my Dad - Herbert E. Heger

Scampering up the logs like a young mountain goat - driving the telehandler - pounding in rerod with a fury that leaves his son slumped in the corner - it's my Dad - he only knows one speed - full throttle!

I hate pounding down the rebar....

So I fabricated a plunger system that uses the power of the boom to drive the rebar into the logs.

And down it goes!

The boom pushes the plunger down - with not a single swing of the sledge hammer.....

The results!

The 24" rebar is now driven 22" into the logs - and pounding in the last 2" is a lot easier!

7 Rows!

As you can see we are making great progress - here you see the best telehander in NW Michigan - my lovely bride Diane - next to the wall. 7 down and 9 to go!

Lifting the logs the easy way....

We rented a telehander - basically a fork lift that goes up/down and in/out. We use a strap that is rated for 10,000 pounds to lift the 3,500 pound logs. Once the log is in place we use log dogs (sort of big staples) to hold the log in place.

Closer view of the corner

This will look great when it's done - if my sissy muscles and hands can take it!

3 Rows Done....

Well - we have 3 rows now complete. The technique we are using requires us to pound a 24" piece of rebar through the top log and into the lower log.

I now am painfully aware of how much a computer nerd I am! This is hard work! My Dad and I can get 4 logs on in 5 hours - after which we collapse onto the ground.......

As Dad always says "If it was easy everyone would do it..."

Logs!

Now that's a pile of logs!

The First Row too!

Not being slackers - ol' Dad and I put the other 3 logs in place - total time to place the 4 logs was about 4 hours. Not too bad seeing as this is our first time doing this.

The First Log!!!!

Just behind the birth of my children was the joy I experienced as the first log was lowered onto the rebar and into place..... tears of joy almost sprang from my eyes - but it turned out to be sweat!

Dani says "Thumbs up to the Log Parade!"

My helper extrondinaire - Dani - was in charge of taking pictures - fine job Dani!

We're gonna get these logs up this hill dag nabit!

It's the Log Parade!

After having to dump 2 loads of logs at the bottom of the hill and carrying them up 1 at a time we got the bright idea to create a parade of POWER! The front end loader pulled the telehander which pulled the semi full of logs - and the whole mess was being pushed from behind by a bulldozer! As with most men - we responded with overwhelming force when confronted with a difficult task.....

Our first load of logs - YIKES!

After giving up on getting the logging truck up the muddy driveway - we had the logs unloaded at the bottom of the driveway.

The logs are much larger than I expected. I had made a scale model of cabin and ordered the logs based upon the model. After seeing the acutal size of the logs I might have way too many.... looks like everyone gets a log for Christmas this year!