Monday, May 17, 2010

Welcome to the House of Fallen Timbers

For many years I have been cutting up fallen trees for firewood that piles up waiting for those occasional evenings when I build an outdoor cook fire.

Most of the wood is dead Elm and stands in the woods for years before it falls.

This year I thought I'd try something completely different. I decided to build a log cabin. I hoped to use the Poteaux-en-Terre method that the first French settlers of the Illinois Country used in the eighteenth century.


4 comments:

  1. Really amazing, good luck is this adventure, seems you are well on your way! Really look forward to following your progress

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  2. A few questions;
    1) What type of life expectancy are you anticipating on the floor joist you painted-it would seem it will not hold up as long at the tx utility poles.
    2) Is there any downfall from using trees that have already fallen/dead?
    3) Is anything special mixed in the chink to strengthen it?
    Thanks Andy

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  3. 1. I am concerned about the life expectancy on that middle log. Sounds like I need to get the whole thing up off the ground while it is still easy to lift.

    2. The worst part of using only dead trees is that I can't pick and choose trees based on straightness and diameter like I could if I had my druthers. The good part is they are already pre-dried, practically de-barked and shouldn't shrink much.

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  4. Oops forgot #3
    I have several bags of concrete mix left int he garage by the previous owner of the property. I plan to use that for chinking. From what I have researched, it needs to be mixed with some sort of binding material like straw to hold it together.

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