When people see the house they invariably ask the question “Where in the world did you learn how to do this?” Well, a lot of it is trial and error, but my very first experiences with building were with a Lincoln Log set…yes….that’s what I said. I LOVED playing with Lincoln Logs BUT i always ran out of the green slats to make the roof, I guess because I always built them too big!
My career was in Facility Management, so for about 30 years I hung out with guys and tools every day, supervised mostly maintenance, but several construction projects, and as I posted earlier, my ex-husband and I built two log houses from scratch. One thing I have discovered is that it is much easier to ask someone to go do something than it is to do it yourself. Those guys all knew what they were doing in their trades and they made it look easy!
Living in a log house was a lot of fun because they are so easy to decorate and if you make sure all the cracks are sealed, they are relatively easy to heat. They are dark though, and for that reason I chose to build a timber frame home. I love the exposed beams and rustic look, but wanted lighter walls this time.
I started looking through magazines, online, going to visit timber frame manufacturers, and even put a deposit down on a timber frame from a North Carolina company. After a month of worrying about being able to afford it, I found the book “Timber Framing for the Rest of Us” by Rob Roy and that opened up my eyes. I didn’t have to do all those fancy mortise and tenon joints on timbers, just simple notches and metal plates. A call to the timber frame company cancelled my order (thank goodness they were running way behind) and I started drawing up plans.
I wanted a simple house, but larger than the one that burned–it was only 24 x 24 and there wasn’t room in the house anywhere that I could set up my quilt frame or get away from the constant drone of the tv, except outside. I found a plan which utilized a simple grid of 8×8, 8×10 and 8×12. The house is 32×40, with the 32 foot dimension divided up into 8 foot bays and the 40 foot dimension divided up into 2-10 foot bays (living/dining area), one 8′ bay (bathroom/closet/part of kitchen) and a 12′ bay (bedroom/foyer/pantry/rest of kitchen). A loft upstairs is my quilting/sewing/craft studio and spans the 8′ and 12′ bays.
During the two years since running away from home I had collected 4 french doors at a yard sale, about 2,000 square feet of 3/4″ solid oak paneling from a restaurant that was being demolished, and the door from the bar which has the word “Lounge” etched in the glass (that was definitely going to be my bathroom door). At last the dream was coming together.
The same guy that put the driveway in dug the footers. We discovered that the soil here is truly crappy–really crappy. It is actually fill dirt from when TVA dug the canal, so it’s full of clay and rocks. The septic system was flagged for just off the edge of the fill dirt in the native soil, which is a wonderful sandy, loamy soil.
It doesn’t look like much at this point, but I was so excited!
Asking around town, I found a block mason to lay the blocks–I’m not very good at masonry work, although I did lay the blocks on the front side porch and they are still up 🙂
The porches didn’t go on until later in construction. Next item on the agenda was to grout in the anchor bolts…..then put down the pressure treated plate. This step went smoothly—I wish I had put the foundation vents in at that time, but I didn’t–brain fart!
next up….floor system.
Wild Things Farm 