Another Change Midstream

Hi Friends!

I think I must have a touch of Spring Fever. I've been excited to go outside, until I get too hot in the sun.  Then I'm back inside staring at Haley's house. I've had another idea to change things up.

I've been thinking about the bathroom. Where I wanted it and how big it should be.  I taped up the house so I could see how the rooms look with wallpaper. I had some wood scraps I used to help identify the bathroom's location.

Eric is the one that had the best idea.  The house has an access bay that opens up on the house's side. He pointed out that the bathroom would fit perfectly there.  I had to show Haley and get her input. She liked his idea, so that's my new direction.

 
I will need to make the two walls and another door now, but we will have a real bathroom! I think the other side will make a great reading nook for the rest of the bedroom.

Now, I can mark these new walls, and get back to work!

Log Cabin's Nearly Done

I can see the end in sight! The finishing touches on the cabin are coming together. Let's catch up.

I assembled the ladder / staircase according to the instructions. It's nice. It works out better than steps made from junky plywood in the same design for inexpensive plywood houses.

The windows all have pine trim. I opted not to use the logs as described in the manual. They were too bulky-looking. Instead, I used a thinner 3/8" trim with mitered corners.  These windows are open without plastic or PVC. The front door opening got the same trim.

I assembled and glued the porch trim and posts. I'm still considering the gable peak trim. I'm thinking about changing the facing trim but keeping the cross-timber design so it's matches the porch.

Coming soon, the front door, the fireplace, and stain. Yippee!

Log Cabin Roof Installation

I had to do the roof in phases. I started with the larger pieces that fit over the main body of the cabin.

I used my not-so-technical system of clothespins to get it in the right place before applying glue.

I applied wood glue and cinched it down with twine.

Afterwards, I tightened up iffy spots with some Zap-a-gap CA glue with a squirt of setting accelerator.

Later, I did the same process for the front gable roofing.

Then, the porch roof and the porch railing on the sides went up. It's looking pretty good!

Coming soon, the ladder, window trim, the door, and the rest of the porch railing!

Log Cabin Assembly Part 4

It's been a busy summer for us, so I've spent the last two months mostly ignoring the cabin project. That is, until this past week, and I've kicked it into high gear!

I sanded and sanded and sanded. I decided to install the floors with the flat side up. I got the main floor installed one evening, then the front porch the next evening. The following evening, the second floor went in. I was on a roll!

Since this cabin is pretty large, we got out one of Justin's big clamps, plus the smaller clamps I love and the twine to really tighten joints up and keep things together. I used mostly wood glue, but I also used Justin's gap-filling CA glue on a few odd spots.

Just a note, if you happen to glue your fingers together with superglue or CA glue, nail polish remover that contains acetone will break it down. Yes, I did get glue on my fingers and sort of glued them into a really weird position.

Anyhow, Eric is pretty happy that I'm working on this again. He asked if I was going to paint it black and if I could put a Batman emblem on the front.

Sorry kiddo. Not what I had in mind.

I went back to the plan to see what was next.  I was hoping it was the roof. However, I forgot about the little 1" wide back walls. The last 3 days I've been gluing, sanding, and more gluing the little 1" and 2" scrappy pieces together in place.

Coming soon, the main roof, also the porch supports and porch roof. Assembly is nearly complete!

Log Cabin Assembly Part 3

To connect the front walls and side wall assemblies, I had to get faster with the glue. No dilly dally!

I started out by fitting everything together. It was not perfect. There are a few gaps here and there, but I wasn't ready to crack things apart so I could try to get them perfect.  Perfection was not happening.

I used a small paint brush to paint the wood glue onto the areas that would touch and be glued.

I squished everything back together. The floor is in place but not glued at this point. I wanted it there to keep the walls square.

Then I clamped here and there, and finally used twine to snug up things together.

My son thought the twine was an awesome addition to the fort. He said it was an electric fence. He also said it was a good idea to keep out the bad guys, like the bad ninjas.

I love his imagination!

Log Fort Assembly Part 2

After many little things have come and gone, we are back to making (slow) progress on the log cabin.

I swear, even using good wood glue and clamps, these wall will just crack apart if you look at them the wrong way. The kids really want to help, so I let them hand me things so they don't get messy from the glue.

I had to repair the walls a few times before we could actually interlock them to glue them together. Then during the interlocking and gluing step, I had one of the smaller front walls come apart. I'm sure this will happen again and again before I'm done with the whole house.

Justin came up with a clever way to square up the walls and hold them together snugly while waiting for the corners to dry. He used twine to wrap the side walls a certain way. I can't really describe how he did it, but it worked. If you look closely at the photo below, you can see the twine still on one side wall assembly.

 Coming next, interlocking the front with the sides! Then after that, installing the floors and gluing them into place.

Log Fort Assembly Part 1

Since we work, we have to find time in the evenings to work on projects.

Slowly, the log walls are coming together. The front wall with the window and door need a bit more work for the interlocking logs to fit. Of course, we've been sanding everything as we fit them together.

 Also, I need to glue on a few support beams for the front porch roof and second floor. We're pleased with the results this far.

Eric's Fort

Many, many years ago, I purchased the Shenandoah log cabin kit by Dura-Craft. I got it on clearance sometime around 1998. I started assembling it, and then things happened so I put it away and forgot about it. Over the course of a number of moves, there were a few casualties. Things fell apart, the chimney broke, I lost, then found, then lost again various pieces or the instructions.


This past weekend I decided enough was enough. I told Eric I was going to build him a fort for his superheroes. I tore up the garage to find everything. I spread it on the dining table to see what I had to work with. I told myself I had to get it done in time for Eric's birthday, which was only 30 days away.

See? Instructions!  Everything I needed to find, I found.

Then, I started working on it. I had to identify which broken pieces went where and which wall or roof pieces was which.  It really wasn't that difficult. I started to fit the walls together, which meant sand and trim where the logs interlocked. I was using a little piece of sandpaper, sitting at the table.

Then Justin said, why don't you use the power sander?

Power sander? Good idea!

Before long, Justin was showing me what to do, how to sand it just so, and lending a hand when I got tired.

It's funny how my hobbies and interests take over so even Justin was excited about getting the fort done.We talked about stain, adding "chinking", what kind of stone to use to cover the chimney,  and finishing it with a final clear coat.

We  got to the point of dry-fitting together both the left and right side wall assemblies with the bottom floor. We got a lot done in one lazy Sunday. Progress is so exciting!

For the rest of this week, I will continue re-gluing the front wall and roof sections, sanding, and fitting them together.