August 30th - Log On!

Joe is moving the remaining 2 bunks of warm board down to the lumber yard on the highway. Fabian and Dylan have started digging the huge hole required for the 1,000 gallon septic tank. By noon the hole is finished and a layer of gravel on the bottom.

The delivery truck arrives with the septic tank. It has an overhead rail crane that hangs off the back of the truck. The tank is specially equipped with grooves that hold cables around the tank and allow it to be picked up. Within 15 minutes the tank is set in place. The tank is located on the north side of the cabin. Next Fabian moves the excavator into the front yard and begins to dig an even bigger hole for the leach field that the engineer has designed. Dirt from the hole is being hauled up behind the house by Susan in the dump truck. We have been waiting to backfill around the garage without having to haul outside dirt in. The long wide hole across the front of the lot will connect with the hole for the tank.

Down at the bottom, the excavator bucket hits a huge rock. Without success we have a pow-wow to discuss the next step. Joe goes home to call the blaster as it appears we will need dynamite to remove the rock. All we need is another 3’ deep to get down at least 2’ below street level which is at least 10 feet below floor level. While he is gone, Fabian switches machines and is on his smaller backhoe now cleaning the hole out. We will have to drill the rock for dynamite charges.

Dave Fabian has more experience excavating in Rico than anyone else. He is determined to try once more and by coming in at a different angle, the huge rock begins to break up in smaller pieces. He goes as far as he can with the smaller machine and now it appears the big excavator will be able to finish the job. By the end of the day, the majority of the rock has been removed. His persistence has saved me a ton of $ today. Thanks Dave.

The tool truck arrives today with a new Big Foot Circular Saw. This big saw makes the job of cutting larger timber a much easier job. I elect to pick up a new level and Greenbay purchases a new cordless drill and impact as well as new framing hammer. The phone man has shown up today and within a short time we have a live phone line hung on the wall below the new electrical service.

Greenbay and I have spent the day playing Lincoln Logs….we have nearly ½ of the aspen logs stacked and fastened in place by evening. The majority of the morning is spent cutting and fitting the 2 lower courses of logs. We have had to replace several that were badly rotted. By figuring out where new doorways and windows will be replaced, we have been able to take logs out of those sections and use them for replacing some of the decayed lower logs.

Cutting the dovetails takes time, double checking measurements and careful planning. The idea is to make the replacement log not look like a replacement. Using the same size original logs make it much easier. It’s worked well and looks like we will easily have enough logs to make the repairs. We use a combination of construction adhesive on the corners, along with 10” & 6” Olees, one of the greatest fasteners made. Large slots cut on the ends of the logs at door and window openings will allow us to install vertical 2” x 4”s which will give us a surface to attach our window and door jambs. Once we have established a window and door header height, we will use a chain saw to cut the window openings. They require no predrilling and only require a powerful drill with a hex head bit. They don’t break either.

I had the idea to drill large holes in the area where I want to run electrical lines. With the first course of logs up, I use Greenbay’s Hole Hawg and drill holes through the logs at a slight angle down thru the floor and into the crawl space. With each consecutive course added I continue the drilling process. This should save some time down the road when running wiring from the crawlspace. Since the cabin has been in storage for nearly 2 decades, the logs fit together unbelievably well with virtually no trimming or cutting. By the end of the week we should have all the logs up of this new old cabin.

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