“No chatting! Just stacking!” was my command to Jeremiah and Steve on Thursday. (I’m so mean.)

We have WORK to do, after all!  There’s no time for things like “rest” (what is that foreign term, anyway?) or chit chat.

Work work work! (I’m holding a whip in my left hand.)

Sigh…. Maybe it’s ok to let them sit and breathe every now and then. (Hmph)

Thursday was an “experimental” and problem solving day. Still embarking on first-time building situations, the guys got the feel for putting logs on top of other logs (and boy are their arms feeling it today!).  We get home in the evenings and they groan over how sore their arms are from incessant rebar pounding with the sledge hammers…but while groaning, they’re also smiling from ear to ear, and can’t wait for the next day.  We are all LOVING and ADORING every single minute of this process.

T-Rex (my other man…my telehandler) was the key team member, retrieving each log, delivering it to the wall, and suspending it in just the right place while the guys hammered (and hammered and hammered and hammered) the sticks of rebar through the top log and halfway down into the one beneath it.

Actually, first they lay the log on the ground, drill holes, and hammer rebar into the holes, and are then ready to lift it and continue hammering the rebar down into the log beneath the newest one. (Gina is in the last pic with steve.)

Every log will be handled in this way. After days of using the heavy sledge hammers over and over again, their arms were killing them. They made quick plans to get an electric demolition hammer. It will be in hand on Monday.

In case you’re wondering, the gaps between the logs will eventually be filled with mortar (called “chinking”) when we are done stacking logs. But in the meantime, we will have gap-filled walls of logs, that will probably seem pretty weird looking.

Because the logs are not directly touching or pressing upon each other, we can avoid such problems as settling and rot.

Also, you will notice how there are logs that extend way beyond the perimeter of the house. Those extra long ends are there on purpose. They are called “over-dangles”, and are part of a “Butt and pass” style of building a log home. On each layer of logs (called a “course”), 2 will “butt up” against the side of a log, while 2 will “pass” the corner of the house. This concept will make more sense when there are more rows and I take more pictures. This particular style was what Skip Elsworth created. His son taught the class we took. It’s been taught since the 60’s, and people all over the globe have built them. NO settling. No rot. No bug infestation.

Monday will be my job to use the rebar cutting machine to cut rebar sticks to size.  The guys will lift the logs and rebar them in place. The girls will take over the telehandler when I can’t be behind the controls.

My friend Mallory has come out here 3 times and has cleared 3 logs (she’s wearing green in picture).   She’s awesome!!! (She got $60 bucks for her efforts, too, though i had to force her to take it.).

Every work day ends with a hearty dinner and dessert. This particular day the girls, Jeremiah, and Mallory made us Toll House cookies, and even had to make homemade brown sugar! Yum!

The next post is “Tossing plans out the window”…click on link…

Or, click here to see the very beginning of the log home building process: What do Vegas and logs have in Common?   Or, click here to see what this blog is about: What is Cottonwood Creek?