Stick framing a second story on a log home is going to be an interesting project this summer.  In this first phase we will take this house from it current state (below) to a finished roof.  It will be double wall construction with one foot of cellulose insulation in the walls (r-38). Good thinking for Fairbanks, Alaska winters. There will be more details about the walls and roof line in future posts.

This scan of the basement floor plan shows the shape of the foundation.

This home has an insulated concrete form (ICF) foundation under the log structure.  The logs were cut and stacked offsite before being delivered and re-set on the foundation.  Tom Sorensen, local expert log builder, and his crew  stacked these logs.

The ICF’s and logs from the west.

Logs walls from interior (below). Note the joints in the prow (angled bay, right photo)…these are not easy to produce and you can hardly slip a piece of paper between the logs they are so tight. Tom, Justin, and Jeremy built tight log structures.

A couple shots from the top of the log wall.

The 2X6 structure in the above photo supported a tarp system to keep the logs from getting weathered and will be removed as the second story floor goes down.  The log beams running perpendicular to the long floor support beams are for the stair opening.  Brady, one of Tom’s hands, does some touch up sanding in advance of the floor going down so the grinder does not hit the tongue and groove (T&G) ceiling.

Above is a nice shot of the prow I mentioned before.  This bay will have a nice large window in it on both floors.  Again you can see the perpendicular beam that will support the floor around the stair opening.

We will be laying down the floor in the coming days so we can get the measurements for the roof trusses.  I will update this project weekly on Thursdays as we get into it.  Please feel free to leave comments here or on FB.

Cheers