More Finishing Puzzles!

Some days we wonder why we didn't just build a plain 'ole 'stick' house - you know, out of 2x4's. It would have been so simple. In the next breath we are happy that we didn't, although the finishing issues in log home construction are definitely dicier! Just be sure to get yourself some expert finishing carpenters. We did, and what an amazing difference it makes!

Remember this puzzle? Well, take a look at the next pix.

This is the same intersection but finished! Two coats of polyurathane will make new boards look like they were always there.

A view of the same intersection from below.

Now you can see where Art added a final touch to the beam as it extends over the vertical bank of logs. COOL!

Jacks are located at major stress points in a log structure, and here you can see them under the two vertical posts. One of the last finishing touches will be to add a wrap-around wrought-iron casement to cover the jacks where they interface with the hardwood flooring. We will show you what they look like once they are installed.

A close-up view of one of the supporting jacks.

Jacks are strategically located throughout the log structure and must be specially handled by the finishing carpenter. Like the floor-level jacks, these at the ceiling need to be covered but in a way that will allow easy access to the jack in the future.

And this is our agreed-upon solution! Every ceiling-level jack is covered by fluted panels (above) so they can be easily spotted.

But not all finishing jobs involve carpentry. Here Brandon applies a bleach product to a beam that obviously suffered some weather damage during the months of dry-in. This and other beams were obviously not sufficiently protected from the elements. Once the beam is dry a painter will come along behind and double-coat it with polyurathane. For sure, you cannot be impatient when building a log home. These things happen!

We left this puzzle 'til later. No one wanted to tackle it. The stair case was originally set in backwards (!) Therefore a beam used to be here that then had to be moved to accommodate a reversed stairwell. See the resulting indentation in the wall?

Voila! Dr. Ellen thought of this one..we now have a pocket on the stairwall for a small high-beam flashlight. (Cool, huh?)

Earlier we had to carve out some expansion space around this 8-inch log that the chimney is built around. The finishing job requires Brandon and Darryl to make a custom collar to hide the expansion space.

It's perfect!

The collar is only attached to the 8-inch log, not to the roofing structure. This will allow the beam with collar to settle and shift without damaging surrounding structures.

A few dabs of PowerGrab settles the collar against the masonry and keeps it from shifting on the log itself.

And, finally, we added a few glass blocks over the 8 ft tall front door to give it some added character.

It will be finished once the grout is hardened...and it will become an interesting source of ambient light in the front foyer.

We added a similar touch to a guest bath to focus more ambient light into the shower (on the right). There is a window lower down on the wall to the left next to a vanity.

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