When I built our house, I decided to build a timber frame with log infill walls. This way, settling wouldn't be an issue as far as windows and doors were concerned. In addition, because I was using shorter lengths, I would be able to handle the logs myself, by hand; although the twelve foot lengths on one wall pushed my limits near the top. I purchased short logs from a builder who turned logs for kits they sold. The logs were all cut from dead standing timber and turned to eight inches. In addition to being cut from dead timber, I let the logs sit for two year until I started putting up the walls. During this two years, we lived in the basement which I built of treated timbers and framing and treated plywood and wrapped in poly.
I dug the basement with a rented Bobcat. mixed and poured the concrete to set the posts and poured the floor. Put in the septic system. I built the main floor and put a roof on top. of it and insulated the floor. We lived in this for two years while I spent my spare time hunting and fishing. After two years, I was feeling a little pressured. I waited for what looked like the beginning of a stretch of dry weather then I built a deck on the front of the house, so I would have a place to work, and started construction. The house was to be a smallish (24x40) two bedroom with a loft. The upright timbers were cut from the logs I had. I cut two sides flat with a chainsaw and smoothed them with a hand plane. I then attached a strip to each side. These strips would fit into a slot cut into the logs which filled in between the timbers. The ridge beam consisted of some spruce 4x12" which were notched into the tops of four upright logs which were sixteen feet long. I started on the walls around the 7th of August and I was putting on the roofing by the 10th of September. The 10th of September signaled the start of elk season and the end of construction for the fall. I got back to work and put in the windows and doors in late October. I finally got it to where we could move upstairs the following Christmas. A more industrious fellow could have done it all in three months, I figure. In the end, we had a house which has served us well for 25 years (plus three in the basement). I dug the hole, I built the house. I did the plumbing and the wiring. I shoveled the gravel and mixed and poured the concrete. I didn't borrow a penny. If I did it again, I would do some things a little differently but not too much. GD
