Site Preparation
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Site Selection Water The site should be elevated above any swampy areas. The proximity to a creek or, better, a spring is to be sought; a creek may require purification of the water while a spring is less likely to so require. In our case, the site was about 20 feet above a marshy area and remarkably had a hidden spring along the east side of the cabin. Aesthetics Best if there is an overview of land from the front porch for enjoyment of the land and its flora and fauna. If hunting animals is of interest, the railing of the porch could be at heights supporting a rifle; the cabin then serves as a hunting blind. That function was built the design of our porch. Orientation Generally the lay of the land will determine the orientation of the cabin, as examples water and aesthetics as above. All these being equal, a southern exposure with front door facing south rather than the cold harsh wins from the north. We chose to have the front of the cabin to look north because of the nice overview, including the lake we were to cut in the marshing area fed by the spring. We in fact choose the cabin to point exactly to magnetic north. This help assure the cabin was absolutely square. Surrounding Trees We love the fact that the cabin is in the woods. However there were several trees that we lost in digging the foundation. Also there was a tree that was hanging over the anticipate cabin location that had to be removed - that would be difficult after the cabin was constructed. |
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The Foundation “The strata of time will usually be buried above the foundation of bedrock” (Anthony T. Hincks). The foundation must be strong and immovable. Stone Most commonly stones provided the base at the four corners. The recommended technique is to dig the holes three feet deep (below the freeze line) and a couple feet in diameter. Small or broken stones then are placed into the holes with substantial pack down. to ground level Then the large flat stones are placed on top. However, if the ground is quite firm, the stones may be simply placed upon the ground; this was the most common way the foundations of the early log cabins were constructed. This was the original technique used for this cabin. Posts Another technique is to use wooden posts. Posts should be used made up of a minimum of 10 inch diameter timber made of cedar as best or pine as examples. Obviously we are not allowing modern treated lumber. Sink the posts three feet into the ground and extending one to two feet above the ground. If one side is twenty feet or more, an additional mid-way post is recommended. Basement and bedrock In our case we noted early that Missouri bedrock was about five feet under the ground upon which we choose to build the cabin. This same bedrock formed the base upon which the spring would flow. Therefore we made the decision to have that bedrock be the foundation upon which to cabin would placed. This would also enable us to have a basement/ cellar. In order to accomodate my six feet 1 inch height, we need to extend the walls of the foundation about one foot above ground. Nice thoughts but the realities of digging out the basement even with a small excavator that would fit in the wooded area all the way precisely to the bedrock was a very big task. And once that was accomplished, it was appreciated that water travels along the top of the bedrock and resulted in water collection in the basement. We drained accumulated water, waited for dry weather and then started to lay the foundation upon the bedrock. The most desirable way to form the foundation would be stacked rock but the amount of rock required for a sufficiently thick wall on four sides would be enormous. Certainly I have never seen such a structure in any early log cabins. Instead, we constructed makeshift forms to pour concrete right upon the bedrock. This was tricky as the bedrock sloped and did not have a smooth surface. Also, it was not possible to remove all the dirt on the bedrock onto which the forms were placed so inevitably there were breachable gaps that could allow water through. 
Here is another picture of the early effort to form the foundation.illustrating the site with its trees, slope, and accessibility limitations.
Selection of Timber
First one must make the decision as to the size of the cabin. Each cabin is made of a single "pen" or room or two pens that are joined. The two pens might shared a fireplace or be connected by an open shared porch; this latter structure is called a "dog trot." Most pens have a maximum size that is dependent on the availability of the logs and their weight. For example white oak, the wood making up our cabin has a dry weight of about 50 lbs per cubic foot. A single squared off log size one foot by one foot by 21 feet, then would weigh 1x1x21 or 21 cubic feet time the density 50 lbs per cubic feet that equals about 1000 lbs. Most of our logs are a maximum of about 8 inches by 8 inches by 21 feet, weighing about 444 lbs, much more easily manipulated. |
This rather large excavator was not used to dig out the basement - a much smaller one was used for that purpose that could negotiated the cramped space. This excavator shown picked up the large bucket containing concrete and poured the foundation and later the basement walls (my collie Molly is pointing to the buket in the picture).
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