The Log house Project begins........

[Groo]

some people got in trouble who didn't over-finance.

I was OKed for a $145K house and got one for just over $90k. I then lost my job just over a month after moving in. I went through all my savings, got a much lower paying job, got a home equity loan (to pay off the credit cards I rang up while unemployed, for frivolous things like groceries), then got kicked down the job scale again. I owed about the original $90k at that point between the primary mortgage and the home equity loan. I looked into selling and quickly estimated it was worth about $30k on the local market. People didn't believe it when I told them that, but I saw the bank eventually sold it for $24,500 after the foreclosure, so I guess I was right after-all. Anyways, once I saw how upside-down I was, I knew a short-sale, dealing with 2 banks, would not be an option, so I quit paying. I left the place in like I was living in it (without all my garbage) and used that money to get out of dodge, and moved somewhere much cheaper to live.

I hated to do it, but I could no longer afford the payments, and had no other real options. I'm glad I am out of the city. That damned house was the only thing keeping me there that long. Once I saw that the roots I'd put down had withered, I was gone.

Had I not been laid off that first time, my life would be entirely different than it is now. I might still be in that house, but with it paid off.

 

[MotorSeven]

Groo, there are a ton of folks out there in your shoes and I can't imagine ever going through that...it had to be tough. My post was directed at the "speculator" home buyers that bought $5-800K houses when their income was only in the $100-ishK a year, didn't loose their jobs, but got bank "principal adjustments" because they were "overextended" and the their house value plummeted. Back when I was making $90K a year I bought a house for $115K and that was as much payment on a mortgage that I wanted.

Anyway, we got the denial letter, and it turns out the agent put is in for a $226K loan when we only asked for $205K.... My threshold for professional incompetence is getting lower and lower every day.

 

[MotorSeven]

Kiln is done except for flat black paint:

Cherry loaded on stickers to dry:

The rocks are for weight to help keep the boards straight. Exhaust fan installed:

 

[MotorSeven]

Tar paper to help with heat buildup:

All buttoned up:

 

[bindian]

Kiln is done except for flat black paint:

Rick,
About how long before it will be "cooked" and you can stick a fork in it? Will you finish with a clear coat or something different?
hugs, Brandi

 

[MotorSeven]

Rick,
About how long before it will be "cooked" and you can stick a fork in it? Will you finish with a clear coat or something different?
hugs, Brandi

Brandi, it's been drying in a shed for over 2 years, so I am guessing if we get a couple of weeks of full sun, that should run any lingering moisture out of the wood. I need to stick it with my moisture meter...not a fork:laughing: and record the moisture content.
This cherry was courtesy of a rare tornado that skipped through here tearing up a barn, a few roofs, stands of trees and power lines. Well, Lesley is thinking a pale green stain that is opaque and shows the grain. I'm even ok with painting it since we are in "woodgrain overload" everywhere else. But, I am going to build the cabinets first then let her decide if and what she might want to color them with.

 

[pacerron]

M-7
Since you got slammed on your financing for the circular stairs or elevator I was wondering if you ever considered "disappearing stairways" for the loft and the basement to 1st floor. Stairwells are a waste of space the 98% of the time they are not used and floor space is a premium at your place.
There are all kinds of disappearing stairs from simple to fancy and from rope pull to electric. The hole to the basement could be covered with a walk on hatch and the stairs to the loft could be incorporated so nothing shows and no floor space on the loft is lost.
You could design the layout so a minimum of modifications would be required later if you want to go ahead with the circular stairs or elevator.
You might even decide the disappearing stairs are more practical after living with them for awhile.
Just a thought.
Ron

 

[tnmike]

Paint? Painting cherry would be a grievous sin and you would surely be banished to the dark side forever.:confused2:

Nice job on the kiln. I assume that you are manually controlling the fan. You may want to consider a snap disc thermostat in the future.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Solar-Panel...854?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cc6196d16

Are you going to monitor the temperature inside the kiln at full sun? Im wondering about the amount of airflow.

 

[MotorSeven]

Pacer I've run the gamut....everything from a Fire Pole to No Stairs to a Ladder. I really want the spiral, so I am just going to take my time, do some other things and see if some money cannot catch up to me. I might even build them myself...might, since it would be a huge undertaking.

Mike, I hear ya....yes PAINT

. But, I'm still thinking a translucent stain, or just doing the frames, or doors or vice versa. Gotta get 'em built first, then step back and decide.

Yes, I will be sticking a digital thermometer in their asap.

 

[tnmike]

The wood gods might forgive you for translucent stain but not paint. A mix of stained frames and oiled doors might look nice. Concrete counter tops would top it all off.

One advantage to a kiln that most people do not think of is the high temperatures kill the creepy crawlers. :thumbsup:

Let us know how high the temperature gets in full sun.

What have you decided to do on your water?

 

[MotorSeven]

I finished the floor yesterday. I had almost as much runout on the 200 sq ft loft as I did on the main floor(go figure). Chased a "hook" at one end almost the the whole time...worked it out, then the other end snuck up on me hooked about a half inch at the very end of the run. Anyway, it's all done, so I cleaned up and shot some pic's:

The loft:

 

[MotorSeven]

Then I finished the two sections of porch rail:

 

[MotorSeven]

While I was out on the mountain foraging for the cedar rail wood, I somehow stepped over a blow down cedar and onto another limb which caused the root ball to see-saw up and stab me in the back of the left thigh. Tore my pants and made a nice abrasion which later turned into a really cool 8" blue green bruise. So I took a look at this root ball, and immediately thought it looked like a dragons head....: horns, snout and serpent like tongue. So I decided to "Slay the Dragon" and cut it off the rest of the tree. I have had it up at the house for some time trying to figure out how to "display" my mount.
Here is the Dragons head:

Side view(kinda):

So here is what I came up with:

It's mounted int he center of the deck looking out over the driveway:

 

[MotorSeven]

I guess this really make it "Av-ant Guard" eh?


Here is a pic of the different kinda monster "Scrap Pile":

After all that, I was sitting on the deck and decided that the creek view was shrouded in a bunch of "sucker trees". I spent the rest of the day down the 200" embankment cutting trees and "shrubbery"{said in a high nasal English voice}

 

[Ranger Rick]

I guess this really make it "Av-ant Guard" eh?


Here is a pic of the different kinda monster "Scrap Pile":

It looks like you have a bunch of work to do to get that kindling ready to burn in your wood stove this winter.

After all that, I was sitting on the deck and decided that the creek view was shrouded in a bunch of "sucker trees". I spent the rest of the day down the 200" embankment cutting trees and "shrubbery"{said in a high nasal English voice}

In a few years you will be sitting on your deck and you will say what happened to the view of the creek. Just the other day I was like you down cutting saplings that had grown up in the last few years blocking the view of our pond from our house. I still have more to do.

 

[forgeblast]

Btw love the dragon head. Looks great its nice to check things off that list.

 

[bindian]

I have a pine knot that looks like the head of Woody Woodpecker.
hugs, Brandi

 

[MotorSeven]

With so much grain it's interesting what "pops" out of the walls inside...all kinds of shapes, faces, animals etc. I think I posted it while laying the log walls, a rather large inclusion shaped exactly like an Orca. A little black & white paint will really make it stand out.

Thursday, I ordered 3 different grits of sand paper for the floor: 50, 80 and 100. It should be here this week and I will start sanding the floors. Appliances are in, so i have to go pick them up at Sears: LG side by side, Wall Oven w/microwave on top, Gas Coooktop.
Once the floors are done, it's interior walls then wiring, then kitchen cabinets.

 

[forgeblast]

If you do want to make the shapes pop a bit, I would not make it obvious. Use thinned down paint and just give the hint of a shape, let a persons eye make the connections.
I love our knotty pine great room, I use a lemon oil cleaner every year and this year with out having the wood stove dry everything out it still has a bit of gloss in the knots.
I was thinking about that dragon head when I was out cutting our grass. What if you could put a light under it so at night it looks like its breathing fire(redbulb)?

 

[MotorSeven]

What if you could put a light under it so at night it looks like its breathing fire(redbulb)?

...and a couple of Cat Eye marbles for eyes:thumbsup: