First Logs
	Following the natural progression of any construction after floor joists comes..... You guessed it, the floor.
Installation of 4'x8' 3/4" T&G OSB is not light work. It took over 3000 nails to do the job. All we can say is thank God for pneumatic nail guns.
With the floor completed all measurements are checked and double checked. When all the logs are pre-cut at the factory it's very important that everything is square and all dimensions are correct.
A little bit of prevention is worth an ounce of cure. Kuhns Brothers recommends some sort of water seal over the OSB just in case it rains before you get the roof on. We used Thompson's Water Seal. Now if we could only get it to rain in the middle of the dry season.....
The first log is in place. The logs are tied to the 4"x10" Hemlock rim joist with 12" lag screws every couple of feet. An electric impact wrench is used to do this. Each log as they are stacked is attached to the course below in the same manor.
		At inside corners a 6"x6" solid post is used to connect the logs. These posts are also used where a log wall connects to an exterior stick built wall such as the garage. Each log has a grove in the end as does the post. A plywood spline with plenty of caulking is used to align and seal the connection and a pole barn nail is used to tie each log to the post as they are set in place.
The first course is finally complete. This course is the most difficult since it has to be perfectly aligned. All subsequent log courses depend on this one being just right so taking a little extra time here will save time in the long run.
The final task is the temporary installation of the door bucks. This material is installed and aligned to the rough opening of each door. They will be removed later and reinstalled with a foam gasket before the doors are permenantly installed but for the moment they are used to insure that each course of logs is aligned correctly. This way the walls wind up straight and 90 degrees to the floor.
That's all for this week. We will be continuing laying logs until the first floor is complete. We are hoping to lay about 2 courses per day..... It was 92* today and we are finding that with the 6000' altitude and the temperature so hot we seem to be running out of steam by about 2:00 PM every afternoon. We're going to start work a little earlier in the day but I can't help but think maybe we should have started this in January.....
				Check back soon.