by Todd Walker
The floor of the log cabin is really not much different to install than a normal stick-built house. The challenge comes when attaching the flat rim joist to the round sill logs.
Shims go in the larger gaps between the rim joists and sill logs.
I used my electric hand planner to flatten high spots and knots on the sill logs so the rim joists could be attached plumb and in a relatively straight line. I shimmed the rim joists where there were decent gaps, and there will be gaps when building with carrots (logs with a small end and a big end).
Way back when I dug the foundation piers, I planned to have enough piers, 35 to be exact, so no floor joist would span more than eight feet. I’m glad I over-engineered this part of the build. The rim joists sit on the piers and are screwed to the sill logs to help distribute the floor load.
The main girder beam
I glued and screwed four 2″x8″x16′ for the main girder beam to span 32 feet through the center of the cabin. Again, no joist or girder beam ran over 8 feet without support from a pier.
Joists cut to length and ready to be nailed into joist hangers.
I try to work as efficiently as possible when alone. One time saver I’ve used over the years for hangers is a pneumatic palm nailer. There’s no way I wanted to drive over 1,400 nails with a hammer into joist hangers.
Rosie doing her inspection run.
Once all joists were in, a temporary door opening was cut to start laying subfloor. I used 3/4″ tongue and groove OSB (Advantech) and glued and screwed each sheet to the joists to reduce the chance of squeaks later.
Subfloor completed with Rosie’s approval.
Closing up the gable ends enough to keep rain off the subfloor was my next project. I used 2×6’s to frame the opening on 2 foot centers. Roofing underlayment was tacked to the frame until I get ready for a finished gable exterior, probably board and batten.
The front porch floor was built the same as the inside floor except pressure treated lumber was used. I’ll build the roof later. What matters now is that Kathy and I have a place to sit and watch the ducks and other wildlife on the lake.
These joists ran less than 6 feet to the girder.
The deck is Poppy approved.
The front door rough opening makes enjoying the lake easy.
My next project is to build the loft floor. I picked up the beams from the mill the other day. They measure 3″x10″x 16′ and weigh more than I want to lift. I’m having custom hangers made to handle these big boys.
16 loft beams
I’ll update y’all on the next log cabin blog.
Keep Doing the Stuff of Self-Reliance,
Todd
