From the category archives:

Workbench

Building A Rustic Log Arbor

by Bearfort · 1 comment

in Workbench

Fairly recently I had built an arbor for the garden using branches cut from the surrounding property. Within less than one season the hastily made and rickety structure came crashing down into a heap of debris during a thunderstorm. Lesson learned.

scraping off the barkI wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice. This time I would build it to withstand such storms by using logs.

A neighbor who had been clearing some additional land for pasture had the perfect timbers. The four to five inch diameters would provide a bit more heft and if properly fastened together, prepared and preserved the arbor should stand for quite some time. I hope.

Last time I built the arbor I had left the bark intact. Not this time. Leaving the bark on, although aesthetically pleasing, provides the perfect environment for insects and moisture to collect and deteriorate the wood. I had violated log building 101 – remove the bark.

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Remodeling a Small Bathroom in a Log Home Part 4: Cleaning Logs

by Bearfort · 1 comment

in Small Bathroom Remodeling,Workbench

Now that the weather has warmed up work has resumed on the remodeling of the small bath and shower installation. Previously we had demolished the old bathroom.

Cleaning Logs:BeforeThe two stick frame walls have been insulated and covered in a plastic vapor barrier. The log wall shown here in the first photo has not seen the light of day for probably 50 years or more and needed a serious cleaning. The tops of the logs were covered with a thick black soot from years of coal and wood burning heat.

Using my home recipe for cleaning logs I have gently washed down the logs with a soft bristle brush. This process will brighten the wood slightly. However once clean I will re-stain and seal the logs at a later stage of the construction.

[click to continue…]

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A Kitchen Cupboard Reborn: Saved from the Ashes

For years it had sat in boxes and crates in the recesses of a storage area in the barn back in Illinois. As a kid I remember many times having to move it here or there with instructions to keep the boxes together when ever that part of the barn was ‘reorganized’. Each box had [...]

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Remodeling a Small Bathroom in a Log Home Part 2: Designing a Copper Bathtub

The shower attached to the small bathroom, as discussed in the previous installment, has been removed and the space opened up to its original 6 by 6 space. The narrow door as seen in this photo is only 19 inches wide and leads to the bathroom. The walls have been stripped of the cheesy press-board [...]

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Making a Rustic Pot Rack for a Log Home Kitchen

Ineeded a pot rack here at the lodge. I couldn’t have one hanging overhead with cathedral ceilings in the kitchen and even if I could I didn’t want to interrupt the space. I use my copper pots and pans. What is the point of having them if you don’t use them? I have seen iron [...]

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Disguising Track Lights in a Log Home Kitchen

I have not been a big fan of track lighting but it does have its place and time. In an effort to provide more light in the kitchen here at the lodge, the previous owners had installed track lights on the log trusses overhead. As if Ethel Merman stepped in to sing Ave Maria the [...]

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Remodeling a Small Bathroom in a Log Home Part 1

The bathroom remodeling has begun. The original bathroom had lovely salmon floor tiles. The walls were covered to a height of 48 inches with cute white 4×4 tiles with delicate little blue and pink flowers. A built-in Medicine cabinet with fluorescent tube lights helped to illuminate the brilliant sunflower-yellow sink and tiny white toilet. The [...]

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Log Home Details: A Touch of Whimsy with a Black Locust Deer

I had been given this little refrigerator magnet of a twig deer head and thought it would look good life-sized and figured it would serve well as a rather whimsical way to greet guests to the lodge. The charming but goofy looking little deer was of simple twig construction.

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Log Home Repair & Restoration: Rail Against the Machined

One of the many tasks on the list here at the lodge is to replace a railing that had been removed yearsago on the second floor deck. The 16′x16′ deck also serves as the roof for the master bedroom below. The previous owners had removed the railing most likely at a time when they resurfaced [...]

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Log Home Chinking: Simulating a Chinked Log Wall

I get a lot of emails from readers asking questions about chinking. Recently a reader emailed me with regard to a project that he is planning. Using 1×10 boards with about a 2″ space in between he wants to create a log like wall with chinking between the boards. The wall will be standard insulated [...]

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