In the last installment of Replacing a Rotted Log I left off where the log had been fitted and wrestled into position.
My next step was to fine tune the position and spike the log to the adjoining standing logs. I used galvanized spikes and drove them through the new log at an angle near each cheek at both the top and the bottom of the log positioned so that the head of the spike will be covered by the 
chinking. My crude diagram here shows the placement of the spikes from a few different views.
Since the log is being inserted to an existing log wall I am very limited as to the placement of the spikes and the size of the spike as I am having to attack the spiking from very awkward positions. I spike from two positions at each end and have drilled a tight pilot hole in the new log so that I do not run the risk of splitting.
read more replacing a log
Replacing a rotten log on a log home is no easy task. However it is an unfortunate task that sometimes may have to be tackled. Luckily there have been only a couple of logs that have needed to be replaced on this 100+ year old structure.
Here at the lodge a base log was in great need of repair. Being that the logs are all American Chestnut – which no longer grows to any size here in the U.S. since the blight that wiped them out in the 1920s and 
30s – a suitable replacement has to be located.
I choose Ash as a replacement. It has a similar grain as Chestnut and blends well. Ash also takes stain much the same and once stained its difficult to differ between the two. It provides very straight logs and is a nice hard wood with that I can easily obtain. Suffice it to say that I love getting my hands on a fine piece of Ash.
The log in question is a base log. A base log is the first log in contact with the foundation.
read more replacing a log
