Log Cabin Construction

Log Cabin Construction

In the winter of 2006-2007 I began cutting logs and preparing a site for a log cabin I was going to construct for a friend and former neighbor of mine. The location is on the easterly slope of Trembleau Mountain in Essex County, NY, about a half mile from the Western shore of Lake Champlain. Last winter all the logs were cut on the property, skidded and sorted, hand peeled and drawshaved, and stacked to dry. In the late spring all the dimension lumber for the cabin was sawn on a local bandmill from the logs also cut on the property to provide all the framing, flooring, ceiling and other pine lumber, and enough Northern Red Oak to do the final flooring in Oak. The cabin is a full-scribe Alaskan type cabin, which is quite different from modern 'D' log type construction. Each log is hand scribed and precisely fitted to the log beneath it, so no chinking of any kind is required and each log molds perfectly to the course below it. This is an extraordinary amount of work and requires great patience and a considerable amount of skill to achieve good results. The construction of the cabin over the winter of 2007-2008 and 2009-2010 is documented in the following pages with photos and descriptions.

  In the winter of 2006-2007 I began cutting logs and preparing a site for a log cabin I was going to construct for a friend and former neighbor of mine. The location is on the easterly slope of Trembleau Mountain in Essex County, NY, about a half mile from the Western shore of Lake Champlain.

  Last winter all the logs were cut on the property, skidded and sorted, hand peeled and drawshaved, and stacked to dry. In the late spring all the dimension lumber for the cabin was sawn on a local bandmill from the logs also cut on the property to provide all the framing, flooring, ceiling and other pine lumber, and enough Northern Red Oak to do the final flooring in Oak.

  The cabin is a full-scribe Alaskan type cabin, which is quite different from modern 'D' log type construction. Each log is hand scribed and precisely fitted to the log beneath it, so no chinking of any kind is required and each log molds perfectly to the course below it. This is an extraordinary amount of work and requires great patience and a considerable amount of skill to achieve good results.

  The construction of the cabin over the winter of 2007-2008 and 2009-2010 is documented in the following pages with photos and descriptions.