The Bright Family Log Home Building Project
We are in the middle of building our dream home, and are glad to share our experience with you. Thanks for visiting our site.
The Land
We got some land that was perfect for a log home, and we've been dreaming of that for some time. These pictures show what the land looked like before anything started. This land belonged to the Nichols family (Ashley's father and grandfather) and has been in the family for years and years. It is a beautiful setting, and we are very blessed to have this land to build our dream home.
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The Basement Foundation Walls
Since we were building our house on the side of a hill, I wanted foundation walls that were strong and I wanted to be sure that there wouldn't be any water issues or settling/sliding issues. We chose Superior Walls for our basement foundation walls, and have been very happy with them.
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Framing Basement/Sub-floor
The framing for the basement and the sub-floor is being done by Big Daddy Construction. They have done a great job and have been a pleasure to work with because they take pride in what they do and do it right.
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The Logs
It was difficult to find the company we wanted to use for our log package. There are a lot of good companies out there to choose from. At a log home expo in Nashville, we met Colin and Shane from Chilliwack Mountain Log Homes in British Columbia, Canada. Their work was beautiful, and I've always loved the look of round handcrafted logs. We got a quote from them that was very reasonable, and the next day, we traveled to look at a home they had done in Blue Ridge, GA. It was awesome, and we were sold. They cut and assemble the home on their site in Canada, mark all the logs, then disassemble it, truck it here, and put it up again. The logs are Western Red Cedar and they're beautiful! The following pictures were ones sent from their work yard in Canada. The logs arrived on March 8, 2006.
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The Log Raising
It is hard to describe how excited we were when March 8, 2006 rolled around - well, anxious is probably a better word. Would they arrive as scheduled? Would everything come together as planned? Would the log truck make it up the hill to the house site? Would the rain hold off? Would the house fit correctly on the basement subfloor? All questions were answered with a resounding YES! Well, the log truck didn't actually make it on its own, but Shane had suggested that we have a dozer there ready to go just in case, and so the log truck made it with some help :) In 3 days, we had a log structure that was just awesome. Colin and Shane have good reason to be very proud of what they do.
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More Framing
Well, after a few days of the excitement of the logs arriving and going up so wonderfully, it was time to get back to work. So now what? I mean, it looks great and all, but we can't live in it yet. Again, Big Daddy Construction stepped up and did a great job of getting the roof structure on, walls framed, and porches built. Since the porches were not on when the logs were set, we had to get another crane out to set the posts and beams for the porch roof. I was worried since I wouldn't have Shane and Colin there to help, but I was blessed to have Charlie Klebenow, who is an experienced log home builder and all around great guy, to help. Check out how things look after the logs went up.
More updates to come. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at loghome@thebrightfamily.com.
Thanks for visiting!
Last updated 6/26/2006