Second story

We have six more logs to go to reach the top of the wall, which includes the two roof cap logs - and then we start with the ridge support poles, the ridge poles and the roof structure.

Darryl fell through the floor-boards of the flat last week which resulted in a Haematoma in his calf / shin area which is causing swelling round his ankle and foot and general soreness.

He can't put on a boot otherwise his foot turns purple....

(just in case you were questioning his casual foot wear on site!)

 Robyn is back after a serious knee operation - so father and daughter are both hobbling around the work site.

 (It hasn't stopped their genius though!)

We're busy on to the second story now, aiming for a total of 14 layers of logs.

They were offloaded from the truck on to the garage slab in a general order, but now they must be rolled in to the exact sequence for moving on to the structure. 

 While Darryl and Precious move one log, Stevan drills re-bar into the previous log and Timo hammers it all the way in.

Using block and tackle to lift an 800 kg log is like picking up a twig.

 

 

Once the log is positioned on top of the wall, it has to be fitted onto the previous log. This takes time as each log has natural bumps and odd curves which have to be planed off.
These bumps are marked with chalk.... The log lifted again and the protuberances planed off/ chainsawed off .... then lowered again and secured with ratchet straps.
The rule is that the two logs must rest securely on each other in least two places.

 Steven is about to ratchet the two logs together.

  

Here is a view from Black Hill over the valley.

We've started painting the flat. We've chosen a natural brown oxide mixed in with the cement slurry  with a waterproof base in lieu of water.
This is applied with a very large brush - to get a 'Rondawel wall' finish with the bricks still showing through. I wanted it to have a rough finish to match the natural, rough look of the logs right next to it.
This color will make the wood...  and any green pot plant really stand out.

 How awesome is this!

The plastering of the wall and the chinking between the logs.

Eventually I chose a paint color for the columns called 'Plaster.' I wanted it to blend in with the actual cement plaster chinking between the logs.

Here it's being applied over a white undercoat.

Well done Darryl and his team!

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