Darryl's log home

The crane! We needed to hire a crane for 2 hours to move the garage ridge pole into place and another pole that would act as the garage door lintel. We couldn't move it ourselves using block and tackle as we had no lifting poles in that area of the building.  Darryl had welded U-brackets for the pole to rest on so it wouldn't roll off the top of the wall and crush the neighbors.  (He's checking they are positioned properly.) Now for the garage lintel.  We lifted it up and tried to place it on the pillars but it was a touch too long. Darryl had to shave off a few centimeters for a snug fit. A beautiful, white gum, nice and strong. It's starting to look like a house, now! ___________________________________________

Floor planks Darryl started processing the planking for the loft floor.  We had the planks made from the blue gum Darryl cut down 2 years ago. They had been kiln dried by Forest Creations, but they needed planing and sealing and to be cut to 2,4 lengths. They're heavy! (Wayne - helpful and grinning as usual!)                                                                    These are 'white eucalyptus' planks.      You can see the difference between them and the few 'pink eucalyptuses' planks standing near the        front door.   Doors Darryl and Wayne began to cut away the logs into carry-able sections. Chain-sawing a hole in a wall might look easy, but it took 2 days before the door fitted perfectly into the hole. (Most of Wayne's...

House ridge poles.  The main house ridge pole is made ready and slowly lifted up using three lifting logs and the pulleys attached to them....     ... higher... ... higher... And it's there. ______________________________ Gable ridge pole Now the other, smaller ridge pole needs to be lifted up and fitted on the center upright, underneath the ridge pole.  But Darryl has to 'shimmy' it off a bit for a snug fit. It starts to go up.... .... up... And it's there, perfectly snug. The ridge pole is lowered and rests beautifully on the three uprights. Timo and Precious - with safety harnesses - climb up and begin to drill holes through the ridge pole down into the upright.  Two re-bar pins will anchor each log onto each upright pole. ______________________ Anton and Blessing are moving fast with the garage walls. This door leads from the garage onto the...

The staircase will be circular - spiraling around a tree trunk.  We chose this log especially when cutting the tree down. We left the bumps, on purpose - to add character, (and to make it look like Rivendell in the 'Lord of the Rings.') We've had to move it from the slab, up across the walls, then angle it down...... .... down.... Down, down......                               Darryl is adjusting the straps attached to the block and tackle as the slope changes. ....down.....        Down through the flooring..... ....further down.... .....To stand on a pillar built especially as it's platform. There it stands! ________________________

Wayne built the loft floor  with Timo, Lobson (Spelled with an R) and Precious. The 3 big support logs had to be perfectly flat. The machined poles had to be placed exactly apart. Darryl made a jig to help space them accurately. (Mid-left side)      .... holes were drilled for the coach screws ....which were screwed on to the support logs underneath. _______________________

                           Moving on to the roof structure. We had to move 4 more LONGER lifting poles, 10 meters -   into place next to the shorter lifting poles. These long lifting poles are there to lift the ridge pole (the pole at the apex of the A-frame roof) up on to the top of the upright ridge post poles. A lot of the work is happening high in the air these days and the guys are showing serious balancing skills. Here you can see the longer lifting pole being strapped to the shorter ridge post pole. No, they're not on a lunch break! They were preparing the foundation for one of the long lifting poles to stand on. The long lifting pole and the shorter RP pole. (We've finished with the short, corner lifting poles which Wayne chain sawed up and took out.) Strapping the poles into place. A view from the inside..... ..... and the outside. All 4 long ...