Posts Tagged With: Battle Creek Log Homes

day 6…OOPS!

Although we had initially arranged for our mechanicals contractor, Todd Hawkes, to line up an electrician, with the sudden unexpected arrival of the Battle Creek building crew, we had to go to plan B. We needed to begin the wiring as soon as possible as it has to be done while the log cabin is being built, unlike a standard home construction, where you can run the wire after the framing is complete. Fortunately, Mr. Lipham had an electrician that he’s worked with previously who happened to be available and was willing to drive up from Alabama to help us out.  Within moments of meeting Andy, we were thrilled to have him join our team and it soon became clear that he knew a little more about building log homes than just running wire.

The wiring having been started and framing of the rafters done, things were running pretty smoothly until, in the course of inventorying the timber that was still left, three large lamibeams were discovered. Since all the heavy timber beams were in place at this point, the crew went back to review the blue prints to figure out where they should have been. It was at this point that it was discovered that there were two sets of plans on site that were being used. The difference between the two, one being an engineer set, showing lamibeams in place of the heavy timber beams that run the length of both the ceiling of the first floor as well as the roof peak. Since it was the engineered plans that had been submitted for the building permit, that meant in order for us to pass inspection the solid timbers that were already in place would have to be switched out for the lamibeams which are slightly stronger.

While the crew broke for lunch, Dave, Mr. Lipham, and José discussed what needed to be done.

A bit of a set back to say the least, but Mr. Lipham, José and our fabulous crew took it in stride and, their main concern being to do things right, wasted no time in switching them out. That meant un-building much of the roof and first floor ceiling structure that was already in place.

Having successfully replaced the timbers on the roof peak, the crew switched their attention inside to the three beams that run the length of the first floor ceiling.

Although it put the crew a full day behind, we were all relieved that they were able to successfully replace all the beams with relatively few complications.  Hopefully that will be the last little hiccup during the building process!

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day five…framing the first floor

Having completed the outer walls the previous day, the crew moved their attention to the inside and began framing the first floor.

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day four…continuing to stack the logs

The crew wasted no time and was back to work bright and early Sunday morning.  Things were already in full swing by the time we arrived that morning.

We’d previously made plans to meet up with Bernard’s friends, Michael and Nona while he was down visiting, not knowing that we would be building that weekend.  Thankfully, they were kind enough to alter our Sunday brunch plan and instead drive down from Richmond to check out the cabin and visit for awhile at the lake so we wouldn’t miss out on watching the build. Michael has plans to build a log cabin at some point on his family property so he was thrilled to get the chance to see the work in progress.

We really couldn’t believe the amount of progress they had made in four days and decided to show our appreciation for their hard work by cooking lunch for the whole crew.

After the crew ate their fill, it was back to work.

By the time we left, they had almost completed the stacking the logs!

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the moment we’ve all been waiting for…

Day 2 & 3

After a great start on Thursday, the progress on Friday was slowed down due to the weather.  As the forecast had called for rain all day, Dave and I opted not to go down, thinking we wouldn’t be missing anything.  However, we were were mistaken. The crew had been able to finish the sub-flooring before the rain started so once the skies opened up, they went below and built the stairwell leading from the first floor to the basement. Fortunately, there were periodic breaks in the rain and they were then able to work up top and prep for the stacking of the logs.  George Lewis returned in the morning, before the rain came, and was able to do the back fill along the foundation so the crew no longer had to use a catwalk to get to the cabin. By the time Dave arrived Saturday morning, they had already stacked three rows!

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Dave arrived Saturday morning to find that they had already begun stacking the logs!

Though off to a great start, they hadn’t gotten far before discovering that some of the logs had not been notched properly. When put in place, there was a small gap between the logs that shouldn’t have been there.  The only solution was to hand cut each improperly cut notch so that the logs would lay flush. A little bit of a set back, but once the logs were notched properly it was smooth sailing the rest of the day.

A good friend of mine, Bernard Casey, had come down for a weekend visit so we were anxious to show him the place…by the time he and I arrived at noon along with Max, the place had really started to look like a log cabin!

By the time we left on the third day, we were absolutely amazed at the progress that had been made!

Wow, this is going to be a fabulous view!

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looking out at the lake from where the wall of windows will be

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enter Kenneth Lipham and his band of log craftsmen…

Having resigned ourselves to the fact that nothing more was going to happen with the cabin till November 11, we were rather surprised to get a phone call last Tuesday night from Kenneth Lipham, informing us that he would be arriving in town Wednesday morning, followed shortly thereafter by his building crew, and that they would begin construction on our cabin at dawn Thursday morning.  We were completely taken off guard (to say the least!) but made arrangements to drive down and meet him at the lake Wednesday afternoon.  We arrived to find him already on site along with his furry little sidekick, Bingo.  It seems that, since Battle Creek’s regular building teams were so far behind, they had called in Mr. Lipham and his team, who contract out to several different Log Home companies across the country, to see if he could step in and build our home. After talking with him for two and a half hours, we left with the feeling that we were completely in good hands and actually fortunate that he would be handling our construction rather than the originally planned team. He informed us that his crew would work from dawn till dusk, seven days a week (with a 30 minute break taken on Sundays for a church service),  and that they would be finished in 15 days rather than the five weeks that we had originally been told it would take to have us dried in!!!

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Bingo checks out our floor plan

Day 1

After a brief blessing is said, construction begins!

Though our kit included everything needed to build our cabin from the first floor up,  we are responsible for suppling the support posts for the basement as well as the materials for the stairs leading from the first floor to the basement.  After watching the construction for a couple of hours, Dave and I took off to Home Depot in Petersburg to rent a truck and pick up the supplies the crew would need.

By the end of the first day, the stairwell and the supporting structure for the first floor was complete and the first row of floor boards were in place.

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lincoln logs, lumber, and windows, oh my!

October 1

We arrived at the lake around 7:30am to find George already there, waiting with his 6000lb all terrain fork-lift, ready to unload the logs once the trucks arrived. The three trucks were due around 8:00am, having driven down from Tennessee, carrying all the supplies from Battle Creek Log Homes that would be needed to construct our log cabin.

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Having some time to kill before their arrival, we walked down to the dock to enjoy the view of the lake for a bit.

We heard the loud sound of diesel engines in the distance and headed up the drive just as the trucks pulled into sight.

It didn’t take much to realize that there was no way the heavy trucks could make it up the driveway. So, as George had somewhat anticipated, the trucks would have to remain in the road and he would have to use the fork-lift to carry all 52 pallets of supplies from there, up the steep driveway to the top of hill, and scatter them around the building site.

Though time consuming, the unloading went smoothly till George picked up a giant pallet containing the heavy timbers for the roof, that didn’t quite fit between the trees that line the driveway.  No worries though- it seems that there is no difficulty that George can’t surmount!

Without a word, he lowered the pallet, jumped out of the fork-lift cab and onto his bulldozer. In no time, he had widened the driveway and was able to successfully bring the large pallet to the top of the hill.

The rest of the unloading went smoothly and seven hours later, they were done.

And me? I had three jobs:  taking photos, checking the pallet numbers off the list as they were unloaded, and bringing lunch back to the boys while they worked.  Two went well, the other, not so much…

Waffles faired much better. She had a big day chasing after Dave, supervising the work and swimming in the lake.  She slept soundly all the way home!

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at long last our final plans have arrived!

After much back and forth with the designer at Battle Creek Log Homes, we have settled upon a final plan for our cabin and received the drawings in the mail last week!  I’d like to put out a big thank you to my most excellent and very talented cousin, Nathan Cooprider, for his input!  Nathan happens to be an awesome architect (lucky for us!) and, after looking at our preliminary plans, he very graciously offered his advice.  The changes we made to the first and second floor plans were all a result of his suggestions. (Check out his website at http://www.nathancooprider.com to view some of his own awesome designs!)

In addition to the two floors, we will have a full unfinished basement to use as a storage area.  We were recently informed that occasionally, when hurricanes blow through, the area has been known to flood high enough that our shed would be under water.  Not good!  With the addition of the unfinished basement, we’ll be able to store our ATV’s and dirt bikes on higher ground so that we don’t we lose them if such an event should occur.

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Let the building process begin!

Let the building process begin!

The contract has been signed! Next step, collaborate with Battle Creek Log Homes designer to come up with the perfect log cabin.

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and the winner is….Battle Creek Log Homes

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Thanks, Laura and Jared, now all we need is the cabin!

After perusing many log home plans and checking into various log home companies, we were most impressed with Battle Creek Log Homes and have decided to go with them.  We’ll be using the plans for their Dream View cabin but altering the front to look more like the Whispering Pines front as it has larger windows and will give us a better view of the lake. The finished cabin will be 2027 Sq. Ft, with three bedrooms and two and half baths.  The contract has been written and ready to sign as soon as we get our loan approval… we anticipate construction to begin in the fall!

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