Do It Yourself Log Home

Some recent outdoor photos

2009-08-11T11:53:00.000-07:00

Landscaping the Yard

2009-04-23T10:02:00.000-07:00

Landscaping the yard is still something we have to do. We had the driveway put down a few years ago with rocks, but it seems like it always needs more rocks every year. We also need to have some for around the home as well like out the back door off the garage there's just mud so we need to do some fixing that part up. There's a sale going on at Menards this weekend and I may go pick up some river rock to fill out those spots. So many things to get done on such a tight budget, it seems never ending. I do love our long driveway although in the winter in Wisconsin it can be quite a pain in the butt!

Summer is on the way

2009-04-19T06:38:00.000-07:00

And we'll be visiting our log home again. I can hardly wait, it's only about three more weeks before we go out there again to enjoy the peace and quiet, the open, fresh air and the wonderful river. Of course there is still work to be done to the log home and we'll do that too so it will be a combination of relaxation and work, a little bit of both.

Can't wait!

More Progress

2009-02-01T07:22:00.000-08:00

I forgot to add a photo of how the cabin looks completed, with roof on and everything up. We have started work on the inside, but when this was complete, all that was in there were studs, no drywall, no caulk in between the logs, so when we slept inside there were lots of bugs coming through. So that was the first thing to do on our list, get everything sealed up, which was a pain. My husband also had to add a lot of the tongue and grove on the inside, all the insulation in the ceiling and caulk every window. It's so nice to be married to a handyman.

The Bathroom

2009-01-20T15:45:00.000-08:00

This is the corner of the guest bathroom where the washer and dryer will be going too. As you can see it is pretty raw. These are photos of the first months after the home was put up. We did have a sink and shower and toilet in there, but the washer and dryer have not been installed as of yet. That comes a little bit later along with the drywall up and painted. It's a process people.

So it's the New Year

2009-01-08T05:29:00.000-08:00

Deer came to say good morning, taken from my back window.

And so far it's been a long winter. This is the time that we spend in the city and the winters get loooong. I do miss our log home when we're not there and this summer I'm hoping to get an Internet connection up there so it feels even more like home. I keep saying the more that log home gets complete the less time I'm going to want to spend in the city. I'm really getting to hate the city with all the crowds, noise and filth that comes with the big city. So while I'm hibernating this winter I'm thinking back of the great summer we had out in the country and it's time to reflect a bit about the last summer at our log home. Although there is still a lot of work to be done out there, that doesn't mean we don't have some fun and enjoy ourselves.

Bass the husband caught; we released him back into the water.

Enjoy the River -- Always!

2008-12-09T15:22:00.000-08:00

February 2003 -- Here we are again enjoying the river. I mean it's really hard not to enjoy this beautiful piece of property. Lena and my stepdaughter are playing in the river. This was before a lot of the building got underway. We used to go up there and camp and just enjoy this beautiful river!

Enjoying the River

2008-11-20T07:39:00.000-08:00

Here's our dog enjoying a lazy day at the river. She loves being out by the river and fetching sticks. She's great at fetching as long as she can touch the bottom of the river. When the water is low she goes in with no problem, but if the water is high, well then she's a bit skeptical, you see she can't swim. She goes into a panic if her back feet cannot touch the river bottom and it's quite a show. Her front paws start flailing around flapping the water until she gets her footing again. Does your dog know how to swim? Do you think it's instinct with dogs or do they learn how to swim?

Some more progress photos

2008-11-17T06:12:00.000-08:00

I've dug up some more beginning progress photos and thought I'd share them with you. It's funny when we look back on these photos because we can see where the living room and all the other rooms are now from these photos, but at first glance it takes a while to figure out.

And now to the inside...

2008-11-15T15:11:00.000-08:00

Now here's what the inside progression looks like. We lived like this for quite some time, with no walls up just the studs. The outer walls were not caulked yet and the bugs got in terribly, that was the first thing we had to do once the outer logs were up was get those logs caulked. Between the crickets, the mosquitoes and the moths it was a horrible night's sleep, but we made it through.

The Log Home Goes Up

2008-11-13T08:40:00.000-08:00

So here's the shell going up. We were there for part of the construction of this, but seeing as we lived so far away it was hard to be there all the time. We did have the in floor radiant heat installed in the cement during this very beginning phase of construction. Our plan was to have the shell built and then work on the inside ourselves and this has worked out just as planned. So this part was not done by us, we did have contractors come in and do the outer logs, the heat and all the plumbing and then we took it over.

A New Beginning

2008-11-12T15:54:00.000-08:00

My husband and I decided that we wanted to have a home in the country. With our everyday life in the city always so busy we wanted a place to retreat and get away from it all so about four years ago we bought some property in Northern Wisconsin right off of a river and decided to build a log home together. This is our journey. This is the edge of our 2.76 acre property. The property is a pie shaped so it's very narrow at the road and widens to the back where we have 320 feet of shoreline. It's a beautiful piece of land and we call it our Slice of Heaven.