Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Before and After part two - this is how Pitts looked when I got it. ..

The roof had collapsed in on it's self.
But it hadn't been down long, so the logs were still in pretty good shape.
Nice clean corners.
Note the boards instead of 'chinking' over the gaps.
Notch is called a 'dovetail' notch.

I did end up replacing the bottom logs when I rebuilt it, which I usually do on most cabins.

When most of these buildings were built, they were never intend on being permanent, so were not built high up off of the ground. So it is rare to find a cabin where all the sill logs are in great shape.
And if I am going to add any height, I usually start on the lower logs.

Monday, October 28, 2013

Before and After

A few posts back, I attempted to give a little history of my small cabin I call 'Pitts Blacksmith Shop'.
If you remember, here is how it looks now.

This is what I call the front.
This is the first view you get when you come down the drive. It faces east.













Well, over the last week or so, I have been sorting through old photos. Trying to make categories.
One pile for family, one for kayaking, one for log cabins other than my own and one for my cabins.
While sorting I came across several I took of the Pitts building before we took it down.

It sat in a large field, somewhat behind the old farm house, which also no longer stands.
Roof was kept in fairly good shape, so logs to were in good shape.
This would have been the south side, and by no intentional planning on my part, is still the southern exposure on it's new site.
The boards cover a window on the south.
You can see a door and window on the western end also.
A close up of the fine dove-tail notches.

 This side with the two doors is the eastern exposure and remains the same.
One door was for human access and the other for shorter animals.
Another window on the northern side.
If you look close, you can see boards covering the gap between logs.
It was never chinked.
The boards allowed winter wind protection, but could be removed in summer for ventilation.
There was no second story. It took my brother and I about a day to take it down and move it.


This is the western exposure now. You can see the door and window on the back side.
Windows on the north and south sides now are under the over hangs on both sides.
You can also see how we added a second story by increasing the pitch of the roof.



It looked beautiful in it's old setting, and I hope I have done it proud in it's new home.

Friday, October 25, 2013

Finally pulled over. . .

After driving past it for years, finally pulled over and got permission to take some photos.
A former barn turned into a quilting studio for the owners wife.
Moved several miles and rebuilt.

Almost can't see it now with the growth around it, but it sure looks nice.
Moved from near Old Monroe, and a few logs from another building, it was re-built in 1986, and for a while was used as a quilting studio for the builders wife.
About 14 X 16, it is a nice small old barn.

As you can see, the ends of the logs were never squared, so that usually indicates it was never used as a finished home., and was never sided.

Will be going back to look at some repairs it needs and may help with the project. The bottom sill log on the west side needs replacing.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Log Barn from another blog I follow.

This was in the background of another photo Ted had taken and I asked him to post some more images.
Real nice building. Looks in pretty good shape other than a couple of the lower logs.
Looks like it was always intend to be a barn by the shape of the logs and lack of 'chinking'.

Would love it have one like it out at the cabin.

Thanks Ted.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

One of my favorite . . .

combinations of old house and log addition. They look like they belong together.



Near Elephant Rock State Park, Mo.

Got the hammock up this weekend. . . yea!

Well, ya have to have some where to sit when not working.















Look at the colors in the tin roof.
Wow!