Some Pics of my New Home and my Dad's New House

[dirtlooter]

My Father has finally finished his new house on the side of Rich Mountain. It has 2x8 walls and a concrete safe room. This is the lower eastern end of the mountain, about two miles from town. The inside is finished with tongue and grooved Knotty Pine. The outside is log paneling with a 14'x14' room cut into the mountain. The two story log home was built in 1977-78 by my father and grandfather with some of my help. I will be moving into the log home in the next month or less. Really stoked about living in the log home, I have a lot of memories there. The fireplace rock was all recovered by us on another mountain (legally with permits) about 20 miles away. The excess rock left over was used to rock walkways in the front and back and to the gazebo. There is also a storm cellar in case of tornadoes and a large garden spot. It has a two car garage and a very large new shop...what else can you hope for? Deer and bear? yep, got em with the occasional turkey. Now busy helping dad move and sort through stuff so that we can finally move in. Reality sinks in when you see your name on the mailbox and you have the keys to the house. won't be long now (I hope!). Then it will be a lot of unpacking for us. Thanks for looking. Jerry

 

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[releventchair]

Fantastic!

And you are orientated/established there too.

Liking them views.....

 

[Duckshot]

Looks nice. Good idea with the balcony above the entry- are those 6x6" posts or steel?

Just eyeballing it it looks like that deck needs to be beefed up some, imo.


Beautiful up there.

 

[dirtdigginfool]

BEE-YOO-TIFUL place ! Congrats Dirt, good to see things moving along in a positive direction. Truly your little slice of heaven! Congrats, Ddf.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

Just eyeballing it it looks like that deck needs to be beefed up some, imo.

I agree. How about nailing a couple of boards at the front to form an "X" support? That would give it more stability. You could also put three more support boards in the middle of the deck, but I know they would get in the way and not look as nice. Just my opinion...

 

[RGINN]

Pretty nice.

 

[Duckshot]

I agree. How about nailing a couple of boards at the front to form an "X" support? That would give it more stability. You could also put three more support boards in the middle of the deck, but I know they would get in the way and not look as nice. Just my opinion...


View attachment 1624389

Ya cant walk through underneath with cross bracing. If it was mine I would use 2x6" corner gussets. Looks like bottom of joists is about 7' -3" above the entry threshold and maybe 8' of posts opposite? You don't want to bang your head on the gussets.

Just measure up the post and make a mark top of hat six feet up, then measure down from bottom of joist to he first mark to get length of rise, multiply by the square root of two and that's the total length of your gusset minus the length where it is bolted to post and joist. Cut a 45° miter on each end and bolt them up there.

 

[dirtlooter]

the supports are 18" deep in concrete, everything is bolted together with 3/8 bolts. no nails except in the roof decking and floor decking. The front deck is part of the floor joists plus center section next to wall is bolted as well. What isn't bolted together, has 3/8 and 5/16 lag bolts thru pre drilled holes, very solid with 2x8 walls. I thought it was overkill with the 2x8 walls but with all of the insulation, it uses very little to heat or cool. When the fog covers the mountain, the house is hidden in it.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

Ya cant walk through underneath with cross bracing.

Why would you need to walk underneath that spot? Plenty of room on both sides!

 

[Duckshot]

Why would you need to walk underneath that spot? Plenty of room on both sides!

Exposed cross bracing on the ground floor where somebody might trip over it is a liability, and it is architecturally unapealling. Stick a couple gussets or corner braces up there and it will look more aesthetic.

 

[RustyGold]

Looks awesome dirtlooter! Enjoy the log house.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

Exposed cross bracing on the ground floor where somebody might trip over it is a liability, and it is architecturally unapealling. Stick a couple gussets or corner braces up there and it will look more aesthetic.

So make it a wall instead. It will be a lot less "architecturally unappealing" if it falls down with friends and relatives on it! I can just picture that deck leaning one way or the other when there's a dozen people partying on it.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

Or use lattice work, so you can hang plants from it or grow rose bushes to climb it.

 

[Gare]

Congratulations Jerry Please do NOT POST any more pictures as you do NOT WANT ME MOVING in with you LOL

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Beautiful area!

 

[SusanMN]

Two beautiful homes.

 

[devldog]

Dirt Looter, Congrat's on one beautiful place. Great scenery too. You do know that once you move in, you'll have to change your avatar.....Dirt Looter just won't do. How about something to the tune of Sand Remover? Lol I know you're proud of the new place and rightfully so. Here's wishing you and yours Many Happy and Healthy years in your new home.

 

[dirtlooter]

Getting closer! The bears are reminding me of their presence as they leave "sign" around the place. looks like I may have to get a yapper to let us know when one is outside. The only problem is that the logs are so thick that you don't hear much from the outside. oh well, could be a lot worse. I'll gladly suffer through it again. There is a couple of gray fox that come by for a little helping of dog food that is put out for them. When the coons get too bad, I have several big live traps to catch them and haul them to another area of the mountain away from us. The wife is getting really excited now. She can't wait until winter to use that fireplace and to put up her Christmas decorations. I have a new smoker just waiting to be broken in with some ribs and kielbasa! Oh Yeah!