How To Build 20 Log Cabins > The Scout
When Marine Sgt. Bernard E. Jarvis came home from the wars he had his mind made up on one thing: He was going to build himself a cabin in the Michigan north woods where things were peaceful and quiet.
The general design was worked out on some distant Pacific island, and Jarvis built his place on a piece of ancestral property on the south shore of Black Lake, near Onaway, Michigan.
The cabin was designed to fit a narrow lot only 33 ft. wide. Overall dimensions of the building are 24x30 ft. Much of the space was devoted to a large living room and kitchen, with a dining area featuring corner picture windows overlooking the lake. There are two' bedrooms, a bath, and an outside well house for the water supply pump and pressure tank.Interior finish is random width Ponderosa pine paneling with paneled ceilings and hardwood floors. Exterior finish is pre-stained maroon shingles, which eliminates painting upkeep. (Another attractive exterior finish would be the log stripping shown in the cutaway drawing.) Total cost of materials ran about $3,000.
Jarvis warned his wife Eileen that construction of the cabin would take five years. He called it his five-year plan. Although he had no previous building experience, he did all the work himself with the help of his wife and friends during weekends and vacations, commuting 150 miles from his home at Bay City, Mich. Each year he would start work early in May and stop after the deer hunting season in late November.
One of his first purchases was a two-wheel trailer with an eight-foot wooden box. With this he hauled a good deal of materials - form lumber, cement, windows, tools, rocks, and the thousand and one other items needed in construction.
Construction was planned to fit into five stages, with each stage taking about one season's work. In the first year he poured the concrete foundation and built the fireplace to the eave line. He decided to build the fireplace before framing in because that was the method best suited to the overall plan. Into the stonework on each side he embedded two-by-fours to be tied into the building framework later. A brace across the top of the two-by-fours provided a nailing base for cross-sticks which out¬lined the dimensions of the masonry. Frequent checks were made by dropping a plumb line from the cross-sticks to insure that the corners remained straight as the masonry rose.
The second year required the hardest work. In that year he put the sub-floor in place, framed in and sheathed the building, finished the roof, completed the fireplace, and installed the windows. Covered with building paper, the structure then was tight to withstand the severe Michigan winter.In the third year he installed the wiring, laid the finished floor, installed the paneling on the ceiling, and put on the outside finish. During this year he also managed to get in considerably more fishing than in the previous summer.
In the fourth year he installed the water supply and plumbing system, building a well house for the pump and pressure tank and constructing five ft. deep, 5x8-foot cement block septic tank.In the fifth year Jarvis built kitchen cupboards and completed the inside finish. He used Ponderosa pine paneling for the cupboards, working the wood with a table saw and jointer.
"When I didn't know how to do something, I would ask," he recalled. "People got awful tired of hearing me ask, but that's the way I learned to do it."
Jar'{is found plenty of people to ask in his own office. He works as a right-of-way buyer in the Saginaw district of the Michigan State Highway Department. Virtually any problem he encountered could be and was answered by the various highway engineers with whom he came in contact daily.And there you have it - the story of one guy's five-year plan, some of the problems he encountered and how he solved them.
Want to build your own log cabin, or maybe start smaller with a few simple woodworking projects? These wood working plans will show you how to build everything from a deck chair to a barn.
Introduction
The Eagle's Nest
The Hermitage
The Gypsy
The Four Winds
Leisure House
The Little Lodge
The John Alden
The Six-Shooter
The Rustic
The Logger
The Scout
The Spring Bay (Part One)
Spring Bay (Part Two)
The Trailblazer
The Vagabond
The Hunter
The Seneca
The Hideout
The Hiawatha
The Fireside
The Triton
Where to Build It?
Pumps and Plumbing
Heating the Cabin
The Widgeon
The Snipe
The Wood Duck
The Bluegill
The Pike
The Boss
The Tidewater
The Cozy Cove
Carports
How To Build A Log Cabin
The Cabin Movement- Pre-cut Log Cabins
Where and Wherewith to Build
Foundations
Log Cabin Material
Log Cabin Walls
Log Cabin Floors and Roofs
Log Cabin Porches and Interior Details
Modern Log Cabins
Other Types of Cabins
Doors, Windows and Shutters
Building Fireplaces and Chimneys
Furnishing Ideas
Modern Conveniences
Beautifying the Cabin
Longer Life for Your Cabin
Hunting and Fishing Lodges
Profit-Making Tourist Homes
Wayside Stands and Other Things
Inside Cabins
Summer Homes
Specifications and Estimates