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Great to see someone build their own log house which is something I intend doing eventually.

What is very worrying is the lack of foundations, those logs are just resting on a few blocks, without a proper solid concrete base that house is going to move for sure.

This type of foundation maybe ok in a non earthquake country, but in Japan no way.

Also the blocks look to be set straight down onto unprepared ground? if so a few heavy downpours could be enough to move the house as the blocks begin to sink unevenly into the ground.

 

At the very least the foundation below the blocks needs to be solid.

The whole house should have been built and fixed to a solid concrete base and ideally with some sort of shock absorption.

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This is what footings should be in earthquake country. When the concrete is poured, it makes an inverted mushroom, buried 1m deep. The four bolts pass through the base structure and hold it down.

 

soubriquet_219.JPG

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Exactly, what I was on about! Without such a base the whole house is just going to go walk about that's for sure.

All of the latest houses also have a shock absorption system built into the base foundations too, to minimise the shaking affect.

 

Originally Posted By: soubriquet
This is what footings should be in earthquake country. When the concrete is poured, it makes an inverted mushroom, buried 1m deep. The four bolts pass through the base structure and hold it down.

 

soubriquet_219.JPG

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Where is the floor?

 

Any chance that the house is being built in this location but will actually be relocated to the actual house site? Seems odd to be building a house without a floor or foundations.

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The floor will go in after the roof has gone on, I guess. No chance of moving it, it'll be too heavy for that. Anyway, I'll be doing odds and sods for a fair few months yet, and keep this thread ticking over.

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Some more details.

 

The logs are Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga) imported from Canada. I know this as Oregon Pine from my boat building days. The characteristics are "dense, hard, stiff, durable, strong". That is spot on, because along with oak and teak, it is preferred for building hulls. Boats are the most demanding application for timber.

 

Footings. The entire site comprises fill and seems to be mostly gravel and hardcore. The house is sitting on pads, not good, but at least the pads are on hard ground, not soil or saprolite.

 

Peeling is finished, so I'm on planing now. One of the chippies ran his planer over the lead, so I ended up doing electrical repairs. I seem to spend as much time fixing stuff as carpentering. I've also made up some new battery leads for the crane, and diagnosed and fixed a chainsaw.

 

As an aside, here's a tip for working outside in summer weather. Half fill an empty PET bottle with water and lay it on its side in the freezer overnight. Fill it with cold water before you go out, and you'll have ice water for about half a day. I sweat for England, and can get through a litre per hour, so empty 2 litre tea bottles are the go for me.

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The great footings mystery is solved.

 

Originally Posted By: Rag-Doll
Any chance that the house is being built in this location but will actually be relocated to the actual house site?

 

Spot on Mr Rag-Doll. The house will taken down and re-assembled at a different site. You're so sharp matey, watch out you don't cut yourself!

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Originally Posted By: soubriquet
The great footings mystery is solved.

Originally Posted By: Rag-Doll
Any chance that the house is being built in this location but will actually be relocated to the actual house site?


Spot on Mr Rag-Doll. The house will taken down and re-assembled at a different site. You're so sharp matey, watch out you don't cut yourself!


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