Main Floor

To put the floors in you need to suspend them from the logs.  This is done primarily with dimensional lumber and so it doesn't vary much from the way a regular frame house would do it.

I started by using a chain saw to flatten out the inside of the two bottom side logs (on the far side to the left in this picture).  This just makes it a little easier to fix the floor joists to.  I used lag bolts to fasten 2x12 rim joists flat against these logs and also to the front and back bottom logs.  The front and back rim joists don't take much load so I didn't bother to flatten the logs (on the far right side to the right in this picture).  There is a 6x12 beam running down the middle of the house between the ridge pole support logs that supports half of the floor load.  It rests on the same piers as the Ridge pole support logs as well as three more separate piers that form a line running under the ridge pole through the center of the house.

I troweled mortar into the crack that remained between the rim joists and the logs so as to make absolutely sure there was no room for critters to come in.

From that point it was just like framing any other floor (any other floor that isn't quite square anyway).  I used hanger brackets on the side logs and the central floor beam on 2 foot centers.  I was going to use 2x6 TnG for this floor too but decided to use standard flooring TnG plywood instead.  There were a couple of reasons for this; first, the quality of the TnG is not what it used to be and there would be a lot of holes in the floor as a result (have I told you about how many mice I have around here?), second, the plywood is a lot cheaper.  Anyway, I both clued and nailed the plywood to the floor joists to cut down on squeaks.

The flooring doesn't have to come right up against the logs since the crack will be covered with a base board later on.  The crack is often used to run electrical wires in since it's pretty hard to run them in the walls.

We will eventually cover the plywood with something else to make it look better.  Wood and Purgo are the two biggest contenders so far but it'll be one of the last things we do so at the rate I'm going it may be years before we have to decide.

This page was last updated on 13-Jan-2001