Log Cabin Construction Class 2020

The Folk School partnered with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to build a new public use cabin on a hill overlooking the South Fork of the Chena River near Nugget Creek. This cabin will be at the end of the new all-season Mastodon Trail, and will replace the existing Nugget Creek Cabin. Students worked two weeks from late February to early March, 2020 at Pioneer Park, building the walls and roof supports. We then labeled each log, disassembled the structure, and placed the logs on trailers so that DNR can move them to the building site. Reconstruction was originally scheduled for mid-March, but due to unsafe trail conditions and the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been postponed until the summer.

Local log-building instructors Sandy Jamieson and Tom Sorenson led students through the entire process, from peeling the logs to building the roof. Kerri Hamos from the Folk School and Brooks Ludwig from DNR handled logistics. Special thanks to everyone at DNR who helped with this project, including Dane Happ, Ian Thomas, Gooseberry Peter, Sam Braband, Marty Schatz and Lee Lemay. Special thanks also to Justin Cox who helped on site and was an amazing skid-steer operator, John Manthei who built the door and window frames, and Jon Sanford from the Woodway who hosted a chainsaw safety session, generously gave equipment discounts to students during the class, and expedited repairs when our saws broke down. Finally, thank you to all the students for their hard work in cold weather: Jessica Austin, Aaron Buchholz, David Carel, Garret Dubois, Elizabeth Irving, John Pearson, Bruce Rasmussen, Todd Redinius, Lori Winton, and Levi Rosson.

Click here to read the Log Cabin Construction Class Report written by Jessica Austin, Kerri Hamos, and Brooks Ludwig.

Click here to view the final Mastodon Cabin Blueprints​.

Click here to view Jessica Austin’s Wall Building Checklist.

Photo Documentary of the Log Cabin Construction class

Put-the-log-back-on-the-wall-and-scribe-the-runs-and-final-notches.
Cut-the-groove-and-notches.
Finally-place-the-log-back-on-the-wall-and-check-the-fit.
View-of-a-different-log-with-notch-and-groove.-In-the-final-reassembly-the-groove-will-be-filled-with-insulation.
Checking-that-the-log-is-centered-and-has-no-hang-up-spots.
One-of-our-first-decent-saddles.-It’s-important-that-the-saddles-are-smooth-and-shaped-properly-so-that-the-notch-of-the-log-above-can-slide-down-as-the-building-settles.
A-fresh-start.
Building-up-the-second-half-of-the-cabin.
Roof-components.
Front-side-of-the-cabin-with-cap-logs-in-place.
Cutting-the-flat-sides-on-the-cap-logs.
Building-up-the-roof.-
Foundation-plans.
The-DNR-shop-with-the-first-level-constructed.
First-level-joint-detail.
Working-on-the-second-level-of-the-foundation.
Second-level-joint-detail.
Hardware-cloth-and-bug-screening-above-the-floor-joists.
Rough-cut-spruce-on-top-of-the-screen.
Rigid-foam-insulation-sits-directly-beneath-the-floor.

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