The Log house Project begins........

[J F]

He probably still tryin' to pry Santa outta the staircase.

 

[MotorSeven]

Nope, we are in Manitoba for Christmas. Headed home tomorrow @ 0300hrs.....1300 miles to drive:thumbsup:

 

[boxygen]

Whiskers have been shaved off and stored in the basement along with the rest of the stairwell parts. I should start the install possibly later this week.

**News on the "drip"....it is not the Ventless Fireplace. We have not run it is 4-5 days, this Am it was 30 degrees with a light frost. When the sun came up the drip appeared in it's usual places. I think I will focus on trying to get a little more air moving under the tin but it most likely won't happen until springtime.

Hi Motor,
Im very sorry, but I have bad news regarding your "drip". Let me relate my story. I built an addition on my house this summer. Like you I am doing it all myself so I am still working on it. My roof assembly is rafters, plywood, 1.5" foam completely taped at every seam, strapping and steel roofing. I just started insulating with Roxul in the rafter bays. Several weeks ago on our first day that did not get above freezing I noticed there were icicles coming out from behind the fascia. I knew it wasnt a roof leak. It happened in two distinct locations only. These two locations were two areas where I incorportated two pieces of used plywood. The plywood was in good condition but had multiple nail holes and was a little dirty. I have been dilligent with air sealing the entire house. I have caulked all plywood to studs and any other seam in plywood. I hadnt gotten to the roof yet. After being frustrated and doing a little pondering I realized it was warm air going up through the nail holes inthe plywood, making the difficult journey underneath the taped foam and into the cold soffit and condensing enough to make ice! To prove my theory I took the caulking gun to only these two areas and sealed them up. NO MORE ICE! Also the Ice was brown and the only thing dirty enough in the roof assembly is these two pieces of plywood. THe same thing is happening on my "old" part of the house that is getting warm air into the attic right now because I can only work so fast!
To summarize air sealing is extremely important in todays buildings. It is one of the most emphasized aspects of a high performance building these days. Warm air carries a LOT of moisture and even through small holes against many odds can find its way to a cold surface. I dont remember every detail of your roof assembly but I think it was rough sawn boards with insulation on top of it? that is a very "leaky" What you need is an air barrier at your sheathing plane. If you stop the air movement, the condensation will likely stop. it is still a good idea to have a good drainage plane underneath the steel because warm outside air can get underneath and condense in the shoulder seasons when the temperature fluxuates a lot during night and day. I knew air sealing was important before I was working on this project, but I probably wouldnt have believed it if i hadnt seen the extremely small holes that were causing this problem.

 

[MotorSeven]

It's possible Box that inside moist air is getting through. Did you put down any barrier between the ply and the foam(either tar paper or house wrap)? When I ponder the route that moisture must go I have my doubts.....through the decking{easy}, through the 30 weight tar paper{not so easy}, through the 3" of foam{easy at the vertical untaped seams}.

I really think it is just outside moist air that constantly moves inside that air space between the purlins and the tin. When weather conditions are right, it's trapped there and condenses/freezes. Then next morning it melts and drips. Come spring I think I will pull off a sheet of tin and look and see what has been going on underneath it.....then make a decision.

1300 miles home....and a case of oil. I had to stop every 200 miles and add 2 quarts.....it looks like my 350 might need a rebuild:laughing:

 

[MotorSeven]

It's possible Box that inside moist air is getting through. Did you put down any barrier between the ply and the foam(either tar paper or house wrap)? When I ponder the route that moisture must go I have my doubts.....through the decking{easy}, through the 30 weight tar paper{not so easy}, through the 3" of foam{easy at the vertical untaped seams}.

I really think it is just outside moist air that constantly moves inside that air space between the purlins and the tin. When weather conditions are right, it's trapped there and condenses/freezes. Then next morning it melts and drips. Come spring I think I will pull off a sheet of tin and look and see what has been going on underneath it.....then make a decision.

1300 miles home....and a case of oil. I had to stop every 200 miles and add 2 quarts.....it looks like my 350 might need a rebuild:laughing:

 

[B7510HSD]

It's possible Box that inside moist air is getting through. Did you put down any barrier between the ply and the foam(either tar paper or house wrap)? When I ponder the route that moisture must go I have my doubts.....through the decking{easy}, through the 30 weight tar paper{not so easy}, through the 3" of foam{easy at the vertical untaped seams}.

I really think it is just outside moist air that constantly moves inside that air space between the purlins and the tin. When weather conditions are right, it's trapped there and condenses/freezes. Then next morning it melts and drips. Come spring I think I will pull off a sheet of tin and look and see what has been going on underneath it.....then make a decision.

1300 miles home....and a case of oil. I had to stop every 200 miles and add 2 quarts.....it looks like my 350 might need a rebuild:laughing:

Gas wouldn't be so bad but add oil that often and it gets real expensive!

 

[tommu56]

It's possible Box that inside moist air is getting through. Did you put down any barrier between the ply and the foam(either tar paper or house wrap)? When I ponder the route that moisture must go I have my doubts.....through the decking{easy}, through the 30 weight tar paper{not so easy}, through the 3" of foam{easy at the vertical untaped seams}.

I really think it is just outside moist air that constantly moves inside that air space between the purlins and the tin. When weather conditions are right, it's trapped there and condenses/freezes. Then next morning it melts and drips. Come spring I think I will pull off a sheet of tin and look and see what has been going on underneath it.....then make a decision.

1300 miles home....and a case of oil. I had to stop every 200 miles and add 2 quarts.....it looks like my 350 might need a rebuild:laughing:

Come on you didn't think to duct tape a can to the roof and run an hose down to the motor to meter it in as needed?

 

[woodlandfarms]

At least he won't have to do an oil change after the trip.

 

[pacerron]

1300 miles home....and a case of oil. I had to stop every 200 miles and add 2 quarts.....it looks like my 350 might need a rebuild:laughing:

Sounds like the cars of my youth. Back then if a Ford didn't use at least a quart per thousand it was too tight.
I had a 57 Merc in the early 60's that we called the "Blue Mist" Open draft tube that puffed like an old diesel truck w/o a turbo. No catalytic converter to clog up so a quart of Pennsylvania grade 30 wt. "Wolf's Head" or "Quaker State" which had a heavy paraffin wax base would keep her running great. Cost about 32 cents a quart, about the same price as gasoline.
Ron

 

[MotorSeven]

Come on you didn't think to duct tape a can to the roof and run an hose down to the motor to meter it in as needed?

I actually contemplated a big IV bag on a hanger mounted to the front fender:laughing:

It's a long-er story, but here is the short version:

We have been looking for a van camper since we sold our truck camper last year to help pay for the log house build. In the mid 90's Coachman made a nice conversion that had a mid located head(drivers seats-sofa/kitchen-head-& a dinette in the rear, so the search focused on that particular model. Prices ranged from around $6K-12K depending on condition. A month ago we found one in NC. It was in decent shape, '95 Chev 1 ton, 350 engine, 158K miles, new tires, fridge, rear shocks, exhaust system & battery. Sounds pretty good eh? Well, the bad part is the rust damage underneath along both sides and rear. Most of it had been repaired in the past, but it will need more attention. Negotiations commenced and we settled on $3200. So we drove it home and I pulled it into the shop, put it up on jacks and went through the whole thing.

Replaced all fluids, even power steering & brake fluid. Changed the tranny filter, fuel & oil filter. Replaced the rear axle seals, pinion seal, rear wheel cylinders, read brake shoes, rear brake lines, oil cooler, distributor cap, rotor, plugs, wires, front shocks. I pulled the 30lb propane tank, wire brushed it, applied rust stabilizer, painted and re-mounted it. Pulled out the broken hot water tank and built a storage box in it's place(who needs hot water if there is only an outside shower?). Replaced the toilet & fridge vent caps on roof, then re-sealed the high top to steel roof seam. Replaced the rear house deep cycle battery.

I did a quick rust attack, de-scaling the undercarriage, then painted it with Permatex rust converter. It will need more work but it was a start. Cleaned the nice classic blue green shag carpet and upholstery then vacuumed from bow to stern. Though about hanging a disco ball but nix'd it for more headroom. Confirmed that the cassette deck actually works:thumbsup:

Drove it around for a couple of days and all systems were a go. Packed it up and off we went. At every fill up I checked fluids & we were good until Rockford Wisconsin. Got off the interstate and oil pressure dropped to zero along with that dreaded "taptaptaptap". Eased it into the truck stop where it took 2.5 quarts of oil:thumbdown:. Took off again only to add 2 more quarts every 2-300 miles. Then in Minneapolis I see radiator fluid all over the ground...yep water pump took a crap. Found a station open on Sat that changed it and the two oil cooler hoses that were leaking badly. Back on the road and yep, still using 2 quarts every 200miles:confused3: No smoke, power is there but I feel a slight miss...hmmm.

While in Canada I start it every few days...."oh no...rad fluid again"......cracked radiator(I hate PLASTIC). Found a shop in town I had the radiator replaced. The shop checked my fluid mix I said it was at -30. I looked on the thermometer we have on the van and the lowest recorded temp there was .......-34(dang it missed it by "!" much). Pack up to head home still feeding the oil to it. Stop in Wisconsin and see tranny fluid in the snow...."what the .........???". It's a loose connection where the tranny line goes into the radiator. Fix that, now i have tranny fluid all over the RF brakes...off to a auto parts store for a couple of cans of Brake cleener. Off we go again and actually made home although the miss is a little more pronounced, but still NO SMOKE and NO OIL LEAKS.

So I nicknamed the thing "Puddles" since it left one almost every place we stopped. Not to mention the haz-mat trail for 2,600 miles

she's a {classic}beauty...eh????:anyone: