# Post your non aquaria DIY projects



## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

I had mentioned in another thread that I had to finish my other DIY project, and Jimbo asked me to post some pictures of it. I thought this would be a good place for everyone to talk about their other DIY stuff. I'll go first.

I started this project about 4 Years ago and think I will finish it this spring. The crew consists of my two boys and my Dad & Mom and my Girl friend. I did hire some of the work done, the foundation, the metal roof, and the Sheetrock. other than those items we have done it all our selves.
I'll keep the commentary to a minimum.

This is how the building materials showed up. Logs all covered with plastic.









The first floor is conventionally framed then it's logs from there up.









Stacking logs.

































Setting the support beam for the 3rd floor

















Setting the floor Joists

















Stacking the gable ends

















Ridge Beam









Rafters

















Trimming the rafters to length









Building the dormers









Roof Decking going on









Ready for the Roofer.









A few inside shots.
Cleaning up the ceiling for the finish









My mom and girl friend caulking the logs









looking at the kitchen area









This spring in the snow.


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## alexuci (Sep 19, 2006)

with my budget, I think I will stick to the aquascape hobby. Maybe when i have more money I'll catch on to the the "building homes" hobby.


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## Skelley (Mar 4, 2006)

Wow, that is gorgeous. I am so jealous. My project right now? Making roses out of autumn leaves and turning them into a center piece for my mother's thanksgiving dinner table. 

-That doesn't really even count as diy. There's not too much I can do living in an apartment.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Wow, beautiful house bpimm! You know that's going to be rock solid the way it was constructed. 

We took step by step photos when our house was being built too, and I'm glad we did, since there's so much excitement as it's happening you sort of forget all of the details.


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

Skelley said:


> Wow, that is gorgeous. I am so jealous. My project right now? Making roses out of autumn leaves and turning them into a center piece for my mother's thanksgiving dinner table.
> 
> -That doesn't really even count as diy. There's not too much I can do living in an apartment.


Sure it counts as DIY, That kind of work amazes me. I have no ability to do what you are doing. I actually tried once, I ended up with a pile of autumn leaves while everyone else had beautiful table runners.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Well, I was going to post a photo of the bird house I made, but...........


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

JanS said:


> Wow, beautiful house bpimm! You know that's going to be rock solid the way it was constructed.
> 
> We took step by step photos when our house was being built too, and I'm glad we did, since there's so much excitement as it's happening you sort of forget all of the details.


Thanks Jan, it has been a real learning experience, one of the things I learned is that I'm not as young and tough as I used to be.


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

hoppycalif said:


> Well, I was going to post a photo of the bird house I made, but...........


Come on, post it, I'd love to see it.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Ok, here is my biggest project, from about 10 years ago. It is an 800 sq. ft. addition to my house, including a new master bedroom suite, enlarging a few rooms and a big expansion/rebuilding of the kitchen. All of these are realtor photos - we sold the house last year. First, the master bedroom.










Then the master bathroom.










The enlarged/remodeled rooms. The coffee table in the one room is one I made as an experiment.


























Then, the kitchen.


















When I finished, about 4 years after starting, every room in the house was remodeled, and the exterior completely changed. Incidentally, when we sold the house we made a very nice profit!!

Here is how the outside looks.


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## troybernard (Oct 29, 2006)

Cool. I want a link n log set like that one  Looks good.


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

Very nice remodel Hoppy, I love the wood floors. And that coffee table, I love it, but then you might have noticed I like the natural wood look. 

troybernard, Thanks, It's very much like a Lincoln log set but much heavier.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

LOL @ the outside of your house Hoppy....:biggrin: 

Beautiful remodel on your house too.


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## Skelley (Mar 4, 2006)

bpimm said:


> Sure it counts as DIY, That kind of work amazes me. I have no ability to do what you are doing. I actually tried once, I ended up with a pile of autumn leaves while everyone else had beautiful table runners.


I have my BFA and those jobs are practically nonexistent where I am. I do what I can to stay crafty at home. The piece turned out well.

I would also like to see a pic of the birdhouse. *sigh* If only I had a house to renovate (or even paint). I am sure a lot of people think those things are a pain but I love projects.


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## Jimbo205 (Feb 2, 2006)

> I have my BFA and those jobs are practically nonexistent where I am.


 What is a BFA?



> I thought this would be a good place for everyone to talk about their other DIY stuff. I'll go first.


 Brian, I love this thread. It is amazing to have members who are so talented. 
It makes me envy people that are in those lines of work or just do it for a hobby. 
I too would like to see others DIY projects regardless of how different they are. Very motivational.









Did the bottom part of those logs come carved out to fit with each other? 
Or did you have to do all of that yourself? Either way, it is amazing.


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

Jimbo205 said:


> What is a BFA?
> 
> Brian, I love this thread. It is amazing to have members who are so talented.
> It makes me envy people that are in those lines of work or just do it for a hobby.
> ...


Thanks for all of the comments.

Jimbo,
That fitment is called a swedish cope, the logs were machined to a uniform diameter and had the cope and end notches cut. the rest was up to us, one of the problems with the machined logs is they are rough from the cutter. to get rig of this look we ran over the surface of All of the logs with an electric hand plane and tried to mimic the look of a hand drawn draw knife.


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## Skelley (Mar 4, 2006)

BFA- Bachelor of Fine Arts


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## Jimbo205 (Feb 2, 2006)

> That fitment is called a swedish cope, the logs were machined to a uniform diameter and had the cope and end notches cut. the rest was up to us, one of the problems with the machined logs is they are rough from the cutter. to get rig of this look we ran over the surface of All of the logs with an electric hand plane and tried to mimic the look of a hand drawn draw knife.





> BFA- Bachelor of Fine Arts


Wow. To both. They both sound like lots of work!


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## Jimbo205 (Feb 2, 2006)

What's the R-Factor of the walls and Roof? 

Is it toasty warm in the winter? 

Isn't fun to hear other members talk about having their places warm enough to keep their tank room temperature? Can you imagine in the winter? (Feb or March). Me, I have to use tank heaters. 

It just looks real cozy.


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

Jimbo205 said:


> What's the R-Factor of the walls and Roof?
> 
> Is it toasty warm in the winter?
> 
> ...


The R-Factor of the walls is about R-6 but the R-Factor does not take into account the Thermal Mass of the structure, once you get the walls warm it takes quite a while to cool them down. The roof has 8" of foam for R-30.

I'm not living in it yet but while working in it in the winter it's very cozy, I can't wait to move in.

I personally don't like it to be that warm in my house. I'm comfortable at 68-70 Degrees F and the fish like it a little warmer, I use tank heaters also.


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## Jimbo205 (Feb 2, 2006)

> The R-Factor of the walls is about R-6. The roof has 8" of foam for R-30.


 I understand that. 


> once you get the walls warm it takes quite a while to cool them down.


 I kind of get that. 


> the R-Factor does not take into account the Thermal Mass of the structure


Would that mean the amount of heat (total # of BTU's) that the thick heavy wooden logs can absorb? 
Or does that mean something different?



> I personally don't like it to be that warm in my house. I'm comfortable at 68-70 Degrees F and the fish like it a little warmer, I use tank heaters also.


 Us too.


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

Jimbo205 said:


> Would that mean the amount of heat (total # of BTU's) that the thick heavy wooden logs can absorb?
> Or does that mean something different?


Yes, basically it means the amount of heat energy that the logs can store and the amount of time it takes for it to give up the heat energy.

In a stick framed house with a R-6 wall, if you were to sit next to the wall, it would feel cold compared to the room. when the heat kicks on the wall will warm up then when the heat is off for a while the wall cools down. it doesn't have enough thermal mass to hold the temperature even where the solid wood wall will.

That's why you need a Higher R-Value in a stick framed wall.

It may take longer for the log house to get to a stable temperature but it will hold it longer.

Of corse the feel of a log house can be affected greatly by the seal between all of the logs, every joint is a potential draft.


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## Jimbo205 (Feb 2, 2006)

I do not think most people have a choice (true choice) when they purchase homes, I think for some reason that I don't know myself but Mortgage companies prefer stick homes (I wonder why?). 

If someone were to have a choice between stick framed homes and log homes, what are the pros and the cons? 

The log home looks beautiful, solid and very strong. 
Of course, I am not a big fan of drafts in February and March.


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

Jimbo205 said:


> I do not think most people have a choice (true choice) when they purchase homes, I think for some reason that I don't know myself but Mortgage companies prefer stick homes (I wonder why?).


Repair work is far easier on the stick framed home, also I have heard that a mortgage is a tradable commodity that are traded and sold regularly and there are not enough log homes to make up a package of like home mortgages to trade or sell. I don't know anything about that area of finance.



> If someone were to have a choice between stick framed homes and log homes, what are the pros and the cons?


The stick built home is far easier to build and repair and requires less maintenance. unless you have LP siding. The stick built home uses less timber to construct, but in my case the log home used timber that could not be used for stick built construction because it was all standing dead beetle kill pine from eastern Idaho.

The log home is far more difficult to build because just about every piece you put in is a custom cut and fit, The mallet and gouge are some of the main tools you need to be proficient with.



> The log home looks beautiful, solid and very strong.


That is why I chose it.



> Of course, I am not a big fan of drafts in February and March.


Neither am I but so far I haven't had any, and they should be easy to stop if they show up.


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## Jimbo205 (Feb 2, 2006)

Wow!

Now I know.



> unless you have LP siding.


 What is LP?


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

Jimbo205 said:


> What is LP?


Louisiana Pacific was the company that produced the oriented strand board siding that went bad several years back. it was falling apart and growing mushrooms. Big lawsuit


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

I think I heard that before about the LP siding. That would be a major bummer...

Another big thing in cold climates is having good windows and doors, in addition to a good air exchanger so you don't get too much moisture buildup on the windows, frames, etc.


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## Jimbo205 (Feb 2, 2006)

> Another big thing in cold climates is having good windows and doors, in addition to a good air exchanger so you don't get too much moisture buildup on the windows, frames, etc.


 This sounds good. Go on.


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

Jimbo205 said:


> This sounds good. Go on.


Jimbo, what Jans is talking about is a unit that goes in your attic and all of your vent lines from the kitchen, baths and laundry all hook to this heat exchanger. it intern brings in outside air and preheats it with the warm outgoing air, so you get fresh air in without loosing all the heat that normally goes with it. I'm not using one as our winters are not as cold here and I don't have an attic to hide it in.


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## newguy (Mar 18, 2006)

Well not completely DIY (i didnt build the electronics  ), but wired and installed my first home theater with 100" high definition widescreen and 5.1 surround sound system by myself.

It does require about the same amount of research as setting up your first planted tank - which translates to A LOT. But like a good planted tank, it's definitly worthwhile after you see the end result in action


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

newguy said:


> Well not completely DIY (i didnt build the electronics  ), but wired and installed my first home theater with 100" high definition widescreen and 5.1 surround sound system by myself.
> 
> It does require about the same amount of research as setting up your first planted tank - which translates to A LOT. But like a good planted tank, it's definitly worthwhile after you see the end result in action


How does the projector do in a light room, does it have the brightness necessary or do you have to dim the lights?

I have been thinking of a projector for the new house.

I have the sound system pretty good but am still using a 32" standard TV for viewing. my main speakers are good down to about 35-40Hz and the infinite baffle sub picks up there and is flat to 5 Hz. The drivers roll off at about 18 Hz but it's corner loaded so the room gain is incredible. I had a fast food drink cup on my coffee table that was about 1/2 full and on a deep bass thump it dumped the glass. another effect I have seen was an empty glass with a straw in it, the straw started bouncing back and forth across the glass. When I was testing the sub with test tones a 3' X 4' window had ripples in it like you threw a stone in a pond, it had a bulge in the center and one distinct ring around it. I shut it down quick when I saw that.

The pics of your projector look great, what brand and model is it?

Brian


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## adamt (Oct 21, 2006)

This thread makes me feel guilty for all of my "half finished" projects. There isn't enough bandwith on this website to show pictures of all of them.

Just to list just a few of the unfinished ones
'78 Vespa Grande Moped restoration
In House Recording Studio
Home Theater 
Horseshoe Court
Lowrider Ranger with Explorer Interior
Koi Pond in Rock Garden

Sad to say the only one I've finished is a super sized picnic table for 10
This is a bad picture, I'll get a better one tomorrow when there is better light









Here's the Vespa-422 original miles with Pirelli tires









How bout this 29gallon tank stand


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## Jimbo205 (Feb 2, 2006)

> in addition to a good air exchanger


 Actually Brian, I have read about these in the Home Depot Book and Black and Decker book I have on home repair and my buddies book on contractor's insulation book.

For me it was nice to read a good book with great photos to show and tell what type of projects were for beginners, intermediate and advanced. And better yet was the estimated time for each skill level. I like to be able my projects in one day (or less). Otherwise, I would probably never finish. By the air exchanger they had in the book was hooked up to the air furnace in the basement but basically the same concept that you explained.

All very cool stuff. I am glad it is not too cold where you are.

Cassie in California sent some really nice warm weather to Upstate New York today, and we had a record breaking 71 degrees Farenheit! I am obliged to her. Just like I told her, in Upstate New York - if you don't like the weather - wait 20 minutes! :smile:


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## Jimbo205 (Feb 2, 2006)

Let your kid(s) play video games on this, and you will NEVER get them to ever go to bed again!


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## adamt (Oct 21, 2006)

> I like to be able my projects in one day (or less).


That is such a beautiful concept in theory. 
Do you know how hard it is to get parts for a 1978 Italian Moped?

My theory is if I get everything done then I won't have anything to live for anymore and I'd probably just up and die.

Idle hands are the devils workshop


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## Jimbo205 (Feb 2, 2006)

When I stop working 7 days a week - I can take better care of my back yard and garden. Of course, the wife and 4 kids keep me busy too. 

1978 Italian Moped? Hard. Do you have any friends or relatives that travel there?


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

adamt said:


> This thread makes me feel guilty for all of my "half finished" projects. There isn't enough bandwith on this website to show pictures of all of them.


Now you are talking my language. I have a 1962 Ford Anglia Sedan Delivery that I started 27 Years ago and I still can't drive it.:mmph:


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## adamt (Oct 21, 2006)

> I have a 1962 Ford Anglia Sedan Delivery that I started 27 Years ago and I still can't drive it.


You sound like my dad. He's been a DIYer for like 30 years. He has projects in 4 different counties that aren't finished. 
My dad has a 55 f100 pickup with 312 y block that came out of a TBird. Right before he broke it down for a rebuild he took me for one last ride in it. I was six years old and remember the ride very well. I'm almost 25 now! I'm trying to buy that 312 from him to put in my Ranger but he's not having it.


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## newguy (Mar 18, 2006)

bpimm said:


> How does the projector do in a light room, does it have the brightness necessary or do you have to dim the lights?
> 
> I have been thinking of a projector for the new house.
> 
> ...


The darker the room the better the picture(contrast), that's true for any tv but especially true for front projectors. Huge improvements were made in the last 5 years though, now you can use HT projector in a normally lid room (for news, comedies etc), but to get the best picture still need to turn off the lights.

What most people do is have a 42" plasma for normal viewing, then when it's time for the good stuff turn on the 100" projector and turn off the lights!

Mine is a toshiba mt700, there are much better/cheaper models out now. The technology is getting upgraded so fast, we are talking months not years! soon they will have 1080P for under 3k!! checkout avsforum.com , the equivalent of APC for home theater geeks


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

newguy said:


> The darker the room the better the picture(contrast), that's true for any tv but especially true for front projectors. Huge improvements were made in the last 5 years though, now you can use HT projector in a normally lid room (for news, comedies etc), but to get the best picture still need to turn off the lights.
> 
> What most people do is have a 42" plasma for normal viewing, then when it's time for the good stuff turn on the 100" projector and turn off the lights!
> 
> Mine is a Toshiba mt700, there are much better/cheaper models out now. The technology is getting upgraded so fast, we are talking months not years! soon they will have 1080P for under 3k!! checkout avsforum.com , the equivalent of APC for home theater geeks


I was hoping to have no TV at all, we don't watch much TV anyway, and just use a hidden screen to view TV and movies when needed. maybe in a couple more years the technology will be there. yea I have done some reading on avsforum.com good site.


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## adamt (Oct 21, 2006)

You can always get the motorized retractible screen or one of the old school pull down shade style ones. Or you can do what we did at my work. We have some special non reflective white paint that is made for painting an interior wall and use it for a screen. When it's off you can't even tell it's there.

I'll have to get some pictures of that bad boy. It's got to be at least 300" screen.

I love watchin football on it.


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

adamt said:


> You can always get the motorized retractible screen or one of the old school pull down shade style ones. Or you can do what we did at my work. We have some special non reflective white paint that is made for painting an interior wall and use it for a screen. When it's off you can't even tell it's there.
> 
> I'll have to get some pictures of that bad boy. It's got to be at least 300" screen.
> 
> I love watchin football on it.


That stuff is great, unfortunately the location it would be is a log wall with a window. I think the white rectangle painted there might show up a little.

I was thinking of the motorized variety


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## RoseHawke (Jan 4, 2005)

Some people have already seen this since there's an overlap between PT and here, but here's my latest project, the fireplace mantel, just finished (I did the tile work too):










Actually just about everything you see I did at one time or another. Here's another view from several months back that shows some more of the stuff I've done. I put up the crown, textured the ceiling, put in the arches on the doorways, repaired and replaced a good bit of drywall once I took the AWFUL 1970's dark paneling down.










Oh, I built the cat tree too . Here's a pic of it:


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

RoseHawke said:


> Some people have already seen this since there's an overlap between PT and here, but here's my latest project, the fireplace mantel, just finished (I did the tile work too):


Very nice, I love the tile pattern



> Actually just about everything you see I did at one time or another. Here's another view from several months back that shows some more of the stuff I've done. I put up the crown, textured the ceiling, put in the arches on the doorways, repaired and replaced a good bit of drywall once I took the AWFUL 1970's dark paneling down.


Isn't that paneling sad, I didn't even like it in the 70's.



> Oh, I built the cat tree too . Here's a pic of it:


That is the coolest cat tree I have ever seen. obviously you spoil your cats.

Brian


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## Jimbo205 (Feb 2, 2006)

Cindy, I loved your post.

But what does


> since there's an overlap between PT and here


 that mean?

Do you mean the staff / adminstrators / moderators are the same? Or are they cookie cutters or the same thing? Or do they have distinctive differences (please say yes) ?


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## onemyndseye (May 12, 2006)

I think she probably meant PlantedTank.net


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## T-Bone (Nov 23, 2005)

I think this counts as do it yourself. I've been working on this for a few weeks in my spare time. "The Hyatt Regency" hotel in Vancouver is hosting a gingerbread contest, for charity. So I decided it would be fun to enter. I tried last year but the humidity in my house melted my gingerbread (maybe it's the 4 fish tanks I had running  ..... NAH!!) This year I took precautions. I pondered a while for what to do my gingerbread after, and finally came up with Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow. Moscow is well known for their winters and cathedrals go nicely with Christmas, and St. Basil's almost looks like a gingerbread.

I realise there are some flaws, but I'm a chef, not a baker. I had to take some artistic license on some of the candy decoration. It was a lot of hard work, but all in all I think it turned out pretty good. I still have a few touch ups to do though.

Here it is.










What do you think? Does it look like Saint Basil's?


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

Yes it does.... and WOW! That should be a contender. And you get to eat it when your done.


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## T-Bone (Nov 23, 2005)

TYVM  

BTW that is a very nice log home. What are the costs compared to a typically framed house? You don't have to say how much, just more, less or about the same. Just curious, not that it matters, log homes have an unsurpassed character about them, that a typical home can't match.

Georgous system Newguy! That is stunning craftmenship rosehawke!


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

T-bone, 

Thanks, lets just say the cost is more than standard framing, but not a huge amount more unless you go for the Full custom fit logs. the main difference I have found is in the labor, the log house goes a lot slower. at least for me it did.


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## Jimbo205 (Feb 2, 2006)

T-Bone, that looks fantastic. 

So for you two, what was your favorite dish you enjoyed this Thanksgiving? 
And did you cook it, make it, or just enjoy it? 

I had my first Sweet Potato Pie ever (Thank you Wal*Mart) 
and learned that an entire pie is roughly 2,000 calories. How about that? 

And no, I did not burn off any of the calories. 

I am waiting for my plane ticket to the State of Washington to help build the second house. 

I'll burn off my calories then. [smilie=b:


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

Jimbo205 said:


> So for you two, what was your favorite dish you enjoyed this Thanksgiving?
> And did you cook it, make it, or just enjoy it?


For me The whole meal was wonderful, but the one thing I enjoyed the most had to be the Lemon Meringue Pie.

My Girlfriend and I fixed about half the meal and took it to my Mom & Dad's this year. so I actually had a hand in making the pie. and it was still OK.


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