Homestead mailing list

["Lynda" <lurine AT softcom.net>]

We have an old cabin on our property.  It's about 12 x 16 and I'd say a good
150 years old.  The logs have never been treated/sealed and they look just
about brand new.  I'm thinking they are Doug Fir.  There's not any kind of
pest damage.  We did have to knock a few dozen old wasp/hornet nests down
and shoo out the bats but we'll be using it next summer (it's right by the
creek in a real pretty meadow setting).  That is after we do a lot of brush
clearing since we got yowled at down by the cabin by a mountain lion a
couple of weeks ago!

The outbuildings are all old log buildings also.  Some of them are madrone
and are hard as a rock!  You can't hammer anything into them, you have to
drill and use screws.  I learned the hard way <g> when I converted one into
a small greenhouse a couple of weeks ago.  Good thing I did as it is down in
the 20s at night now and a lot of my plants are used to coastal weather
where "cold" is in the 40s <g>

Lynda
----- Original Message -----
From: WF Smith <WarrenSmith AT PalmettoBuilders.net>
My
> Grandad's house had a smokehouse built of logs in 1825 in the backyard
which
> were sound until Granny tore it down in a landscaping project a few years
> ago. I can say with certainty that no preservative of any kind was ever
put
> on that wood. I think old growth timber was denser and tougher
>