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Photo Tour - Edward Croker


My Home - Mission Completed
The house is finally done and we're just working on landscaping in our spare time (does anyone actually have that anymore?) Currently we've put in some flower terraces and a veggie garden and are planning to either sod or seed the front yard.  Click on the thumbnails for the full quality pictures.  If you are interested, you can view the floor plan here.

CEO of Cypress Log Homes hops on a sexy 955 Cat and begins grading at the house site.

- 5/28/02

Yeah, nothing like moving yards and yards of dirt...enough to fall in love with the 955 Cat.

- 5/28/02

Still has to come down a couple feet for the 10' basement walls, but looking good.

-5/28/02

Here we see the best side of Kelly "The Ladies Man" Adams as he frames up a door header.

- 6/19/02

And here we have a not-so- great photo op as I pose for the camera in my basement door.

- 6/19/02

A nice view of the framed basement as I struggle with the adjustment on my tool belt.

- 6/19/02

David (affectionately known as "Gerald") Hendrix sets a floor joist.

- 6/19/02

Derek (affectionately known as "Jeff") Watson nails the joist to the outer band.

- 6/19/02

A beautiful view of the incredibly level floor joists on 16" centers.

- 6/19/02

Another view of the floor system with 2x4 blocks in-between to ensure stability.

- 6/19/02

The 2x4 blocks not only prevent the floor joists from twisting, they give you something to bolt the first course of logs into.

- 6/19/02

Another view for those of you soon-to-be house builders.

- 6/19/02

Gluing the top of the floor joists to prepare for the plywood.

- 6/20/02

The crew slaps down another piece of plywood.

- 6/20/02

(Left to right) Derek, Ben, and David are hard at work.

- 6/20/02

Sexy legs, well umm, uh, yeah.

- 6/20/02

A finished look at the permanent deck posts (we used 6x6 pressure treated pine D-logs).

- 6/28/02

The highly technical reason why we used D-logs for posts was because we had them.

- 6/28/02

Here we have a nice view of the 2x8 treated pine deck joists on 16" centers covered with cypress 2x8 decking.

- 6/28/02

The house with a wrap-around deck covered with 2x8 cypress decking.

- 6/28/02

Here we see the 6' extension beyond the regular 8' deck (not to mention a great view).

- 6/28/02

Another basic view of the house from atop the tractor.

- 6/28/02

A view from the front side of the house.

- 6/28/02

A view from the backside.

- 6/28/02

A close-up of the unsanded decking.

- 6/28/02

An action shot of the calibration of the templates for cutting the dove-tail corners.

- 7/01/02

Framing around the doors with 4x6 cypress timbers.

- 7/01/02

Our motto here is "If you're not good at it, at least look good doin' it." Just kidding Kelly, you're doing a great job of plumbing the door wrap.

- 7/01/02

David Hendrix makes a corner cut for a dove-tail corner with a chain saw.

- 07/02/02

Here he goes again, but don't get too excited girls, he's married.

- 07/02/02

David uses a power saw with a double blade to make the cut where a spline will go.

- 07/02/02

The crew sets a corner log while making sure the flashing fits up into the log.

- 07/02/02

David Hendrix and Derek Watson; they don't just do it right, they look good doin' it.

- 07/03/02

A dove-tail corner on the first row of logs between the normal 6x12 and the shorter starter log.

- 07/03/02

A nice view of the house with our rottweiler, Kai, looking on.

- 07/03/02

Kelly, David, and Derek as they finish drilling a hole in the log to run a wire for an electrical outlet

- 07/05/02

David strikes a Rambo pose as he attempts to adjust the logs position.

- 07/05/02

My dad, Ed Croker, and my girlfriend (now fiance), Danielle Johnson, as they stop for a pose in what will one day become a closet.

- 07/05/02

Here we have a nice cutout in the log where the 4x6 window wrap will be set.

- 07/05/02

The bolts in dove-tail ensure corner stability and are later plugged and sanded for a nice finished look.

- 07/05/02

Work has been going slow, though the house is really starting to take shape.

- 07/05/02

The aluminum splines on the side of the door and window wraps provide extra protection for wind and water leaks.

- 07/05/02

A new week, and we keep grinding away...

- 07/08/02

Here is the process we have been using for laying logs.

Step 1: Cut the log to fit.

(I know it's complicated but stay with me on this)

- 07/08/02

Step 2: Make cuts for splines, where applicable.

- 07/08/02

Step 3: Stick two strips of foam tape into the grooves on the underside of the log. Now it is ready to be set.

- 07/08/02

Step 4: Drill holes large enough to recess the bolt and washers. (You can obviously bypass this step if you're using the "Log Boss" or "Olly-Log" fasteners).

- 07/08/02

Step 5: Drill a pilot hole through the top log. (Once again, you wouldn't do this if you're using a fastener that doesn't require predrilling).

- 07/08/02

Step 6: Flush the log to the one below it and use an impact wrench to bolt the logs together.

- 07/08/02

Here we bolted the log to the door wrap. Elementary, my dear Watson...

- 07/08/02

Kelly and Derek build a window wrap out of cypress 4x6's.

- 07/09/02

Kelly makes the spline cut for the window in the notched out log with a chain saw.

- 07/09/02

Now he places two runs of foam tape on the bottom of the notched out log to prevent wind and water leaks.

- 07/09/02

Finally, the window is placed in and bolted down.

- 07/09/02

It sure is fun to watch those walls get higher and higher!

- 07/09/02

"I was framed!" claimed Kelly.

- 07/09/02

Okay, I'm not a professional photographer, but regardless the house is looking good.

- 07/10/02

From atop the dump truck, the progress on the house shines forth.

- 07/10/02

The crew spends some time making sure the corner is plumbed and square.

- 07/11/02

At a distance, my current residence can be seen above the door frame.

- 07/11/02

A beautiful corner. And in the words of Forest Gump, "That's all I have to say about that."

- 07/11/02

The cloud covered sky today was a nice break from the 95+ degree working environment.

- 07/12/02

We got all the corners up to the window level today and started putting in the short log segments.

- 07/12/02

This is for those who wanted a better look at the setup for cutting the dove-tail corners.

- 07/12/02

Today we finished laying the short log segments in the back wall.

- 07/16/02

Despite the missing David (who happens to be going to a weeklong revival), we keep moving along quite well.

- 07/16/02

We are now officially 7 courses up, and are ready to start cutting in the tops of the windows.

- 07/16/02

This morning we set up the scaffolding to avoid trying to set these logs over our heads.

- 07/17/02

Cutting the logs that go above the windows and doors is slow and tedious, but the results are nice.

- 07/17/02

The crew catches me in a moment of Zen. Due to extreme farmer's tan on legs, parental guidance is suggested.

- 07/19/02

After cutting a log 3 or 4 times and it still being too short, we finally get 9 1/2 courses up on this section of the house.

- 07/19/02

At the end of today, we're only 1 course shy of our 10 course goal. Hopefully this means that roof will be started next week.

- 07/19/02

Ben Hitchcock cleans out a corner cut with a chisel for our LAST log.

- 07/22/02

The crew sets the final log and there was much rejoicing throughout the land.

- 07/22/02

Above the finished log walls, Derek ponders the meaning of life.

- 07/22/02

Here is Ben's jig made on the spot for routing out the logs to insert the second floor beams.

- 07/23/02

Here we have an anonymous set of arms using a router to cut into the logs.

- 07/23/02

Derek chisels out what is left making a hole 1 1/4" deep.

- 07/23/02

Now the wall is ready for the second floor beams.

- 07/23/02

Derek helps set a second floor beam.

- 07/24/02

Here we see the beautiful fruits of our routing labor.

- 07/24/02

The extra long beams are for a platform at the top of the stairs.

- 07/24/02

Amidst threatening weather, we use a hand cranked lift to set the 6x12 ridge beam.

- 07/25/02

David and the crew sets a rafter to the ridge beam.

- 07/25/02

By the end of the day, the weather has cleared up and we are done with our rented lift.

- 07/25/ 02

Tomorrow we should finish putting the rafters up. Still, it's not like it's going anywhere.

- 07/25/02

Here we have Derek and David prepping before they set the last rafter.

- 07/26/02

Today we started laying logs in the gable ends.

- 07/29/02

From this angle, doesn't it look like one of those fake buildings on a Hollywood set?

- 07/30/02

One gable end done, one to go...

- 07/30/02

Atop scaffolding in the remaining gable end, the crew bolts a log to the window wrap.

- 07/31/02

Yes it's true, this crew is anything butt ordinary...

- 07/31/02

To get lights high in the great room, the crew ran wire in a chain saw groove made on the back of a rafter.

- 08/05/02

John, Derek, and David take a second to pose.

- 08/05/02

The rising decking...

- 08/05/02

Cypress 2x6 T&G on douglas fir 4x8 rafters.

- 08/06/02

"Pardon me, do you have any grey poupon?"

- 08/06/02

Finishing up the roof and ready to go home.

- 08/06/02

Tar paper on roof, and 5x6 cypress porch posts and wraps set.

- 08/08/02

John and Derek set a 4x6 porch rafter.

- 08/09/02

Porch rafters on three sides have been set.

- 08/13/02

Done with the rafters...on to decking.

- 08/15/02

Here on the porch, we're going with cypress 2x8's.

- 08/15/02

Kelly and I routed all the way through a doug fir 6x12 so that the second floor landing joists could stick through it.

- 08/16/02

Check out the neat diagonal supports for the recessed porch roof! Ben Hitchcock did this because I didn't want a post in the middle of the deck.

- 08/22/02

We ripped cypress 2x8's down into 2x2's for the pickets and used screws to attach them to the porch band and to the cypress 2x8 handrail.

- 08/30/02

David trims around the porch rafters.

- 08/30/02

The tub and shower units got set by Ben and our master plumber Russell Farmer.

- 08/30/02

The upstairs bathroom with plumbing rough-in.

- 08/30/02

Pickets on the front porch are done...

- 08/31/02

Special thanks to my dad and girlfriend for spending all labor day weekend working on the pickets with me.

- 09/12/02

Here we routed out a log for my light switches and drilled horizontally from the door frame to get the wires there.

- 10/01/02

Here we see the the tin porch roof as it is being screwed to the 2x4s underneath.

- 10/01/02

Not too far from being dried in...if the weather cooperates.

- 10/01/02

Finally dried in, with a poured concrete patio and a graveled driveway.

- 12/12/02

In the downstairs kitchen, we ran cypress 1x4 beadboard vertically 3 ft up the wall with sheetrock above that.

-12/12/02

A view of the downstairs stairwell done in 1x6 cypress t&g.

-12/12/02

The great room was paneled with 1x12 cypress t&g that would match the log walls.

-12/12/02

In the downstairs guest bedroom, we ran cypress 1x4s horizontally 3ft up the wall with sheetrock above that.

-12/12/02

In the theater room, we ran cypress 1x6s for the walls and ceiling, installed recessed lighting and put plywood 4 ft up the walls so it could carpeted.

-12/12/02

Good friend and excellent bass playing fool Randy Haugen puts on a show on my back deck.

- 12/12/02

Senior Kelly was kind enough to take the liberty of purchasing a salt block (seen in yellow) to attract deer around my house.

- 12/12/02

Kelly "the babe magnet" puts down some cypress flooring in my master bathroom.

- 12/13/02

The master bathroom; notice the 4x6 cypress timber framing the shower and the cypress flooring.

- 12/13/02

Beautiful cypress flooring in the master bedroom.

- 12/13/02

A look at the front of the theater room. On a side note, simply counting the number of doors in your house multiple times won't always prevent you from ordering an extra 2'6" door.

- 12/13/02

To make the loft a little quieter, we decided to put sheetrock and plywood on top of the 2x6 t&g cypress decking. The greater the static mass, the greater the sound isolation.

- 12/15/02

Dad, Danielle and I lay plywood (picture courtesy of Danielle).

- 12/15/02

A room (the guest bedroom) is finally finished. I am speechless.

- 03/06/03

Looking the other way...

- 03/06/03

Here in the theater room we built a couple of platforms to be used for raised seating. Of course they need to be carpeted first.

- 03/06/03

We built cypress railings for the stairwells (special thanks to Danielle Johnson and Kelly Adams).

- 03/06/03

The design on the wall was built into the paneling and trimmed out with black walnut.

- 03/06/03

The great room floor contains red oak, black walnut (for the borders), and yellow pine.

- 03/07/03

The master bedroom with its finished cypress floor.

- 03/07/03

The great room ceiling from atop the stairs.

- 03/07/03

The great room...this is beautiful!!

- 03/07/03

The closet doors here in the loft/office area I made out of cypress 1x6 t&g.

- 03/07/03