If there are any stones handy,
Build a Foundation
by making a pile of stones a foot or two high, at each of the four corners, in such a manner that the logs resting on these supports will be at the same level at each end, level with each other, and exactly six feet apart.
For Floor-Joists
take a number of strong poles, and, with a sharp hatchet, give them a flat side for the floor-boards to rest upon, and trim off each end, wedge-shaped, as shown by Fig. 94, the rough sketch at the bottom right-hand corner of Fig. 93.
You understand, of course, that
The Floor-Supports
must be of sufficient length to reach from the front sill-log to the back sill-log. Nail each joist at each end to the sill-logs, and place them about two feet apart. If it is thought that the flooring of the cabin makes too much work, you may build one with a “mud-sill,” by using the hard earth for floor and foundation. Abraham Lincoln lived in a “mud-sill” house, and there are hundreds of such houses in the Southern States.
With the exception of the sill-logs, all the logs are notched at both ends and on both sides (Figs. 97 and 98); the sill-logs are notched at both ends, but only on one side, as shown by Fig. 98. Logs of the same diameter as the sill-logs can be laid between them on the bare ground and used for joists, but the best plan is a stone foundation, and a plank floor at least a foot or two above the earth.