Fig. 5
BOLT FOR SILL LOG METAL TERMITE GUARD CROSS SECTION OF FOUNDATION WALL
The sill logs or timbers are laid on top of the foundation. If your cabin is to be of logs, select a number of the strongest and straightest and lay them so as to form the outside “frame” of the cabin. They should be bolted tightly to the concrete by means of long iron bolts previously buried in the foundation walls. If the sills are to rest on piers or boulders, spike them together. The weight of the cabin will hold the sills in place. The 2×6 floor joists are cut in or notched over the sills. They should be set with the 2-inch side uppermost and securely spiked.
The footing for the fireplace is made just like the concrete foundations—6 or 8 inches beyond the dimensions of the fireplace plus the hearth. Pour a slab of concrete about 10 inches deep, in which are buried ½ inch steel rods laid in both directions—checkerboard fashion—and wired at the intersections. This may seem like a lot of extra work but the steel rods prevent settling and cracking. On this slab build a wooden form to the height of the bottom of the floor joists and fill with a mixture of concrete, sand and plenty of small boulders. At this point block off the section to be used for the hearth and fill in the fireplace proper up to the floor level. This will leave a space to be filled in later with hearthstones, brick or whatever you decide to use for the hearth.
Reinforcing rods in fireplace base.
BUILDING THE CABIN FIREPLACE
If the chapters in this book were arranged in the order of their importance from the standpoint of cabin features, this one, dealing with fireplaces and chimneys, would probably come first. No matter what other ideas you may have about a vacation cabin you will undoubtedly insist on a fireplace as a dominant feature. To most people a cabin without one just isn’t a cabin at all.
When it comes to building it you can have the work done a lot easier than you can do it yourself. On the other hand, you’ll probably do a lot of arguing with the mason because, strange as it seems, there appear to be comparatively few masons who can build a fireplace and a chimney that will work to perfection. The instructions here have been collected from people who do know how, and if you follow them, you should have a successful fireplace.