This morning I stopped by the preconstruction site where the log walls for the Hidden Wilderness project are being housed, custom milled, hand hewn and put together before they are delivered to the actual construction site near Idaho Springs. As coincidence would have it, the builder Mark Claudin, negotiated to preconstruct the cabin on the rear parking lot of another project of ours which is a remodel of the former BMC building in Bergen Park. Currently in framing stage, and what will be the new Evergreen Mercantile building, it contains a large expanse of pavement which is the perfect staging area for the preconstruction of the Hidden Wilderness log home.
While I was there I met Jon Kool, of Timberland Cutom Log Works , who is the log supplier for the project. There are many ways that today’s log homes are milled and constructed, but for Jon preconstructing the home in a local setting like this has many advantages. Due to the rather remote site of Hidden Wilderness property, no electricity, and the rocky and uneven terrain of the building site, the logistics for Jon and his crew are much easier for manuvering and custom milling the 11 inch average diameter logs on the relatively flat surface of the pavement. He explained that all the logs that he’ll need are delivered to the preconstruction site, then they are planed and stripped of bark, measured, cut and put into place for futher custom milling so they create solid saddle notch corner connections. In the upper right portion of the photo above, a crew member of Jon’s prepares a log at their milling area that will soon be added to the course of logs already in place.
