Sweat Equity This Is Just 1 Example

We are always asked how much will my home cost? But before we can really answer that we need to find out some things. 1 is will you be doing "sweat equity" ? You might ask what does sweat equity look like....there are many ways to get involved in your project. Some want to do as much as possible and others may say I think we can paint. 

Last weekend we made a trip to the Wenatchee, WA area ( actually in a small town called Magala) to help a couple that are doing sweat equity on their home in the finishing touches and so here are some before and after photos of a project we helped them with.    

Mark & Kari had already found this place were they bought 2 very nice fir slabs with "live edges" that means that it is the actual outside of the tree bark and all .

Here is the before of the bar. Don't you just love the old corrugated metal they used on the face of the bar? on the right side floor under the trap are the bar tops.

They had a number of things they had to figure out as to how it was going to go on. Some of which they had prep work to do which is what you see in the next 2 photos .

Nice location to work out on the deck over looking the fields of fruit. 

Mark ( the home owner in dark shirt ) is cutting off a bit of the over hand so they can get the pots and pans on the stove top . And Cliff ( green shirt) is cutting in a space where the 2 slabs will intersect at the corner.

Here are the attached slabs they still need to be sanded and finish put on them which Mark is going to do. 

Any questions or comments we would love to hear from you !

Independence Day 2013

I just love my friend & customer Bill & Julie's front porch at this time of the year !

What does this day mean to you ? 

Sun is out temps are in the 50's but not spring yet

You know how it feels this time of you ...like spring is just around the corner and so that brings me to spring cleaning. Yikes what am I saying...really for me I have been cleaning out the business paperwork. Getting ready for the upcoming Sportsmen & Home & Garden shows by updating . So updated paperwork, business cards, a new hand out along with sprucing up the web site . All this is coming soon so watch for us if you are headed to these shows first one up is The Portland Sportsmen Show Feb. 6-10 @ The Expo Center in Portland or Portland Home & Garden Show Feb. 20-24 @ The Expo Center in Portland or Central OR. Sportsmen Show March 7-10 @ The Deschutes County Fair Grounds.     

Christmas Time

So if you do a tree what color of lights do you do ? 

The first 2 trees are in our home different years the Blue tree is in a customers home.

The D Family Update

It was Oct. of 2008 and I started posting  (click on hyper link word and you will go to post or page) on this family that was just starting to build their dream home. This following photo is of them that I took on the end of the first weekend that we had started stacking their log home. This photo was taken in Sept. of 2008   

Sept. 2012 just a 4 short years later here they stand in front of that beautiful home. this photo was taken by Jamie who is another home owner and a great Photographer.

 ( If you click her name it will take you to her web site )

I'm going to share some before and after photos I hope you enjoy.

This photo above and below are the guys doing the post & beam for their loft.

Then here are some after photos of this finished ceiling in Kitchen and dining room. 

One  month after they started here are a couple of photos.

Outside before and after 

inside

above is after inside 

Again these photos are Jamie ( this link is to her Facebook )

Then in Nov. of 2008 I posted a story about Radiant heating and

 showed some photos of the process in that post .

The above they are putting down the tubes and the below is the Living area tubes.

This first photo is looking across the living to front door from dining area under loft. 

Again Jamie ( this link is to her blog) took these after shots. the one below is a close up of the concrete floor that is used as a finished floor. They love it !

In Jan of 2009 the outside looked like this 

 

In Sept. 2012 it looks like this.

Inside they were doing the wiring in the living area .

Then here is a finished look.

OK I think I have done enough for now but I can't leave this post without these last

 2 photos that speak for themselves : )

2008

2012

Thanks go to both the "D" family and Jamie love you both! 

It's Summer & We Have Construction Sites

We wanted to let you know that if you want to see what happens as you build your log home, log cabin or standard stick frame cabin we have 3 projects going on around the state as I write this.

Here is a look at them and the location.

Jewel, OR. which is located off Hwy 26 on the way to Seaside. This project started this last winter and right now they just got sheet rock installed and are working on the rest of the interior finishes.

Dundee, OR ( in the heart of Oregon's wine country SW of Portland ). This project has the logs almost stacked.

And the last but not the least is located at Crescent Lake Junction ( which is off Hwy 58 ). This is a replacement cabin for the family which had a old A Frame that they torn down and we are building a stick frame cabin on the same spot. They are just at the framing stages of this. 

If you would like more info on any of these project please email us info@bakerpond.com or call 541-389-6005.  

We get ask if we only do Log Cabins. So I wanted to share
this cabin our crews did last summer. This cabin is
a 2 bedroom w/ large loft . Over all sq. ft. is 1200.
Isn't it cute ? We are doing another cabin like this
  if you would like to see either one or
 want more info please contact us...

Front Side

Back Side

Can you build in the snow?

OK so just when you think spring is coming or here.... it snows....and this isn't in Bend but it is on a job site in the coastal range about 25 miles inland from Seaside, OR. Just outside of Jewel, OR. This was taken on March 1st 2012

We get ask all the time if we build year round and we do and as you can see from this below photo even in the snow. They just have to shovel snow off the sub floor.

Spring is just around the corner

Often time we find that right after the Holiday's is when you start thinking about building a cabin.

We were at the Portland Sportsmen Show last week and found that many folks are talking about the future and when they want to build.

A good thing to think about is the fact that it is much better to be proactive in this process or in other words think about when it is that you want to be in your home ...say maybe Christmas time.... then go back a year and get started with the plans. That way you will be there the following Christmas and hopefully enjoying your first of many Christmas's in your new Log Cabin : )

The Secret ....Check it out

First step in putting up the 17' tall Christmas Tree is to get it into our living room. You can see Cliff here with the tree stand that he has built.

Here is a close up look it is a standard large tree stand that he attached to a sheet of plywood that has turn buckles on the corners to help hold up the tree. The stand also has wheels so he can roll it around to decorate.

The stand goes on before the tree stands up sorry I have to help with that and so you don't get to see how I stand and hold the stand in place as Cliff goes to the top of the tree and start to walk it up into place so there isn't a photo of that.

Once it is up he then takes wire and wraps it around the tree into the buckles to help stabilize the tree.

Then once it is up he rolls it over to our loft and takes a ladder into to the loft to decorate the top from part from that location.

He is still on a ladder but now on the main floor and I'll help on the lower part of the tree.

For us it then gets rolled over to the Prow of our living room.

Here it is in all it's slender and I hope this helps you understand the "secret" to our tall tree.

Merry Christmas & Happy 2012 to all !!!!

Here comes Winter

One of the big questions we get is "how much does it costs to heat a log home" ? Or "what types of heating can you use?

Personally we have a number of heating elements in our home as we started with a heat pump unit that had air conditioning also added to it. Then number of years ago we added on a Wood Burning Fireplace ( the above photo shows it at Christmas time ). We also have a small Propane wood looking stove in our family room end of our home. You can see back in the right hand corner.

But back to the Questions ....you can heat them the same as any home. And yes the cost to upkeep the home is just like your standard will built and insulated homes.

Love to hear your comments & questions.....

3 Different Photography Posts

So Jamie has posted all 3 of her posts on her blog.If you do the click on the link in the next post you'll be taken to her blog, once you scroll down click "older post" you will get to see the next group of photos and then do that once more and you will have seen all 3 of her posts on the photo's she took for us. Words aren't enough to say thanks to her for all her work. Maybe you'll need a photographer someday and you'll call her! Thanks for taking the time to see what she has done for us.

Jamie Zanotti Photography: Eugene Oregon Wedding Photography, HS Senior Photos Springfield OR: Baker Pond Log Works: Glimpses

Jamie Zanotti Photography: Eugene Oregon Wedding Photography, HS Senior Photos Springfield OR: Baker Pond Log Works: Glimpses: "One of my favorite things about living in a log home is the strong connection to nature. Even when you're inside, you can often glimpse th..."

getting things updated

We are updating ourselves...which is good because in some case's it has been 16 years ( our logo) others web site ( 7 years ) and then the addition of newer photo's.

So 1 of our customers Jamie Zanotti who has lived in her log cabin 10 years also does photography. She usually shoots Weddings, High School Seniors and families.

I thought I would ask her if she could bring that eye to shooting some of our homes so a week or so ago she and her family came to Bend for a couple of days and shoot 13 of our homes some where just a bit of updating others had never been done professionally before.

So click on the link in the next post and it will take you to here photography blog and enjoy : )

Jamie Zanotti Photography: Eugene Oregon Wedding Photography, HS Senior Photos Springfield OR: Baker Pond Log Works: Interiors

Jamie Zanotti Photography: Eugene Oregon Wedding Photography, HS Senior Photos Springfield OR: Baker Pond Log Works: Interiors: "Here we go! This is one of those 'grab a mug of tea and get comfy' sorta posts (read: loooooong)! ;0) I love the warm combination of log..."

Round Log Walls Or Flat "D" Log Walls

So I was looking at my header photo which is a wall in my Dining area and it shows a Flat " D" interior wall.

The photos below are from a round interior home and as you can see you can still hang things from the wall. In this first photo it shows a log wall on the right side with window and door and then the wall that the fireplace is on is an interior wall with log siding on it but they both match up and look the same.

The next photo is taken in the master bathroom...this shows how you can hid some plumbing in the corner with a branch or a log post. The vent pipe needed a place to go and the plumber put it in the corner but instead of boxing it in the home owners found this branch and it does a great job of hiding that ugly black pipe ...

In this photo you can see how you connect an interior sheet rock wall with the round log wall. Also notice how again the home owner used a great old chest to become the vanity of the 2 bathroom sinks.

So maybe this helped let you see how you can connect things when using round log walls....

Mid October Already !

So I was watching a show last night and the main actor was suppose to be writing a book and he had writers block. I have this blog and it seems the last year or so that is exactly what I have.

I feel really bad because I know if you visit my blog you are looking for something new so today I wanted to post something new and hopefully plan to do that again at least once a month! So help hold me to it please : )

Over the last year I have taken on a new challenge of learning a drafting software program and love it. I have found it has been best thing for me because it is keeping my mind going for sure and a it has been pleasure to create something.

I'm working on a home plan right now for a very cool couple that Cliff & I have been talking to about log homes now for around 11 years and I thought I would show you what my new program can do.

This couple wanted a combination of the Lakeside I & II floor plans. So here is where we are right now on their design.

For your information the floor plans you see on our site are just a starting point for you to use but remember this will be your home and your design so please don't feel that you have to use our floor plans or that you can't change them. With "in house drafting" anything is possible!

Spring is it ????

This week we took off our snow tires and worked in the yard..... then this morning got up to a new dusting of snow! Yeah you can blame us.

Cliff & I have been out on the land this last weekend and again this coming Sat. What I mean by that is we love to walk your land and see where it is that you want to build your log cabin!

By doing this we all learn a ton of info and the best part for us is when you are talking about that wonderful view you have we understand!

So if you have been thinking about building a log home and you have land or are looking at some land to buy call us we would love to come see !