Montana Homestead: How I Built My Homestead Off Grid in the Wilderness by Gordon Blaine

Author:Gordon Blaine [Blaine, Gordon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Crafts; Hobbies & Home, Sustainable Living, Politics & Social Sciences, Social Sciences, Disaster Relief, Homesteading, Off Grid, Survival, Prepping
Amazon: B00S1SNL90
Publisher: Sarco Press
Published: 2015-01-13T06:00:00+00:00

The start of the outdoor kitchen

Spring 2014, Bracing

I was concerned about potential “racking” of the cabin. Racking is the tendency of the walls of the structure to lean. One way to prevent this is to add diagonal bracing between a vertical post and a horizontal beam or pole.

I had read that buried posts will counteract racking in something that is known as a cantilever effect. The post will resist leaning just by being buried in the ground. I also knew that plywood nailed to studs acts to prevent racking and in fact this is the bracing method used for most stick-built homes. I planned to install stud walls between each post and nail plywood on the exterior of the studs so I felt that any additional bracing I added was overkill. But I don’t mind adding extra strength to anything I build, especially my house!

In late March I began adding some diagonal bracing. I wasn’t sure how much I was going to add, but I wanted to at least get a feel for how much time it would take. It ended up taking quite awhile because I decided to first work on the gable ends and there were no horizontal beams on which to fasten the diagonal braces. My son and I set to work cutting and peeling 6-½’ by 10” logs and hoisting them ten feet into the air to secure them in place as beams. To lift them into the air we used the pulley and the tractor.

We then had to cut and peel more logs, smaller this time at about 5” in diameter and about 4’ long. Then I cut the ends at a perfect 45 degree angle and notched the posts and beams in exactly the right spot. After I set each brace in place I secured each end with at least one 6” spike.

I put most of the bracing on the gable ends. I decided that it took so much time to do that if I felt like I needed additional bracing in the long direction I would do it when I had available time and it probably wouldn’t be until after we had moved in. In that case I would add the bracing at the tops of the interior posts where they meet the ridgepole and purloins. I had room to install twelve braces this way.

Most of my braces don’t look pretty up close but they do the job. Later, I did not notice any racking at all but I still planned to add more bracing someday.

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