Due to the weather we had to wait to pour the cement into the wall forms for our handcrafted log home here in Bozeman, Montana. With thunder storms several afternoons in a row plus an unexpected snow storm, we finally got the perfect day to pour.

We began by first pouring the cement for the utility pad. To conserve living space we decided to place the furnace, hot water tank, well pump, etc. in the crawl space and place it on this pad.

Next comes the job of pouring the cement into the forms. For this we have one man with the cement ‘hose’ followed by some workers with the vibrator.

The vibrator forces the air pockets out of the cement.

Working down the top of the wall we have the cement being inserted, then the team with the vibrator, and finally someone smoothing the top of the forms with a trowel.

As one section of the foundation is completed then the crew moves to the next area. Above they are pouring the cement walls for the garage.

Smoothing of the tops of the forms continues. You can see the difference before and after the trowel.

For this job we used a pump truck. It is able to reach to all areas of the foundation saving us time and labor. The truck did not have to move which also kept ruts from being made around the foundation.

Here we are filling one of the Sonotubes which support the log post on the covered porch.

Now we have a workman proceeding around the walls with the anchor bolts. An anchor bolt is sunk into the cement every four feet on center. In the front of the photo is a garage door opening.

Longer through bolts are also sunk into the cement which will extend up into the first row of logs. All anchor bolts are bent, like this one, so we will straighten it before the logs arrive.

A bracket is also placed on the top of the Sonocones.

The forms are left to cure. Then they are removed revealing a completed foundation. When we measured the foundation it was almost perfectly square corner to corner and also diagonally across the sections. We measured each separately before any seal plate or sub floor is installed. That will be our next step.

This photo is taken from the back left corner of the foundation. The evenly spaced center footers can also be seen.

The footer wider than the walls. Here the eight inch thick poured wall is set squarely on top of the extended footer.

This is the backside of the foundation. I am standing where the rear cement patio will be. The door opening in front of me is the man door out of the log garage.

Here is the finished Sonotube. After the cement was dry we stripped the outer cardboard off for a neater appearance.

This photo shows the front of the log home. The area to the left of the photo is for the seven foot longer great room to rest on.

The foundation of a log home is not a simple task. The owners of our home here in Bozeman, Montana commented that it was a more complicated process than they realized. Foundations need to be built with up most care. If they are not square and solid then the entire handcrafted log home will not be built correctly.

Cowboy Log Homes