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raisadan
Member
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# Posted: 20 Sep 2011 14:36
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Hi,
I'm Dan from Washington State but now living in central Russia near the city of kazan. My wife and I are putting up log house. It's about 1300 sq. feet, 2 floors. The logs are of red pine. Now (9-18-2011) we're putting in the windows and doors. Our water and septic lines to the house are buried more than 2 meters. It gets to minus 35 below here in the winter. Russians have building log houses down pretty good but sometimes we run into a lot of really stupid problems.
Putting in the window splines
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Ramil putting in the subfloor
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Raisa in the "kitchen"
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Waterline 6 feet deep
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PA_Bound
Member
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# Posted: 20 Sep 2011 15:02
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Great looking place! I think this project will make you one of the groups cold-climate experts ;-). How are you going to heat it?
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Montanan
Member
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# Posted: 20 Sep 2011 15:07
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Looking great! I have the same question- what's your heat source?
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Malamute
Member
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# Posted: 20 Sep 2011 23:16
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Looking good Dan!
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raisadan
Member
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# Posted: 21 Sep 2011 04:07 - Edited by: raisadan
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Montanan,
Forgot to mention 2 other ways Russians heat their homes living off the grid in severe winters in remote places.
1. There is the classic Russian stove. It's this huge masonry structure, it looks like a (American) fireplace on steroids. It has several chambers inside...it takes a bit of wood (or coal) to get it going but once this huge thermal mass finally heats up, it takes minimal fuel to keep it going. If you live in western Montana I suspect that you won't have any problems getting firewood. A variation of this is the same stove with a build in water boiler inside, above the primary firebox, this boiler in turn is connected t a pipe about 3" diameter that runs all through the perimeter of the house, either on the floor or up on the ceiling. Russians are not concerned about looks but it works realy well. I've seen this for myself. This is a good system (without piping) for weekend or short time use of your house.
2. Second stove type; looks like a large wood stove. It's just a large rectangular steel firebox with a boiler on top. Like in the above version, it's connected to a metal pipe that runs through out the house. Both systems are kept running constantly for 5 months of winter. My aunt in eastern Siberia has the latter version,,,but since coal is so cheap, they use it a lot here. Typically in the villages on saturdays, people head tgo their "banya". which is similar to a sauna, but more water involved. As such, there is a heavy cloud of stinky coal smoke laying like the dog's blanket over the village. They do things very differently here, but somehow, and I don't know why...it works. If you want any detailed information let me know. Hope this helps,
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raisadan
Member
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# Posted: 21 Sep 2011 12:02
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Here's another shot of our house earlier this year, before windows were installed. There's a bfg whet field across from our place, but it's very rural otherwise. The house is 21'x39'
2 stories...
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raisadan
Member
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# Posted: 21 Sep 2011 12:16
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Taken earlier this year before the windows were put in. The house measures 21' x 39'...2 floors..That's a wheat field in the background but it's mostly rural. Visoyaka Gora (Tall Mountain) is the nearest little town aobut 10 miles away.
Dan and Raisa's house in Russia
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raisadan
Member
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# Posted: 21 Sep 2011 12:19
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PS. all wood materials, logs, joists and beams were cut by hand in a nearby forest.....nothing manufactured here except the metal roof and planking for the roof.
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toyota_mdt_tech
Member
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# Posted: 25 Sep 2011 21:40 - Edited by: toyota_mdt_tech
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raisiadan, what a nice job. Looks absolutely beautiful. Nice work on the logs too. They look straight and little to no taper. All nice fitting saddle notching. Butt/Pass method would of saved you lots of time, but in my opinion, doesnt look as nice as the saddle notch like you guys did.
Here is a photo I found on the butt/pass method. Just doesnt look as good, but easy to do.
Its nice to see Russians enjoying all the same things in life as we do. I grew up in the 60's and we were told of this country who wanted to destroy us, many built bomb shelters back then, I remember hearing the air raid siren's testing every Wednesday at high noon. As I grew up, seen the second revolution in 91, I knew there was no difference between us and Russians, just the old USSR was a real closed society, so any info was limited. We all wanted the same thing in the end. And to see you over there building a log cabin, it looks no different than anything over here. I guess its nice to see the westernization and enjoying freedoms, dreams etc. Enjoyed seeing all your pictures. Nice to learn about the Russian culture too. Keep the photos coming. You guys have done a fantastic job!
PS, as a auto technician by trade at a dealer, the little car has me curious, what make, model and year is it? And where was it made?
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raisadan
Member
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# Posted: 26 Sep 2011 12:24
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Hi Toyota!
thanks for the nice words. as for the car It's a Daewoo "Matiz" but actually now, it's GM Matiz since Daewoo went belly up. They are all made in Uzbekistan. Russian cars like the Lada are good for 6 months. They are everywhere, especially along side the highways broke down. The Matiz is a great little car, well made and economical. It's fun to drive, just like an old VW bug
pre-1972. As for Russians, when I first came here 3 years ago, I thought that people being people, we were all the same. Yes, we all want the same things in life but I find them the antithesis of us Americans. They are rude to strangers, in the shops, on the street and especially on the road. I would say that everyday I myself witness several instances of criminal negligence on the road. You can see more car accidents here in a week than you'll see in 5 years on ANY American highway. Most driver are reckless and erratic. I could write volumns here. I've had my car 1 year now and already I filed 3 insurance claims for other drivers either hitting my parked car on on the road. In Washington State I enjoyed driving, not I dread every time I get in the car. Of course when we finish our house in the countryside north of here, I'lll be out of this city (Kazan) and in more peaceful settings.
I have a few very wonderful Russian friends here, they're great but other than that as a rule, the Russians ain't nothin' like us. BTW, I'm a child of the 60's too, and hid under my desk at school for air raid drills.
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steveqvs
Member
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# Posted: 26 Sep 2011 13:09
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Quote "My aunt in eastern Siberia,...." Now there is a sentence you don't see every day.
I love the cabin... looks well made.
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raisadan
Member
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# Posted: 1 Oct 2011 10:24
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Here's a few more pix taken this week. All work has moved inside because of the rain...it only rained twice in September the first time for 12 days and the second time for 16 days.
Ramil, our carpenter making window trim. He like to use his router
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Ramil's wife working on the window trim
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My wife Raisa, painting the window trim
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Ramil putting on the window trim
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neb
Member
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# Posted: 1 Oct 2011 12:31
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Very very nice. It looks like you have done a great job. You got it so you can keep the weather out that is a good feeling.
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beachman
Member
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# Posted: 5 Oct 2011 20:00
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Fantastic. My grandmother was from Latvia and always skeptical of the Russians - although she married a Russian immigrant and settled in the US. Your cabin - a really neat place - looks very tight. Here in Canada we can get about the same winters. All utilities in the cities are down at least 8 feet. We have no running water or electricity at our cabin so we shut everything down for the winter. Do you have electricity at your place? The roof looks really rugged and seems to come in sheets that are laid horizontally rather than vertically. Very nice!
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raisadan
Member
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# Posted: 5 Oct 2011 23:45
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Beachman,
Our water lines are about 1.5 meters deep. We have electricity and we have natural gas which is a plus out here...it's not metered and dirt cheap....one of the few benefits of living here. Metal roofs have become very popular here, great for shedding snow and rain it installed properly. I know what you mean about your Latvian grandma....my folks were Polish immigrants....same dynamic. Russia (and the USSR) has always been a pain in the ass to it's neighbors and historically, Latvia is no exception. Cheers!
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leonk
Member
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# Posted: 19 Jun 2012 18:02
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Hi from another "Russian".
How is it going?
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cabingal3
Member
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# Posted: 19 Jun 2012 18:52
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raisadan
how did u go from washington state and end up in the middle of Russia??just curious.your place is wonderful.when i think of Russia,i think of bubushka's chopping up their furniture to keep warm.
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neb
Member
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# Posted: 19 Jun 2012 20:07
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Looks good and haven't heard from you in awhile. Keep us informed on the progress>
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turkeyhunter
Member
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# Posted: 19 Jun 2012 22:03
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looks great
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