THE LOG & TIMBER SPECIALISTS

A Passion for Log and Timber Joinery

Homage to the Ponderosa; A DoveTail Log Home in the Nicola Valley - July 16th 2010



The customer knew he wanted a dovetail log home on his remote acreage in the Nicola Valley. Initially, he planned a sizeable dovetail structure to be built of Western red cedar, but when he realized that his demanding work load would not allow him time to enjoy the building, he began considering a smaller foot print. The Nicola Valley, like so much of British Columbia has been hard hit by the Western pine beetle and the mountain pine beetle; destroying vast pine forests, as well as the mighty Ponderosa – the iconic tree of the open grasslands. While the customer was trying to decide what to build on his rolling range land, many of his Ponderosa, were succumbing to the beetle infestation. John Boys of Nicola LogWorks saw an opportunity to honour these giants by harvesting them before the decay had progressed too far, and incorporated them into this dovetail cabin. At Nicola LogWorks, we call this dovetail hunting cabin ”Homage to the Ponderosa”, and regard it as an expression of respect to these trees that once defined our eco-system. Diameter of the trees we selected was around 40”. The interior and exterior are milled with a circle-sawn finish to a thickness of16”. The top and bottom retain the shape of the natural log. You can see the blue stain caused by the beetles. This is a fungus, which as long as it is protected from moisture, will not jeopardize the structural integrity of this dove tail building. Large roof overhangs, and a quality wood stain will be the measures taken to ensure he building is protected. Building with pine was a new direction. In anticipation of dramatic movement, John developed a bolting system in addition to our standard dowel-on-centre method. This new method, has now become standard practice on our dove tail log homes.
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Testimonials
If I ever build another house it would be post and beam again and you guys would be my choice.

If I ever build another house it would be post and beam again and you guys would be my choice.

John Boys brought a solutions oriented approach to the prjoect which was carried out flawlessly

John Boys brought a solutions oriented approach to the prjoect which was carried out flawlessly

Nicola Log Works has the ability to source and custom fabricate the materials required for the installation and the ship these components several thousand miles across the country where Nicola crew efficiently erected the structure. In the future I hope to be fortunate enough to work with Nicola Log Works and John Boys and I would not hesitate to recommend Nicola’s service to any one requiring wood or log structure work.

Nicola Log Works has the ability to source and custom fabricate the materials required for the installation and the ship these components several thousand miles across the country where Nicola crew efficiently erected the structure. In the future I hope to be fortunate enough to work with Nicola Log Works and John Boys and I would not hesitate to recommend Nicola’s service to any one requiring wood or log structure work.