Armed with a deep rooted interest in history as well as years of experience in carpentry Dale Edlund, of Edlund Construction, was extremely excited to take on his latest log house restoration project at the Faribault County Fairgrounds.

There, Edlund's mission was to restore the Krosch Log House. This log house happens to be registered as a state historic building by the Faribault County Historical Society.

The Krosch Log House has vast historical roots as it was originally built during the presidency of Abraham Lincoln and in the midst of the Civil War. Constructed by Casper Lampman in 1862, the two-story pioneer farmhouse was moved to its current location in July of 1985.

Faribault County Historical Society president Bill Paul stands in front of the refurbished Krosch Log House.

The main goals for the Edlund Construction team was to get the chinking work completed in order to fill the gaps in between the logs. Applying a clear top coat over all of the exterior wood surfaces for weather protection was also a part of the restoration efforts.

Given its age, Edlund feels this particular log cabin has held up remarkably well through the years. This is not usually the case with restoration projects on cabins of similar age.

"The [log cabin] we did for the Crow Wing Historical Society in Brainerd, we actually tore down three walls and we had to duplicate about a dozen logs," said Edlund. "That cabin was actually built in 1868, so it was slightly newer than this one."

Edlund Construction spent a total of three days on the Krosch Log House, from June 14 through June 16. This included roughly 12 to 13 hour work days each day, all while battling the summer heat and humidity. Although Edlund admits battling the elements is difficult, he and his team planned their work strategically in an attempt to beat the heat.

"We start on the sunny side and just follow the shade around the building as we go. That helps minimize the tough conditions."

Dale Edlund, of Edlund Construction, remains hard at work with various log home restoration projects throughout his busy summer schedule.

Located in Richmond, Minnesota, Edlund has been a professional contractor for 30 years. It wasn't until 1999 that Edlund decided to specialize in log home restoration. As Edlund explained, he stumbled upon the idea of log cabin construction simply by talking to a buddy.

"About 18 years ago, a friend of mine asked if I would build a log house. I told him that I really didn't know how to do it, but I'll give it a try and that was it. Since then, we've done nothing but log houses."

Edlund Construction offers a wide variety of services that can help restore any log home to pristine condition. Half log construction, full log construction, planning and design services, and preliminary site visits and site evaluations are among the bevy of assignments conducted by Edlund construction during their log home projects.

In addition, the Edlund staff also specializes in turnkey construction, lot clearing, and driveways and culverts. Edlund Construction arranges for soil tests and also assists with septic design, landscaping, staining, painting, and caulking.

Up next for Edlund construction are four different refacing projects within the state of Minnesota. Rotten log replacement will be the main objective during these particular assignments. Although the majority of Edlund Construction's work is done in of Minnesota, the team does venture into parts of North Dakota and Wisconsin as well.

After the project was completed, Bill Paul, president of the Faribault County Historical Society, couldn't be happier with the finished product. He explained that moisture was affecting the integrity of the structure and that restoration of the cabin was sorely needed.

"Wasp nests and yellow jacket nests were collecting inside the cabin," Paul said. "We can't have that because we want visitors to enjoy the building. Dale [Edlund] did a very thorough job with the coating and chinking and he even chinked the end caps too. He did a phenomenal job."

Read the original:
Working to preserve historic log cabin - Faribault County Register

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July 2, 2017 at 3:43 pm by Mr HomeBuilder
Category: Home Restoration