The peaked or gable roof is in many ways the best roof for a board or log shack. There is slightly more work in forming the scantlings or rafters, but this is more than compensated for in other ways. Much better ventilation can be arranged with this kind of roof. In fact, the roof space, to some extent, acts as the ventilator. It is an easy mater to arrange a small cupola in the center for ventilation; or at the two ends, small ventilating windows can be placed at the peak of the roof. The roof space can also be used as a storage place, and men living in the shack find this a great convenience.
The ordinary method of building shacks for camps is to lay down the bottom plates on the spot selected for the building. As level a space as possible should be selected, as the closer a building to the ground the warmer it will be. If to get a level spot necessitates too much grading, then the plates can be leveled by means of stones, short posts or blocks. On the plates the floor beams are laid and the framing for the sides of the building is erected. Then the framing for the roof is put in place. Meantime the boards are nailed on the sides, the boards running at right angles to the framing. The floor itself need not be laid until the last thing.
Excerpted from The Economics of Contracting: A Treatise for Contractors, Engineers, Superintendents and Foremen Engaged in Engineering Contracting Work by Daniel Jacob Hauer. Published by E.H. Baumgartner, Chicago, 1911.