My Roots
My Roots
My name is Celina Champagne and I grew up in the city of Ottawa, Ontario. I always felt like the city was too big for me. I loved being in the forest and the mountains which led me here to Muskoka.
When I was younger I grew up watching my grandfather working in his woodworking shop where he was always building new things. He was a self-taught carpenter who designed and built his home including everything inside of it, from the stairs to the furniture. He would put me to work sanding and finishing his furniture. From an early age, I knew I wanted to be a woodworker and build things. The beauty of taking a piece of wood and sculpting it into something was always a magical thing to me. I take a lot of inspiration from my Grandfather who has helped me get to where I am today.
Heritage Carpentry & Joinery
After high school I studied Heritage Carpentry at Algonquin College in Perth, Ontario. It was a great experience meeting so many passionate woodworkers from different backgrounds and walks of life.
I learned a little bit of everything from basic construction methods to heritage building and restoration. I gained theoretical and practical experience building wooden windows, doors and stairs. I acquired skills and knowledge on how to fabricate, replicate, and instal hand crafted trim.
My Architecture course taught me about the beauty of the different historical building styles and details, and the importance of restoring, preserving, and rehabilitating those heritage buildings.
My Restoration Methods course taught me how to do building inspections, how to evaluate problem areas, and how to create a restoration plan. I have also gained valuable experience in how to restore heritage wood and how to replicate heritage wood details.
I helped build a hand hewn dovetail log building and 3 different timber frames structures. I also learned modern stick framing construction and roof calculations.
In building science I learnt about building envelopes and energy efficiency. I learnt how to read blueprints, hand draft and use Sketch-Up computer modelling.
6 x 6 Double Hung Sash Window
Timber Framing &
Log Home Building
After I graduated College I wanted to pursue Log Home Building. My partner and I moved to Muskoka. We liked the small community feel and the landscape felt like home. I got a job with Davidson Log & Timber where I worked with a small crew of 4-5 people building beautiful dovetail log homes and timber frames.
In school we built a few small timber frames and a hand-hewn dovetail log building. I really enjoyed taking a raw log and turning it into something. It was a big change working on the large scale homes with heavy machinery. I learned how to operate the telescopic handler for moving massive logs around the yard. I also learned how to operate the 40 foot bandsaw mill which we used to mill the logs to size, make timbers and occasionally lumber. The crew would use their chainsaws like a paintbrush, carving out notches and joints in the wood.
We would start with the raw white pine logs. We would spud the bark off them and spread them out on bunks. From there we would use the drawknife to clean the cambium layer off. The captain would then select which logs would go where. The logs would be temporarily put in place on the wall, the notches layed out and the log scribed to the log below. It would then be lifted off the wall, the notches were roughed out with the chainsaw, then we clean them up with hand tools until everything fit just perfectly. The log was then lifted back onto the wall, and the process was repeated.
We built all the homes at the log yard. When we finished building the homes, we labelled each piece and took it apart again. Once the logs were down off the house, we cleaned the surface of the logs by either adzing or plaining and sanding. The next step was loading all of the logs onto a flatbed trailer and shipping them to their new home. The crew would them spend a week or so reassembling the home onto the foundation with the help of a crane. Usually we would install the sip panels.
Adzing