LOG HOME FROM SCRATCH II

[ammn20012000]

Thanks for all the reply.

Sorry about not information. Didn't know how many would respond. Anyway, I plan on building a small log home with 6X8 hemlock with a dovetail notch, 1190 sq ft, breezeway and single garage, nothing fancy just a small log home. The notch will be cut with a jig and chainsaw. Chinking in between. I have planned on 2 inch gap around the windows/doors for settling. I have designed all my plumbing to go through interior walls. Wiring is a different story. Drill through logs and run in between. Metal roof. and block walkout basement.

Helped my dad build his home in the 70's. Worked construction before I joined the Navy in 81'. Since then done handyman work on just about everything, decks, roofs, framing, etc. Also built our small cabin on the property last summer, somewhere to live while we build.

Can this be done? I'm ready. Cash and carry, the bank doesn't have the same enthusiasm as I do. I've sunk my life into it so far, and the one thing going for me is my understanding wife. She is the one that started this 5 years ago.

Is anyone as pumped up as I am about this subject?


Any more info would be appreciated.

 

[Egon]

Yes; it can be done. Patience and more patience is required. Maybe check on the the amount the logs will settle and leave a little more clearance on the top for windows, doors and interior walls. In fact the windows probably do not need any clearance at the bottom and very little at the sides. Longitudanal shrinkage is much less than radial shrinkage. Will you have some interior log walls for lateral stability for the outside walls?
Sounds like almost the same as when I built. Walkout concrete block basement, 7 in logs[ too small] and worked paycheck to paycheck.

Egon

 

[JIMCT]

I have just been through the process of building a log home from a kit. In all the good advice little was said about energy efficiency. Log homes generally do not provide a very energy efficient envelope since you are limited to the thickness of the wood, although chinking helps a lot and hemlock is an excellent insulating wood because it is light.

Our cabin was built of red pine without chinking but with thicker logs and a lot of windows. In order to get a decent overall thermal value on the outside envelope we went with an R40 roof using 4" of rigid insulation in addition to wood and air layers.

 

[cowboydoc]

Cash and carry, the bank doesn't have the same enthusiasm as I do

I sure understand the bank's position on things like this. I've seen alot of people start out with the best of intentions and never get the project finished and there the materials sit for years. Those two that we bought and redid were on some ground that my wife's aunt had sold these people. Actually it was 300 acres they had subdivided into 10 and 20 acre lots. Anyway the builder that did these built five of them and all five had serious problems. He had also built a bunch at other places and he declared bankruptcy. We got them from the bank auction.

 

[Egon]

Insulating values:
I ended up isulating the exterior with styrafoam and then covered with cedar siding. This made a tremendous difference as it allowed the logs to act like a heat sink.

Egon

 

[PitbullMidwest]

The inlaws' original home was 8" pine, saddle notched and chinked. Since I wasn't around for the first 11 years of its life I don't know how much it settled.

Their replacement home was handcrafted by a family in MN from 16-18" Norwegian (sic?) pine, swedish cope with insulation between the courses. We can tell that it has settled about a foot (that's right 12"!) since it was built in 1994 because the original tar line on the furnace stack is now 12" above the roof. The builders knew what they were doing because the log staircase originally had an extra step at the bottom designed to be removed as the house settled. All interier walls have slip caps to allow for the settling as well. My father in law tells me that the larger the log, the greater and longer the settling process.

My wife and I discussed a log home for a brief time but after the fire and seeing all the additional work we chickened out.

Best of luck in whatever you decide to do.

 

[pdxman]

Sounds like your heart is into it and you know whats ahead of you. I certainly would like to see pictures on the board of your progress after you start. Keep us in mind!

"He who dies with the most toy's....wins!"

 

[BXmark]

A few things to remember if you are intent on building a log home:
No matter how much you chink or how many splines (the best way to do it) you put between the logs, you better like living with drafts in the house. The seams between each log is a spot where air can leak in.
You better set aside a lot of spare time for re-caulking all the spots that open up due to shrinkage.
Deterioration starts the day you finish your log home. That show "Home Time" went back with an expert on log home restoration to some log homes they built on the show that were 6 years old or less. The expert found all kinds of rot and in one house they had to remove an entire log high in a wall that was extensively rotted. The logs used today are one factor-- in pioneer days they were using old growth trees that tended to be more resistant to decay.