Build Your Own Log Cabin

Build Your Own Log Cabin

BUILD A Handsome, sturdy and affordable Log Cabin. The log cabin is still a great choice if you want to build your own home. 

BY MICHAEL CHOTINER; Illustrations by Harry Schaare.

Mankind's preference for living in structures made of natural timbers is longstanding and well documented. One story from the rich folklore of log building tells how a Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights insisted, around the year 1500, that a wood structure be built onto his stonecastle to provide a homier place to live. Many log structures built in the same period still stand in Scandinavia, Central Europe and the Balkans.

Each area developed its own distinct methods, from the square hewn log homes of France to the dovetail-joined cabins of Germany. But when all these influences were transplanted to the New World, the Scandinavian style of round logs with bottom-cut corner notches prevailed. Examples of this method can be. seen.across the United States.

Log building has always required a lot of patient, physically demanding work. And for the modem builder, it also requires learning some new skills.

Here's a short course in log building to show you what's involved.

Opinions about log selection and proper cutting season vary with the individual craftsman and the building locale. In general, just about any type of log can be used, as long as it's relatively straight, is around 8 to 10 in. in diameter and has only minor tapering-no more than 2 in., in a 16-ft.-Iong log. Conifers such as pine, fir, spruce and tamarack are preferred because these softwoods are workable, durable and relatively lightweight. Hardwoods, particularly oak can also be used, though their sapwood is highly susceptible to infestation by borers and fungus.

Trees should be felled in early winter. The cooler temperatures make for slower drying time, which reduces log checking, cracking and splitting. It's also easier to haul logs out of the forest over frozen terrain.

The best seasoning method is to air-dry the logs for one to two years-the longer the better. Logs should be stacked off the ground with stickers-smaller diameter logs-placed between the courses. This allows for maximum airflow around the logs and promotes more even drying. You should also partially peel off the bark using a draw knife before the logs are stacked. This will increase their drying rate and cause only minimal cracking and splitting. However, before building begins, you must remove the remaining bark completely. It is a natural habitat for many different kinds of pests.

Many pioneer cabins were built without foundations because they were constructed in haste or meant to be temporary shelter. But a proper foundation is definitely required. Stone foundations traditional, but block and concrete walls are as good, or better, and they require less work.

If you don't want a full basement, you must excavate at least below the frost line, install footings and construct a wall up to 20 in. above grade level. You must also install piers within the foundation walls to support the floor girder. Also, install anchor bolts along the top of the walls to attach the sill. Begin floor construction by hewing or cutting flat the bottom of the sill logs. Then bore holes in the sill logs to accommodate the anchor bolts and install sill sealer or a termite shield according to the local building code. The corner joints are made by bottom notching the logs as shown on page 98. Next, hew flat the top of the girder and install it over the support piers. Join it to the sill with a mortise and tenon joint. Drive 60d nails through the top of the tenon and into the mortise to complete the joint.

In a similar manner, hew or cut flat the top of the joists and install them between the girder and sill logs so they are flush with the top of the girder. Install the subflooring perpendicular to the direction of the joists. Now you're ready to start on the walls.

Many different types of notches can be used to join the logs, but a good choice for the beginning log builder is the technique shown here: the scribe, fit, round-notch method. It features semicircular notches cut in the bottom of the logs to fit over adjacent logs. Also, a V-shaped groove is cut down the length of each log bottom so the entire length can sit flush on the log below.

Although this method is slower than others, the corner joints are self-draining-water running down the outside of the house hits the log tops and runs off, instead of being trapped in the notch. The V-grooves also eliminate air drafts between the logs. The joints between courses do not need chinking, so you can avoid one of the most chronic maintenance problems of log homes: repairing cracked chinking.

Cutting the corner notches is a fivestep procedure.

1. First, roll the log into position and sight along its length to make sure any crown is pointing to the outside of the wall. Try not to use logs that have more than a 1-in. crown per 16 feet of length. Then secure the log with a log dog as shown in the drawing.

2. Scribe the shape of the lower, log onto the uncut log using compass dividers with a pencil or marking crayon inserted in one leg. Rough-cut the notch with a chain saw, then finish it with a shallowsweep, long-handled gouge.

3. Reposition the log, allowing the notch to seat. Then scribe the full length of the underside of the log running the blank leg of the dividers along the top of the lower log. Scribe both sides of the log to yield the two lines which define the V-groove.

4. Cut the V-groove with a chain saw to a depth of 1/2 to 3/4 in. Remove the waste, then roll the log back into position and rescribe the corner notch as well as the log end extending past the notch. (By cutting the V groove, there is now some space between the scribed log and the one below.) Cut the notch to the new scribe line and cut the tail end of the log using a gutter adze. This tool yields a concave groove that is tighter and more attractive at the exposed log ends.

5. Reposition the log, then pick up one end and drop it into place. This is called "thumping" and it will leave compression marks on the parts of the log that still need trimming. Make any necessary adjustments, then pack fiberglass insulation into the groove and roll the log into place. The fiberglass will act as a sort of "internal chinking."

With the notching complete, bore a 2-in. dia. hole about 8 in. in from each corner and insert an alignment peg. The peg should be loose fitting, recessed about 1-1/2 in. below the top of the hole, and extend about halfway into the log below. Install these pegs every 8 ft. in the length of a log and within 1 ft. of each window and door opening.

As you move up the walls, alternate each successive log so that their smaller, tapered ends are not all on one end of the wall. Once the logs reach waist height, cut out the door opening. Brace the logs on both sides. Of course, if your cabin is larger than the one shown here, you'll have several interior partitions. These can either be made with logs notched into the outside walls or with framed walls later on. Notching the logs is preferred because it yields the same interior finish on all walls and strengthens the structure.

When the logs reach the top of your planned window and door openings, brace the walls and cut out all the open ings at once. Then cut a groove, as shown, in the log ends on both sides for a permanent stiffening spline. Cut and insert the spline and then add at least two more logs over the openings. The top wall log is called the plate log and it should be pegged at least every 4 ft.

The roof on the cabin shown is a combination of purlin and rafter construction to give an idea of what's involved with both. Normally, you would use only one. The purlins are set into notches cut in the gable ends; the rafters are notched into the plate log and ridge log.

Once purlins or rafters are installed, apply roofing boards for the roof sheathing. Next, apply 15-lb. roofing felt and either asphalt shingles or cedar shingles.

Finally, pre-assemble all window and door jambs, install them in the openings, and add the windows and doors. Allow 3/8-in. clearance for each vertical foot of opening above the jambs for the logs to settle. The spaces around the jambs should be chinked with okum (hemp and pine tar).

Wash the logs with detergent to remove any dirt, and then with a solution of two parts household bleach to one part water to lift out any stains. Rinse the logs thoroughly with water and let them dry for a week. Then apply a mixture of one part linseed oil to five parts turpentine to the outside of the logs. This treatment should be repeated every five years. PM

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This article is from a Popular Mechanics issue - December, 1983 - and is used without their knowledge or consent. It's a good article and could come in very handy in the future for quite a few folks.

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Related:

How to Build a Log Cabin for Under $500 
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The Mindset of Production Versus Consumption

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Many years ago now, I found myself watching the online video series, The Century of the Self. This well done documentary illustrates the concept I was writing about a little while ago in regard to the Homesteading Movement being a return to the old ways of the home being a place of production rather than consumption.

Once upon a time, about a century or more ago, people's buying habits were entirely different than they are today. Our homes used to be a place of economic output and were run like a businesses. Dad & the sons were in the field and barn tending the crops and animals, while Mom & the daughters were in the house & garden, producing their own clothes and food, right from scratch. Of course, money was spent on things back then too, but it was done in entirely different ways. Quality and durability used to be much more thought of when purchasing an item, such as a wood-cook-stove. What I mean is, when people bought such an item, they fully expected not to have to buy another ever again. Ever.

Many things in the home were designed on this type of idea, and you don't even have to go a century back to find examples. My own parents immigrated to Canada in the mid-1950's with very little money - but no-one had money in those days. It was the norm for people to be "smart" with their resources and so, like most others, when my parents married, there were no expensive rings and dresses. There was a party, which was run almost solely on volunteer labour, and there was no honeymoon. You could probably pull off a wedding like my parents had for $2,500 or $3,000 today, and no-one was ashamed of it because everyone was doing it that way. The ladies back then, my mom & my aunts and their friends, often all got together to have cooking get-togethers, or coupon swaps, or other such social events with the side-benefits of saving money. My father worked over-time for five years until their first house was paid for. He hunted for moose not for the joy of hunting - although he liked it too - but much more because it saved them so much money on meat. When my uncle boarded with them upon his arrival in Canada, rather than spend oodles of money on various useless trinkets for Christmas, both my uncle and my father pooled their resources and bought my mom a hot-water tank as a gift. You may laugh, but think of how great a gift it is to no longer have to heat water on the wood-stove every single time you need to wash dishes or bathe yourself, or the children. My mom still remembers that hot-water tank fondly. Within about five or six years, after their house was paid for (yes, they paid it off that quick), my dad borrowed against his house and started his own business. He remained an entrepreneur and businessman until he retired. Having saved enough capital to put to good use by re-investment, he provided handsomely for his family from around his late-twenties onward.

One thing that is glaringly apparent to me about the change in social attitudes from then to the modern day, is back then people were much more concerned about the relationship between production and consumption. In order to increase their ability to produce, the first place they looked to create more cash-flow from, was by minimalizing the consumption expenses in the home.   

It is my belief that we are going to be forced back into this paradigm whether we like it or not. The decades of reckless government spending and grotesque personal consumption that the Western World has engaged in since the rise of socialist thought in the 1960's and 1970's are coming to an end, and there's not much we can do about it. Hey! It was great getting this new fangled credit-card thingy, but now the limit's been reached and the bills are coming due. The problem is, we are now going to have to cut into our lifestyles and our expectations of "quality living" are going to have to change along the way.

I was recently reading on Zero Hedge that the average size of homes in the USA has again increased. Despite the scare we had only a few short years ago, showing how damaging even a minimal increase in interest rates is to the housing market, the general population has quickly forgotten the lessons illustrated and is back to building McMansions, making the average sized home around 2,500sf, bigger and more expensive than ever before.

This cannot go on forever. It has to stop, and it has to stop soon. And it will. The US government has an estimated $200+ Trillion in unfunded liabilities, most of which will come due in the next 10 to 20 years as the expenses related to providing social assistance and medical care to the demographic glut of the unproductively retired Baby Boomers will choke out the resources of the smaller, but still productive generations that come behind them. Even if we taxed the productive classes into literal oblivion, which of course works as "anti-stimulus," we cannot pay this bill. Just. Can. Not. Pay.!!! Something is going to have to give, and one of the first will be our reckless consumption.

Studying ways to reduce our consumption while increasing our home-production is, therefore, one of the best financial plans I can think of. Can you find ways to live on half your expenses? Can you find ways to produce $1,000/mo in income from your home? Does the addition of these two equal more than your present income?

Think about this. Since the 1970's women have entered the workforce enmasse. This had a detrimental effect on wages - it doubled the labour market, while the amount of consumers stayed the same, and therefore, logically the value of labour plummeted. Thus, today, what once could be provided by one income earner, now takes two. But, I wonder, how many people actually calculate whether this is worth it anymore? Forget about your Women's Studies Degree for a moment. Most women, like men, don't have "careers." They have jobs. Most of those jobs suck. That's why they have to pay you money to do them. If they were satisfying and enjoyable to do on their own, they wouldn't have to pay people to do them. Not only that, but now that we have two income earners instead of one, we feel we need two cars - the second one costing another $300/mo lease, with conservatively another $300/mo for gas, parking, insurance & maintenance. Because it's a lease, at the end of it you have no asset but a big fat goose-egg. (Declining assets are still better to own than NO assets!). Further, the second income earner might have to pay an extra $150/mo for nice work clothes that otherwise would not be needed, and might also need another $150/mo in spending money so as to not appear cheap and anti-social when invited for "work-day lunches and after-work cocktails." Another $500-$600 month goes out the door for daycare, to free up the day for work, and since it has been such a busy day, cooking good healthy meals each day takes too much time and energy, so the family grocery bill rises by another $150/month to provide easy-to-make fast food which, while still better than the crappy TV-dinners of yore, are still crap. So, we can estimate that the second income earner entering the work-place causes an increase of about $1,650/month in consumption for the family. Don't forget, that is after-tax money. In order to get the $1,650/mo to spend, you first have to earn around $2,300 in gross income, then pay taxes and deductions until you finally get paid the $1,650. So, in truth, the person has to earn $27,600 gross in the workplace just to break even.

Now think about it this way. If the second income earner - most likely the woman - returned to staying at home during the day, how much more money could she save, and further, how much could she earn from the home?

Could she grow $1,500/year in vegetables? Could she save the family another $1,500/yr by sewing clothes? Nice looking shirts and dresses are not that hard to make. Could she start up a small home business, something like making beeswax candles to sell to crafts & health-food stores, which earns another $3,500/yr? Could she start up a website that earns earns another $3,500/yr? Well? Can she? Because if she can, it's another $10,000 worth of value, and now staying at home becomes the equivalent of her going out into the workplace and earning $20/hr, which is not all too bad of an income and many people work for significantly less than that. Add on that the family will be better and healthier fed and the children will be better socialized being cared for by a parent than a stranger, and it almost seems like a no-brainer, doesn't it?

Now what can the other spouse do to decrease consumption and increase production? How much more can be shaved off, and what is it's true value? Would this change in lifestyle not only save money, but actually increase the amount of free-time hours a person has in a day?

The government and the crony-corporations which influence it are benefiting from our decreased home production and increased consumption... but how about us, the actual people that our countries are supposed to be serving? I don't think we've benefited at all. In fact, I think the price for our consumption-led attitudes have harmed us even beyond what we can calculate in dollars. The more we can step out of this paradigm, and be on the leading edge of the return to "the old ways," at least in attitude, the better off one will be when the inevitable credit-card bill comes in for our reckless ways.    

The Homesteading Movement

Something I have been sorta studying about the “homestead movement” is its historical relevancy to the Industrial Revolution.

Click for a link to the picture

The Industrial Revolution changed our view of the economy and social life, especially taking root around the mid-19th Century and coinciding with the explosive growth of urban living, as we specialized our work skills to suit the new economy. No longer were people “just farmers” who knew how to do a bit of everything, like simple blacksmithing – instead we left the farm and specialized our skills – by becoming say an accountant, while leaving other tasks to other specialists. We now think this is normal, but for most of the history of our civilization, this was not the case.

Click for link to pic

Before the Industrial Revolution, the home was the major place of economic production for the vast majority of people. The father was in the field with the sons producing crops while the mother was in the house with the daughters churning butter, preparing food and sewing their own clothes. A seamstress would come to the house once or twice a year, and would help to make clothes for the whole family for the next year – they didn’t go to town and “buy” them, but rather “produced” them themselves, right from the home.

In other words, before the Industrial Revolution, the home was the major place of economic production, rather than the marketplace in the town or village. We abandoned this system with the growth of industry that occurred over the past 200 years, and flocked to the city where everyone is a specialist in something.

Today, however, industry is abandoning the people in favour of cheap foreign workers, or for robots replacing human labour.

It seems to me that the “smart money” would abandon the specialized marketplace and return to making the home a place of economic production as much as possible. It’s a philosophical change as much as physical way of doing things. Not only that, but everything you produce yourself can be “value added” because it removes taxes and other expenses. What I mean is, if I grow $100 worth of vegetables in my garden, I have actually created around $150 worth of “labour value,” because I didn’t have to pay tax on earning the money I use to spend in the marketplace – I would have had to earn $150 in the marketplace, then pay $50 in tax to the government, in order to have $100 for groceries. Thus, the $100 worth of groceries is actually worth $150 in labour. Everything you produce yourself is “removed” from the system, and worth around 50% more than the actual dollar value it represents.

Heh, anyway, I see the homesteading movement as a significant social change taking place. It is responding to a marketplace turned hostile to the average person, and people are returning more to the economic system that was universal before the Industrial Revolution.

A Very Neat Design: The Cabinet Bed

I seen this bed over at Living in a Shoebox and thought I'd post it here, since I really like this kind of idea.  The producer is called Canadian CabinetBed Inc.
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I think this is an excellent use of space. Although I currently live in a one bedroom apartment, I certainly wouldn't mind having a two bedroom place again - especially if it were to be a cottage or something else small that I owned on a piece of land.

The last time I had a spare bedroom, I had an actual bed in there and found it to be a complete waste, considering how few times a year someone actually used it. However, for those few times you do need it, having that second bedroom instead of a couch for your guests is invaluable. Hence, furnishing your guestroom with a bed such as this would allow for the room to see regular use as an office or a home gym (or both), while still being able to convert it into a guest room with minimal inconvenience.

Here in North America, I think we've gotten rather wasteful in our housing ideas over the past decades. Nobody could imagine rasing a family of eight in a 900sf three bedroom house anymore, yet this was once the norm, not the exception, in the fairly recent past.

The first time I was struck by the notion of living small but functionally was when I went on a student exchange to Amsterdam for a half-year back in the 1990's. Everything is small in Holland, given that they have one of the highest population densities on the planet - but it certainly doesn't get in the way of the Dutch living a highly functional life in their space-challenged homes. It also lends to the characteristic of the Dutch being very tidy and organized - a couple of socks left on the floor and a few dishes strewn around in a small space and things look instantly messy, so small-space living lends to a bit of routine cleaning and organization in order to make it both functional and presentable. 

510sf Passive Solar Cottage

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I really like this passive solar cottage - it would be perfect for a single guy.
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Bah! I said a single guy!

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Out, woman! Out!

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This little cottage could easily be built along the lines of what is described in the online book, The Natural Home.
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Bricks are manly!
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Plates are not manly.
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Don't need a big wood-stove to heat 510sf.
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It says in the article that the average gas and electricity bill is $6/gas, and $6/electric. I wonder if they can split that into bi-weekly installments, to make it seem more affordable.
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Here's the one thing I do not like about this house - it is built in a quarter circle, so the bedroom goes into a "wedge."
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To me, that wedge is just a waste of space. I'd rather go for a more rectangular shape and make the area more functional. At 510sf, you have to make good use of your space! But, for the rest, I think this is a pretty cool little pad.
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Related Posts:
Current Diggs
The Natural Home - Passive Solar Construction (online book)
510sf Passive Solar Cottage
The Bear Den - Underground Survival Home
Judith Mountain Cabin
. 

Judith Mountain Cabin

This is a really neat little pad. I don't know how suitable it would be for full-time living, but still, it is totally cool! 

Judith Mountain Cabin, AIA - Montana, Design Awards
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View down the valley

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Property Location:
- 113acres, Alpine Gulch in the Judith Mountains, Central Montana
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South and east elevations

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Utilities:
- Two 50 watt photovoltaic panels that provide 12 volt direct current power to outlets, lights and the well pump
- Power allows for a stereo, TV/VCR, running water in the sink, and water to fill the hot-tub
- Composting toilet
- Wood-fired hot-tub
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View to the west

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North and west elevations

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Interesting Materials:
- Recycled corrugated metal roofing from a barn being demolished down the road.
- Recycled beams, flooring and decking from a recently dismantled 80 year old trestle
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View from the east

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Site plan

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North and west elevations

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Lower Level
- Cooking and washing facilities
- Sleeping for two
- Storage
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Ground level floor plan

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Second Level:
- Sleeping for two
- 360 degree views
- Six foot square sky light
- Storage between the floor beams
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Second level floor plan

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Six foot square sky light

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Storage between floor beams

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Related Posts:
Current Diggs
The Natural Home - Passive Solar Construction (online book)
510sf Passive Solar Cottage
The Bear Den - Underground Survival Home
. 

Current Diggs

One thing I regret not doing during life was taking lots of pictures of the places where I once lived. You don't really think about it much while you are living at the place, nor when you are moving away, but I've found that I regret not having something to remember where I once was. I've lived in two apartments above a store, a variety of 1970's styled apartments while in university, a mobile home, a small house, an 1,125sf 2BR condo, a 1,450sf 2 BR townhouse-condo, a 550sf 1BR apartment-condo and I currently live in another 550sf 1 BR apartment-condo. The first 1BR condo was in downtown Vancouver, right downtown, and it was brutally expensive. They were renting for $1,125/mo when I was there (and now are $1,400-$1,600/mo), so I moved to the outskirts of the city where I was able to find a similarly sized place for $625/mo.
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I like this place. It is finished nicely and it is all the space I need. That's what I find about small places - the finishing is what makes it comfortable to live in. In a small place, you can afford to go a little higher in quality per square foot, and make a really nice place. This, and the place I lived in when in downtown Vancouver, are the smallest two places I have ever lived in. After living in the first place, I decided that I really didn't need anything more, and in fact, was grateful the place was so easy to maintain.
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Here's where it all takes place, folks!

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What is lacking in this place is decent storage. There is only a small hall closet by the door, and then a walk-thru closet in the bedroom.
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I planted a balcony garden last spring.
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Here's how they looked in the summer:
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I have very little desire to have a much bigger place than this. A second bedroom would be nice, but I would probably set it up as an office with a bed to the side for guests. I often pace around this place and figure that it would make a good cottage design as well.

One thing I would like is to get onto my own piece of land, and out of apartments and condos. But, I really don't want a big home. I want a garden and a dog, and maybe even some goats and chickens. I have the resources to do something, but also, I feel real-estate is way over-priced. If our governments keep printing money like toilet paper, there will come a day when they must raise interest rates in order to convince people to hold their currency, and when that happens, I suspect that real-estate prices are going to plummet. I have the resources set aside to take advantage of such a situation, so, I am waiting... and plotting... and waiting.
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Related Posts:
The Bear Den - Underground Survival Home
The Natural Home - Passive Solar Construction (online book)
510sf Passive Solar Cottage
Judith Mountain Cabin
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