#Vertical log cabin plus#
#Vertical log cabin crack#

Draw-knife, carpenter's hatchet, machetes, kindling froe, adz, ax roughly the shape of a miniature broadax, etc.īut three good-sized (8-10') poplar logs in the corner made a really secure-feeling corner. A lot harder, even with appropriate-or semi-appropriate tools, although probably partly because they weren't very green when we got them from a sawmill waste pile. Oak and hickory and something I'm not at all sure of. Alma and I have been peeling a couple of slabs to do trim on some parts of it for a few days now. I'd hired someone to do this, he eventually wimped out. I think it's why the 4th wall never got finished. And then nails from a 2x8 plate on top.īut good grief, peeling logs is a pain-unless all the logs are poplar (don't know about pine-that's what that Ainsworth did twice-I assume it's easier). I thought we were going to have to use very long ones, but mostly 4' (down into the plate above the concrete blocks) and 6' ones worked, if they were countersunk a good ways. The guy in Alaska who sells the 'book'-booklet is more like it-has it for eight bucks if you down-load it. This cabin is also way back in the hills of NE WA. The purlins and rafters are 4' Lodgpole Pine. We pulled that up with a couple of hand winches like the ones on boat trailers. The only long poles were the 8' poles from wall to wall and the ridge pole and the two poles on the ends to hold up the ridge. There are 8' poles tieing the walls together then a sort of W 'truss' we made between some of the rafter poles. Then we drew the logs up tight and spiked them. We would tack a log in place then run a chainsaw down between the two several times till we had about a 4' flat spot that we filled with fibreglass insulation.

#Vertical log cabin plus#

Plus the logs are spiked together with 60p polebarn nails(ring shank). The top and bottom plates were 2 x 8, 2-60p spikes in the top and a lag into the bottom thru the floor. We stood them on a regularly framed floor. I did a 12 x 16 addition to a log cabin this way in Colville, WA about 16 years ago and we build a 16 x 20 cabin using the vertical logs too. Good luck, and keep an eye on BHM for more details on construction. I would certainly consider a vertical log home, if it seems to suit your needs, ability, and soul. It is available from Alaskan Cabins, HCX, Palmer, AK 99645. There is a book, which I haven't seen yet, but intend to order, on vertical log building.

#Vertical log cabin crack#

Just nailing them up and chinking the crack does not often suffice to keep the interior warm during cold weather. Vertical logs must be fastened together by a spline of plywood, or better yet, two splines, with an air space between them for added insulation. With a horizontal log home, the sheer weight of the logs tends to compress insulating material, and even the pressure from one log to the next forms a seal. It does take a little more fussing to get the logs together, with no air leakage between in a vertical log home. But others feel that the 'only' log home is a horizontally-built one. I won't say as 'attractive,' as I've seen many very beautiful vertical log homes. First of all, the overall look of the finished home is not as popular as a horizontal log home.

With the shorter logs in a vertical home, this too is overcome.īut, like any other construction, there are a few drawbacks. Some species of trees, such as smaller ponderosa pine often taper quite rapidly, making finding enough perfect trees for a horizontal log home difficult.

Also, by using short logs, you can take advantage of less-than-straight trees, discarding crooked sections. Most folks use a log of about eight inches in diameter, so the weight is not excessive, compared to a 1,000 pound, 40-foot log in a horizontal log home.Īnother plus is that there is much less settling in a vertical log home than in the horizontal home.

The logs are only eight feet long, or less, depending on the style of house. First, a single person can build quite a large home alone, with no mechanical help. There are many advantages to building with vertical logs. From - Jackie Clay BACKWOODS HOME MAGAZINE