Log cabin home

[nathan 338]

ideally get winterfelled slow grown douglas or larch minimum of 12 " tops, peel the logs asap then treat with borax solution, this will stop infestation of larch wasp, wood wasp and sabre fly etc. once cabin is built oil it with good quality oil. If you build the roof with out riggers to make an overhang all around the wall logs will then be kept dry.

 

Air flow is also key, if you build the cabin on plinths off the ground this will help prevent damp and rot.

 

i have tried to attach a picture of the cabin i built. This is 8 years old now and has an oak shingle roof which i cut with my woodmizer. Its for a client of mine for his 300 wood in shropshire, as a weekend retreat. It is a full scribe build and you cant get a piece of paper between the joints.

[nathan 338]

Douglas fir cabin with oak shingle roof, constructed by Home forestry LLP 2004

[Big J]

I am a little dubious about log homes like that. Without significant amounts of insulation, they aren't going to be warm or comfortable. All the advertising shots show exposed timber internally, but the u-values for an uninsulated wall are poor. Even fully insulated it could be better.

 

Interesting timber construction technique that is finally just starting to be used in the UK is Brettstapel:

 

Brettstapel Construction

 

My wife's practice have done the only two buildings so far in the UK, but it's widely used on the continent. Advantages are that it's U-values are superb (down to 0.13), air tightness is unrivalled (went up for the air tightness test on Acharacle Primary school and it was 38 times better than regs stipulate - building regs in this country set a very low standard) and it makes use of low grade timber that would otherwise not be suitable for construction (Sitka - 47% of Scotland's forests are Sitka).

 

Just food for thought. We will certainly build our own house at some point (architect and sawmiller - it's inevitable!) and it will certainly be timber. I just don't think that log home style houses are the way forward because they don't put forward the idea that wood is a modern building material, something that I think is key to widescale timber construction.

 

Jonathan

[Mike Dempsey]

The log home builders association in the US run training course several times a year. It has long been a dream of mine to build a log cabin and I need to raise a few thou to realise this dream, but I will do it one day. I would certainly do one of their courses first before I would attempt anything like this. I have been a follower of their forum for several years now and some of the members log homes that they have built are amazing. Main problem in this country is the cost of land though. The planning depts. probably would be difficult to get round but I think with the current craze for climate change, sustainability and ecofriendliness etc it wuld be a lot easier to get planning permission now for a log cabin than it would have been 10 to 15 years ago.

 

Mike

[Big J]

The missus has just informed me that the k-value regs for Scotland are 0.25, which means that the thinnest wall construction with the thickest insulation is just passable, with the thicker wall constructions being fractionally better. However, they won't be compliant in 2013 as the regs are incrementally improving.

[Rob D]

Just food for thought. We will certainly build our own house at some point (architect and sawmiller - it's inevitable!)

 

 

Can you come and build one for me afterwards Jon?

[TRADITIONAL LOGGERS]

I have one if interested on Arbtrader. More info on the E-Mail and pictures.

[Dean Lofthouse]

Looks like the plan may be going ahead subject to a lot of research and planning permission.

 

My dad lives next door to me and when I mentioned it to him his eyes lit up and he said he would sell up too and do the same, which means there would be two luxury Eco friendly log homes side by side with a central log burner heating both homes with a huge pile of free logs just yards away

[RobArb]

Sounds well good, I'm well jealous:biggrin:

 

Sent from my Galaxy S2

[Dean Lofthouse]

Sounds well good, I'm well jealous:biggrin:

 

Sent from my Galaxy S2

 

Your time will come Rob, just get your head down work for it mate