Help building hunt camp!1

[stumpy]

I have seen one of the buildings that NORWISCUTTER has built. Pretty impresive!!!

[Norwiscutter]

Here are some pictures of one we finished this spring.
38'x64'
12x12 D-log construction

[Norwiscutter]

Here is the one I am working on now.

[Norwiscutter]

Here is the stair railing in the house previously pictured.  One of our guys is an artist so we had him draw this up for us then we cut it out with a plasma cutter.

[Don P]

Norwiscutter,
Nice work! I like the stemwall with slab treatment. Cool railing, it would give our official palpitations  ;D
I v-groove most butt joints too, I've been routing with a chamfer bit just about everything the last few years. Square edge casing, t&g butt joints, about any square edge. It gives a caulking place to places that need it and kind of gives a uniform detail throughout the house. Our last one the homeowner liked 3/8 radius so we did everything with that.
Are you milling your own timbers? Do you have more joinery and wall log shots?
At one point we were trying to put together a little tutorial on building with logs, I milled up a few flat on flat logs and mocked up a short corner to show how that style was done. We kind of left it by the wayside. If you guys want to, we could probably make quite a reference of how to's, details and techniques. I like seeing how other people do things.

[Fla._Deadheader]

THAT is very nice work.  8) 8)  I like that a LOT. Nice job Norwiscutter. 8) 8)

[monte]

Very nice work norwiscutter!

I do have one question for you, are those logs green or dry. and which do you recommend? :

For my hunt camp I was thinking of  using cedar shingles! does anybody ever tryied them? do they work?

I'll show pics of my new sawmill in a couple of days!

[monte]

oh one more thing guys!

Is this a scarf joint?does it work good, have you tried it?what do you think? :

[HARLEYRIDER]

alright guys, I know how much you like pictures. here is a 200 pic slideshow of the log building school I attended. this albumn belongs to one of the other students that stayed for the 10 weeks. I only took the 4 week portion of the course (for now).
click on" view photos without signing in"  click here for link to photos

any questions...PM me

[monte]

alright guys, I know how much you like pictures. here is a 200 pic slideshow of the log building school I attended. this albumn belongs to one of the other students that stayed for the 10 weeks. I only took the 4 week portion of the course (for now).
click on" view photos without signing in"  http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=18hr57kn.chu436qf&Uy=-9b504g&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0

any questions...PM me

nice harleyrider

That is some big timber!

[monte]

oh one more thing guys!

Is this a scarf joint?does it work good, have you tried it?what do you think? :

Sorry guys I'm just going to bump this!

[srjones]

Hi Monte,

Sorry, I should have commented back when you posted the picture the first time.   :-[

What you've picture there is a classic timberframing scarf joint (I don't know the exact name for it) but it would probably be overkill for what you're doing (a log cabin).  To keep things simple, you could just butt the logs together. 

Or,  a simpler scarf joint might be something like this:



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This one I've seen in the 1 log home building book I own.

[monte]

It would be simpler but would'nt the joint separate when the wood dries?

[srjones]

It shouldn't separate when it dries because it doesn't shrink in length, and since it will be pressed down by all the logs stacked above it, it should stay compressed.

[monte]

It shouldn't separate when it dries because it doesn't shrink in length, and since it will be pressed down by all the logs stacked above it, it should stay compressed.

Thanks for the tips!!

[Tim]

Cedar shingles work great monte. The thing you are going to want to do if you want them to last is allow for ventallation under the shingles and above the tar paper. Allowing ventallation under the shingle will give you a very durable roof that will outlast you. The Ontario Building Code, if you are into such tings... calls for tar paper and ice / rain guard directly over top the decking. If you apply the shingles directly on top of the ice / rain guard and tar paper, it does not aloow moisture to escape from under the shingle, as a result, they will rot and fail within 30 years.
To allow for ventallation, lay strapping vertically on centre with your rafters or trusses, (max 24"oc). Secondly, lay tow courses of strap at the facer tight to one another down the length of the facer. The next course of strapping will be the first nailer. Continue to apply strapping 5" oc (depending on your exposure) upto the peak. Allow for a continuous vent at the facer and at the ridge.
Watch the grade. Blue and Red label by CSA or #1 and #2 have limitations on the amount of sapwood that is allowed in a shingle. Sapwood in cedar does not have the rot resistance that the heartwood does and will rot faster.
I manufacture cedar shingles here, just outside Pembroke, Ontario. If I have you confused, feel free to contact me and we'll see what we can do about clearing up the mess I just made...

[hillbilly]

                NORIWISCUTTER those are some impressive pics inside and out .
      I ahve a few questions for you and DonP or any one else that biulds log homes very often .Are your logs dried or green how do you deal w/the shrinkage around windows and doors and what are you using to chink the logs with on the outside .
    My brother just recently bought and sold a 25 year old log home this winter I walked around it several times looking at how that it was built ,pretty simple looks like to me it was built ot of syp cut at a local mill 12x12 D log walls then on the inside they covered the logs up I'm ussuming that they were un even or even a little out of square .it still looked nice very rustic .He would like to build one out of 12x12 D log white pine  I havent built a log home like this but it looks simple enough, but any info or pics  would  help  me give him some sort of direction or ideas .
                        Thanks and keep up the good work its always a pleasure to log on to this site and read through the new topics.
HILLBILLY

[Don P]

A 12x12 is bigger than anything I've used in a wall, you'll need some lifting equipment!
I prefer to build with dry materials. They've pretty much shown what they'll do and most shrinkage is over with. In the real world ... I've used stuff that had birds in it last week.

For green building you should allow for settlement around windows, doors, frame walls, etc. As you build be constantly thinking about letting the logs shrink and slide down. Don't do anything to hang that up. Windows and doors usually have a "buck" frame, a 2x box stood up in the log opening. The box's inside dimensions are the window's rough opening dimensions.  The box fits snugly in the log opening on the sides and has a gap over it on top. Over the gap, attached to the log over the opening is another piece of 2x that is 1-1/2" wider than the buck width. The window is trimmed around the buck frame with the upper trim coming halfway across the gap. Another trim board attached to the upper,wider 2x then laps over the lower head trim. Nail the trims to the bucks only for several years. When things seem to have stopped settling you can pin things to the logs, and the sliding head trims can then be pinned together.

If that was clear as mud, let me know and I'll draw a pitcher.

Oftentimes that buck frame is built in place. We've routed a 2x2x1/4" angle iron into the back of the side bucks and cut a slot in the logs to slip the 2"leg into. That lets the logs slide down but holds alignment. Some people want no steel there and use a T shaped wood buck with a wider slot in the logs.

Stud walls are built short of the ceiling above with another, wider, plate attached to the ceiling above, Long spikes slip through a hole in the top of the short wall, across the gap, and are nailed into the plate above. A trim slip joint there has the drywall attached up to the top of the short wall, leaving a gap. The crown trim attaches to the upper wider 2x and over the drywall (or panelling). Again only nail at the ceiling, you can nail the bottom edge of the crown trim to the drywall in a few years.

Second floors and loads are usually bearing on beams rather than the walls. Posts with screws allow the beams to be lowered to level things. (The posts and beams can be in a wall, the wall is simply short and not load bearing)

For chinking, Perma-Chink and Weatherall. I think I've used one by Sashco too. I like Weatherall, its stiffer and I can tool it better, but everyone's different.

If you can stand the ads, go through the 3 pages of the first link and the picture at the second it might help explain one way to do it.
http://www.geocities.com/windyhilllogworks/Nick.html
http://www.geocities.com/windyhilllogworks/dennybucks0001.JPG

That was a longwinded way of saying "Here's one way". When you figure out how to build stairs allowing for settlement, and satisfy code, let me know  ;D.

[hillbilly]

            Don,
I your right its clear as mud  ;D but itll be alright ,my brother talked to the guy who built the house in 81 he siad that he had the logs cut at the local mill and staked them in his barn in the dry for almost a full year .They are actually in really good shape to our surprise ,neither one of us have ever been big on log homes ,but this one is bringing things around .
thanks hillbilly 

[sapsucker]

It shouldn't separate when it dries because it doesn't shrink in length, and since it will be pressed down by all the logs stacked above it, it should stay compressed.

Thanks for the tips!!

Monte: great question! I was going to ask the same thing. I too am building the same way starting with about the same skill level as you have. The answers you got will sure help me out. Thanks guys.
My cabin is going to be 20 x 20 butt and pass.

Harleyrider, I am building in the area that that log building class is held. ( Almonte Ontario) I will be there on April 1 to look and learn about the tools I'll need. I waited to late to booked the 1 week class. I think that this is the way to learn though.

Keep the information coming on the butt and pass method. I need it also.

df

[Brad_bb]

Unless you specifically want the stacked timber/notch and pass look, why not timberframe it and use SIPS and finish the outside with lap or barn style?  You'll use far less wood and I'd think it would be much less work, being that you are solo.  Like has already been advised, I'd recommend a course for timberframing.  You'll learn alot and gain confidence and be able to build it after the class.  By timberframing you can still get the same general effect.  You can T&G the interior and frame out the doorways and use similar doors etc.  You have the option of a very rustic look by using logs or logs squared on one or two sides in the timberframe, or hand hewing. 

[sapsucker]

great suggestion. I am going to take a course starting on April 7. That will help me learn more about the how to and how not to. I have a lot to learn about working with wood but I think with the help on this forum, a building course, and afew friend the project will be fun.
I'll post results of the project s I get it going.
df