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Another "natural" building technique

Started by Mongo, August 30, 2004, 08:12:08 AM

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Mongo

Just curious, how many of you are familiar with cordwood buildings? I've devoured every page at www.daycreek.org and thought some of you might find it as fascinating as I did.

I say another technique, although in this case the guy actually used TF-ing to lay out the house and is just using cordwood to fill in the walls, which are of course non-structual.

Still a great site and I've lost a lot of time reading his online journal.

(Disclaimer--no, it's not my site (although wish it was, that'd mean it was my house!  :) ) and I've never even met the man, just a "satisfied reader")

JimY

I've only read some about it.  Seems like it has possibilities.  I'd be most interested in using it as an infill material some day (in a timberframe).  

It probably makes the most sense to use the wood as dry as possible to avoid having to caulk it all when it dries and shrinks from the mortar.

Maybe I'll try it on my next shed if I can get around to prepping the wood sometime soon.

Jim_Rogers

About a year and a half ago, a fellow sent me an email wanting to buy some old, dry, locust logs. They needed to be 10" in diameter or less.
I told him I had some and that they were pretty old and dry and all split open.
He said that was great, just what he wanted.

Later on, he showed up with a nice little pickup truck and we walked down to the old log pile and looked them all over. He wanted more than I had, but took what I had any way.

I told him to back his nice little pickup right up and we'd fill his truck up with the logs. He wanted them all cut to something like either 8 or 10" long pieces.
I told him that seemed to be some very short firewood. He told me that he was using it as "cord-wood infill" and that he wasn't going to burn it.

And he didn't want to haul any of it in his nice little pickup.

He wanted me to deliver it.

I did, and he paid more for delivery then he did for the wood.

Sometime later he sent me this photo of his timber framed shed with "cord-wood walls".




I thought he did a nice job.

The timber framing school in Maine does a workshop once a year teaching different infill was systems.

Sometimes they use clay/straw infill, sometimes wood-chip/clay infill. All different types, including straw bale.

Very interesting stuff.

Jim Rogers
Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Woodmizer 1994 LT30HDG24 with 6' Bed Extension

Karl_N.

Hey Mongo,

I built a cordwood house a few years ago and lived in it for two years. It's just a small place, about 16' wide and 22' long and oval. It's my workshop now while I build my new house just up the hill. Anyway, I really enjoyed the building of it, and it stayed warm in the winter and cool in the summer, very cavelike and cozy. They say there are cord wood structures that have been around for 500 years.
Karl

beenthere

Karl
Welcome to the Forum.
Any more information on the '500 year old' cordwood structures, as I'd be curious as to how they cut cordwood 'back' in those days.
I've been involved in digging up 600 yr old Indian structures in the SW and not much evidence left of anything but stones, bones, ashes, and pottery (Forestry summer camp  ::) ). Your information is intriguing (hope that's a word the way I spelled it  :)  )
Your experience with a cordwood structure is interesting (cavelike ??? ) so I suspect your new house you are building is not cordwood? What is the workshop floor? Regular construction, concrete, or ?  Any pics?
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Karl_N.

Been There,

I believe the structures they (whoever they are) were referring to were built in the Scandanavian region. I remember seeing a picture of very white mortar with fairly smooth log ends sticking out of it. Leads me to believe they were crosscut somehow.  
I built my cordwood place based on Rob Roy's first book, the one with his house on the front. I say cavelike because I put in a three foot stone wall along the back (north) wall where it's bermed about as high and all the masonry just makes it feel solid and bomb proof. Unfortunately not mouseproof. The floor is just the slab I built the place on with one of those straw like woven rugs down on top of it.
The other house is a timberframe gambrel I'm hoping to be in by Dec. A long way to go still, we'll see.  I don't think I've got digital photos of the cordwood place but next time I'm out there I'll take a picture of it and post it.
Thanks for the welcome, I've been reading this forum for a few months now and am happy to finally be registered and typing.
I've got a job this winter building a small timberframe barn they just poured the foundation for. I sawed out a bunch of the timbers back in July and I'm excited to get started cutting. Good to know there are people out there with similar interests and more knowledge than I have :)
Karl

ARKANSAWYER

Karl,
  Welcome aboard.
  I am working on a frame now for a cordwood home now.  It is 30 x36 with 12 ft side wall.  The cordwood is dry ERC and are 16 inches long.  I hope to raise the frame next month but will not have any thing to do with installing the cordwood.  It is a neat system and seems like you can heat with at candle and cool with a ice cube.  Good overhang and dry wood is a must.
ARKANSAWYER
ARKANSAWYER

Mongo

I've been thinking about this more and more lately, and I really like the idea of a cordwood house. Not 100% sure I'll be able to talk my girlfriend (who most likely will be my wife by then, but don't tell her that yet!) into it. Then again, she does like log cabins, so maybe I could talk her into it.

I plan on having a green house too, so if nothing else I'll get the chance to build something using this technique (for the north wall, maybe east and west walls too?)

Maybe a matching woodshed as well. :)

slowzuki

Cordwood homes don't fair so well up north.  A few people around here have them and like them a lot but their woodpile is huge to heat it.  These are old-school ones with just solid through mortar and wood, no insulation.  They do have plenty of thermal mass for summer though and stay cool all day.

It's kinda scary, the price of firewood is up to 200$+ a cord so a cord wood house is getting to be $$ too!


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