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Stacking a log wall

Started by bic, October 08, 2016, 11:27:27 AM

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bic

Happy Thanksgiving folks, can anyone tell me about the do's and don'ts of stacking square (actually 6x10" logs) on top of each other, eg ,use of sill gasket, caulking etc. I will be fastening the walls no matter which way I go with log boss screws, and dowel in the area of Windows. It's a timber frame using piece on piece construction. I was going to do, and may still, 1 1/2" space then insulate and chink, just want to hear the thoughts on both methods.
Thanks ahead
Bic
LT 28 Woodmizer
where there's a mill there's a way

ChugiakTinkerer

I have no idea about best, just what we did several decades ago building cabins in Fairbanks, Alaska.  We had 6" 3-sided logs that were stacked with a layer of fiberglass sill sealer in between then spiked together.  After completion there was some kind of chinking applied, I wasn't involved in that.  Sounds like a basic method and probably there are improvements over what we did back then.  It was fast and cheap though, which made the owner happy.

Edit: corrected description to say "sill sealer" and not "sill plate."  Whoops
Woodland Mills HM130

Fundyheather

Yo bic, long link on how the Ruskies do it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aZ7u3hr3_o&index=2&list=PLBxFk4XsbOaP3CSA5_AzM0js6kjco4HZz

Gets interesting at the 30 min mark.

They appear to be sealing with felted burlap or wool instead of sill gasket. 

Also, the 'Happy Trappers' in their private blog use fiberglass strips between D logs and they have a book out on their process.

good luck!   

bic

Thanks for the replys fellas, I'll try to watch that video tonight, just heading out the door to get started on the roof. Got to try and work off some turkey ::)
Thks Bic
LT 28 Woodmizer
where there's a mill there's a way

dean herring

Fixin to add a 20'x50' storeroom to sawmill shed. Got pine logs running out my ears. Some fresh cut and some the bark  has already come off. Was thinking about 6"x8" logs stacked with no chinking gap. thanks for all opinoins .
Failure is not an option  3D Lumber

Don P

I'd want a cross wall or buttress of some sort midway on the 50' wall. Running a chamfer bit on a router on the top outside edge would help form a little bit of a drip lip from the log above. boxed heart timbers tend to dry with convex faces, a pregnant rectangle. I like to run a power planer on the underside of the "logs" to form a recess so that they seal on the outside edges better when they dry. If you run a skillsaw down the middle of the bottom ripping a stress relieving groove it is sort of like scoring concrete, the major drying check will tend to happen in that hidden location.


I like to use a notch and pass corner rather than a butt and pass, it holds things in place and seals better.

mobile sawmill services

thats similar to what I use, I cut the notch as a dovetail and as it shrinks it pulls tighter, my logs are sawn flat top and bottom on the logosol stacked and pinned, and chinked with a lime mortar mix

dean herring

Got some questions
Did you use pine logs
How green are they
How much chink gap did you have
What are you using to treat them with

Reason for all the questions is I am building an addition to my sawmill shed and I want to use 6x8 pine logs for the walls. I have logs that have been down a couple of years, the bark is gone and there is some bluing, a lot I hope. Thanks you .
Failure is not an option  3D Lumber

Don P

I've used white, red and yellow pine for logs. Yellow can be a bear if it twists as it dries but I do prefer dry logs, they've shown you what they are up to. I like to treat with a borate mix, 1 lb of solubor/gallon of water. I prefer 3/8x10" lags every 32" or so for a house, I'm not sure how tight you are going for. I usually do log on log, hopefully a caulk joint. Keep them up in the dry.

deerguy

Gents,
I have been looking at a similar build and have a question. Using 6"X10" ( possibly 8x10 ) timbers, I'm told that I should router a groove down the center of each beam 2" deep stopping 2' from the end of the beam. When stacked, this would create a 4" slot which I'm told I should insert a 3" strip of plywood into. I assume this would add a lot of rigidity to the wall as it will tie the beams together etc and still allow for extra drying, shrinking etc.
Has anyone tried this ? Any obvious pros/cons ? I've looked at the spring loaded bolts etc and they seem awful expensive and cumbersome.
Any thoughts or opinions most appreciated.

Deerguy
I knew she was a keeper when she told me to buy the old skidder !!!!!

DeerMeadowFarm

If I was to build a log home for myself, I'd router a groove as you mentioned. For fasteners I'd use these:
http://www.fastenmaster.com/products/olylog-log-home-fastener.html

Made right in Agawam, MA!

Don P

If you route a groove in the top side of a log will it not become a gutter for water to drop into? I do like ripping a stress relief groove into the bottom to try to steer the major check into happening there. The corners and intersecting walls are your lateral strength/ rigidity. I've worked in shops with hydraulic presses where we flattened wood in the presses. Those springs seem like mighty minimal effort compared to what would actually be required to move a timber. The log screws do work and are easy to run. Lags have more hold and pull down, that is all about density, diameter and depth. Even with kits that supplied log screws I would keep a few thousand lags handy for tough logs. When a log didn't want to sit down "dollar bill tight" we would begin running lags, they require a prebore and couterbore and then an impact to run, more work. I remember one particular lefty yellow pine log my wife was working on, she had 5 lags in a row trying to bring it down 1/4 turn per lag at a time. I was running the big saw and heard what sounded like an automatic. She had broken a lag and all 5 went in a zipper, wood is tough!

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