Ideas for temperary chinking in log cabin.

[Joe Hillmann]

I may have free access to a few hundred redpine poles about 19 feet long and 7-10 inches on the small end.

I am thinking of building a small log cabin out of them by putting the logs on the mill and cutting two flat sides on each log so they are about 6 inches thick.  I figure 70 or so logs would build a small cabin.  The problem I have is I don't own any property to set it up.  I do have access to property but would like to be able to move the cabin in a few years when I am able to buy land of my own. 

This gets me to my question,  What can I use for chinking between the logs that will be cheap, do an adequate job of sealing out the wind, last a few years, and be able to be removed when/if I ever move the cabin.

Right now about the only  thing I am able to think of that would work for my needs would be to twist fiberglass insulation into a loose rope and lay that between the logs.  Any other suggestions for what my work for a temeprary chinking?

[DPatton]

Unless caulked or sealed water tight fiberglass insulation will take on water creating all kinds of havoc with rot and mold issues. I think you would be better off stuffing foam backer rod between the logs as a temporary solution.

[Don P]

Rolls of foam sill seal? Not sure which is cheaper.

[Wisconsintimber]

I would think foam backer rod or foam water pipe insulation if the gap is larger.

[Joe Hillmann]

I haden't given any thought to the fiberglass absorbing water.

I looked into the price of foam backer rod and sill seal.  They are nearly the same price.  The backer rod is black so should be hidden better and is thicker and probably can compress more.  The sill sealer is white so will stand out but I could cut the strips in half which would make it about 1/2 the cost.  

Either way if I use backer rod or full width sill seal the cost would be around $75.  Both should help keep the wind out and last for a few years and both would allow the cabin to be torn down without having the mess of removing any type of calking.

Although at this point I don't know how likely I am to actually build a cabin.  I need to decide quite quickly if I want the logs and I don't know if I will have enough  time this winter (work and short days don't allow much time to work outside) to build it.  If nothing else it is fun to dream about building it.

Edit:  I just realized the price of the backer rod I was looking at is more than half off and I don't know how long the sale lasts so backer rod would be double the price of sill seal and 4 times the price of sill seal that has been cut in half and folded over.

[DPatton]

Depending on your gap spacing between logs one or the other will install easier and work better.

[Joe Hillmann]

I am assuming the gap will be quite small.  I plan to have the milled faces of the logs touching each other with the only gap being caused by inaccurate cuts on the mill, warping wood as it dries or sloppy work on my part.  But even with small gaps the wind would cut right through so I need something in there.

[Don P]

This is one of the places where the difference between radial and tangential shrinkage can bite you. The inside and outside faces are tangential grain, the line down the middle of the wall, through the hearts is radial. Tangential shrinks twice as much as radial. If you stack flat on flat as the wood dries the flat faces end up convex, the logs touch in the middle and are gapped at the outer edges. If you run a power planer down the center of the bottom faces a pass or two to create a channel then as the wood dries it tends to stay tighter on the outer edges. The channel gives the foam somewhere to live.

If you rip a groove with a skillsaw down the middle bottom, no more than 1/4 depth, this tends to cause the shrinkage check to form on that bottom face where it is hidden and draining.



 

[Joe Hillmann]

This is one of the places where the difference between radial and tangential shrinkage can bite you. The inside and outside faces are tangential grain, the line down the middle of the wall, through the hearts is radial. Tangential shrinks twice as much as radial. If you stack flat on flat as the wood dries the flat faces end up convex, the logs touch in the middle and are gapped at the outer edges. If you run a power planer down the center of the bottom faces a pass or two to create a channel then as the wood dries it tends to stay tighter on the outer edges. The channel gives the foam somewhere to live.

If you rip a groove with a skillsaw down the middle bottom, no more than 1/4 depth, this tends to cause the shrinkage check to form on that bottom face where it is hidden and draining.





The idea of running a skill saw down to the center was something I had given some thought but I don't think thees logs will check much more than they already are.  I haden't thought of using ah planer to cut a grove.

[mike_belben]

DAP peel N seal. Squeezes out clear like caulking.  Firms up then you can peel it right off like a gummy worm later.  Its handy for getting a tire to seat on the bead too.  Just filler up then peel off whatever squeezes out.  


Why not find a free if you haul it off mobile home and build your cabin on the chassis permanent from the get go.  Then move it a time or two and when you are permanent, just pull the axles and lower it onto your pavers.  No disassembly. Plan out the interior and roof pitch for future additions by lean to. They additions could be pretty large if you left it up a few feet on a crawlspace.  (Need sufficient gutter height for roof pitch on additions or you end up with midgit rooms)

[Joe Hillmann]

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone offered.  I had pretty much decide not to build the cabin since I didn't really have a place to build it.  But then last week my parents cabin burned down so I figured that would be a good place to build it.  I went to talk to the owner about the logs and they had been cut up into firewood.  So that pretty well decided it for me, I won't be building a cabin any time soon.

[maple flats]

Just like my luck, a day late and a dollar short.

[mike_belben]

sorry about the bad news man.  :'(

[firefighter ontheside]

Darn that sucks for your parents and for you.  Red pine can make a very nice log home.  My log home in MO is red pine from Grand Marais MN.

[Mad Professor]

Why not find a free if you haul it off mobile home and build your cabin on the chassis permanent from the get go.  Then move it a time or two and when you are permanent, just pull the axles and lower it onto your pavers.  No disassembly. Plan out the interior and roof pitch for future additions by lean to. They additions could be pretty large if you left it up a few feet on a crawlspace.  (Need sufficient gutter height for roof pitch on additions or you end up with midgit rooms)

Something like this?

[Brad_bb]

Foam backer rod pushed in the spaces?