Log Home Framing Design Advice.... on Different Designs i.e. Listed Below

[H60 Hawk Pilot]

I've been reading and seaching the internet for idea's and what is being used for building log homes.

I have narrowed my pick of designs to the following (listed 1st pick first).

Note, I was going to purchase a 410 Moulder $6,300) to make 6 x 8 D Logs but holding off until this topic is answered and I have some insite on Straight Sided Logs.

1. Saw Straight Sided Lap Siding Pine, 1 1/2" thick (outside) and nailed to 2 x 4 or 2 x 6 studs. The Inside Walls will be 5/4." I wanted to insullate the walls for the best cold and heat retention. Also, I think I can cut the lap siding on my swing blade mill without buying the  $ 6,300 moulder.

2. Cut >> 7 x 8 or 8 x 9  << Straight Sided Logs and cut 1 1/4" groves x 1 1/4" deep female slots on both sides of the log. I'd use wood splines to locate the logs in place as I ... stack up the logs in the wall. Again, I cut these logs without buying the expensive $$ moulder. I increased the wall thickness of the wall to 7 or 8 inches to increase the R factor on the log walls.

3. Buying 6 X 8 D Log Moulder and building log home, No brainer construction.

I'm trying to get some advice from folks that have cut their own logs and were straight sided.  I'm planning on using all the building materials from --  SYP or White Pine. Looking to Buy only --  Roofing, Windows and Doors and Misc. Hardware... trying to keep the cost $$ down because I have all the wood matterials.

Thank You,



 


   

[northwoods1]

I think you would get a better house overall with less expense and trouble by just framing it out like you said with 2x6s. I wanted a log home for a long time but ended up just sawing and planing all the lumber, cedar lap siding, all wood paneling on ceilings and walls, hardwood floors. A 2nd story loft on 4" x 6" beams and 1 1/2" tongue and groove floor. I think timber frame would be a 2nd choice to frame. I happen to be sitting on forty 36'  pine logs 16-18" on the big end 12-14" small end every one in that range and straight which I cut from a job I did. I had visions of of a little log cabin done with the swedish cope method but now I am having 2nd thoughts again about log construction... seems like maybe I could utilize those logs better using by using them some other way.

[H60 Hawk Pilot]

Northwoods 1

That was the Info. I was looking for, you've been there & done that (so to speak).

I think that cutting my Pine into Lap Siding will work the best & less hassle, wish I had access to some cedar as well.

Thank's,

Avery  

[PlicketyCat]

Lots of cabins up here are log construction and unless you have some seriously huge house logs they're almost always a bit chilly IMO. Not to mention how heavy the big house logs can get.  If you want a nice, easy, light wall to build that has a flat interior and good insulation, I think your #1 option of framing out a stud wall is the way to go. If all you want is the look of logs on the outside, I've seen a really nice "faux log" cabin where the owner just made siding from the rounded slabs off the logs he squared up and milled out for lumber, so it still looks like a log cabin from the outside without all the additional weight and hassle.

[jander3]

I like hand-scribed logs...can't be beat.  Big, heavy, won't move in a hurricane.  However, it is time consuming backbreaking work. 

Second up...Timber frame with some type of Lap siding.  You can cut everything with a mill.

[Qweaver]

I've recently finished building a fairly small home using post and beam type construction and cutting all of the trees off of my property. (see the "Building a cabin in the mountains"  thread.)  I have kept a very accurate record of money spent and we are now approaching $85,000.  AND I bought all of the windows, doors, cabinet doors, tile and other many other building material at 1/4 of their market value through a World Vision warehouse.  I can not see many ways that I could have cut these costs and still had the same quality house.  We did all of the dirt work, sawmilling and labor ourselves.  There are lots of hidden costs that I had just not take into consideration when planning the house that really add up...especially fasteners, wood finishing and treatment, HVAC, water system, septic system, lights, fans and thousands of pieces of hardware.   The house ended up costing almost twice what I had planned.  Could I have built a cheaper house by stick framing on a concrete slab?  Yep, but it would not be what I have now.  We love our little "Cabin in the Mountains" just like it is.   :D

[H60 Hawk Pilot]

Mr. Qweaver

I see that everything was a Labor of Love !

I looked at most of your picture's and You did a Fine Job.. a Mighty Fine Job.

I learned a lot by looking at your Drawing's & Photos's.

What Wood did you use for your siding ______  (mat.) and flooring ______material ?  Also, I think your picture's showed it... (type of joints) but I forgot already.

Was the Verticle siding shiplap joints, and the flooring T & G ?


Thanks' Again,

Avery

[Qweaver]

The entire house was build using yellow poplar.  Cabinets and trim are red oak.  The bedroom is paneled with cherry.  Walls, floor and roof are sheathed with 1" poplar and then I put a layer of 1" T&G OSB on the floor just to smooth it out for wood and tile flooring.  I would use plywood sheathing if I was doing it again.  We had planned to use board and batten for the siding but we liked the look without the battens so we just left it without.  The flooring is 4" T&G maple.  The only joints in the framing is a lap joint on the beams over each post...everything else is bolted together or lag screws.   The TF people don't like this but my two professional engineer friends did. 
Good luck with your planning.  This forum is a great source of info.

[Thehardway]

what dia. are your EWP logs? If they are large enough for timberframing, I would go that route.  You might also consider a timberframe/stick hybrid structure.

[Stephen1]

I like hand-scribed logs...can't be beat.  Big, heavy, won't move in a hurricane.  However, it is time consuming backbreaking work. 

Second up...Timber frame with some type of Lap siding.  You can cut everything with a mill.

I would agree with jander here, I love my logs, but the next building is going to be TF, and sips for walls and ceilings.It has now been discovered that sips are vastly superior to stick framing and  bat insulation. Where I live I understand in 2012 they plan on changing the building codes to enforce the use of sips and icf
I don't find my logs cold or drafty, the opposite actually. solid logs do not really need to be larger for the R-value as it has been discovered they have thermal break properties.

[Holmes]

If you have to heat these homes a 2x6 frame with insulation will be twice the r value of a 10" log . That will save a lot of fuel.  Dana

[H60 Hawk Pilot]

I'm Reading You All ... 100%

I'm looking at the 725 Woodmaster Planer & Moulder with higher HP Electric Motor (10 HP) as the best machine for me.
The Woodmaster Co have very good support and made in MO (USA made), also folk's like them (the users). They have a good selection of knives and the 7 1/2 in. siding knife is not that expensive.  I think it was $ 168.00 dollars for the 7 1/2" set. The W.M. 725 with 5 knife sets that cover five different operations and the add on 7 1/2 is around $ 4,800.00; this machine is No toy. I was leaning toward the Norwood 410 (at $ 6,800) but can't equal the Woodmaster 725 ($ 4,800) for what it offer's for the money.

Regarding the Stud Construction over Logs, several folks that are in the know have guided me away from logs. So it's  2 x 6's and framed with pine siding that I process myself.

Thanks' Again,

Avery

[Stephen1]

I know I should probably not, but here is the a link to studies done by Brock University here in Southern Ontario. my
son went to this school so we got to talk to the professor and the students doing the study, believe me it was very enlightening, against all conventional thinking, and what we have known. The  logs versus stick framing is another topic for another day, but if you go to the log builders association they have some interesting info also.
http://www.thermapan.com/science/rvalues.html
http://www.logassociation.org/resources/publications.php

[Thehardway]

Anyone building a house should throw out R-value numbers.  They are phony and made to sell fiberglass insulation.  Deal with real scientific properties of heat like reflection, convection, radiation,  and conduction.  Take a close look at the role of Mass and air-infiltration as well as the effects of humidity.  There is more to building energy efficient than adding up a bunch of phony R's

This is not to say that a stick built house cannot be built in an energy efficient manner, only to say that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and it requires solid scientific design and attention to details to make it work.

Good luck with your project and happy band milling.  Are you building near Moyock?

[H60 Hawk Pilot]

I Moved from Moyock, NC and took a job in AL at Fort Rucker, AL. In Sept. my lungs went sour and I lost my FAA Flt. Status.

I bought a place in Bonifay, FL,  have five acres on a little hill that has double wide that's Ok to live in while I build my home.  I'm in the process of moving some of my equipment to FL from PA (my home area). I'm traveling to PA tomorrow to bring a IHC 300 Utility tractor down here over Thanksgiving.

I was going to remain in PA for the Winter but my doctor said, that I'm very acceptable to pneumonia which I've had four times already. My lungs are only 60% from the test results yesterday. My Mother is there in PA and I was going to watch over her over Winter, beause she won't come down to FL. I will have to hire people to check in on (lives alone) her and did the same with her last year.  Sometimes, life get's a little complicated and I've been ping pong balling more than I ever have in the last few months.

Regarding the house I'm building here in FL, it's going to be 2 x 6 stud type construction and mostly from the pine (SYP) that I cut down here and dry and process with either of my (Norwood or Peterson) mills.

That's all I know for today.

Thanks' for your advice.

Avery