Wood Seasoning

[meleajalea]

[size=14]We are considering a vertical or stockade style log cabin. How long would you advise seasoning the logs before building...or how short? I want to get started!  [/size]

[glenn kangiser]

Welcome t the forum.  I like to leave logs at least 6 months - up to a year if off the ground a bit to get the bark to break loose easy and as Mike Oehler say's - it gives the bugs a chance to do their art work.  They generally only work in the cambium layer -work the bark loose and carve neat little trails.

The logs will continue to shrink for up to two years or so.  Best is if you can work out a method which will allow you to build without worry about the shrinkage and get going.  The plywood splines set deeper would take care of that although you will likely have a bit of chinking extra as the logs shrink more.

[meleajalea]

[size=12]So what would you do with the doors and windows? We just want to make a little bunkhouse for camping in, but my husband is almost ready to go with a regular stick built building because he is concerned about the shrinkage and settling. I think he was considering using oak logs and would have to cut them now...but we would like to build this spring /summer season. Is a vertical style cabin adviseable in our timetable...or any log cabin, for that matter? I was really hoping for one! Thanks so much.---Melanie[/size]

[glenn kangiser]

Stick is fairly straightforward and easy compared to dealing with heavy logs.  Depends on what you want to deal with, Melanie.

Amanda made one but has been working on it for a while.

http://www.countryplans.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1156820149/0

Keep in mind that Oak gets pretty hard to work with as it dries so may have to be done fairly green the deal with the shrinkage.  Doors and windows could have board frames and beam or log beam headers -- the latter would probably look best.  I spike things together with 16 inch rebar spikes .

If on a tight schedule you may find John's Little House Plansto be more reasonable to work with then you could side it with first cut log rounds to look like a log cabin.  Much easier.  

[John_C]

I posted a few weeks ago about my experience helping during the construction of a log cabin built with hand hewn oak logs.  It was certainly one of the most beautiful structures I have ever seen.

But Glenn is right about the weight of the oak logs. If I recall, we had logs 8" - 10" thick and 16"-18" high by 16' or so long. That's over 200 bf per log, perhaps 1100 pounds per log!   Most cedar - pine logs you buy have been kiln dried.   A green oak log is probably 60%  to 80%  heavier than a pine log of the same size.  If you go that route study up on ways to move the logs without getting any body parts in the way.

Did I mention how pretty it was.

Good Luck.

[glenn kangiser]

Note that I used a remote control crane to set most of my logs.  I have three so there is not much problem for me handling them.  Others may use other methods but you do want to consider machinery of some sort to handle the logs.  Some methods attempted could be dangerous so be careful.  Logs can get smashy. :-/

[Amanda_931]

The guy who "wrote the book" on the vertical log cabin system seems to figure that you can put the logs up fairly green--but peeled!--and just add more caulk.

One of the largish number of people who have come here because we've linked to their sites.

We (well, the guy who was building this for me) put them up--mixed woods--essentially green--sometimes using the tractor (with a boom pole) to put them up.

Very little shrinkage long ways.  Some cracks along the grain as they did their shrinking.

But if you can wait until they dry--peel first, mind you, keep the little beetles from the wood--then they will be a whole lot easier to put up.

I've had to re-chink in places.   First time was four or five months after the trees were cut.

One of the people who built a vertical log cabin here had two opposite sides of his logs cut at a lumber mill.  So he had very little fitting to do.