Building a cabin with 4x6's

[missouri1]

I'm trying to find someone who has built a small house/cabin with 4x6's for the walls or a site with some information. There are a few such cabins in our area but they are motel cabins that the occupants and owners didn't build. I'm thinking this might be the route we want to go and build a nice 1 story. 

[Ernest T. Bass]

You mean log style? We have a friend who built a nice hunting cabin out of 4x6's. He put sill sealing pad between each course and caulked the gaps, I believe. Would be expensive...

[missouri1]

Yes log style, it looks gorgeous! My hubby works at a mill so I am going to have him price the wood and see if he can get a big enough discount. I'm just trying to figure out how the best method of locking the wood together via bolts and a few other important issues.

[rwanders]

I have built using 6x6 timbers----used 9" spikes and 3/4" hardwood dowels. fiberglass sill sealer between each course. Have also used rebar driven into pre-drilled holes slightly smaller than the rebar.  All work well but you must allow for shrinkage of timbers---especially if timbers are green. Some log builders use long lengths of all-thread from foundation sill up through all the log courses so they can cinch down the walls as the logs shrink and gaps appear. It's heavy work with big timbers, large drills and big hammers (small sledge hammers work well for spikes and dowels---helps to lubricate both with beeswax or bar soap.

[Don_P]

One thing to think about is that each lateral joint is a potential air or water leak, and a spot that takes up money in the form of chinking seals etc, the fewer the better in that regard. I was at a moderate sized mill last week and asked the prices of his timbers, he saws alot for the log home companies. There were many 6x8, 8x8, and 6x12's in the yard, going price was $450/thousand. One technique I've seen used was a fellow used 6x12's then centered a 2x4 on top to create a chink groove then attached the next course. As they get bigger and longer it takes more mucle or machines to get them into place though but my wife and I have built something upwards of 50 homes using 6x8 and 8x8 machined logs up to 16'-20' long.  Some form of corner notch other than just a simple butt and pass helps make the wall more weather tight as the wood shrinks, as well as making it stronger. Stickering and drying them really helps with final fit and settlement issues. I'm a fan of lags and oly screws over spikes for being able to pull the timbers down tight but if you talk to 10 people you'll get 11 opinions on connections  .

One way to figure board footage if you haven't before;
For each wall multiply Length in inches X Height in inches X Thickness in inches. Divide by 144= BF
So a wall 24' long x 8' tall and 6" thick is;
240" X 96" X 6"= 960 bf... or roughly $450 of wood at our local mill.

I can also purchase milled 6x8 D logs with tongue and grooves top and bottom for about $4.50 per lineal foot at a local log home plant, it takes 13 rows of them to get up to 8'. They stack much tighter and look good.

[Redoverfarm]

Some log builders use long lengths of all-thread from foundation sill up through all the log courses so they can cinch down the walls as the logs shrink and gaps appear.

If you go with the all thread try to locate some heavy short travel springs to place at the top.  This will keep tension on the rods until they shrink up.  If they get loose just tighten again to maintain pressure on the springs again. This requires less tightening by hand except for every couple years.  It lets the springs do the work as they are needed.

[glenn kangiser]

Short article on R value.

"The R-Value of Wood

In a log home, the wood helps provide some insulation. Wood's thermal resistance or resistance to heat flow is measured by its R-value. The higher the R-value, the more thermal resistance.

The R-value for wood ranges between 1.41 per inch (2.54 cm) for most softwoods and 0.71 for most hardwoods. Ignoring the benefits of the thermal mass, a 6-inch (15.24 cm) thick log wall would have a clear-wall (a wall without windows or doors) R-value of just over 8.

Compared to a conventional wood stud wall [3½ inches (8.89 cm) insulation, sheathing, wallboard, a total of about R-14] the log wall is apparently a far inferior insulation system. Based only on this, log walls do not satisfy most building code energy standards. However, to what extent a log building interacts with its surroundings depends greatly on the climate. Because of the log's heat storage capability, its large mass may cause the walls to behave considerably better in some climates than in others.

Logs act like "thermal batteries" and can, under the right circumstances, store heat during the day and gradually release it at night. This generally increases the apparent R-value of a log by 0.1 per inch of thickness in mild, sunny climates that have a substantial temperature swing from day to night. Such climates generally exist in the Earth's temperate zones between the 15th and 40th parallels."

from: http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/designing_remodeling/index.cfm/mytopic=10170

[MountainDon]

Speaking of R-values and codes, the later versions of the Reschek tool has provision for entering data for log walls, thickness and species, as well a SIP's and a variety of other variables. If you haven't had a  look at it it combines data for walls, floor, deiling, roof, windows, doors, insulation, heating systems, etc and comes up with the rating. Many places such as NM where I live require the use of this tool to validate the potential energy efficiency of new structures. The program gives a pass/fail and tells you what percentage better or worse than code. I found it useful when desogning our cabin.

You can download the software at   http://www.energycodes.gov/

There is also an online version for use. The program gets updated frequently. Our cabin design failed the energy codes miserably when run through with 6" Ponderosa Pine log walls, squeaked through with 12" Ponderosa Pine logs and passwd with 6% better than code as designed with insulated 2x6 walls. Ceiling and floor left the same in all comparisons. When setting the sizing on log walls they use the squared off end profile; that is a 12" round log is actually less for calculating.

[Pritch]

It sounds like you are thinking of using kiln-dried, dimensioned lumber.  If this is the case, I don't think shrinkage will be much of an issue.  I have seen a couple of cabin companies that have the boards cut with a tounge and groove in them, which makes for a nice lock between courses but complicates the corner notch. 

-- Pritch

[John Raabe]

Wood shrinks much more in the radial rings that it does in its length. Since most log structures are made of stacked horizontal logs shrinkage can be a major problem in 2 story houses and buildings with tall walls. This problem is largely avoided in stockade (vertical) log construction or machine cut stick framing.