I Could Build ... Stack Those!

[digitS']

Eye Candy for some of us . Cordwood Homes and Barns

Something I hadn't thought of is using milled wood (4"x4" or 6"x6") cut and stacked for corners. Using them unstacked as framing is common but they are pleasing to the eye horizontal and likely to be stronger than stacked cordwood corners.

There are some barns done this way, including one from 1929. Also, a small building in progress showing the technique. All those photos are in about the bottom 1/4 of the stacked pictures .

The interiors are mostly very homey ... and the idea of using cordwood for interior walls hadn't occurred to me.

Steve

 

[digitS']

Ha!

Then I'm over on cabinporn dot com and there is this simple little place.

I've been there, but not there, there. Before I decided on settling in this neck of the woods, I wanted to see a similar location: Colorado! Del Norte is within probably an hour's drive of the mirror image environment of any location here, a thousand miles north. Anyway, that was my impression .

I very nearly built something very similar to this a number of years ago when I first showed up at the big veggie garden. That first winter, a bad windstorm tore up the neighbor's plum tree. Every limb was broken on what must have been a tree about 50+ years old.

I cut it into firewood which neither of us had use for. I had (& still have) a small greenhouse in boxes. I thought I might do the shed-attached scheme I mostly put into place, about 5 years later. One difference of several, that growing structure doesn't require a nearly 20 mile drive just to open or close a window . (It just requires walking through the door I cut in the neighbor's fence.)

Steve

 

[Kassaundra]

If we ever get to move to the country, it is likely the only land we will be able to afford (not going in debt again house is paid off) will be heavily wooded, this could be a very doable way to build w/ local to the property materials.

 

[journey11]

I like it better when the cord wood is mixed with other building materials. Like this one:

Too much of the same pattern over and over makes me feel anxious. I don't think I'd leave much of the interior wall showing either. For the exteriors on some of those, it really looks a lot like stone from a distance.

 

[bobm]

Steve ... have you noticed that this type of structure are shown in the Northern areas. We used to live in the democratic republic of Davis, Cal. where that type of building wouldn't stand up to termites for very long as they have a habit of keeping up a structure by holding hands. Think of how much it would cost to make repairs / replace walls on such a structure . In the high moisture areas one would also have to contend with many types of mold.

 

[digitS']

I've also thought that only fairly thick walls make sense but heavy timber framing to hold them would be expensive. This is regardless of the value of firewood. And, I bet that is a word the owners do not like, "fire."

Yeah, I don't know much about termites. Carpenter ants are pesky enough.

Shingles and Shakes! Always thought those were the cutest and most home putterer friendly, even if I have never used them.

Okay, I'm going for rammed earth, next! ..

Steve

 

[baymule]

Also look at www.daycreek.com I love the way these structures look. I could sooooo live in a home of cordwood! As far as termites, there are recipes for making one's own termite solution to soak the cordwood in before building. If I were to try my hand at building a structure like this, i would cut my pine trees in October, taking advantage of the pine sap flowing downward for the winter. My grandfather showed me untreated pine fence posts that had been put up when he was a child and they were still holding up wire. The sap crystalizes and preserves the wood. We call it pitch pine, rich pine, lighter pine, it makes a fine fire starter when split into slivers. I realize that i just said that i would build a structure of lighter pine, but I would still build it. I might just build a small storage building or something like that just for kicks. But that will have to wait until I complete many, many other projects that take precedence over it.

 

[Beekissed]

Steve ... have you noticed that this type of structure are shown in the Northern areas. We used to live in the democratic republic of Davis, Cal. where that type of building wouldn't stand up to termites for very long as they have a habit of keeping up a structure by holding hands. Think of how much it would cost to make repairs / replace walls on such a structure . In the high moisture areas one would also have to contend with many types of mold.

That's where a straw bale/cob home would come in handy. Minimal wood used in those and nothing much else a termite would love to eat.

http://www.strawbale.com/photo-gallery-favorite-images/

http://www.cobprojects.info/

And before you say they won't hold up under high humidity climates, one of the oldest known cob homes still in use is in England and is over 500 yrs old. Here's another in England....

http://www.naturalhomes.org/goatlings.htm

This pic shows a cob still inhabited in England, among others that are similarly aged and still lived in, that is dated 1539...and it has a thatched roof!

 

[so lucky]

I wonder if the builders seal the exposed ends of the logs with a weather proof sealer, or something like a deck sealer? That should help with the moisture/insect issue.

 

[bobm]

The deck sealers last a year or two, depending on sun exposure and other weathering conditions, then have to be reapplied. It does little to protest against termites or dry rot. Oh, the cob style homes are great in very stable soil areas, But. how will the cob home stand up in high earthquake prone and soil liquifaction areas of the world ?