I am seeking info on vertical log building methods.Meaning the logs go up and down rather than the normal horizontal. My only success has been http://www.loghomes.co.za/ Does anyone have personal info to share? We are starting to build one(stripping logs) There are a lot of advantages to this method of building,would like to share info. Am new to this forum would like to say HI!

-- George Leroy Tirebiter (ltirebiter@aol.com), January 15, 2001

Answers

Sorry that I can't help you, but I would like to welcome you and all of the other new folk.

-- Notforprint (Not@thekeyboard.com), January 16, 2001.

Hi George, and welcome. There is an advertisement that runs in the Countryside Magazine from a place called Alaskan Cabins. Don't know anything about them. I would be interested in your results as they would appear to be very suitable to an arid climate. Please post your results.

-- JLS in NW AZ (stalkingbull007@AOL.com), January 16, 2001.

GLT- I did a search on Google and found this link. You may have already seen it. Interesting idea. Jack http://www.okvalleymall.com/vertical.htm

-- jack (atl.jack@mailexcite.com), January 16, 2001.

Backwoods home magazine had a couple of articles about a woman who built herself a real nice vertical log home. I believe they have some info about it at their web site. I read the articles in one of the anthology editions.

Found 1 artcle in the 5th year anthology. I was sure there was at least one more. Dorothy Ainsworth is the ladies name. BWH used to have a service where they would sell individual articles cheap. You can check w/ them. I could copy it if you want. John

-- John in S. IN (jsmengel@hotmail.com), January 17, 2001.

Check out www.alaskacabin.net. A handbook on vertical log building

-- marty van diest (marty@alaskacabin.net), January 20, 2001.

Hi George - we too are looking into building this way. Got the Alaskan Cabins booklet last year. It's small but informative. The plans in the book are for a 24x24 simple cabin. One of the things that my hubby thought would be an improvement would be to mill the logs flat on the sides to increase the area where they meet and improve the insulating ability. The fact that one or two people can handle the logs is a huge plus. We had always planned to build a cordwood house and although it is a cheap way to build and right up the alley of my hubby who used to be a tuckpointer, it is labor intensive and would be hard to build part-time. I think the vertical log house would go up much faster. A cord wood addition at a later time would look nice with it.

-- Amy (gshep@aeroinc.net), January 22, 2001.

I publish the little booklet advertised in Countryside. I believe that vertical logs are the way to go for small simple cabins. Actually they are great for larger houses as well but we have never tried one.

Since publishing the book we have discovered party by experience and partly by advice from others who have built this way that there are quite a few different styles of vertical log construction.

We use mostly small logs that are sometimes discarded by others and people wonder about the insulating capacity. Well all I can say is they seem to work fine here in Alaska.

On the joints between the logs a foam backer rod is pushed into the seam before chinking. This is done inside and out so that the seam is well sealed when finished. This also takes up the gaps from the small amount of shrinkage that occures as each log dries.

I would be happy to contribute more if you like. We are revising the booklet...mostly just adding more info to it and several different options on how to join the logs.

-- marty van diest (marty@alaskacabin.net), January 31, 2001.

I'm glad someone asked about this. I've been trying like crazy to find how-to info online about vertical log cabins. I wanted to get the Alaska Cabins book, but I wanted to find some sites online that give more details before I commit money to a book I can't page through first.

The Backwoods Home articles didn't give much info on the construction details, just an overall look at the project. Plus, even the small studio was a lot "fancier" than we plan our cabin to be. I just want a site with some basic how-to info so I can see if it's really feasible for us.

-- Sarah Smith (anonymous@excite.com), February 16, 2002.

I have studied this alot and spent last summer helping to build a "standard" type log house in MT with onsite trees.One big advantage of vertical is the logs are only 6-8 ft long and are MUCH easier to handle.No need for heavy equipment.Also shorter trees are often easier to find.The most knowledgeable people on the planet(in my opinion) dealing with this type of construction are in South Africa They have a very interesting website www.loghomes.co za Feel free to e-mail me with questions(I might be slow to answer,not being online all the time)or e-mail loghomes Thanks Chuck and Sparky the Log Dog

-- George Leroy Tirebiter (ltirebiter@aol.com), February 17, 2002.