A Mortgage-Free, Owner-Built Cordwood Castle

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

[8] I used cordwood rounds almost exclusively in the walls... but I noticed a significant increase in structural integrity in the places I used split wood. Actually, the experts are now recommending — almost unanimously — the use of splits instead of rounds... as well as endorsing longer log lengths (at least 16") for the sake of durability and the added insulation value.

[9] Work with sympathetic local contractors if possible. We were very candid with our plumber, electrician, and brick mason concerning our tight financial situation... and so were able to do a good deal of preparation work ourselves prior to calling in the pros to tie everything together. Obviously, this saved us some bucks and also gave us the satisfaction of learning something without risking a major screw up.

[10] Gather your materials, grit your teeth, and do it!

A Sun-Room With a Cordwood Skin

Although planning may not be the most exciting aspect of a building project, it's probably the most important and is always worth the effort. Our solar addition is a good example: Before Rebecca and I were even halfway into the design for our dream house, we realized that we'd have to allow fir eventual expansion ... and our first add-on would be, without question, a sun-drenched greenhouse/living area.

Naturally, this required that we orient the house properly and take into account the foliage on our property's southern face ... but it also meant that we had to arrange the floor plan to provide inside access to the sunspace and make the most of the "captured" energy.

Our 408-square-foot project, completed in the fall of 1983, isn't all that fancy, but we did try a sheathing experiment that allowed us to use conventional construction techniques while still maintaining the cordwood character of the main structure.

Essentially, the addition is an L built onto the southwest corner of the house. The 10 X 21' south-facing leg boasts an insulated cobblestone brick absorber floor, a Y-wide planting bed, and seven 34" X 76" "factory imperfect" thermopane window panels that I purchased for $16 apiece. To the rear of that, along the west wall, an 11' X 18' indoor patio area utilizes pressure-treated deck flooring (again, insulated below) and some additional thermopane glazing. A skylight placed toward the back of the "hind leg"provides some extra ambient lighting for that area, and a roof vent prevents overheating during summer's extremes. Both indoor and outdoor accesses were included.

So far, I haven't described anything out of the ordinary. In fact, even my framing technique-pressure-treated 2 X 6 studs on 24" centers spanned with 6" fiberglass batts — was rather ho-hum, as was the 2 X 4 joist, plywood, and asphalt-shingle roof. But I got really jazzed about a cordwood/ stucco siding idea that let me finish off the sunspace's exterior quickly and inexpensively without sacrificing the cordwood motif.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print