THE RETURN OF THE CORDWOOD HOUSE

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This type of corner construction and string line proved to be very efficient since it allowed construction of individual walls as opposed to having all four walls built up simultaneously, as required in other construction methods. The south and east walls were built first, because problems of mortar transportation would have been encountered if the north and west walls had been built first. Both the south and east walls were difficult to work on because of the limited working space in the enclosure at those points. An interesting comparison was carried out on the south wall. Consistent diameter logs were used in the lower portion of the wall and the string line was used to keep the wall plumb and maintain the row level. In the upper portion of the wall, the log placement was random and the string line was used simply as a plumb and straight line reference. Extra man-hours are needed for the first method. We found that the extra time taken to obtain consistent diameter logs and maintain level rows was not rewarded with an improved overall appearance. Using random log selection construction was appreciably faster and no adverse construction problems resulted.

The east wall construction included the placement of the window and door frames. These were constructed from rough sawn 2 X 6 spruce. The door frame was four 2 X 6's set side by side with a dimension of 7'2" by 2'10" inside measure. The window frame was three 2 X 6's set side by side with a dimension of 2' by 2'. The window frame was placed flush with the outside wall but set 6" from the inside wall surface. The door frame was flush with both inside and outside wall surfaces. Both frames were cross backed to avoid warping and twisting. Note that the door frame was set on the foundation while the window frame was placed at a height to allow a common set of lintels to be used for both door and window. Also note the extended nails in the frames, used to bind the frames to the mortar as the wall was built around them.

The next step was to place the door and window lintels, which were ripped-three-sides spruce logs anchored into the mortar wall with "extended" nails. The window sill was made of a 4 X 4 load divider. The outside window sill had a drip edge cut by chain saw tip.

The top plate was placed next. The west and east walls had 2 X 4's placed on the inner and outer edges, also anchored by

"extended" nails. For the south and north walls, the top plates were a pair of 8 X 8 sawn-three-sides timbers running parallel on the wall edges. Large top plates on the east and west walls were required to support the great weight of the stackwall gable.

The final step was to construct the gable ends. For this portion of the stackwall, no shavings were placed in the gap because a high insulating value was not required. Special enclosures were required, however, to attempt to maintain an above-freezing temperature for the mortar curing process. Finally, a 2 X 4 was placed on edge and anchored along the 7/12 slope of the constructed gable to act as a nailing member parallel to the roof trusses.

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