An Introduction to Log Construction

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So let your plumbing run up along an inside, nonlog wall. Furthermore, if you're going to install plumbing in your home's second floor, coil some copper lines to permit a bit of play as the house sinks, or put in slack-giving "sizzle" joints. And speaking of second floors, don't forget to allow for settling on your stairwells. We put our building's steps on casters so they can roll out a little as the place settles.

You can put your wiring within the log walls by drilling the holes and running the wires up as you go along. I'd try to avoid doing this, though, because—once again—it's going to be difficult getting in there to make repairs. It's an easier matter to run wires for light fixtures and such along the notches you'll be cutting for your door frames.

When you're putting up the walls, stop about every third course and check the height at all the corners to make sure you're going to come out even. Some buddies of mine once asked me to help them put a roof on their log home. When I got there, I found out that their ceiling line was off 10 inches! There's no way you're going to put a roof on that! This craft shop, on the other hand, has eight corners . . . but since we kept checking their height as we worked, they were all within 1 to 1-1/2 inches of being the same when we finished. Mind you, they aren't exactly equal, but with logs nothing is ever exact. It's all "close is good enough".

The chinking in this cabin is a sandwich of fiberglass insulation (we just stuffed in enough to match the R-factor of the logs) with metal lath strips on both sides, covered with a mortar-type mix. If you look around the cabin, you can see that there're places where the chinking's begun to pull loose. We'll have to do a second mortar layer to plug those gaps.

You'll also notice that big splits have formed in some of our poplar logs. Those cracks don't do any harm, but if you want to avoid them, dry your logs with the bark on before you put them up. That way they'll cure at an even rate. Once you peel them, though, the outside will dry quicker than the inside, causing splits.

After the second chinking's all done, we'll have to apply some kind of preservative to the logs to keep the bugs off. There're all sorts of products for doing that, and some of them are pretty wicked. You'll just have to pick one you think you can live with. (I use a liquid called Cabot's stain.) Basically, if you keep the bugs, sun, and water off your logs, they'll last just about forever. Studies have shown that, by itself, wood naturally deteriorates at a rate of only 1/4 inch per hundred years.

As for how much it costs . . . we've got about $1,800 to $2,000 in materials-including the concrete floor, the trapdoor, the tin on the roof; and the lath in the chinks—in this 724-square-foot craft shop. It might take $5,000 to finish it all the way . . . adding the cabinets and plumbing and all that would make it a home.

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