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Cordwood Round & Rectangle

by Richard Flatau | Nov 18, 2017 | Alternative Building, Cob, cordwood, Cordwood Construction, cordwood house, Green building, log end, Natural home for sale, Off grid, solar, Tiny home, Uncategorized, Workshop | 0 Comments

Who doesn't love round? Everyone right. But there comes a time when folks who have been living in round (or nearly round) start to complain about the idiosyncrasies. Just recently a friend who lives in one of the most beautiful 16-sided cordwood homes ever said to...

Cordwood Carriage House is Spectacular

by Richard Flatau | Oct 21, 2017 | Alternative Building, Cob, cordwood, Cordwood Construction, cordwood house, Green building, log end, Natural home for sale, Off grid, solar, Tiny home, Uncategorized, Workshop | 0 Comments

Want to have your cordwood cake and eat it too? Building a cordwood garage with living quarters is an excellent way to practice your cordwood technique & tuckpointing. In addition, it provides a place to lay your weary head after a hard days' work. The garage (aka...

Mermaid Cordwood Cottage featured in Czech Architectural Magazine

by Richard Flatau | Oct 3, 2017 | Alternative Building, Cob, cordwood, Cordwood Construction, cordwood house, Green building, log end, Natural Building, Natural home for sale, Off grid, solar, Tiny home, Uncategorized, Workshop | 0 Comments

The prestigious Czech architectural magazine Drevo & Stavby: Kvalini Casopis recently featured the Mermaid Cottage. Kimanna & Michael built this beautiful BnB in Colorado using cordwood construction with mermaid motifs. Although this article is written in Czech,...

Raise the Roof on Cordwood Homes

by Richard Flatau | Sep 23, 2017 | Alternative Building, Cob, cordwood, Cordwood Construction, cordwood house, Green building, log end, Natural home for sale, Off grid, solar, Tiny home, Uncategorized, Workshop | 0 Comments

When planning your natural home, the roof becomes a very important part of your design. From looking good to insulating, to adding extra space, to protecting your walls, a good roof design is an essential part of every home. Here are a few ideas "topping off ideas"...

Cordwood Cabin North Bay, Ontario is Gorgeous!

by Richard Flatau | Sep 17, 2017 | Alternative Building, Cob, cordwood, Cordwood Construction, cordwood house, log end, Natural home for sale, Off grid, solar, Tiny home, Uncategorized, Workshop | 0 Comments

Fred Robson has built a beautiful "Cordwood Bunkie" (as he calls it) on the shores of the magnificently beautiful Lake Kawawaymog in Ontario. Fred makes mandolins and guitars and is a very talented craftsman. You can see his talent in this light and airy cordwood...

Cordwood Doghouses around the world

by Richard Flatau | Sep 6, 2017 | Alternative Building, Cob, cordwood, Cordwood Construction, cordwood house, Green building, log end, Natural home for sale, Off grid, solar, Tiny home, Uncategorized, Workshop | 0 Comments

Our furry friends need the warmth of a well built cordwood wall just as much as humans. Here is an attractive Swedish cordwood doghouse courtesy of Olle Hagman. Oliver helped me with the creation of the Wisdom of Downward Dog. If you want to try the cordwood method...

Bottle Logs & Cordwood Walls: How to make ’em

by Richard Flatau | Aug 31, 2017 | Alternative Building, Cob, cordwood, Cordwood Construction, cordwood house, Green building, log end, Natural Building, Off grid, solar, Tiny home, Workshop | 0 Comments

Bottle Logs and How to Make 'em You can make bottle bricks (logs) by simply placing two bottles together and taping them. Or you can cut each bottle and tape them together. Here are pictures showing how to make bottle bricks. In this...

Cordwood in Oregon

by Richard Flatau | Aug 30, 2017 | Alternative Building, Cob, cordwood, Cordwood Construction, cordwood house, Green building, Natural Building, Natural home for sale, Off grid, solar, Tiny home, Uncategorized, Workshop | 0 Comments

Don Noe built two beautiful cordwood structures in Oregon. His hybrid shed with the cordwood wall was built with 90 percent construction scrap. It was timber framed with timbers from large machine crates. The logs came from an arborist who was planning to use them...

Cordwood Books & Videos

by Richard Flatau | Aug 14, 2017 | Alternative Building, Cob, cordwood, Cordwood Construction, cordwood house, Green building, Natural home for sale, Off grid, solar, Tiny home, Uncategorized, Workshop | 0 Comments

Which one? If I could only buy one cordwood book, which one should it be? This questions pops up frequently as folks look to find one book that gives all the answers. Cordwood is evolving. What worked 20 years ago has changed. So, get a book from a reliable author...

Cordwood Star Wall Celebration

by Richard Flatau | Aug 4, 2017 | Alternative Building, Cob, cordwood, Cordwood Construction, cordwood house, Green building, log end, Natural home for sale, Off grid, solar, Tiny home, Uncategorized, Workshop | 0 Comments

So, how do you celebrate finishing a cordwood wall? Here are a few cordwood completion poses for your enjoyment. First of all: What is a cordwood star wall? Well at Kinstone we built a wall with 8" x 8" cedar posts, 20' long and 5' high and loaded with 67 bottles...