Tom Huber is most assuredly a master cordwood builder. His most recent cordwood project is his Cedar Eden cabin (and chicken coop) in the Adirondacks near Potsdam, New York. He uses CEM or cellulose enhanced mortar to build his walls and has written extensively about the benefits of cellulose fiber.
The picture below is from Tom’s first home in Watervliet, Michigan. The stonework is gorgeous, the cordwood beautifully done and the wavy pine siding sets the whole building apart from any other. Tom has written about his cordwood building techniques in the Cordwood Conference Papers 2005/2011/2015. (Available at the Online Cordwood Bookstore.)
Tom’s practice building was a shed. Here he perfected his insulated stone foundation.
The stones have insulation attached to the back and then a cordwood “face” on the inside. The full wall, above the stones, is 16″ cordwood.
You can see the insulation board behind the row of rocks. There are 4″ cordwood stubbies on the inside wall.
This is how it looks as the 16-inch cordwood is added on top of the rock wall and cordwood stubbies.
The photo above shows (from the top) the stone base, a horizontal layer of extruded insulation and 4″ cordwood stubbies that are visible from the inside of the home. This is how you make certain you have a thermal break between the stone and the cordwood.
This stone has cordwood siding sitting on top. Those are one-inch slices of cedar attached with a brad nailer.
Back at Cedar Eden Tom has his bongo drum and Jotul stove ready for winter. Tom sure has a nice touch with the stone and cordwood infill. I think there is quite an artist in that young fellow.
Tom’s dog is lucky he wasn’t put in the wall as a dog-end when he came over to check out the project.
Tom’s CEM or Cellulose Enhanced Mortar is made from natural ingredients and provides a nice white mortar color.
Tom sold his Michigan homestead in 2005 and moved away to become a professor at Paul Smiths College in New York. He received his asking price when the home sold and the buyers said it was the cordwood that “sealed the deal.”
Should you wish to learn how to build a cordwood cottage, cabin or home, please visit www.cordwoodconstruction.org While you are there, click on the pictures, read the brief articles, check out the latest workshops and newsletter and if you are interested click on the Cordwood Online Bookstore to see all the cordwood literature available in print and ebook format.
If you have questions that aren’t answered on the website you can email me at richardflatau@gmail.com
Readers have requested a brief bio, so here goes:
“Richard & Becky Flatau built their mortgage-free cordwood home in 1979 in Merrill, Wisconsin. Since then, they have written books, conducted workshops, facilitated the 2005, 2011 and 2015 Cordwood Conferences and provided consultation for cordwood builders. Cordwood Construction: Best Practices DVD, Cordwood Construction Best Practices (print) and Cordwood Conference Papers 2015 are the newest publications available from their online cordwood bookstore. www.cordwoodconstruction.org
