Dave and Suzie K. sent the following description of their cordwood masterpiece. “Always loved English pubs so decided to build one on our land. The diamond-paned windows came from an old coach house in England and the woodstove is also from England.”
Building Details 16′ x 20′ timber frame, posts, and floor sills all 8 x 12’s, tie beams and wall plates 8 x 10’s, all knee braces, rafters, and joists 4 x 6’s.”
“We burned (Shou Sugi Ban aka Yakisugi) everything (except the interior and exterior log faces). It is very wet where we live and the wood all gets a black mold on it if left untreated. The burning was done with a propane torch and some of the beams were immediately oiled (while still hot with thick leather gloves) with Thompson’s timber oil. The oiling was mainly on the root cellar-every beam was oiled.
Planning on oiling the timber frame beams once all the sanding has been done. Going to sand the cordwood on the inside and then possibly oil it as well.”
One of the advantages of framing your building before doing the cordwood walls is that you keep all your materials dry and you can continue to dry your wood on the inside.
“We used lime putty mortar.”
All wood was western red cedar dried for 8-12 months. The walls are 12 inches thick with 4 inches of cedar sawdust in the middle mixed with lime. Should be R-14.”
Note how the windows are braced and secured.
All the timbers and dimensional lumber were scorched with the Yagisugi technique.
“Liked the round look more than the splits so as we were laying up we would take the mortar and fill the checks with a putty knife and the lime putty mortar. I thought the weather was quite cool all summer and we were in shade but right at the end of the summer I realized that I could minimize cracks in the lime putty
by slowing the drying. I did this on the front of the cordwood root cellar by hanging wet towels in front of the drying cordwood and lightly misting it with a sprayer. I have quite a few hairline cracks in the pub walls. None
extend from the outside to the inside so it is just cosmetic. My wife actually likes it (she is English) and says it gives it an extra “hundred years of age.” However, I would definitely err on the side of keeping the lime
putty mortar moist for a few days and shaded.”
Note the sun and windscreen on the right side of the post.
Happy smiles make the job easier!
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 book cover 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
