Becca wrote in with this question:
We are planning to build a "cord-wood" home and was wondering what you thought the pro's and con's to be. Certainly many of these homes have lasted hundreds of years but I don't want to live in a cave-like atmosphere! (It probably wouldn't bother my husband.) Thank you for your time.
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Building a cordwood studio in Jefferson County, Missouri
I am glad to find this conversation about cordwood building. I am co-hosting a building class on my property with the Missouri Botanical Gardens and the Earthways Center. Rob and Jaki Roy of the Earthwood School in New York will be teaching the 4 day workshop June 4 through June 7th.
In response to the thought that a cordwood structure would be cave-like - absolutely not - this process of building makes it easy to as much light via windows, glass bottles, glass block as you want.
We will be constructing a 20' x 35' studio - a salt box style. I am aware that I will need a lot of community support to have the cordwood barked and the timber framing and roof completed!
I'm interested in any advise on getting the bark of the logs.
If anyone knows of a person who would be willing to teach timber framing using metal fasteners for us regular folks here in Jefferson County, Missouri contact:
To see information about the class go to: www.earthwayscenter.org/classes.html
Thanks,
Melanie
CAVE LIKE ATMOSPHERE
BECCA......I NEVER HEARD THIS COMMENT BEFORE BUT RATHER THAN CAVE LIKE ATMOSPHERE .PEOPLE HAVE PLACED ALL KINDS OF WINDOWS FOR PASSIVE SOLAR GAIN.YOU CAN ALSO PLACE WINDOW SEATS WITHIN THE WINDOW FRAMEWORK AND BE AS COMFORTABLE AS YOU WANT.VERY HOMEY!
CORDWOODGUY
Cordwood Sauna
I will be building a cordwood sauna in the fall and was hoping to use the large diameter cedar logs at the base and work my way down to the smaller diameter pieces as the walls go up.
So starting at about 2 1/2' in diameter. I can square them off with a chainsaw if it would help,
I have enough western red cedar to do the job and an abundant supply of Douglas fir.
The building will be wood heated (no steam) but I am giving some thought to also using it as a sugar shack.
We're in the highlands, just outside Victoria, on Vancouver Island. This means really wet winters so a steel roof with a healthy overhang.
Any thoughts?
building with cordwood
Kevin, I'm a bit late on responding to your board which I came across doing some research on west-coast mortar. We just sold our cordwood home (Alberta Canada) and will be building another within a year or two. Living in a cordwood home is like sleeping under a duvet - it wraps itself around you, secure and safe. The thermal mass from our 24 inch walls kept our home comfortably warm (19-21C) through the coldest of winter days (-40C), heated with a small wooden stove. We have large south facing windows (passive solar) so we rarely have to put wood on during sunny days. In the summer, our home is a comfortable 22-24C when outside soars to a scorching 35-40C. The warmness of the wood used inside adds to the comfort. Compared to our cordwood home the 25 year old stick built house we are currently renting is tinny, cold and emotionless. Living in a cordwood home is something you absolutely must experience.
Cordhome
I as wonder the size of your home and do you have any picture, I live in Calgary right now and I'm moving to the country soon and building I have always like cordwood homes
So I'm more intersted than ever
Dave
Cordwood rounds or splits
I do have two questions.Is splitting the wood more effective than leaving it round.
Also, what using cordwood as fill for a post and beam style house.
ROUND VS SPLIT
DAVE....ROUND IS BETTER FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS.
[1]ROUND ABSORBS LESS AND SHEDS WATER NATURALLY
[2]MORE DURABLE BECAUSE OF THE ABOVE
[3]SPLIT LOGS ABSORB MORE WATER
[4]BECAUSE THE SPLIT FORMS A WEDGE IT CAN PUT STRESS ON THE JOINT
[5]SPIRAL GRAIN WOOD TWISTS AND IF INCORPERATED IN A MORTAR MATRIX COULD CRACK IT.
[6]ROUND IS EASDIER TO CAULK,WHILE FRAYED EDGE OF SPLIT HARDER TO SEAL AND CAULK.
[7]SPLIT WOULD CAN ALLOW WATER TO LAY AND CAUSE ROT AS WELL AS ALLOW WATER TO PENETRATE THE WALLS CAVITY.
[8]MORE WORK INVOLVED IN SPLITTING
[9]YOU HAVE TO FIGURE OUT WHICH WAY TO PLACE SPLIT,NO TIME LOST IN LAYING ROUND
[10]ETC.
DAVE.....CORDWOOD IS OFTEN USED AS INFILL BUT THAT HAS PROBLEMS.
CORDWOODGUY
SPLITTING LOGS VS ROUND
DAVE.... I RECOMMEND ROUND LOGS BECAUSE OF THE FOLLOWING.
[1]ROUND SHEDS WATER BETTER AND ABSORBS LESS.
[2]ROUND IS EASIER TO SEAL AROUND
[3]SLPIT LOGS HAVE MORE SURFACE AREA AND ABSORBS MORE WATER
[4]THE SPLIT EDGES CAN TRAP MORE WATER IF IT IS CUPPED.WATER LAYING THERE WILL ROT OUT THE LOGS.
[5]WATER CAN FOLLOW THE CREVICES MADE BY THE SPLIT DEEP INTO THE WALL
[6]IF YOU HAVE A SPIRAL GRAIN LOG THAT IS SPLIT ,IT CAN TURN AND CRACK THE MORTAR.
[7]BECAUSE OF THE EDGES FORMED BY SPLITTING LOGS...WEDGES ARE CREATED.AGAIN THE FORCE CAN SPLIT THE JOINT.
[8]MORE TIME SPENT ON PLACEMENT IN WALL.ROUND REQUIRES NO THOUGHT.
[9]ETC
DAVE...CORDWOOD HAS BEEN USED AS INFILL IN WALL WITHIN A POST AND BEAM FRAME.
CORDWOODGUY
Cordwood or Strawbale
So far as I know small diameters around 4" is preferred for cordwood.
We used straw bales for enclosing post and beam structures, which turned out excellent, because the straw bales only carry their own weight. Great settlements are avoided this way. I believe the same can be done with cordwood, it is just a question how one sets up the foundation.
Wolf
CORDWOOD OR STRAWBALE
WOLF.........CORDWOOD CAN BE LOAD BEARING OR NON-LOAD BEARING.I THINK A CORDWOOD WALL WILL OUT PERFORM A STICK BUILT FOR LOAD BEARING PROPERTIES.
CORDWOODGUY
Becca, Knowing nothing
Knowing nothing about cordwood homes, I looked it up at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordwood_construction
It seems to make for beautiful walls. Clearly you have to careful about the insulating issues with cordwood. The great thing about straw bales is their insulating value. A bale by itself has approximately an R-45 value. After plaster, the walls are more like R-50. That allows for nice sized windows to be installed for light and heat gain. Bales are fun to build with but wood may be the better choice where you live. Happy building,
Kevin
MOST OF WHATS ON WIKIPEDIA
MOST OF WHATS ON WIKIPEDIA ABOUT CORDWOOD IS WRONG.[IE:THEY TALK ABOUT 1,000 YEAR OLD STRUCTURES THAT DON`T EXIST.]
AS FOR THE INSULATION VALUES OF CORDWOOD,THEY CAN MEET OR EXCEED STRAWBALE DEPENDING ON HOW YOU BUILD.
PLUS CORDWOOD PICKS UP ON THERMAL MASS AS WELL.
CORDWOODGUY
Cordwood Building, Cordwood Masonry
Cordwood is not building with straw bales. Cord wood is building with cord wood. It is made of wood and a layer of almost concrete, but a better consistency as there are specific additions to the concrete mixture needed.
It is one of the most oldest forms of building and the cordwood houses last much longer, in fact hundreds of years if taken care of correctly.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It-Yourself/2003-06-01/The-Charm-of-Co...
I would encourage Kevin to look more into this as it is a less expensive way to build your own home as well as a more longer lasting solution to building your own home.
Kris
Cordwood or Strawbale
I think Kris, Kevin meant Straw Bales as an alternate to Cordwood.
Being involved in both type of structures, I have to say they are both wonderful building technologies. Don't be fooled by thinking is is like making pan cake, far from it! You perhaps save a bundle on the building material, but time is money too, and it takes its time to get educated, and everything organized to be ready for construction.
Most importantly, one needs a pretty good knowledge and experience to build this type of structures properly and safely. There are many ways to make mistakes, and if done, the consequences can be very frustrating. I am sure you both know what I am talking about.
All I am saying is, find out everything to know about these structures, involve people what have done these buildings before, and talk to as many people as you can who live in this type of buildings, to make sure you do the right thing. Only then it will last hundred of years .......... but we would be gone by then anyway .......... grin
Good luck! Wolf