From: "Timm Simpkins"
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.frugal-living misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Finding raw timber?
Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 10:48:01 -0600
"Gary Heston" wrote in message
news:10fbt3mjvso061f@corp.supernews.com...
> In article <10f9gjj5tckoj8f@corp.supernews.com>,
> Timm Simpkins wrote:
> >"Gary Heston" wrote in message
> >news:10f96fotilee17f@corp.supernews.com...
> [ ... ]
> >> Post and beam timer framing makes more efficient use of wood, allows
> >> the walls to be better insulated panels (higher R-value than solid
> >> wood), and makes it easier to install pipes and wiring.
>
> >> If you want the log cabin feel, build post and beam, then nail the
> >> slabs cut from the logs to the inside and outside of the walls. That
> >> will give you the feel with better insulation and ease of wiring and
> >> plumbing. Probably easier to build, too.
>
> >You can mill the top and bottom of round logs and have a perfectly good
> >sealing wall. It's no more difficult to route wires than with square
beams.
> >The most difficult part would be making power outlets in exterior walls.
>
> I think I wasn't clear--post and beam does not involve a solid stack of
> beams between posts. It's done with a framework built with heavy timbers
> widely spaced--the posts may be 12' - 15' apart 12x12 timbers, with top
> and bottom beams of 10x12 timbers. The openings are filled in with non-
> structural panels (unlike modern stick-built construction) which can be
> filled with good quality insulation, having a much higher R-value than
> stacked timbers. The panels can be formed as simply as covering the
> outside with plywood, filling the cavity with insulation, and applying
> a covering on the inside.
>
> These panels are easier to route plumbing and wiring through than a
> solid stack of logs. The post and beam structure can be sheathed with
> the log trimmings to match the log cabin look while providing easier
> construction, better energy efficiency and more maintainability. (I
> have a brother with a log house--they are a pain to take care of.)
The R-value of logs is rather high depending on what type of wood you use.
For instance, lodgepole pine has an R value of about 1.4 R/inch on average
according to the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), and has a
thermal mass of 2.76. The average hand built log home uses 12 inch timbers,
thus an R value of 16.8, which is not anything to sneeze at. Add to that
the thermal mass, which you'll never approach with conventional insulation,
and you have a very efficient home.
As far as maintenance, if you use the Scandinavian chinkless style of
construction, you don't need chinking and can avoid that part of the
maintenance. It also increases the R-value since your weak link, the
distance between the logs, can be eliminated. Other than that you have
dusting and weatherproofing. Dusting can be done rather easily, and weather
proofing only needs to be done every few years and isn't all that much work
when you consider it can just be sprayed on. There is the matter of
checking (splitting of the logs) and that can be limited if proper care is
taken while seasoning the logs, but what little checking happens after that
can be filled in rather simply.
Plumbing and wiring shouldn't be a problem either if you think about where
it should go prior to erecting the walls completely. Where you must have
electrical or plumbing connections in exterior walls, put up a couple
courses of logs, then go around and drill where you need the wiring and
plumbing to go. Otherwise, avoid electrical or plumbing connections in
exterior walls. I plan on using a solar slab which gives me an area under
the floor to run wiring easily and invisibly, thereby avioding the normal
wiring in the ceiling. I plan on running a couple wires up to the ceiling
for lighting, but they can be hidden.
So, overall it seems like personal preference and construction costs are the
only factors that make much of a difference.
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