Allan’s log house
October ‘09
Allan is building a log house high on a hill near Evanton, north of Inverness. The locally sourced Scots Pine logs are scribed and cut to fit snugly together and are notched so that they interlock at the corners. The logs in the house weigh about 80 tonnes.
This traditional method of building is very old. It is believed that the timber Saxon church of St. Andrew’s at Greensted is about 950 years old and still in use. It is the oldest timber building still standing in Europe. Norway has a great tradition of log building which they may have developed from older Russian techniques and handed on to North American builders.
After digging back into the hillside a basement was built out of concrete blocks. On top of this sits the two storey house with a turf roof. Floors will be screed on an OSB sub floor. OSB is made locally.
Logs are moved around with a telescopic crane. The logs are laid so that thick and thin ends alternate so that they keep roughly level.
Each log is lifted into place and scribed against the log below using a special scriber with dual bubbles to keep it level as it is run along the log. The log is then lifted down and cut using a chain saw so that it matches the shape of the log it is going on. A groove is then cut along the length of the log with a chain saw and the groove is packed with wool which when compressed will act as an air seal. At corners the logs are carefully notched so that they interlock top and bottom. It is important to choose logs of the correct size so that at corners the notches space out correctly between the two walls. Apart from that the logs are not tied together in any way. Over time the logs will settle by about 2% and shrink about 4% laterally but very little along their length.
corners require that logs stay properly spaced
an opening between rooms on the ground floor
the rooms in the roof are being insulated with 200mm of hemp and sheep's wool
The house is just about to have its windows and doors fixed in position. Eventually it will have underfloor heating powered by a wood stove with a heat store. There will be a 2 kW wind generator and batteries, inverter etc.
The timber has all been treated externally with Stokholm tar. Pine tar is available from Auson in Sweden at about £3/liter. It is their type 850. This is mixed with equal amounts of gum turpentine and linseed oil, raw or boiled. See also the Tarinol web site (and let Google translate it from the Norwegian). The treatment will need repeating about every 5 years.
There are more pictures of Alan’s house at Woodenways who run courses in log building. Alan also builds log buildings commercially. His company is Log-ical Building and his email is alan-macintosh@tiscali.co.uk
