Source
r/loghomes•
jaycwhitecloud

Hybrid log home with traditional methods...

Hi all,

After seeing some of the posts here, I thought this might be of interest. I have more pictures of this one that a friend took for me...

Highlights of the design are an all-stone foundation and root cellar, 15" thick walls with 3" slabs of Hemlock on both the outside and inside... R-Value of 30/30/60...~40'x40'...8" thick front insulated door...Uses less than a cord and half of wood to heat per year...Near Gettysburg, PA...

https://preview.redd.it/3qfpg0hnj0qa1.jpg?width=468&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=844f90b8cef983b6287dc55ca27e5da15d8df15b

Posted Mar 26, 2023, 4:48 AM UTC

317
Industrialpainter89•

Looks lovely, we'd love to see the rest of the pictures. Is this an older build?

2
jaycwhitecloudOP•

I will dig them out and try to load them...This project was a DIYer student that was "River Baptist" (religious order between Mennonite and Old Order Amish.) The project started in 1994 and "turn-keyed" in Jan-Feb or 1997 with him working only on weekends and part-time as he learned the basics of the craft...

2
[deleted]•

[removed]

1
Yellowmoose-found•

I notice alot of log homes stop at the wall and convert to vertical siding in the gables. Some say they do that because of shrinkage but I think alot of others do it because the cutting of the gable line staight and true is more difficult. I do however report that I have no troubles (since 1970) with gables shrinking away...but theres a way and technique to doing it. Of course some like the mix of elements too. A cord and a half? yes its possible. A home I built in stone ridge NY used barely 2...but it had a Tulikivi fireplace and a duct air system above it with small fans in duct to move heated air to upper 3 bedrooms and bath.

2
jaycwhitecloudOP•

A cord and a half? yes its possible. A home I built in stone ridge NY used barely 2...but it had a Tulikivi fireplace and a duct air system above it with small fans in duct to move heated air to upper 3 bedrooms and bath.

Spot on...!!!...It's about a structure being well insulated and "draftproof" yet permeable...This "airtight" nonsense since the late 70s has led to all kinds of issues...

I agree fully with the "gables" being done that way by many as they simply don't have the skills to do it correctly. While others, it's an aesthetic transition...

1
Yellowmoose-found•

but you built a really cool house

1
jaycwhitecloudOP•

Thanks, u/Yellowmoose-found...I enjoy this type of project the best as it is a collaboration of efforts with the next generation that is wanting to learn these skills...

The initial goal was all timber frame (ergo the transitional gables) but the funding was coming from the father-in-law so there were "strings attached" to many aspects of the project, (e.g. the debate over the baseboard radiators I commented on here...and other things too.)

Overall, it came out really well. It sat on 3 acres and what they sold it for allowed them to purchase 80 acres outright someplace further into the mountains which were pleased to see happen...

Thanks again...

1
Yellowmoose-found•

A shame to part with something that unique

1
stoney_5•

Cord and a half. I wish

1
jaycwhitecloudOP•

Ben's father-in-law had the same reaction when I designed the house. He made a big stink about it one evening and I told him straight up that if he was willing to pay for it, and his Daughter agreed to put in as many baseboard hydronic radiators as he pleased...which he promptly did...LOL!!!...I also told him he was responsible for removing it when it proved to be too much and a waste of time and space...

This home has a wood stove, wood cook stove, and one zone of radiant heat in the kitchen bedded in the sand (I don't use concrete nor would ever place it in such a manner) and then covered with vintage brick...

The first month in the house with all those baseboards on made the house unbearable...!!!...and they got promptly removed except for one in the master bath where the wife (also a midwife) kept it so she could use it as a home delivery area...

For me, and my experience, the extra cust up front of super insulating a home is well worth the long-term benefit in heating and cooling...

1
Yellowmoose-found•

well of pine you'd be dreaming but Shagbark Hickory???Now we are talkin BTU's

1
stoney_5•

I have a 7000sqft log home it takes a bit to heat.

1
Yellowmoose-found•

Every 1800 ft I figure is 1.5 to 2 cords...so you are likely +6...or 162 million btu...which if hick has 27 million per cordx6 cords would be about right...give or take a extra cold winrer which this was not ( in the north east).

1
stoney_5•

I bought December of last year in northern Ontario we had a mild winter compared to others. I think I’m about 7 now but we had to replace all entrance doors except the sliding ones as they were all leaking air.

1