Cordwood House Construction – Pictoral Essay

Footing Trench

Timber Frame completed and floor joist installation in progress.  The timbers are 6×6, the sill plates are doubled up 2×12, and the top beams are 2×10.  There are 2 sets of 2×12.  One is what is visible on the outside.  The other is on the inside of the timbers spaced 16″ from the outer sill.  This puts doubled up 2×12 under each side of the cordwood walls.

Side view.  In this view you can see the structure at the perimeter that is under the cordwood walls.  The beams on either side of the interior timbers are also doubled up 2×12.  Floor joists are 2×12 engineered I-joists.  Allowed span on 16″ centers is 19′ 6″ and my floor joists are 14′ 4″ long.  That leaves a nice safety margin and doesn’t require intermediate piers.

Subfloor Installation.  The subfloor is Advantech water resistant 3/4″ OSB.  I used the “silent floor” installation method.  Construction adhesive is applied to each floor joist and the subfloor panels are installed with screws instead of nails.  The creeper seat came in handy.  I scooted around instead of crawling around on my hands and knees.

Rafter Installation – Rafters are 2×10 engineered I-joists.  You can see the hangers on the interior beam.  The rafters are supported by doubled up 2×10 on each end and are on 24″ centers.  This gives a sense of the roof line and the open interior space.

Christmas Lights! – With just over half the roof decking in place, I decided to surprise Deb by installing Christmas lights one day.  She works 2nd Shift and loved her surprise when she came home.

Roof On!  – Roof decking installed and underlayment installed to keep water off the plywood.  The front and back overhangs are 4′.  Side overhangs are 3′.  They plywood off cuts at the bottom left ended up being the floor for the solar kiln.

Solar Kiln – Conventional wisdom says that cedar logs have to dry for 2 years before they can be used in walls.  I don’t have 2 years!  I built this solar kiln using free rough cut pine 2×4, off cuts of plywood roof decking, roofing felt left over from the laundry shed construction, and the wrapping from the rafters and floor joists.  All told I have about $50 and half a day in the kiln.  It runs 40-50 degrees above ambient.  On this day it was 42 outside and 85 inside the kiln.  I installed a 12V car radiator fan powered by a deep cycle battery on a solar charger to move air through the kiln.

Built In Shelving – After getting the roof on I built the interior dividing walls.  The wall between the Living Room and Master Bedroom is a built in shelving unit using 2×12 lumber and 3/4″ Oak veneer plywood.  The large center opening will accommodate up to a 75″ TV.  Shelving is on either side and under the TV.  The top shelves under the TV are built to house stereo and video equipment and be left open.  Doors will close off the storage area undernooth.  Open shelving flanks either side.

Radiant Heat – Pex tubing and aluminum reflectors installed under the subfloor between floor joists.  There are 4 zones to keep the tubing length within specs.  I’ll staple 1″ foam insulation with a reflective surface to the webbing at the top of the floor joists, then install R-30 fiberglass insulation below that.  I’ll hold the insulation in place with hardware cloth stapled to the bottoms of the floor joists.  Mice and squirrels don’t like chewing on hardware cloth.

Window boxes – A front view showing the window boxe and the interior walls.  The small window to the left is above the kitchen sink.  The windows flanking the opening for the front door are 60×60.  The left window is the Dining Area.  The area to the right of the door is the Living Area.  The front of the house is an open floor plan.  I hate being in the kitchen cooking a meal and being separated from people.  The large openings behind the window on the left side are the utility/laundry area and the pantry.

Electrical Panel – 200A panel in the back wall of the Laundry/Utility Room.

Wall Outlet – I notched logs and fastend outlet boxes to them so the outlets are flush with the wall and the wiring is in the insulation space.  It is much more aesthetically pleasing than running conduit and outlet boxes on the surface.  It takes some planning and fitting, but it looks nice.  This is the first box.  After this one I covered the box with painters tape to protect against mortar during installation.  Plastic tubing covers the cable into the box to protect it from mortar.

First Cordwood – The first cordwood wall section underway.  The logs are 16″ long.  On each end is a 3″ wide bead of mortar.  Loose cellulose insulation fills the 10″ gap between the mortar beads.  Final R Value of the walls is approximately R-26.  A typical 2×4 stud wall is R-13 and 2×6 walls are R-19.

Back Wall – Behind the windowless walls is the Guest Room Closet and the full Bathroom as well as the half bath in the Master Bedroom.  The head of our bed will be under the window to the left.

Bedroom Interior – The back wall of the Master Bedroom almost complete.  There are outlets down low on either side of the bed.  The switches to the left and right of the windows are for the lights.  I wired it with 4 Way switches so the bedroom lights can be turned on or off with the switch by the door or with the switches on either side of the bed.  No more stumbling in the dark to turn the lights on or off!  The “portable” garage in the background contains tools, materials, and our kayak.  I will remove it when construction is completed.

Target Log – Nature is incredible.  At some point this tree received damage.  It healed around the damage and created this unique look.  The other end of this log is normal with a red heart and light outer layer.  I ended up with 2 of these and installed one on either side of the bed.  The vertical logs on either side are from a tree that had been bent and grew horizontal about 5′ before going vertical again.  The red heart wood was up against the bark and left this burl look that I couldn’t bear to hide inside a wall.  One of the fun parts of cordwood is the artistry you can put into it.

Current Status – I’m almost finished with the North wall which encloses the Master Bedroom and Living Area.  The original plan was to install cordwood all the way to the rafters, which is why there is a 2×10 header above the window boxes.  My sister suggested that instead of cordwood I put in widows to keep the views and let in more light.  It will be lighter, costs only $50-75 more than installing cordwood, and cuts a huge amount of time out of wall building.  The side windows are 24″ tall and the front windows are 36″ tall.  I really like the look.  You can also see the front door frame in place.  The upper windows will continue across the front and the other side as well.  I’m in a race to get the rest of the walls completed before freezing weather hits.