Rob Roy

[sandave88]

Has anyone built a cordwood house like in Rob Roys books? Just curious as to any problems you have had or pictures of homes. Hubby would like to build our new home like that and I am not sure yet.....

[Sawmill Jim]

I resurched them once Put in Google stack wood house or cord wood i think .They got some nice ones R value is great bullet proof too Gave though to building one once would be cheep but my industrial capability has been at a low ebb for a while now

[jadedhkr]

My dh and I have discussed this method many times. We just don't live in a heavy timber area, so that might pose problems for us.

This is a good site and there is a journal of their own building experience. Lot of good info. Daycreek

Another journal worth a look

[pheasantplucker]

I read an article about it many years ago in Mother Earth News...I'll look through my back issues and cite the edition and page if I can find it.

[maplehollow]

Yes, we built a 16 inch thick corwood house in Western PA in 2004. We love the feel of it. However, we are still filling in gaps in walls where logs have shrunk more during the winter heating season. This is hard to completely guard against. It is typical to have at least some shrinkage. Many factors affect how much. How dry was the wood to start with? Type of wood? Mortar mix? Did you point the mortar too quickly? Humid day when wall was put up? Did you cover the wall so the sun didn't hit it and cause the mortar to dry too quickly? Wood and mortar mix don't make as good a bond as brick or stone. Hving said that, we would do it again. It is a very restful environment to live in. Be prepared for a LOT of labor intensive work, BUT not particularly difficult to learn. Take your time and do it right. We built a basement and moved in while we worked. I scavenged the logs from different sources, an Amish lumber mill, where some pine logs had been sitting for a couple of years, some fir and larch from a guy I saw cutting them out of his yard(he said I could have them if I hauled them away), etc. DON'T use hardwood, as it wil frequently expand and crack your wall. If you have access to cedar, lucky you! I didn't so our next best bet was using softwood. Fortunately, noone wants it to burn and it is pretty easy and cheap to come by if you look. Make sure you have good overhangs (ours are 36 inches). Keep a good foundation off the ground, and spray your wood with a good anti-fungal, anti-insecticide. We have had no rot or bug issues and we live in the humid woods! Be prepared to infill cracks after you heat for a couple of seasons. Some of our walls we don't need to touch, others a lot. We peeled cut, split, stacked, moved ,,restacked. Our walls are infill not support. Our structure is post and plate. Taht gave us a lot of flexibility with room arrangement. You can also build double walls (more work) but done right, almost zilch on air infiltration. Look at a GREAT house done right at Daycreek.com. My teenage son and I , with some help from my sister built most of the walls alone. My dh works 1 1/2 hrs. away. The work was time consuming, but actually fun! Took us about 2 1/2 months for a 30x32 ft. structure working 3-5 days a week for 4-6 hrs. I snuck under the wire getting our building permit before our township adopted a national building code, but we tried to stick to code anyway (we knew it was coming since my dh is in the industry). We just didn't have to have all the etra inspections and pay for all the extra inspectors. We tried to follow the new code book for most things. /sorry this is long, hope it answers some questions. It is great (it cost us around $500 total for our outside walls), but takes determination, a willingness to scrounge, get creative, and lots of patience! Rob Roy is a real expert in this field. Good luck whatever you decide.

[SolarGary]

Hi,

Here is a link describing Doug's experience with cordwood on his home -- he used it for some of the walls:

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects...sSolarHome.htm

It looks like he ran into some of the same problems others have with shrinkage.

Gary

[Runestone]

We're in the process of building a very large outbuilding of cordwood. We are using white cedar that is split - no rounds at all. This method almost completely eliminates checking. The cedar we got was well dried, and not of any use for fenceposts, etc. so it came cheap!
Cordwood takes patience, and is very time consuming but it is beautiful. I'll try to attach a picture later.

[ET1 SS]

We Freecycle our woodlot. One guy who has been coming here and cutting trees, is building a cordwood house.

So while I am not building one, I do know a guy who is, with my trees.

[shellrow]

Originally Posted by maplehollow

Yes, we built a 16 inch thick corwood house in Western PA in 2004. We love the feel of it. However, we are still filling in gaps in walls where logs have shrunk more during the winter heating season. This is hard to completely guard against. It is typical to have at least some shrinkage. Many factors affect how much. How dry was the wood to start with? Type of wood? Mortar mix? Did you point the mortar too quickly? Humid day when wall was put up? Did you cover the wall so the sun didn't hit it and cause the mortar to dry too quickly? Wood and mortar mix don't make as good a bond as brick or stone. Hving said that, we would do it again. It is a very restful environment to live in. Be prepared for a LOT of labor intensive work, BUT not particularly difficult to learn. Take your time and do it right. We built a basement and moved in while we worked. I scavenged the logs from different sources, an Amish lumber mill, where some pine logs had been sitting for a couple of years, some fir and larch from a guy I saw cutting them out of his yard(he said I could have them if I hauled them away), etc. DON'T use hardwood, as it wil frequently expand and crack your wall. If you have access to cedar, lucky you! I didn't so our next best bet was using softwood. Fortunately, noone wants it to burn and it is pretty easy and cheap to come by if you look. Make sure you have good overhangs (ours are 36 inches). Keep a good foundation off the ground, and spray your wood with a good anti-fungal, anti-insecticide. We have had no rot or bug issues and we live in the humid woods! Be prepared to infill cracks after you heat for a couple of seasons. Some of our walls we don't need to touch, others a lot. We peeled cut, split, stacked, moved ,,restacked. Our walls are infill not support. Our structure is post and plate. Taht gave us a lot of flexibility with room arrangement. You can also build double walls (more work) but done right, almost zilch on air infiltration. Look at a GREAT house done right at Daycreek.com. My teenage son and I , with some help from my sister built most of the walls alone. My dh works 1 1/2 hrs. away. The work was time consuming, but actually fun! Took us about 2 1/2 months for a 30x32 ft. structure working 3-5 days a week for 4-6 hrs. I snuck under the wire getting our building permit before our township adopted a national building code, but we tried to stick to code anyway (we knew it was coming since my dh is in the industry). We just didn't have to have all the etra inspections and pay for all the extra inspectors. We tried to follow the new code book for most things. /sorry this is long, hope it answers some questions. It is great (it cost us around $500 total for our outside walls), but takes determination, a willingness to scrounge, get creative, and lots of patience! Rob Roy is a real expert in this field. Good luck whatever you decide.

I have always wanted to build one. Could you show us a pic of yours? I would love to see it!

[maplehollow]

Well...I can TRY to post a picture. I am about as computer challenged as you can get. I just asked my daughter, who lives with us. She said that she would be glad to let me take a picture with her camera and then she would post it for me. She may not be able to help me until later though. She is on her way to church and then work this morning. We have to stay home and help our neighbor get our driveway plowed out of snow. He uses a plow on the front of his large lawnmower. The snow is so deep that he keeps getting stuck! The person who spoke about using all splits for a cordwall wall is on the right track. We have a mix of rounds and splits. The rounds shrink much more. The checking isn't always a problem, more the general shrinking, BUT this can be remedied and isn't really a problem on all my walls, just SOME of them. Honestly, I knew to expect this possibility going in, just didn't know whether I would need to do a little or a lot of infilling cracks. Result for us...it varies! As far as the guy using the wood he is cutting in the Maine woods...if it is hardwood not softwood, I would caution him very much. Hardwood tends to expand NOT contract in the wall...MUCH bigger issue. Some people have had whole walls crack to the point of having to dismantle and start all over. I'l take my headache any day!!

I would also recommend daycreek.com It not only has a journal but also has a forum where you can get your questions answered.

[Runestone]

Here's a picture of part of our outbuilding. This is a modified post and beam construction with the cordwood filling in.

someday, it will all be done but right now, it's a work in progress.

[sandave88]

Beautiful! Please keep us updated.

[free-2-b-me]

Rob Roy has an open house sometimes . We went up about 6 years ago . Facinating . I loved the masonary stove in the house . They have work shops all the time . They had some small guest buildings that were very nice . If you can ever make it to one of their open houses it's really worth the drive .

[EastCoaster]

I was researching this as well a while back and the two tricks that I remember reading about was to use damp sawdust in the mortar mix to slow drying and to seal the outside of the logs with a varnish/shellac,IIRC... not the ends, so it can still breathe.

[Just Cliff]

I have had a few sit-downs with Rob Roy and talked with him at length about building with cordwood. I have even attended a small workshop he gave at the S.E.E. Expo in Western NC. If you have the wood or can get it cheap and have a sawmill nearby you can save a huge amount of money and have a nice house. Until recently I didnt think it to viable here in the south because of the wood hungry bugs. I did find a wood treatment from the USDA that is simple and inexpensive to make so I may be putting up a garage or barn in the near future.

[ET1 SS]

That reminds me, I have been making some copper ion solution in 5-gallon jugs. It is real cheap to make. And should work nicely for treating wood in contact with soil.

[Just Cliff]

Ok. Here it is.

There are two commonly available inexpensive materials that will kill rot in wood and prevent its recurrence. First, there are borates (borax-boric acid mixtures) which have an established record in preventing rot in new wood and in killing rot organisms and wood-destroying insects in infested wood.

Second, there is Glycol, most readily available as auto antifreeze-coolant. Glycol is toxic to the whole spectrum of organisms from staphylococcus bacteria to mammals.

Ethylene glycol and propylene glycol are clear liquids used in antifreeze and deicing solutions. Exposure to large amounts of Ethylene Glycol can damage the kidneys, heart, and nervous system. Propylene Glycol is generally regarded as safe for use in food. Antifreeze that is sold as "Earth Friendly", "Environmentally Safe", etc are generally based on Propylene...Make Sure You Buy The Propylene Glycol, NOT the Ethylene!!!
Source of Information : Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). 1997. Toxicological profile for ethylene glycol and propylene glycol. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service.

Both borate solutions and glycol penetrate dry and wet wood well because they are water-soluble; in fact, penetration by glycol is especially helped by its extreme hygroscopicity -- its strong attraction for water. For both, the fact that they are water-soluble means they are not permanent solutions to rot in wood that is continually exposed to water-below the waterline and in ground-where they will eventually be extracted-dissolved out.
I have had good results by adding a water soluable "Sealer" to my solutions which make them more water resistant.

There are two types of borate products commercially available for treating wood, Tim-bor®).. A powder you mix with water and spay apply to all wood including studs, crawl spaces, subfloor, rafters and exterior sheathing. It provides a termite and rot resistant envelope treatment that can last for 30 years or more.

Treating an existing problem is best done with Bora-Care®).. It is a liquid concentrate that is mixed with water and sprayed on the affected wood and all of the wood surrounding that area.
A solution of Tim-bor can also be used if the wood has a moisture content of 20% or greater.

Their equivalents and more concentrated solutions can be easily prepared from borax, boric acid, and antifreeze at much lower cost.

Glycol by itself has one big advantage over solutions of borates in water. Glycol penetrates rapidly through all paint, varnish, and oil finishes (except epoxy and polyurethanes) without lifting or damaging those finishes in any way. You can treat all of the wood without removing any finish. Once bare wood has been treated with glycol or the borate solutions and become dry to the touch it can be finished or glued. If a borate solution leaves white residues on the surface, it will have to be washed off with water and the surface allowed to dry.

Glycol's toxicity to humans is low enough that it has to be deliberately ingested (about a half cup for a 150 lb. human); many millions of gallons are used annually with few precautions and without incident. It should not be left where children or pets can get at it, as smaller doses would harm them. The lethal dose of borates is smaller than of glycol, but the bitter taste makes accidental consumption less likely.



BORATE WOOD PRESERVATIVES:
COMMERCIAL AND HOME-BREWED
Commercial:
Tim-Bor®: Solid sodium octaborate; dissolves in water to make approx. a 10% solution containing 6.6% borate (B2O3); about $13/lb. Covers about 200 sq ft.

Bora-Care®: 40% solution of sodium octaborate in ethylene glycol; 27% borate content; $90/gal. for the concentrate.

Home-Brew Water Solution of Borates:
Based on U.S. Navy spec. of 60% borax-40% boric acid (this ratio gives the maximum solubility of borates in water);

#1. This is equiv. to Tim-Bor®... 6 parts of borax and 4 parts of boric acid.
To prepare one gallon of a 10% solution, start with an oversize container (larger than 1 gallon ) add 1 lb. of powder to appx 3 qts of water agitating until the powder has dissolved, then add additional water to end up with 1 gallon of mix. To prepare a 15% solution, add 1.5 lbs. of powder, then add the remainder of the water and mix as previously. Approximately 1 gallon of solution will be needed to treat 200 square feet of wood surface area. (Note: solutions should be used immediately and not stored.) .

EXAMPLE: Prepare 5 gallons of 10% solution:
Add four (4) gallons of clear, warm water to a six-gallon bucket.
Add five (5) lbs. of powder while gently stirring.
Add enough water to bring the final volume to 5 gallons, and continue to stir until all of the powder has dissolved.
Agitate the solution briefly at the beginning of each spray job, or after the solution has been standing for an extended period.
Do not spray or spill onto soil or foliage.

Apply two applications of a 10% solution to wood surfaces by brush or spray. Apply one application of a 15% solution to wood surfaces by brush or spray. Applications may be made to wood structures including decks, fences, steps, sheds, barns and other out-buildings.

#2: This is equivalent to Bora-Care®
Prepare the concentrate:
Mix 1 Gallon glycol antifreeze, 4 1/2 pounds borax, 3 1/2 pounds boric acid.
Mix the ingredients and heat till boiling gently. Boil off water until a candy thermometer shows 260°F. This removes most of the water of crystallization in the borax.
This solution is stable at 40°F and has a borate content of 26%. This is equivalent to Bora-Care® at about $90/gal. for the concentrate. The concentrate must be diluted with an equal volume of water before being applied.

Application: Add 1 gallon of water to every gallon of concentrate and stir thoroughly until solution is completely uniform. Always use diluted within 24 hours after mixing. If kept for longer periods of time, the active ingredient can drop out of the solution.

Note: is toxic to plants and shrubbery; if necessary, cover plants, root systems and surrounding soil with plastic to avoid contamination. Apply only to bare wood. Remove any finish or water repellent coating before applying . Wood surfaces should be free of dirt and other contaminates. Apply diluted by spray or brush to all exposed wood surfaces. It may occasionally be necessary to apply more than one coat of to attain the recommended application rate. This is especially true for larger, smooth surfaced wood members. Wood surfaces should be allowed to dry for at least 2 hours between applications. Do not apply in the rain or snow. If inclement weather is expected, protect exposed treated surface with a plastic tarp for at least 24 hours after treatment. One gallon of concentrate will treat up to 800 board feet of wood. Only diluted should be applied to any wood surface. Prior to application, check wood surfaces for an existing water repellent finish by spraying a small amount of water onto the surface of the wood or logs. If the water beads up or is not absorbed into the wood, a finish is present which must be removed before applying the diluted solution.