A mortise is a hole in the log usually the corner log , a tenon is piece that will fit into it. Mortise and Tenon joints have been used by woodworkers for thousands of years. This process is very time consuming for someone building a log home by hand, but, it is a much easier and quicker process for large kit companies to make.
This technique is the most time-consuming log cabin notch as it requires precision, accuracy, and great craftsmanship. The final design will be a neat and box-shaped home. A mortise and tenon joint, coupled with a corner post, is certainly the most challenging log cabin notch.
This video shows a log cabin being built with corner posts and other vertical posts too — it will give you a good idea of the process involved. This may leave the decision down to personal preference in terms of aesthetics and previous carpentry and joinery experience.
Final note — It is important that whatever method you opt for if you use hand-peeled logs, you need to alternate the tips and butts of the logs. This ensures that your log cabin keeps a consistent height and is level all the way up. There are four main log cabin construction methods you can opt for, in order of difficulty from easiest for hardest they are; the butt and pass method, the saddle notch, the dovetail notch, and the corner post. If you would prefer to use very few tools, and construct a quick and easy log home, I would suggest opting for the butt and pass method.
If you have slightly more time on your hands, and want to create a more traditional looking, quality crafted home — opt for the saddle notch. The dovetail notch, although slightly more difficult to create, can be made easier by using a jig so is also a very viable option for beginners. The corner post method creates a very different look and should only be attempted if you feel confident in your carpentry and joinery ability.
Will you stick with that method or choose a new one? Let us know in the comments below. The log would be square on three sides, where you would have less chinking and the logs would fit tighter together.
Let me know what you think of this method, please. I could send a drawing if that would help to describe it better. Why is this method not mentioned? Thanks, David. Your email address will not be published.
Name required. Email required, never shared. On May 12, in Construction with 3 Comments. This large choice of log cabin notches can introduce confusion about which notch to use and why.
The filler resin and hardener must also be mixed, pigments must be mixed with the filler epoxy to color the patch, and more importantly to protect it from ultraviolet sunlight. The filler can be applied with a putty knife, pressing it into the irregularities of the cavity. The cured patch can be worked like wood and painted with an opaque stain or a dull finish paint to help it blend with surrounding wood, although epoxy repairs can be difficult to disguise on natural, unpainted wood.
Epoxies can be used to consolidate and repair other areas of a log, including rotted internal areas which have not yet progressed to damage the log's outer surface. Saturation of small internal areas can be accomplished by drilling several random holes into the log through an area that will be concealed by daubing, and then pouring in liquid epoxy.
If a pure resin is used, it should be a casting resin to minimize shrinkage, and it is best to fill voids with a resin that contains aggregates such as sand, or micro-balloons.
Epoxy is frequently used by architectural conservators to strengthen deteriorated structural members. The damaged log can be strengthened by removing the deteriorated wood, and filling the void by imbedding a reinforcing bar in epoxy filler, making sure the void is properly sealed to contain the epoxy before using it. Sometimes larger decayed internal areas of a log can be more easily accessed and repaired from the interior of a structure. This may be a useful technique if it can be accomplished without causing undue damage to the interior finishes in the log building.
However, despite its many advantages, epoxy may not be an appropriate treatment for all log repairs, and it should not be used in an attempt to conceal checking, or extensive log surface patching that is exposed to view, or logs that are substantially decayed or collapsed. Repairing or replacing only a segment of a log is not always possible. Replacement of an entire log may be the only solution if it has been substantially lost to decay and collapsed under the weight of logs above it.
Log replacement, which should be carried out only by experienced craftspersons, is begun by temporarily supporting the logs above, and then jacking them up just enough to insert the new log.
Potential danger to the structure may include creating inadequate temporary bearing points, and crushing chinking and interior finishes which may have settled slowly into non-original positions that cannot withstand jacking. To begin the process of log replacement, the entire length of the log must be inspected from the exterior and the interior of the structure to determine whether it supports any structural members or features, and how their load can be taken up by bracing during jacking and removal.
On the exterior, sheathing such as weatherboard, and adjacent chinking, must be removed along the length of the log to perform this inspection. Likewise, on the interior, abutting partition walls and plaster may also need to be removed around the log to determine what, if any, features are supported by or tied into the log to be removed.
A replacement log should be obtained to match the wood species of the original being removed. If it is a hewn log, then the replacement must be hewn to replicate the dimensions and tool marks of the original.
If the same wood species cannot be obtained in the original dimensions, a substitute species may have to be used, and may even be preferable in some instances if a more durable wood can be found than the original wood species.
It should, however, be chosen to match the visual characteristics of the original species as closely as possible. In most instances, the use of chemical wood preservatives is not generally recommended on historic log buildings. Preservatives tend to change the color or appearance of the logs. In addition, many are toxic, they tend to leach out of the wood over time, and like paint, must be periodically reapplied.
Many of the late 19th and early 20th century Rustic structures were constructed of logs with the bark left on which may provide protection, while others have been painted. However, some log buildings, and especially log houses that have been inappropriately stripped of historic cladding in an earlier restoration, and now show signs of weathering, such as deep checking, may be exceptions to this guidance.
A preservative treatment may be worth considering in these cases. Boiled linseed oil may sometimes be appropriate to use on selected exposures of a building that are particularly vulnerable to weathering, although linseed oil does tend to darken over time.
Borate solutions, which do not alter the color or appearance of wood, may be another of the few effective, nonhazardous preservatives available. However, borate solutions do not penetrate dry wood well, and thus the wood must be green or wet.
Because borate solutions are water-soluble, after treating, the wood must be coated with a water-repellent coating. In some instances, it may be appropriate to reapply varnish where it was used as the original finish treatment. Pressure-treating, while effective for new wood, is not applicable to in-place log treatment, and is generally not effective for large timbers and logs because it does not penetrate deeply enough.
The foundation should have good drainage, be stable, adequately support the building as well as any future floorloads, and keep the sill log sufficiently clear of the ground and moisture to deter decay and insect infestation. Log buildings with cellars are less likely to suffer problems than those built upon the ground or with crawl spaces, as long as the cellar is kept dry and ventilated.
Because the foundations of many log buildings were neither dug nor laid below the frost-like, they generally tend to be susceptible to freeze-thaw ground heaving and settlement. Also, as previously noted, some foundations consisted of wooden sleepers or pilings in direct contact with the ground. If a foundation problem is minor, such as the need for repointing or resetting a few stones, work should address only those areas.
Loose stones should be reset in their original locations if possible. A clearly inadequate foundation that has virtually disappeared into the ground, or where large areas of masonry have buckled or sunk, resulting in excessively uneven or active settlement, will need to be rebuilt using modern construction methods but to match the historic appearance. Daubing composed entirely of portland cement is never appropriate to use on a historic log building.
Repair of chinking, whether it is finished on the exterior with wooden strips or with daubing, should not be done until all log repair or replacement, structural jacking and shoring is completed, and all replacement logs have seasoned. Historically, patching and replacing daubing on a routine basis was a seasonal chore. This was because environmental factors—building settlement, seasonal expansion and contraction of logs, and moisture infiltration followed by freeze-thaw action—cracks and loosens daubing.
If the exterior log walls are exposed, and the chinking or daubing requires repair, as much of the remaining inner blocking filler and daubing should be retained as possible. A daubing formula and tooled finish that matches the historic daubing, if known, should be used, or based on one of the mixes listed here. For the most part, modern commercially-available chinking products are not suitable for use on historic log buildings, although an exception might be on the interior of a log building where it will be covered by plaster or wood, and will not be visible.
These products tend to have a sandy appearance that may be compatible with some historic daubing, but the color, and other visual and physical characteristics are generally incompatible with historic log surfaces. Sections of wood chinking which are gone or cannot be made weathertight should be replaced with same-sized species saplings or quarter poles cut to fit.
Generally, unless bark was used originally, it should be removed before nailing the new wood chinking replacements tightly into place. Analysis of daubing can be done in much the same way as mortar analysis. If that is not feasible, by crushing a loose piece of daubing its constituent parts can be exposed, which may typically include lime, sand, clay, and, as binders, straw or animal hair.
The color imparted by the sand or pigmented constituents should be noted, and any areas of original daubing should be recorded with color film for later reference. Daubing that is loose or is not adhered to the logs must first be cleaned out by hand. Blocking filler should be left intact, refitting only loose pieces. Sometimes it may be difficult to obtain a good bond in which case it may be necessary to clean out the joint entirely.
If needed, soft filler should be added, such as jute or bits of fiberglass batt, pressed firmly into voids with a stick or blunt tool. Concealed reinforcement may sometimes be used, depending upon the authenticity of the restoration. This can include galvanized nails partially inserted only on the upper side of the log to allow for the daubing to move with the upper log and keep the top joint sealed, or galvanized wire mesh secured with galvanized nails.
Like repointing masonry, daubing should not be done in full sun, excessive heat or when freezing temperatures are expected. The daubing materials should be dry-mixed, the chinking rechecked as being tight and secure, and the mix wetted and stirred to a stiff, paste-like consistency.
The mix dries quickly, so no more daubing should be prepared at a time than can be applied in about 30 minutes. A test patch of new daubing, either on the building, or in a mockup elsewhere, will help test the suitability of the formula's color and texture match. Before applying the daubing, the chinking area, including filler and log surfaces to be covered, should be sprayed with water to prevent the dry filler from too rapidly drawing off the daubing moisture which will result in hairline cracking.
A trowel, ground to the width of the daubing, is used to press the daubing into the chinking space, and to smooth the filled areas. Wide or deep chinking spaces or joints may have to be daubed in layers, to prevent sagging and separation from the logs, by applying one or two scratch coats before finishing the surface. Portland cement was a part of the original daubing used in many late 19th and early 20th century log buildings, and is therefore appropriate to include in repairing buildings of this period.
Although a small amount of portland cement may be added to a lime, clay and sand mix for workability, there should not be more than 1 part portland cement to 2 parts of lime in daubing mixes intended for most historic log buildings.
Portland cement tends to shrink and develop hairline cracks, and retain moisture, all of which can be potentially damaging to the logs. Mix A Donald A. There is no single appropriate way to finish or restore the interior of a historic log house. Each building and its history is unique. The temptation should be resisted to impart an unfinished frontier character by removing plaster to expose interior log walls or joists in the ceiling.
Instead, interior treatments should be based on existing evidence, and guided by old photographs, written documentation, and interviews with previous owners. Interior features and finishes that might exist in some 18th and 19th century log houses include wood paneled walls, wood moldings, stairs, and fireplace mantels; where they have survived, these features should be retained.
Many of the more rustic log buildings built later in the 19th or early 20th century intentionally featured exposed interior log walls, sometimes with the logs peeled and varnished.
If interior plaster is severely damaged or has previously been removed, and evidence such as lath ghosting on the logs exists, walls should be replastered or recovered with gypsum board or dry wall to match the historic appearance.
Log buildings are too often viewed as portable resources. Like other historic buildings, moved or relocated log structures can suffer a loss of integrity of materials and of setting. Historic buildings listed in the National Register of Historic Places may be subject to loss of that status if moved.
Despite the popularity of dismantling and relocating log buildings, they should be moved only as a last resort, if that is the only way to save them from demolition.
If they must be moved, it is preferable that they be moved intact— that is, in one piece rather than disassembled. Disassembling and moving a log building can result in considerable loss of the historic building materials. While the logs and roof framing members can be numbered for reassembly, dismantling a log building can result in loss of such features as foundation and chimney, chinking and daubing, exterior cladding, and interior finishes.
Furthermore, log buildings can rarely be put back together as easily as they were taken apart. Historic log buildings regardless of whether they are of horizontal or vertical construction, or whether they are 18th century log houses or early 20th century Rustic style cabins, are unique.
Their conservation essentially centers on the preservation and repair of the logs, and appropriate repairs to chinking and daubing, which like repointing of masonry, is necessary to ensure that most log buildings are weathertight. Log building preservation may be accomplished with a variety of techniques including splicing and piecing-in, the use of epoxy, or a combination of patching and epoxy, and often, selected replacement.
But, like any historic building, a log structure is a system that functions through the maintenance of the totality of its parts. The exterior of many of the earliest late 18th and 19th century log buildings, and particularly those east of the Mississippi, were commonly covered with some type of cladding, either horizontal or vertical wood siding, stucco, or sometimes a combination.
If extant, this historic cladding, which may be hidden under a later, non-historic artificial siding such as aluminum, vinyl, or asbestos, should be preserved and repaired, or replaced if evidence indicates that it existed, as a significant character-defining feature of the building. Hutslar; Terry G. Anne E. Grimmer is credited with directing this cooperative publication project and general editorship. This publication has been prepared pursuant to the National Historic Preservation Act of , as amended, which directs the Secretary of the Interior to develop and make available information concerning historic properties.
Technical Preservation Services TPS , National Park Service prepares standards, guidelines, and other educational materials on responsible historic preservation treatments for a broad public. Briscoe, Frank. XIX, No. Caron, Peter. Special Issue: Alberta Culture.
XX, No. Cotton, J. Elbert, Duane E. Illinois Preservation Series: Number 3. Goodall, Harrison. Washington, D. Department of the Interior, Log Structures: Preservation and Problem-Solving. Hutslar, Donald A. History News. Jordan, Terry G. Kaiser, Harvey H.
Great Camps of the Adirondacks. Boston: David R. Godine Publisher, Inc. Merrill, William. Rowell, R. Black, L. Gjovik, and W. Please check back frequently to see our inventory of log cabins for sale from complete vintage log homes and cabins to cabin flooring, fireplaces, stoves, doors, hardware, stone and barn siding.
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