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Sarahax
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# Posted: 25 Mar 2014 05:00am
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Hi bldginsp, sill logs are on concrete. They dug four 1m square holes - one for each corner of the building and two additional smaller holes to support the end of each sill log and deck. They mixed concrete and used a form to ensure concrete was raised above ground and sill logs were level. I have attached a photo from earlier in the build where you can see the concrete but it doesn't do justice to how massive the sill logs are.
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Sarahax
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# Posted: 25 Mar 2014 11:28am
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Hi Bldginsp It's hard to tell from the photos because the cabin is on a slight slope. The sill logs are sitting on concrete. For the foundations they dug a 1m square hole at each of the four cabin corners, and smaller holes for foundations to support the ends of the sill logs and deck. They filled these with concrete and made forms so that the concrete didn't just fill the holes but stands proud of the surface. You can see the right-angled shaped blocks that they made by this process in these earlier photos from the build. Now you can just about make them out under the cabin.
Foundations
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Foundations showing profile
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Foundations showing shape
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Concrete foundations under sill logs
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 25 Mar 2014 02:00pm
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Looks very sturdy Sarahax. I'm no expert log builder, but I've read from several sources that its usually recommended to get sill logs up off the ground by at least a foot, more if possible, to avoid moisture. Wondering what your builder thought about that. Of course that increases the overall cost significantly, which may be hard to justify for a small project. What was your thought on that?
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Sarahax
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# Posted: 25 Mar 2014 02:12pm
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Hi it's about 9 ins off the ground on one side, but more on the other as it's on a slight slope. The ground has been cut out a bit but we know we have to make sure the sill logs remain clear of soil and debris especially on the side nearest the slope. I'll take some pictures when I'm there tomorrow. Hopefully that will give us enough clearance for the air to circulate around the sill logs
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 25 Mar 2014 03:21pm
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It's hard to see those clearances from the photos, but photos can be deceiving depending on perspective. Another question if I may- I see that the logs are not scribed, but stacked with slight gaps between. So obviously you'll be using chinking to seal it up. What does your Polish builder recommend to use for this?
Nice project, hope to see more photos.
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Sarahax
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# Posted: 25 Mar 2014 03:58pm
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Yes you've got to the heart of the mystery here. We are definitely having chinking, but so far language and cultural barriers mean that we have been unable to figure out just what form it will take.Kris has given up trying to explain. The nearest we've got to it is that it's a product made of twisted bark. And we don't know whether there is some kind of daub as well. Kris is off in his van to Poland on Friday to pick up the chinking (and a wood burner). Like much of this project, it becomes clear when it's done. I'll post more when I know.
Reading what I've just written we may come over as a pair of naive idiots who could easily be taken for a ride. There's no tradition of building log cabins here in this way, so we're relying on Kris and his expertise. There's loads we don't know and were learning as we go along. We've found this forum really useful and encouraging.
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 25 Mar 2014 06:55pm - Edited by: bldginsp
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Tell us what you are paying these guys and we'll tell if they are taking you to the cleaners. Seriously it looks like you have hired experienced builders, and it's wise to let the experienced do what they do well.
Driving all the way to Poland for chinking sounds somewhat extravagant. I think your driver wants to visit home. In case you don't already know, there are several log construction supply websites that sell chinking products that, supposedly, are state of the art. But it's expensive and I'm sure the Polish solution is a time honored solution. Just don't let him stuff pierogis in there.
Sorry, had to say it.
Get some photos of chinking installation if you can
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Sarg68
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# Posted: 26 Mar 2014 06:35am
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Your build looks really nice, I'm in pressed by the builders experience. can't wait to see more photos as the build goes on. Thanks for sharing with us. Cheers Sarg68
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Smawgunner
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# Posted: 26 Mar 2014 11:09am
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Wow...now THAT is a cabin! I'm jealous! Great work, I'll be following this one!
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Sarahax
Member
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# Posted: 10 Apr 2014 08:05pm
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Hi everybody - builders are back from their trip and work has restarted. The metal sheeting for the roof and the final delivery of timber came on Tuesday and we all helped to carry it down the ride. Kris came back with bales of traditional chinking, which turns out to look at lot like raffia. It's made of very thin strips of bark which gets twisted into handfuls and stuffed in the gaps between the logs. I guess we're all going to be busy twisting away over the next few days.
I made a little video today to show progress which I've put up on You Tube here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3RmsVP0qGE
(Hope this forum allows me to post links...)
Best wishes to all
Sarahax
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silverwaterlady
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# Posted: 11 Apr 2014 08:39am
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Your cabin is beautiful. We have a green metal roof as well. Decided on green because it blends in well. Our cabin is tucked away in the trees on a lake. Cannot see it from the lake though we have a nice view.
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Sarahax
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# Posted: 18 Apr 2014 06:59pm
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Went to the cabin today to see progress. Slow. Each little bundle of bark strips has to be twisted by hand and then wedged in the gap between the logs, one from the outside and one from the inside. Team a bit despondent, taking longer than they thought and dreaming of chinking. We had a go and it's difficult and time consuming to get right. Each one chinks about an inch.
Bldginsp - you know what you said about using pierogis for chinking? Bet they wish they could have taken up your suggestion. End result is beautiful, though.
Pierogis? No, traditional Polish chinking.
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Bales of chinking material in the cabin.
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Front wall is partly done
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Just
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# Posted: 18 Apr 2014 09:03pm
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hope it lasts a long time , look 's good
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 20 Apr 2014 02:16pm - Edited by: bldginsp
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Yes, looks very good, and I'll wager that chinking does a good job of expanding to keep the gap filled as the logs shrink.
Probably doesn't taste as good as a Polish pierogi, though.
Looks great Sarahax. Congrats.
Nice video too. How do you hold it so steady? I bet you are a tv producer with the real equipment.
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Sarahax
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# Posted: 22 Apr 2014 06:17pm
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Hi Bldginsp - glad you liked the video - no secret - just got a steady hand! And a bit of 'anti-shake' correction to the film on You Tube.
So you can see how labour intensive this is, I've made a short video of Kris making chinking. They are aiming to finish by the end of this week, but I think that's optimistic. I went to the wood this afternoon and sat on the deck with Kris and Henry twisting chinking balls. The finished article does look lovely but it's not a method I'd recommend for speed.
Here's the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGd1t91cbdk
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Sarg68
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# Posted: 22 Apr 2014 06:36pm
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Sara,
Looks great but no thank you! That is a lot of monotonous work right there and I'm sure you are happy that your builders are completing.
Can't wait to see it finished. Cheers Sarg68
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Sarahax
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# Posted: 30 Apr 2014 06:33pm - Edited by: Sarahax
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Three walls chinked and only one more to go! We have been making chinking balls at home and taking them down to the wood for the guys to pack them into the gaps between the logs. Anything to speed this dull task along. I can make 25 in an hour - but it takes 100 to chink a metre. Spent a lot of this weekend and seven hours on Tuesday making chinking balls. I worked out at one stage that we need more than 12,000... anyone for a chinking party?
To try to prevent the cabin team from going completely chinking bonkers we hired a mini digger this week so they could have a change from chinking and dig a trench for the water pipe. Never seen a group of men so keen to dig a trench.
Nearly there.
Some of this weekend's work
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Here comes our water pipe
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The trench winds through the bluebells
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buksnbears
Member
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# Posted: 30 Apr 2014 06:59pm
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that cabin looks AWESOME Sarahax
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Shadyacres
Member
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# Posted: 30 Apr 2014 10:14pm
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Beautiful cabin.
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 30 Apr 2014 10:47pm
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Looks wonderful Sarahax.
What's your water source?
What are the regulations where you are regarding disposal of waste water, septic systems, etc?
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60766244
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# Posted: 5 May 2014 09:15pm
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Excellent video's!
Very clear and interesting narration. 
At first it was such a shocking sight seeing a log-cabin in the British woodland, but it does sit very well there.
I guess I am so used to seeing British architecture jutting out of the landscape in its very conquestorial way.
Beautiful little place you've built.
Being Aussie I am very pro-roofing tin.
Looks neat and clean and is ridiculously durable. Very nice!
Look forward to further posts!
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Sarahax
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# Posted: 7 May 2014 10:43am
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Thanks for your positive comments - we are just so pleased with our cabin!
Buildinginsp - as ever you make good points. Since you remarked on the sill logs I have been obsessively clearing round them and got the builders to level the ground on the sloping side a bit more with the digger to improve clearance.
Water is mains. Am a bit hazy on regulations, as our structure is not a dwelling - our permission is for a forestry shelter for the purposes of managing our wood. More research needed! Officially we are allowed to stay overnight for 28 days a year. One of our next projects will be to decide on the whole toilet issue - but that's for another time, and doubtless we'll be coming back here for a lot of advice and guidance.
60766244 - (sorry don't know your name) one of the reasons we chose tin is that Sue was very attracted by the way Australians used tin for roofing and how it looks when it is well rusted. As you say, tin is clean and very durable. Wooden shingles are traditional in this southern Polish design, but they would have cost a fortune and the tin is highly functional and appropriate.
Interesting what you say about British architecture. Early homes were built with local materials, which around here is wood (mainly oak) and clay. Oak was used for the frame, and the spaces between were filled with wattle and daub. There isn't a tradition of log cabin building in England because we just didn't have the long straight trees needed. As we've got an unwanted unthinned pine plantation it seemed the obvious choice and does fit in very well.
Silverwaterlady - sorry I never answered your question from some weeks ago. Cabin isn't handscribed, we are using roundwood instead, hence the need for chinking.
Progress - the chinking was finished on Monday - hooray hooray! So the cabin is just about done. Kris has sprayed the whole structure with timber treatment - fire retardant and rot and insect repellent. This is a real relief as we were getting anxious that someone would come along with a box of matches over the bank holiday, particularly as the guys had left the spare chinking bales out on the deck. The woodstove is installed and sitting nicely on a ten quid sandstone slab from B & Q.
We have given up on the French window retailer as the off the peg windows we wanted were never in stock. Got a couple of quotes from English joiners - ouch! So Kris is making them as the final task and they will be fitted once he comes back from his god-daughter's first holy communion in Poland. Looking forward to furnishing and our first night there.
Cabin shutters open
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Cabin interior
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The ladder to the platform will pull up with a rope and pulley
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The last wall chinked
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bldginsp
Member
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# Posted: 7 May 2014 08:02pm
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Looks great Sarahax. That's an interesting designation- forest shelter for managing the wood. Some areas here in the US will allow you to stay on your property up to several months SO LONG AS you already have a septic system installed, usually they'll let you 'camp' for up to two weeks with no septic or approved water source. Wonder what the attitude there would be to a pit toilet or some home made composting operation.
Anyway as usual wonderful photos, unique project. I'll be installing underfloor plumbing myself very soon in my cabin-to-be, not a very photogenic or attractive subject
Keep us posted
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60766244
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# Posted: 12 May 2014 09:08am
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Name's Jay-Jay - though nobody ever believes me. Two names, two postcodes - my username. ;)
The tin is great for drinking water collection too! I'd hate to see mine rusted! ;) But it does look good.
If you want to make the roof faux-rusty then go down to the local boiler-makers place, and grab a few 9L buckets of grinding dust, then on a hot day, throw it all on the roof, it will embed into the colour-bond paint a little bit and then when the rains next come, the carbon-steel dust will rust all over making it look ancient, without all the leaky negatives... ;)
Yeah I loved the historic homes all about Dorset, rather, the history everywhere. Amazing.
What a great idea to make use of an otherwise unwanted weed. If only you could find good use for all the Holly going wild in the Oak forests hey?
I'd love to do a wooden cabin here, but it'd be mad in the crazy fire-prone bush we have, and with the voracity of our termites.
Loving the updates.
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Sarahax
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# Posted: 18 May 2014 07:23pm
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Bldginsp - plumbing might be an unglamorous subject but one of the many lessons I have learned in the course of this project is the importance of getting water to go where you want it to go. Especially if you live in an area as wet and green as Sussex. I am much preoccupied with drains as our ride is still like soup in places. Have got to sort this with a load of ballast before we can drive in with our bits of cabin furnishings. Otherwise it will all have to go in the wheelbarrow.
Jay-Jay thanks for the tip. Will certainly bear it in mind. At the moment I am loving the integrity of our green tin roof, despite our initial reservations. It tipped down last week, but our cabin is as snug as anything.
On Friday afternoon Kris and Henry came striding through the wood with the windows which Kris had made in his garage. They are great! He had difficulty obtaining suitable fittings as English windows open outwards. With his usual ingenuity he used sash window fasteners, but fixed vertically. This amused us as we have exactly the same on our windows at home, except used more conventionally.
And with the windows now fitted, our build phase has come to an end. We are so pleased with our cabin, but a bit sad too that this phase is finished. We have so enjoyed getting to know the Polish team and it has been a real pleasure working with craftsmen. As a thank you I'm building Kris a website to publicise his work as we can't be the only people around here who'd like a cabin. We'll have a ribbon cutting ceremony next month once it's all cleaned and spruced up and invite all the people who've helped for a drink.
We were up at the cabin today as it was sunny. Didn't get much work done - too busy admiring it.
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Sarahax
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# Posted: 18 May 2014 07:34pm - Edited by: Sarahax
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Some photos
Cabin with windows
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Kris, Henry and Sue on the deck
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View from the deck
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Cabin life
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TenMile
Member
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# Posted: 6 Jun 2014 02:00am
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Looks wonderful!
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Shadyacres
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# Posted: 22 Jun 2014 07:07pm
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A beautiful cabin and location. Enjoy !
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Sarahax
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# Posted: 14 Jul 2014 04:34pm - Edited by: Sarahax
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Hi all - haven't posted in a while. We've been spending as much time as possible up at the cabin, then there's always that thing called work, not to mention the World Cup.
Old buddy - you are right - building a cabin is one of the most enjoyable things we have ever done. Time spent there just drifts away and we enjoy the wood so much more now we don't have to rush home as soon as it gets dark or looks like rain.
Since I last posted we have been mainly tinkering- making it really comfortable. The biggest improvement is a long drop outhouse. Kris had already dug the hole the time I hired the digger. He built the structure over it in a morning out of four fence posts and some left over corrugated roofing. I did have to buy the timber for the door but the rest was made from odds and ends left over from the build. The heart is apparently traditional in Eastern Europe. I just laughed when I saw it - looks so nutty in the wood.
We've furnished the cabin with all sorts of bits and pieces from home which were destined for the charity shop or freecycle. We have a bathroom area (washstand with jug and basin) kitchen area (wide shelf with camping gas stove, tap and washing up bowl), two sets of freestanding shelves for storage, a table and three chairs (one each and one for a visitor) and two comfy chairs for sitting on the deck or in front of the stove. It's great to feel that we have exactly what we need -and no more.
On the day of our official opening it absolutely threw it down with rain, which was a bit disappointing. However, it did give us an excuse to light the woodburner, so everyone piled inside. It rained on the sausages but everyone loved the cabin, with much interest in the chinking. The builders were more than happy when they discovered someone had brought a case of Tyskie.
Was up there again this afternoon - the sun shone, buzzards were calling and a green woodpecker flew across my path. Just great.
Cabin interior
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Outhouse in the wood
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Heart in the door is traditional
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Cabin in July sunshine
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 14 Jul 2014 06:33pm
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Wonderful ending to the build, and beginning to many pleasant hours to be spent in a beautiful retreat. Congrats.
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