Cordwood Construction PDF
Cordwood Construction PDF
Rob Roy
Adapted from Cordwood Building: The State of the Art
2005 Rob Roy
Choosing Cordwood
The best choices for cordwood building are woods that
shrink and expand the least. Woods such as white cedar,
larch (or tamarack), white pine, spruce, cottonwood,
lodgepole pine, and quaking aspen are considered more
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cordwood walls
stable woods for cordwood building. Red pine, Virginia
cedar, and red cedar also have been used with success.
These woods can be used fully dry, without serious Figuring Face Cords
expansion or shrinkage problems. Avoid using dense,
heavy, fine-grained woods, which tend to both shrink and The area of a face cords side is always 32 square
expand a lot. feet (3 m2)this is the magic number to use in
In cordwood building, the problem that occurs most your calculations. From your building plans,
often is log-end shrinkage. While this problem can be figure the square footage of wall area that will
irritating, inconvenient, and aesthetically unpleasing, it be cordwood masonry. Subtract doors, windows,
wont impact the buildings structural integrity. However, and heavy timber framing from the gross wall
wood expansion, while much more rare, can be a critical area to arrive at this figure.
problem. In a curved cordwood wall, wood expansion will For example, a house with a perimeter of 125 feet
cause the wall to go out of plumb. Within a post-and-beam (38 m) and a wall height of 8 feet (2.4 m) has 1,000
framework, the expanding wood can push corner posts out, square feet (93 m2) of gross wall area. For this
no matter how they are fastened, and cause plate-beams to example, lets say the windows, doors, and post-
lift at the top of the cordwood wall. Stackwall corners, made and-beam frame make up 20 percent of the wall.
of alternating quoins (or Lomax corners), will be pushed out (You can figure this accurately from your plans.)
in both directions by expanding cordwood. Subtracting 20 percent200 square feet (19 m2)
Woods more prone to shrinkage are also the ones most in this caseleaves 800 square feet (74 m2) of
prone to expansion. Hemlock is prone to great shrinkage. actual cordwood masonry. Now divide by the
Hardwoods, such as oak, maple, birch, beech, and elm, as magic number32 square feetthat gives, in this
well as some dense Southern pines have potential expansion example, 25 face cords. You can safely discount
problems, particularly if they are dried too long before 20 percent from this number, because the area of
building. coverage increases by at least that much when the
cords are restacked with mortar. So if you had 20
Split or Round? face cords cut to a length to match the thickness
Whether you want to use round or split log-ends is generally of your wall, you will have plenty of wood, and
an aesthetics issue. The main reasons for splitting wood enough to reject misshapen pieces that you dont
are to accelerate the drying process, to eliminate the large like or that are troublesome to use.
primary checks seen in rounds, and to reduce the size of
shrinkage gaps. Shrinkage is proportional, so the smaller
the log-end, the smaller the shrinkage between wood
and mortar. But smaller pieces require more handling of
materials, and mixing more mortar too.
Beautiful cordwood walls can result from using all drawknife, a two-handled tool with a sharp blade edge.
split wood, all rounds, or a combination of the two. The Using a drawknifenormally a killer of a jobis safer and
important thing is to maintain a consistent style, which easier with the long logs supported at a convenient height.
means making a conscious effort to deplete the various sizes Goldec International Equipment manufactures a chain
and shapes of log-ends in your stock at the same rate. saw attachment for barking wood, called a Log Wizard.
This device adapts to both 3/8-inch and 0.325-inch-pitch
De-Barking chain, and allows your saw to be used for de-barking, post
The space between the bark and the epidermal layers of the sharpening, or as a notcherplaner.
wood can trap moisture and provide habitat for fungi and
bugs. De-barking remedies this potential problem. Almost Cutting Cordwood
any sharp or flat tool can serve as a peeling spudan Most people use a chain saw to cut long logs into log-
axe, pointed trowel, scraper, or even a flattened garden ends. Another good way to cut cordwood is with a large
hoe. When de-barking is difficult, the tool of choice is a circular saw, typically 30 inches (76 cm) or so in diameter.
These saws are commonly connected
to a tractors power take-off (PTO) by a
All rounds. Splits and rounds. All splits.
belt. The long length of wood is set on
a movable table tilted towards the saw,
which cuts off the ends quickly with a
nice, straight cut.
Cutting log-ends, by any means,
must be considered a dangerous
activity. Always use proper ear and
head protection. Wear loggers safety
chaps to protect your legs. Keep all
Drying Wood
With the more suitable woods, drying the wood a year or
more usually causes no problems. A years drying at log-
end length will go a long way toward preventing shrinkage,
and will help alleviate expansion problems. If you must
use a denser species of wood, split the wood and dry it for
about six weeks in good drying conditions. Although some
shrinkage will still occur, most expansion will be curtailed.
Because wood dries ten times faster on end-grain than
through the outer layers of the wood, the real drying will
take place after longer logs are cut into their final log-end
length. Split wood also dries faster than unsplit wood. Dry
the wood in single ranks, keeping it off the ground by using
wooden stringers or pallets. Cover only the top of the rank,
not the sides. Covering the sides traps moisture, making
conditions ripe for rot-producing fungi.
Putting It Together
At the Earthwood Building School in West Chazy, New
York, we have refined a mortar mix that incorporates
soaked sawdust to slow the mortars initial set. Mortar that
dries slowly will shrink less or not at all, which eliminates
shrinkage cracks between log-ends. The sawdust should
be passed through a 1/2-inch screen and immersed at least
overnight in an open-topped 55-gallon drum or other Sturdy cordwood walls provide beauty inside and out.
soaking vessel.
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cordwood walls
Now grab a log-end and set it on the mortar, spanning looks betterthe log-ends are the defining features of a
the insulation. A slight, vibrating, back-and-forth motion cordwood wall, and having them proud of the mortar
is all that is needed to establish a suction bond to the is what gives a pleasing surface texture.
mortar. (Later, this suction bond becomes a friction
bond, which is the best you can hope forno chemical Youll need a few pointing knives. Raid your local thrift
bond between wood and mortar will occur.) The next stores or garage sales for nonserrated butter knives. I
log-end is placed beside the first, leaving about 1 inch like the ones that are almost an inch wide, but it is good
between log-ends. Continue until all the mortar is to have a variety. Bend the last inch of the knife to a
covered. 15- or 20-degree angle, so that you can get the business
end in close to the work without your knuckles getting
Work laterally around the home, a course or two at a in the way.
time, or in the case of cordwood panels within a post-
and-beam frame, work three or four courses high at First, rough point the wall, using just your gloved
a time. Remember, avoid mixing up more wet mortar fingers. Remove excess mortar and catch it in your
than you can comfortably use before it sets up. gloved hand. Then use your knife to press the excess
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cordwood walls
As mortars, these two mixes are very similar in terms of The Importance of Insulation
hardness, strength, workability, and smoothness. The main A cordwood wall derives its resistance to heat flow from the
difference is color. The Portland mix tends to be lighter and insulated space between the inner and outer mortar joints.
more of a green-gray shade; the masonry mix usually is a If this space is uninsulated, the house will be very difficult
blue-gray color. to heat.
Mortars mix well in a wheelbarrow. Add the dry Several insulation options exist. Fiberglass is a readily
ingredients to the barrow by the shovelful. Following the available material, but it can be nasty to work with (gets
series below will help ensure a uniform mixture. For the in the eyes and lungs); it has a high embodied energy;
Portland mix, combine: and, if it mats down with moisture, it may not fluff back
again. Vermiculite, perlite, and other loose-fill insulation
3 shovelfuls sand, 1 shovelful sawdust, 1 shovelful lime,
work quite well, but can be costly. Using shredded
1 shovelful Portland
beadboard insulation, made out of expanded polystyrene
3 shovelfuls sand, 1 shovelful sawdust, 1 shovelful lime,
beads, may seem like a good way to recycle this material,
1 shovelful Portland
but it is virtually impossible to direct it into a wall cavity.
3 shovelfuls sand, 1 shovelful sawdust, 1 shovelful lime
The little beads stick to the mortar, your gloves, your
With the masonry mix, a good cadence for adding clothesthey go everywhere, it seems, but where you
material is: want them. And the slightest wind causes an insulation
disaster.
3 shovelfuls sand, 1 shovelful sawdust, 1 shovelful
Sawdust is cheap, makes use of a waste material,
masonry, 1 shovelful lime
and has an insulation value of about R-3 per inch, about
3 shovelfuls sand, 1 shovelful sawdust, 1 shovelful
the same as fiberglass. And its easy to pour into the space
masonry, 1 shovelful lime
with soup cans or small buckets. To retard against vermin,
3 shovelfuls sand, 1 shovelful sawdust, 1 shovelful
mix builders lime into the sawdust at a ratio of twelve
masonry
parts sawdust to one part lime. An additional benefit to
The numbers in these mixes refer to equal parts by adding lime is that if the wall takes on moisture, the lime
volume, so always use the same size shovel and load it the will set up with the sawdust in the wall, forming a kind of
same way each time. Reserve a separate shovel of the same rigid insulation.
size for the soaked sawdustand keep this wet shovel out
of the dry cementitious materials. Cordwood Basics & Beyond
Now that you have the basic background on cordwood,
start experimenting! Small cordwood structures are fairly
straightforward and easy to build, and cordwood easily lends
What about Rot? itself to whimsical structuresfrom childrens playhouses to
potting sheds. For more details on building with cordwood,
Within a cordwood wall, fungi have access to read Cordwood Building: The State of the Art or consider
nutrients and air, but not moisturethe third attending a workshop for hands-on experience (see Access).
ingredient they need to thrive. The exposed log-
ends are permeable along their end-grain and Access
readily release any moisture. To further diminish Rob Roy, Earthwood Building School, 366 Murtagh
the chance of wood rot, follow these four easy Hill Rd., West Chazy, NY 12992 518-493-7744
strategies: [email protected] www.cordwoodmasonry.com
Start the cordwood masonry at least 4 inches Rob Roy has written thirteen books about alternative
(10 cm) above grade, on a good foundation building techniques, including five about cordwood
made from concrete, cement blocks, earth masonry.
bags, or stones. In wet climates, increase this
to 12 inches. Continental Cordwood Conference in Merrill, Wisconsin,
July 30 & 31, 2005. Lectures & demonstrations by Rob
Design ample roof overhangs: 16-inch Roy, Alan Stankevitz (see HP105), Jack Henstridge, Cliff
overhangs are good, but 24-inch overhangs or Shockey & others. Tour cordwood homes. For info, go to
more are even better. www.daycreek.com, e-mail organizer Richard Flatau at
Keep adjacent log-ends from touching [email protected] or call him at 715-536-3195. Registration:
each other. Prevent log-ends from contacting US$100 for an individual, US$180 per couple.
the surrounding post-and-beam frames.
Goldec International, Box 3299, Spruce Grove, AB, Canada
Build only with de-barked, dry log-ends. T7X 3A5 877-640-2240 or 780-960-2727
Reject wood that shows any sign of existing Fax: 780-960-2767 [email protected]
rot or deterioration. www.logwizard.com Log Wizard chain saw attachment
for de-barking wood
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