Your Log House
The On-Site Manual For The Do-It-Yourselfer
What's the book about?

• Preface
• Illustrated Glossary of Terms

  1. Introduction
  2. Why a Log House?
  3. House Design
  4. Traditional Principles & Contemporary Design
  5. Log Acquisition
  6. Getting Started on the Building
  7. Organizing the Site and Equipment
  8. Foundations
  9. Timber Layout
  10. First Logs & Floor Joists
  11. The Chainsaw
  12. Setting Wall Logs
  13. Openings
  14. Framing Walls
  15. Building the Roof
  16. Round Log Piece-en-piece
  17. Stair Planning
  18. Thermal Resistivity of Wood

• Includes 15 House Plans!

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The Book: Your Log House

1. Introduction

This book is written for people who are in need of housing. I believe that log housing lends itself, more than other forms of building, to self-help housing projects. It is a form of building that can be undertaken by individuals and families with limited building skills. The necessary techniques can be learned step-by-step as the building progresses. A small financial investment in building timber provides the necessary material for the house. This is a great advantage in areas where conventional building materials must be expensively shipped in from suppliers far from the remote community. In my work and travels throughout rural and northern British Columbia and the Yukon Territory, I have had opportunities to visit remote and not-so-remote communities. In most places, some form of log building has been going on over the years. In studying the construction of the buildings, I was mostly interested in the old log buildings that had stood the test of time and severe seasons. The old log buildings retain a certain beauty despite neglect and abandonment in many instances. Almost all aboriginal villages boasted a preponderance of log houses built by the fathers and grandfathers of the people presently occupying them. In most cases, the houses were swiftly and crudely built, yet they were still very liveable and fairly pleasing to look upon. Likewise, lodges, ranch houses, and barns built by neighbors, in spite of haste, limited building knowledge, and usually limited funds, are still beautiful and habitable. Considering that log building has been practical in the past, it should be even more practical in the present, given the better tools and building information available.

Old, poorly built buildings have lasted. Timber is available and lends itself to hand building of a self-help nature. The need to cut down on imported materials and technology is evident everywhere in the northern, rural, and remote areas of the country. The practical application of log building techniques is a viable alternative in housing.

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