planning on milling logs for a house, maybe.

[muddstopper]

OK, sold house and living in a rv for now. I have enough whitepine timber to build several houses. My decision is whether I want to or not. Anyways, Living in the RV my wife and I have came to the realization that maybe we don't need as big a house as we have planned to build. We always wanted a log house, Not timber frame, but I couldn't bring myself to trying to build a large house with logs I have milled. Drying, shrinking, bugs, etc, etc. Even starting to cut the timber now, time will be a issue. I could probably cut most of the trees I would need in a couple of days, and I would be able to leave them on site for the milling and stacking. Not sure how long it would take to actually mill the logs once the milling actually starts. Handling the logs or timbers isn't a issue.

I m considering cutting the logs this winter and stacking off the ground and letting the wood season ever how much it will thru this winter. I don't want the logs laying with bark for a long time due to the sawyers and grubs getting under the bark and boring into the wood, causing blue streaks and what not. By spring, I should have settled on a different house plan and I can start milling out the logs I would need to frame with. I would use bought lumber for the floor joist and probably trusses for the roof. My concern is the timbers will still be pretty much green.

Second plan is to stack the logs inside a plastic covered shed, sort of a solar kiln. This should speed drying of the logs, but they still wouldn't be dry enough by spring to build with.
Third plan, cut and mill as soon as possible and stack milled timers inside the solar kiln. I think this would be the best route and would dry out the wood the fastest, I don't have a material list of what timbers need to be cut. We don't have a house plan in mind yet, so even trying to estimate or a best guess is likely to be wrong. An option is to just cut and mill more logs than I think I need and sort it out when building actually starts.

Granted, I still havent decided to build the log house, but any opinions of the best course of action would be appreciated.

 

[Mad Professor]

Might want to have a Mod move this to the milling forum?

Don't want to leave pine logs on the ground in warm weather. I'd cut and buck logs early winter when sap is low , then get them milled before warm weather with bugs/blue stain.

If You don't know what lumber you need. You could mill them into cants , then sticker/stack/cover them, and resaw when the time comes. You can always make the cants smaller, but can't make boards thicker or longer.

 

[Ted Jenkins]

Yes I do have some experience in this process and you are dead on in your thinking. If you let the logs sit around you will have some checking and warping. If the logs are kept in a controlled environment to dry that will be a quite larger event while not stopping logs from warping and some checking. What many do is have the logs three sided and start construction. When the logs are in place and nailed down or bolted the shrinkage will not be very noticeable. having a pile of logs that are moist and not having any infestation going to be a bit of a challenge. Thanks

 

[Mad Professor]

One other thing, as soon as you buck the logs, endcoat them with anchorseal.

 

[svk]

So I know the production log home guys plane green lumber and assemble soon after. My understanding is once assembled, the structural integrity helps to minimize the twisting and buckling that would happen with individual logs. As a one man operation the time needed to produce the logs limits you a bit.

As you mentioned, pine is a bit difficult because you need to get the bark off and get it drying quickly to avoid bugs and staining.

Are you thinking about just milling the tops and bottoms of the logs and leaving the sides natural? Or milling cants and doing square log construction?

 

[muddstopper]

Probably do the 12x6 logs and dovetail the ends. I think I can handle the dove tailing. There is a place not to far from me that will plane the D logs out of cants. I haven't talked to him in a couple of years. I would really like to do the round logs, but nobody I know of does that kind of milling around here. All these different logs require a mill or planer. The 12x6 can be done on a band mill or CSM. Another advantage of doing the 12x6 is I can have it all done on site without having to haul logs to and from a mill. My concern is using green or semi-green logs in the construction and shrinkage after the walls are constructed.

 

[Ted Jenkins]

As it was pointed out you have a small space in time to put your walls up. You could probably assemble the thing in the winter with out drying much. When working in Oregon we used lodge pole pine with great success, but had to work fairly fast to make it happen. Thanks

 

[bayard]

cut them up first and stack them for later. you want to build with them at the same time. keep them stacked and covered till you are ready.

 

[sb47]

I love the look of a log house, however I don't like the idea of maintenance over time. I'm liking the idea of a barndominium home instead of conventional construction. Youtube has lots of videos of them in all shapes and sizes and they can be finished any way you like on the inside. Yes some of them look like a steel building but some actually look very nice and not industrial at all. You could have the shell put up by a contractor and do the inside yourself at your own speed and in ant decor you wish.
It would be maintenance free on the exterior and a lot more fire proof or fire resistant depending on conditions. Look them up on youtube and see what is possible.

 

[svk]

I love the look of a log house, however I don't like the idea of maintenance over time. I'm liking the idea of a barndominium home instead of conventional construction. Youtube has lots of videos of them in all shapes and sizes and they can be finished any way you like on the inside. Yes some of them look like a steel building but some actually look very nice and not industrial at all. You could have the shell put up by a contractor and do the inside yourself at your own speed and in ant decor you wish.
It would be maintenance free on the exterior and a lot more fire proof or fire resistant depending on conditions. Look them up on youtube and see what is possible.

Logs buildings are beautiful, and if planed smooth and sealed properly they aren’t that bad to maintain.

My house has rough sawn cedar siding. Beside the fact that cedar siding is now cost prohibitive, I would never wish this on anyone. It does look great when freshly stained.

 

[docmagnum357]

We built a couple of frame house for family in Dana, one cabin in Dana, another cabin on Bearwallow . Carolina siding dries in places, and so does bevel lap siding. Board and Batton shrinks without trouble or problems.

Milling logs green and Olly logging them seemed to work well both times we tried it. Rough sawn lumber doesnt work well for sub floors because of cupping, not shrinking or cracking but you know that.

You probably know this already on some level but a wooden house is going to move...finish flooring, mill work, furniture move, too. Wood heat, lol. The house we live in was all kiln dried store bought lumber, 25 years old. I moved in and started heating with wood. Lots of sqeaks in the floor went away, and lots of headers and sheet rock seams are shrinking and cracking. Not to be condescending, but a house ain't a piano. It will all work out either way. Water will either come out of green wood or get back in kiln dried. Not much you can do about it .

 

[muddstopper]

Well, still havent gotten around to building a house. No lumber sawn. I still have plans, but am proceeding at a different pace. I kind of like it where I am now. Takes me 27 min to mow and weed eat. Paved drive, seperate shop for my projects, 3 big sheds for storage. When building a new house, all these things have to also be considered. Even with all the money in the world, the one thing you cant buy is time. I am also considering buying another house, we downsized with the house we have now, but I miss the extra space when kids, grandkids and great grandkids come to visit. The house I am looking at, is much larger and includes 15 acres. I cant sell my house until march of next year because of tax reasons. If I buy the other house, this gives me someplace to move to without being rushed, and someplace to keep my stuff stored until I can build a shop at the new home. Once I move to the new home, I should be ready to start milling lumber and have time for it to dry before nailing it up. I will have to stay at the new home for at least 2 years, again to advoid taxes. I figure the home I build will be my last as I am not getting any younger.

I will disagree with milled lumber not working well for subflooring and sheating. The house I moved out of was build with all sawmill lumber in 1987. I moved into it in 1999 and moved out in 2019. Dad built it and I helped him saw all the timber. Thick and Thin lumber company, ( a spin on the quality off the sawmill) did the sawing. Subfloor, sheating, and roof decking was all sawmill lumber, altho all lumber had been ran thru a planer after drying. The problem I think most folks make using sawmill lumber for sheeting and decking is trying to use wide boards. A 12 in board will cup twice as much as a 6in board and shrink twice as much as well. Saw it, dry it, and plane it and its no different than store bought lumber. It will shrink/expand more than plywood, but nothing that would be unacceptable. If you have your own timber, its certainly a lot cheaper than $40 a sheet plywood.