Great things happen when a person of high intelligence embraces labor, is independent, and artistic. Beautiful.

My parents built a log-end home in 1986, long cured logs stacked in cement, walls are around 20+ inches thick. Beautiful. After several years, the logs started allowing wind-driven rain to come through into the house, there’s no sealing or caulking to remedy the problem of ever changing logs so they had the house clad with steel siding. Still get to enjoy a house that is like a fortress and see the handiwork on the interior.

My dad built a house exactly like this, move-in was 1986 when I was 2 years old. My folks, in their mid 70s, still live there today in the hills of southern Indiana. It works

I'm impressed by your neat work. Very well thought out and executed. Thanks.

I wondered when someone was going to try this…saw several built with cord wood in the northern Canadian bush

Wow looks fantastic. Great work. I've been a mason for 30 years and have plenty of experience with slaked lime. You explained the slaking process magnificently!! Cheers!!

Most helpful video I've seen, building with cordwood this summer. Thank you!

Thank you for taking the time to make this video and showing us your technique. Looks great

Awesome!! This is the kind of information I'm needing to build Cordwood with!!! Good idea putting the music on there too!!! Well Done !!!

This is amazing and beautiful craftsmanship. A job well done!!

Love the presentation and detail provided. Great video!

Thanks for taking the time to make this video.

Am I the only one that thinks is voice sounds like Nicolas Cage? Good video, extremely informative.

I love how ignorant people are attacking you and they know nothing about what they're saying. You did an excellent job don't listen to The Losers

thank you for all of your time and expertise

Just a minute in and I already like the timber frame and cord wood in-fill idea rather than the cord wood being the supporting structure since there are so many variables in the cord wood building. Best to use more conventional methods like you did I'd think.

Love the aesthetic, thank you for demystifying how this type of building is constructed.

Im in grow zone 5/6. Gives a reference of the cold i deal with. I would rather build with lime than portland. Something i have done for 40 yrs - is to cut and leave the leaves on the tree - branches and all - I cut in the spring - it allows the summer to dry out the tree. Makes seasoning the wood or waiting it out a much shorter time frame. Thank you!

Great share. Lots of good info on this style of build. I live off grid and always looking for ideas when I'm building here and there. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for putting the effort out for this Vid. Your experience and time and skills are appreciated, You got my Sub!

Thanks for explaining so well !

You did a great job. I learned a lot of things from you. Thank you Sir

Looks great! I like the detail provided and the honesty afterward. Nice build

Thank you for sharing this process. It is something that I have seen and admired before, but had no idea how it was done. Thank you :)

I enjoyed your video and attention to detail and your honest assessment of the final results. I work with clay based earth building materials and thought I would try using a rich chopped straw and clay mixture throughout the whole length of the joints in between the logs. If bugs are a concern I would add a percentage of borax to the mix. Wild clays in our area come in a wide variety of colors so one could change up the color mortar for additional effects in the wall. All in all I learned a lot and appreciate your taking the time to share your experience!

excellent video and beautuful structure! I appreciate how straight forwarrd you are in explaining your methods. Thank you.

Terrific video brother. You put as much work in the video as you did in the construction! I have wondered how this was done but now I think even I could do it! Thanks a lot!

I've been dreaming of building a cabin since 1979 out if cordwood. Thank you for all the information in this video. It's excellent. May you enjoy your dream.

Very interesting process. You explained it very well, thank you.

Thank you for sharing this amazing life accomplishment with us...

In Canada it is called a stack log home ! One man could build the entire house himself ! All it needs is something between the logs to stop insects and on the outside maybe spray foam and then mortar ! Very enegy efficient ! I always wanted to build one and helped my brother do his which was stack logs done horizontal ! Logs were cut about 6 inchs wide with the rounded side of the log facing the outside and when done it was chinced only on the outside !

Respect. Very beautiful. Thank you for making this video. I learned a lot.

Thanks for this I really enjoyed it. I think I'd like to make a small shed with this technique to get some practice before trying a cabin. Very helpful info!

Beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

Honestly I would love to be able to build a fully cord wood home. You say it takes alot of time, but the fact that it is one process and done means alot and saves time and money. If not having enough light with out add full glass walls try to make some glass bricks. It's time consuming but makes for a beautifully artistic wall and huge accent piece. You can add you glass bricks to make flowers, butterflies or any number of things, so that it's not just adding light but a beautiful stained glass art project.

New Sub. Nice clear, concise, helpful video. I really appreciate the R Value information and the follow up at the end of the video. From what I can see, your cabin looks beautiful.

Ah! I was wondering about the thermal conductivity of the mortar. You've got it figured out.

Thanks Bro, that was a wealth of knowledge. I'm in the Pacific Northwest with fairly mild winters and lots of Red Cedar. I'm definitely going to to a post and beam and cordwood build. Just doing a little homework. :)

This really works well for sunk rooms cool in summer warm in winter.

As an HVAC guy this is brilliant, great job

Gracias a sido un video muy informativo e inspirador, estoy resuelto a construir mi casa de esta manera y ud a sido de gran ayuda, espero mas de sus vídeos.

We are going to build our first cordwood buildings this year, we are starting with an outhouse, then a chicken coop, a garden shed, we are hoping to be well or relatively well versed in this building style before we build our cordwood cabin, we really enjoyed your video, thank you.

Great video. Really easy to understand information. Thank you.

Nice job!

Thanks for sharing these insights, very helpful and inspiring. I work in Ghana as a Youth Development Officer and I am currently recruiting volunteers with knowledge, skills, and passion for alternative-ecological building to build a Youth Community Center in a village with Cob or Cordwood - this center will run After-School Programs that will serve 3 surrounding villages If anyone on here has skills and the passion for alternative building, my doors are opened. Cant wait to build the first Cordwood house in Ghana .............. I could use all the help there is

Muito obrigado pelas informações. Sua dedicação a construcão e ao vídeo foram incríveis.

This is absolutely beautiful! I love it!

Thanks

THANK YOU SO MUCH for making this video! We will be building our cordwood house next year and I haven’t seen a video yet that explains it as detailed as you do. Would you be able to explain how you did the upper wall above the cordwood?

There are barns over 100 years old in Ontario Canada with cord wood foundations still standing in good condition.

That's very detailed, useful and realistic. I was wondering if cob (mixed with sawdust and wood chips) would be better as mortar since it will "move" with the weather just like the wood does. It would also save some money and wouldn't impact the strength too much since you've got a timber frame. Also squaring the bigger/straighter log pieces with a froe, side axe or chainsaw could result in using larger rectangular pieces of timber without cutting them to 9 inch lengths. This would save time and effort piling them up like pseudo-ashlar masonry. The larger heavier pieces at the bottom and the smaller round and irregular triangles which are easier to lift over them.

very great video.. shout out from Rowe Virginia

Great instructional video.

Excellent video thank you

Appreciate you breaking down useful info like this

Danke schön für dieses informationsreiche Video.

Filling the cavity with tamped sawdust is how traditional Scandinavian wooden homes are built.

Thanks for sharing your experience. It looks like you did a very nice job.

It is beautiful.

Beautiful

BEAUTIFULL, AND WARM TOO ,VERY GOOD VIDEO, DISCRIPTIVE AND WELL PRESENTED,%100

Very good video.

Looks very nice sir. Well done. I have had dreams of building something like this since i was a kid....unfortunately i was injured in the GWOT and am still fighting towards being healthy enough for such an undertaking. Be well.

I love the information in your video.. in fact all your videos!!! I have tons of cedar on my place and planning on trying to do something similar. I was wondering how your plumbing went and what you used? thank you so much

⁹old power poles work good

Hi!!! Thanks so much for this informative video! What a beautiful cottage/home…I am looking at ways to do filler walls with cordwood…One thing I thought of was to drill large screws into the cords for spacers, stacking the cords on top of each other, building forms and filling from above. There would have to be precision cuts of the cord, fitting exactly the width of the form so the ends don’t get covered with mortar…was wondering you thoughts/opinion?

Another great video and Information - Thanks Question: Is there a reason (other than cost) why spraying a sealer on exposed wood, cord or framing, is not done? Seems that after all that work, a spray sealant would make sense to deter rot, rodents, and insects?

AMIGO esta súper toda Esa maravilla. Como hago la mezcla con que? U si se puede apoyar en columnas de hormigón. O solo en madera gracias x confirmar

dark gray-black stone, yellow-orange wood, light gray mortar, blue roof, black sign, white window trim, blood red door, too many colors going on, but its a beautiful building, try a blue door the same as the roof color, it will eliminate the odd red and the heavier weight of the color brings down or helps anchor the image, a designer or colorist but thats costly, i really like the white detail above the door

Very nice...could you use straw and lime to fill the void in the wall...

Simply, amazing detail again. Do you Wax, paint or shellac coat the end of logs to prevent splitting when they are drying before or after you make the wall.

Also, as I’m pondering how we build straw-clay walls rammed between slip forms, there’s no reason not to use a temporary horizontal board attached to the side of the wall one desires to be perfectly plumb thereby eliminating the need for a string line.

By splitting your full size logs into quarters you ensure the 30% mortar 70% wood ratio you could mix and pour hyper entrained aircrete into the wall void almost at completion and gain extra insulative value.imlo.

Great video! One question though..you said you would not build this way every again because of time it takes...what building method would choose next time?

i used black ash on the tip of wisconsin ,just across from dulut

So my end game is to buy land in Maine and homestead, building up from the ground. Most of the land available is old timber land full of pines. But I'm wondering if it is possible to dye the mortar? I was thinking that black would pull in some more heat? I also read that this type of structure is good at moisture wicking so I was thinking about having this style be how I build the chicken coop. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

I feel like I just watched a tutorial from RoboCop. 😂

I forgot to "tappa tappa"... Will that cause problematic? I'm thinking about coloring my like mortar... Is that possible? Concrete coloring? Very inspiring work! Great job!!!

Could standing dead lodgepole pine be used without having to season the wood for the cordwood infill and therefore avoid the one year+ seasoning process?

Could you please share what the climate is there? Because ive wanted to use our cottonwood but we get a ton of rain where we live and cottonwood once it isnt alive anymore seems to break down very quickly in the elements, no? I have juniper too which IS great for exterior projects but im a little nervous, to see if something like you did there (Id like to make a small shop for tractor, implements etc) would be able to have a chance of holding up in our climate near Portland OR. But i love what you did and think it looks beautiful! I love the idea of using materials we already have available. This is the first time ive seen this done before. We would probably need to treat the exterior with some pretty heavy duty sealant. Wouldn’t hard wood be better for the exterior though to prevent all the movements softer woods tends to do due to moisture fluctuations? It’s very interesting and im sure with the right combo and pre processing it could be done especially if exterior is sealed or encapsulated. Im vert intrigued! Thanks for the video and please let me know of the cottonwood actual held up and what your climate is like (ours is considered “marine”).

Excellent. Thank you. Question: what is the benefit of splitting the cordwood as opposed to setting natural round timber?

L What state are you in ? Working on my own land by myself, starting with this wood and mortar consruction for barn, out buildings and eventually a home. Makes a difference where you are for construction materials and weather tolerance. Thank you, L. W.

That's pretty cool 👍

A couple questions, Do you treat the wood? Have any wood boring bugs been an issue? Where I live, the termites would do a number on something like that. Looks beautiful, though, and great job!

I'm wondering if you could put your dustcrete mix between the cordwood to make a self supporting wall. Probably would need a higher portland mix to add structural strength, as your dustcrete seems very crumbly, when compared to other similar mixes i've seen online.

Beautiful! Would love to see a follow up video about pros/cons of these materials. Did you put a sealer on the exterior?

Would this work if you built a foundation and then applied your technique? This would be an awesome idea I own property with loads of trees and I was just going to have someone come out and clear the land ( cut everything down and build up but with this idea 💡 I saved like 50% of my cost because I would only need to buy post and lime cement sand and the lumber for the foundation I'm so happy I came across your video I can do this I have a chainsaw and must of the tools needed thank you for sharing .👍🏽

What’s the lime putty to sand mix? Thanks. Great vid!

Architects say it doesn’t work, but people have been doing it forever. Reminds me of exercise scientists who say lifting weights is pointless and we don’t need protein. Literally no one follow their advice and succeeds. Maybe the place rots. Maybe it does but is fixable because the matériels are easy to replace. I’d ask what is the purpose of that cabin. If it’s a hunting lodge, it serves its purpose just fine. If it’s a home you expect to stand for 200 years, maybe not. I saw this and thought it was a great way to get rid of odds and ends.

Excellent video. How would you seal the logs if used as a cordwood fence? And does the bark need to be removed?

I'm not sur about put in sawdust in wet ciment...The sawdust will ''drank'' the humidity ? Is in it ?

What are the dimensions of your cottage? I am wanting to build a 14x16 small cabin and am interested in your method just trying to figure out how long that might take me and if it can be done in a summer. I have a lot of standing dead pine in my woods that I would be using.

Great idea but what about the expansion and contraction of the wood and gaps or cracks forming? I would be concerned especially with using the bark covered logs as well. Though it gives a great color contrast with the bark. The separation of the bark would be a little concerning as well. Otherwise it looks Awesome and sounds like it is very well insulated with the air gap inside the wall with sawdust. Not only insulated but gives a great place to run your pipes and wiring so its hidden, just maybe susceptible to freezing the pipes in cold climates, especially if it's something that isn't always heated when below freezing temps.

👍👍

I was wondering how the mortar will affect the logs as they lose moisture. Would the walls get weaker as the wood loses or gains moisture? I love this idea though because it is so affordable and like a log cabin, but cheaper.

Do you think pee gravel as a substitute for your saw dust in the middle would work? Maybe mixed with lime? Keeping in mind condensation? Mold, and rot.

Great stuff! I am going to be doing something like this and plan on doing over a cinder block stem wall that is 8" wide. So thickness will be 8". The walls will be 8' high, my question is as you build the cordwood higher did you put any reinforcements to the wooden frame? Almost like rebar or wire? My concern is the stability of the wall as it gets higher, especially if the frame is wider than 4' or so. Thanks again and great video!

The ole tappa tappa… lol Another Chef John fan. Good on ya! Good vid.

I want to build using cordwood. My land is massive clay. How can i use that for the cob mix?

I,m going to build a cordwood home