Log Construction

Montana Mobile Cabins Beam Cabin

Montana Mobile Cabins has been featured on the Tiny House Blog several times, in fact my very first post was about them. They are one of my favorite log cabin builders. Dawndi Kelm of Montana Mobile Cabins recently sent me a note about a cabin they have for sale and wondered if I would share it with the Tiny House Blog readers.

This cabin is a 14 foot by 20 foot beam style log cabin and is the perfect size for a small cabin or small home. Here are the details of the construction and if you would like to learn more click here for Montana Mobile Cabins website.

Floor System

2×6 16” on center floor joists
Rim Joists 6×6
Solid Floor Joist Blocking
Floor: 3/4” tongue & groove OSB wafer board

Walls and Gables

10” square logs/beams, hand stacked, butt and pass corner
Gables-framed – sided with reclaimed metal; excepting interior gable in loft, wood sided-board & bat; insulated with R19 fiberglass insulation
Chinking throughout interior & exterior
Window & Door Jambs-Resawn Lodgepole Pine/Fir

Loft (loft area approx. 10’x13’)

Joists – 2×4
Decking-2×6 rough sawn pine & fir
Railing-2×6 rough sawn pine & fir
Ladder to loft – rough sawn pine & fir-handcrafted

Roof System (8/12 pitch) – Ceiling

Ridge Beam: Log
Hand stacked Exposed Roof System: 2×6 rough sawn pine & fir mix
Felt Paper: 1 Layer 30# Asphalt
2” Firestone foil back rigid insulation in roof
Delta-rib metal roofing; color – Antique Bronze

Windows and Doors

Windows: 3 Milguard vinyl double pane – sliding windows on main floor; 2 each in gable ends; 1 Alpine garden window on main floor
Exterior Door: 1-36” Therma Tru Factory metal door with half light

Treatment

Montana Standard Log oil applied interior & exterior

Price is $27,500 delivered inside the state of Montana. Please contact Montana Mobile Cabins for delivery pricing and information outside of Montana.

Click here to learn more Montana Mobile Cabins website.

Simple Skinny-D Log Cabin

by Kent Griswold

by Frank Mielke

*Updated with interior photos and more details

This cabin was built with “skinny-D” (my term) logs, cut on site, laterally down the center, to make two logs. The cabin is twelve foot by twelve foot, and the log work was done in less than six days. From standing timber to a log set in the wall takes an average time of one hour per log. If you are in a remote location, and have good timber, this is about the cheapest way to build a small cabin. This cabin is located about two miles off the Yentna River in Alaska.

The Place to Go? A “Log Cabin 2 Go”!

by Kent Griswold

Guest Post by Amber Rouleau

Log Cabins 2 Go by Gastineau Log Homes is a new concept using full log wall construction in a park model housing unit. The Log Cabins 2 Go are manufactured in a controlled environment and they are completely finished and ready to enjoy upon arrival at your site. The log construction includes dovetailed corners, are sealed on the exterior, varnished on the interior, and they don’t exceed 410 square feet. This is the only full oak log park model available in the world! (Don’t confuse this with a park model with log siding on the exterior. The Log Cabin 2 Go has full log exterior walls and is built like a real log cabin!)

Here is a picturesque 400 square foot Log Cabin 2 Go that offers its owners a rustic retreat in the heart of Missouri. The couple has roughly 10 acres with a little pond where they can fish and enjoy the outdoors. The owners are retired and their children and grandchildren live in the St. Louis area and visit often to get away from the hustle and bustle. “This getaway home was planned so that it was close enough where the owners could drive to easily, but still is out in the country,” says Lynn Gastineau, of Gastineau Log Homes.

Santa Fe Cabin

by Kent Griswold

Lyle Congdon of Jalopy Cabins sent me an update of their most recent cabin and I thought you would enjoy seeing some pictures of it. I’ll let Lyle tell you more.

A few months ago we were contacted by a gentleman, Pierr, who wanted to view the Ski Hut. After driving up to visit he decided he wanted something a little smaller and the plans for The Santa Fe cabin were put into action. Pierr wanted a tiny house to put on his property south of Santa Fe, NM as he spends a lot of weekends there exploring and hiking. The small cabin would be a place to relax in after a long day of being outside or to escape from less than ideal weather.

Working with Pierr, we built a custom door and cabinet that is about 40 inches tall due to his height (he’s about 6’6?!) – standard vanity height is 32 inches. More importantly we worked with him to ensure that window placement was just right, so he would have great views from the site he had already prepared.

Paul’s Tiny Log Cabin

by Kent Griswold

I’ve featured Paul McMullin’s work here a couple of times in the past. You can view the posts Little House on the Prairie, Paul’s Montana Cabin, and Paul’s Guesthouse. Paul has been busy again this winter and just shared his latest project with me. The quality of his work is something else. I’ll turn it over to Paul and let him tell you about his tiny log cabin.

Well, here in Montana, another winter is almost past. This one seemed to go on like the ever ready bunny. Around the middle of January I decided over a cup of coffer to build a small log home next to our office I share with my wife. Most of the things that I have built in my career have been stick built (dimensional lumber) so this was something new and stimulating for me.

A friend in the next valley over did the log work and what a craftsman he is with his trade. We stacked the logs on a deck, lagging the first log into the six by six pressure treated plates We pinned all corners with sixty penny spikes, three quarter inch pipe through the logs in the field and used long log screws for the rafters. We insulated the roof, handmade the front door, installed double pane windows, chinked and trimmed it out.

Rustic Retreat: Log Cabin in the Woods

by Kent Griswold

Though not a tiny house this is small by today’s standards and I think will give you some great ideas. Enjoy!

By: Estemerwalt Log Homes of Honesdale, PA

Photos: http://www.estemerwalt.com/log-home-photos/exteriors/m-logcabin1.html
Photo Credit: Estemerwalt Log Homes/ www.estemerwalt.com

This Pennsylvania log cabin is a year-round rustic hunting and fishing retreat – the perfect outdoors getaway, and the very definition of aesthetic simplicity. While not teeny-tiny, this little cabin is a marvel of simple efficiency. The 1,200 square feet of living space relies on nooks to delineate space functionally; two small sleeping lofts meet at a spiral staircase, and there are three more beds on the main level.

Furnishings are sparse, as are amenities: this home is completely off the grid. There is no running water – only an outside well and an outhouse. There is no power – the owner brings a generator with him when he’s there, and the log cabin is heated only by the woodstove and fireplace. (The photographer brought a generator with him for this photo shoot, to light the cabin.)

Latest Montana Mobile Cabins

by Kent Griswold

Montana Mobile Cabins was my first post over three years ago and I have been giving you occasional updates on their projects. Here is their latest cabin and some information about it.

We just finished up with our latest cabin and wanted to share with you the results. The cabin is in Philipsburg, Montana. and was built for a couple from New York as their retirement home. Following are the specs and some photos.

18×24 Cabin on full walk-out basement; 3/4 loft to be used as guest room/office, main floor: bedroom, bath, kitchen, great room. Sliding doors to bedroom and bath as a space saver. Basement unfinished – to be finished by owner at a later time.

Off grid; powered by remote start 10kw Eaton propane generator (small building to right of cabin); heated by propane stove in basement and wood burning stove on main floor. Appliances are propane. Oversize pressure tank to hold water so that the generator does not have to be run every time you want to use the water.

Jon’s Cabin in Wisconsin

by Kent Griswold

Jon Giswold sent me some pictures of his cabin being built by an Amish company called Cabins To Go in Wisconsin. Jeff Cline the owner of the company just contacted me and said the base price for the 12 x 20 cabin is $18,000. Jon added electrical, plumbing and furnishings which are not included in that quote. I will let Jon tell you more about its final destination.

My cabin was built by a modest Amish community in north central Wisconsin. I had it delivered June 2010 and it is finished as of Oct 1, 2010. I had septic installed and a well dug and all that goes with that. Electric had to be established and phone service.

This was a completely undeveloped piece of land on the lake I was raised.

Now I have my own version of my childhood dream. What I learned in this process is that if you want something bad enough, you will make it happen. I have this now for my future and for my soul.

The cabin is 12X20, the porch adds another 8′ to the front which I screened in, and the loft is about a third of the footprint. I am in love with it.

How to Build a Small Log Cabin

by Kent Griswold

Keith Stonebraker has recently developed an interesting take on a log cabin. I want him to share his design idea with you. I’ll turn it over to Keith.

I have always wanted a log cabin, just some little place to get away with my thoughts and relax. I had helped a friend with the building of his log cabin back in Michigan and found out how difficult it could be with the heavy logs to move around and get into position. This wasn’t anything that I wanted to attempt on my own.

After doing a lot of research on the web I soon found out that a simple log cabin wasn’t exactly what I call cheap and nothing was available locally if I wanted to do it myself.

When I saw the laminated log cabins, suddenly a light went off in my head and I wondered if it were possible to do that myself with ordinary lumber. The next day I put a few boards together to get a better idea of what it would look like and then my idea really took off.

Will Gatlin’s Cold Holler Cabin

by Kent Griswold

Way up a holler between a couple of prominent knobs, below Panther (pronounced “Painter”) Knob, we’re building a log cabin.

My tiny house is a log cabin. I’ve built bedroom additions, renovated spaces like a garage, and built a 2-story, 200 square footprint workshop that would make a very nice dwelling, if I didn’t make stuff downstairs and store things upstairs. But I’ve always wanted to build a log cabin. And I like projects. And hand tools.

You can read more about my motives and methods, this region, and its (the cabin’s) progress and eventual use on my blog, coldholler.blogspot.com. I love to receive comments or questions there!

House of Fallen Timbers – Completed

by Kent Griswold

Since the August update I have finished the roof, begun sealing up the cabin and hung the door and shutters. We’ve had several good soaking rains and a couple of strong windy thunderstorms since finishing up the roof and the cabin walls are dry! A cousin of mine has donated a kerosene heater to keep me nice and warm this fall as I finish sealing up the walls.

There is still plenty of work to do but the construction phase of the cabin is for the most part complete. As a result my journal entries will probably be considerably fewer from here on out.

Thanks again so much for sharing my project with your readers. I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have. On a final note I wanted to remind everyone that The Shed Blog is now accepting entries for the 2011 Shed of the Year Competition. Of course I’ve entered the House of Fallen Timbers. I encourage all your readers to take a look at the entries and leave comments for the makers of the sheds you would like the judges to reward.

House of Fallen Timbers – August Update

by Kent Griswold

David Lottes from who is building the House of Fallen Timbers just sent me his August update. Here is what he has to say about it: Since the last update I finished the walls and stacked the purlins, gables and ridgepole. I’ve had a couple of nice weekends weather wise … Read more