Pros and Cons of Cordwood Construction, excerpt from Tiny House Academy
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ย. 2024
- In this video, instructor Natalie discusses the pros and cons of cordwood construction for natural building projects. This is a video from our Tiny House Academy online course, where we teach about naturally built wall systems and other types of ecological construction. Click here to learn more about the online Tiny House Academy:
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Thanks for sharing these insights, very helpful. 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.
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.
Best of luck!
Or you could seal the ends of the logs solving most of these problems
Cool idea! I wonder if anyone else has experience with this-- let us know in the comments how it turned out if you have sealed the ends of your cordwood and what you used / how it worked over time.
How about Virginia Red Cedar., It is light and insect resistance and good with moisture .People us it for fence post.
Awesome.mixing wood dust/ chips in the mortar will help prevent cracking
Diving in to as many info sources as possible in hopes of building a cordwood cabin. Do you have more resources or advice ? Tia
We have a natural building aspect to our tiny house course available here: www.wildabundance.net/online-classes/online-tiny-house-building-class/
What about treating the end grain with boiled linseed oil?
Hi, experienced wood worker here, if you cure and polyurethane the wood the grain won't be exposed to weather, and rot out....
Also bugs won't be attracted if you do that, pick the right wood (some give off a scent that repels), and if you cure it properly. There's a lime mixture that goes in between the mortar on the logs, that should coat the wood and repel bugs as well.
polyurethane is not the best exterior finish, unless it has been specially formulated to withstand the damaging effects of UV light. Look for a boat building finish with UV protection for best results.
@@RyanJensenEE You have a point about that. I should have mentioned boat finish. Didn't think about it at the moment though.
Actually cordwood construction is something one person can do without any extra help. It might be slow, but one person can do it alone.
You could certainly do it alone if you needed to. There are lots of beautiful options out there and we hope you explore any that speak to your heart and will suit your conditions and willingness / abilities.
This video is very informative and I thank you for taking the time to help us. I live in Maine, so, acquiring cordwood is very easy. I noticed you mentioned using "Softwoods." We have Oak, Birch and Ash on the property, but I'm using the cordwood to create walls inside and the oak is seasoned and is so much prettier for what I am using it for. Do I have to use softwoods? TY
According to what I've read, hardwoods have a tendency to expand and contract, thereby cracking the mortar more so than soft wood. I have seen that there's a specific mortar that's "self healing" and used exclusively for cordwood building. (I love how she says it's one of the more labor intensive building..... Has she never attended a Mike Reynolds Earthship build??!!!! Pounding dirt into old tires with a 5 lb sledge......not fun!!)
@@katberinger2049 LOL. TY for your comment.
"hardwood" and "softwood" terms are misleading. They do not refer to the hardness of the material. A "softwood" refers to evergreen/coniferous trees like pine, cedar, spruce, larch (tamarack), fir, etc... Hardwoods refer to trees that do not product cones and are deciduous (they drop their leaves in the fall). So oak, birch, and ash are all considered "hardwoods". Hardwoods typically are much more vulnerable to rot and insect infestation that softwoods, which is why no one should ever build a house using hardwoods. Oak, birch, and ash are completely out of the question - please do not use them for building your house. Use quality softwood like pine, or douglas fir.
@@katberinger2049 All wood expands and contracts with changes in moisture content. Different species will expand and contract more than others, but it is false to say "hardwoods expand and contract more than softwoods".
@@RyanJensenEEShould I deduce from your comment that species such as black locust and Osage orange, though hard and deciduous, would make good, if not excellent, candidates? There is a lot of the later in my area, and a good number of fence posts of it in the ground a hundred+ years old.
Was thinking of putting up siding would that help with longevity?
Why would you only want to use soft wood?
"Generally speaking, you should avoid hardwoods because they behave poorly in a cordwood wall. They are more prone to expansion and contraction and have been known to knock entire walls apart due to swelling. There are ways to build with hardwood if it is the only thing you have available, but I would discourage you from doing so."