I came across your video today a bit late I know, but some twenty years ago I experimented with similar mixes with the idea of providing shelter for disaster victims. By mixing chopped grass, straw, sawdust,paper, flour pva , cement , lime and two or three other ingredients I could use a mold and press out quite large bowls that when dried were structurally fairly stable. More importantly the mix when dry is highly insulative. I think it would work well as mortar for cordwood construction but would most likely require a quality mortar to point up the external layer, paint might do the job. Whilst most folk like the idea of the cordwood being on show there is no reason why the outside of the building could not be rendered.
That's some of the best instructional video I've seen on pointing...thank you for sharing! I appreciate your meticulous approach and work ethic. Beautiful!!
Amazing job.. looking to build eventually.. gonna cut cedar blocks this spring to dry n season.. looking to make contact with ppl who have experience building cordwwod style
First of your videos I’ve seen so you may have addressed the R-value of this construction vs using an insulation space in the center of longer logs? What species of wood?
Found this from the back of a van driving southside of EC. If you are putting up cordword structures near EC I'll do labor to see it firsthand and ask you questions.
Split those large logs into quarters there should only be about 1" of mortar around a quarter log. This allows 30% mortar 70% wood. Use 2 corsers of mortar inside and outside. Build to near the top of the wall. Then pour in aircreat air entrained concrete mix with styrafoam beads into the void to lock it all together
Curious if you have built a cordwood building ? I am in the collecting material stage so any other insight would be great especially with your suggestion of using aircrete
Use mortar and paper in the cracks for the rounds so cold air and bugs don't make a home in there. At 18:26, If you had used a level on the front face as you build, you will never have to eyeball or adjust a log end to be flush.
Not not yet. I'm caring for a family member til the end. Meanwhile I'm drafting like crazy. It took me a long time to decide what I, myself wanted, needed & had to have, in a home. But I've got it dialed in now. I'll start with a garage.
We have been covering them with plastic for about a week and also if they are in the sun we shade the wall this a sheet set up a few feet in front of the wall. I’m not sure if this is all necessary with palate enhanced mortar but we want to be sure.
I'm taking a guess you are in Wisconsin? Are there counties there without building codes or did you have to jump through any hoops with building inspectors and being compliant with codes? I'm asking since Wisconsin is on my list of places to possibly move to and I'd like to do a similar build/project.
Why no insulation? Seems like the spray foam would stop the wall from breathing and would trap moisture in the wood, causing rot? Sorry, I've just found your channel. Maybe you've already addressed these things in other videos, but would appreciate if you could respond. Looks beautiful!
I talk to some experts and they felt open cell foam would be way less efficient and also would not breath much with the amount we would need. Also Cliff Shockey who first designed double cordwood walls would put in a plastic vapor barrier between his walls. The wall still breaths from the exposed face of the end grain.
@@backinthewoods2022 I see... I read Rob Roy's book over 15 years ago and that's my only exposure to cordwood building. I don't remember him mentioning double cordwood walls at all, so I'm thinking it must be something people developed since his book came out? Anyway, I hope it works well for you!
Hello, I come from Poland, I am planning to build a house using cordwood technology. I have a question for you - what are the proportions and materials for cement mortar? how much water how much cement? and did you add anything else to the mortar?
Large over hangs and wood is raised 12” from ground level. Wood rot is from constantly being wet and from air. The wood dries out quickly because end grain and only sees moisture in driving rains.
do you have an idea how much motrar you used for both sides of what looks like an 8'x 8' section. I am calculating materials needed. I am going to do the lime putty mortar so I will need to make the putty in advanced
I would say on our 10’ wide by 9’ wall there is 6 or 7 tote fulls of mortar. The tote was about 16” deep by 36”x20”. Hopefully that helps, pretty rough measurement I know
@@backinthewoods2022thank you I know there are lots of variables to take into consideration. But a guesstimate is great to get started. Have you finished your house yet?
@@chrisharrison3245 haha no I wish I have 3 more inside walls to finish for the cordwood yet. Then all interior walls and ceiling. Iam milling the lumber for those things now. Then I will be building my own cabinets and maybe some furniture. Built a garage and sawmill shed this winter though so making progress.
It's looking good so far. I can see that you have lots of prep work to do each day before you can lay the first log down how long did it take you to do one section with no windows? And how long with the largest windows. I have a lot of preparation planning to do as we have 7 months of winter up here on the Alaska hwy just north of Fort St John BC Canada. And I will have to make sure I can complete the exterior or at least make sure what I have completed is cured and will not be affected by frost.
@@chrisharrison3245it takes about 6 days for us to complete a wall. Maybe a day less for one with a window because it’s harder to go around objects. I’m sure it can be done faster I spend quite a bit of time finding the right piece to fit so joints are somewhat uniform. Having a lot of wood around you to select from helps a lot with that. It’s a slow process. I have seen some walls that look in my humble opinion like that were thrown up with a get it done approach. To each their own. There is a Facebook group about cordwood that is helpful you should check that out too.
@@backinthewoods2022 Yes I can see that you did a double wall. But other double walls that I have seen used the mortar insulation mortar on both sides . And you just used mortar . So my question was did you lose any R value with just straight mortar?
@@chrisharrison3245 sorry Yes I would imagine by using a full mortar bead rather then one broken with insulation between it would be less, but I believe the extra time and labor involved would not be worth the effort. On a double wall you already have considerable amount of R value and both walls are completely separated so there is no transfer of cold through any part of the wall which is huge. I have built both types because I built my single wall 8” sauna and I can tell you it’s more involved then the full mortar bead 8” wall. I think there comes a point where there are diminishing returns for the increase in labor to an already laborious task. A double wall would already be plenty of Rvalue for a extreme environment as long as you use an appropriate insulation and gap space. Simply, I think it would be overkill to insulate both interior and exterior walls.
@@backinthewoods2022thank you for the reply.. my plans are to have 24"walls with 6" rigid blue boards in the center and then 9" cordwood interior and exterior. Now my build is going to be a large two floor. The main house will be 56' x 34' with a 4 bay garage @72' x 28' connected to the house . So a very big project. And up in northern BC we have 7 months of winter so build time is critical. So doing the straight mortar would save so much time than fiddling with 2 x 3" mortar and tamping in 3" of insulation.
