Cordwood 

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 work EDIT: He mixed mason jars into the East and West sides of the house. Beams of sunlight spray into the living room at various times of the mornings and evenings, it's the best. Foxfire books ideas lol

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.

Just wanted to say thank you. This is the most informative post I've had the privilege of viewing in my 2 weeks of research on alternative sustainable building. You did a fantastic job of explaining the steps of building with cord wood and lime and sand mortar. I appreciate you taking the valuable time to make this video SR.❤😊

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!!

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

Loved the video. Craftmanship is superb, Thank you for documenting this and sharing .

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!

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.

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

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.

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 !

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

So artistically beautiful. I love a cordwood construct! Thanks for sharing.

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

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 :)

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

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

Love the presentation and detail provided. Great video!

We really like the look of this; it just seems warmer than all stone. Thanks🌿

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

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. :)

As an HVAC guy this is brilliant, great job

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

Thanks for explaining so well !

Brilliant. As a mason/bricklayer id just like to say you'd be better off using a trowel instead of your hands to spread the cement it's faster and also make it wetter. SAFETY please note folks that lime can explode, if you tipped lime from a bag into a container it can actually ignite and explode, stay safe happy building.

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

Great idea . Never thought about lime based mortar.

Excellent! Great information. Love the detail!!!!

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

There's one in Wabowden Manitoba Canada at 30 Tait Rd. Built something like 1980. My parents sold it to another family that I ended up knowing the brothers. The walls were easily 18" thick

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

Very well done and very well spoken...

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?

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

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?

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.

thank you for all of your time and expertise

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

Excellent video explaining this technique. I'm probably gonna be building an aircrete dome but will definitely consider cordwood since I got a lot of it at my property in WV. Has anyone ever told you that you look and SOUND like Peter Weller? It just so happened as I was watching this video, that I was wearing a Buckaroo Banzai t-shirt as well. Regardless, great video! Many Thanks!

this was an amazing video, thank you for making these vdeos, learned alot

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

Beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

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.

Thank you for explaining this so well, truly fascinating! I hear your comments about the process being time consuming, however I think compared to traditional log building it appears to require less precision due to the joinery and also I would think that it is less back-breaking. I could be wrong.

very great video.. shout out from Rowe Virginia

Putting old fashioned stucco outside would be a fast attractive finish.

That cool dude. I had a property in Alaska. It burned down.

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

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

This is absolutely beautiful! I love it!

Nice job!

How do you deal with the expansion and shrinkage of wood

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

Great info

The volume was so low I had to hold the speaker next to my ear The music was a touch louder thanks for sharing

⁹old power poles work good

Thanks

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

Very nice, good video too. Did you run conduit for the electric, or romex in the sawdust void area?

We have Stack wood walls that are a little over 15 years old. We used pine as that is plentiful here. I have been somewhat disapointed with results long term. The wood keeps shrinking over time. Eventually you end up with a wall that resembles Swiss Cheese. The straw bale walls we built many years ago with a dust-crete cover have done exceptionally well I have a video entitled, "Straw Bale House Life 28 Years and Counting" that documents that. I wonder what the R value per inch of dust crete is. Also, have you done any fire tests with Dustcrete? If you have not, I may want to try that just to know. You are doing some good work. We could learn from each other.

I always thought one built with boisdarc and the dead air spaces filled with the sawdust from the logs and lime mixed. Wouldn't rot, bugs wouldn't mess with it, should last forever.

Sweet. God bless.

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.

Any photos of the timber frame or blueprints? This is exactly what id like to build

How do you keep termites out ?

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.

Dude is Robocop!

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

This seems like it would rot super fast. There is a reason we dont build with exposed wood like that. Its always in contact with damp concrete. Wood doesnt like that.

such a simple subject and you TALK and TALK !

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?

22:00 are there any issues with the lime sawdust being in contact with the electrical wire?

Looks like bishop Strickland!.. anyways, great build.

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”).

Soo how did the dust create work out? Looking at options myself to fill in a pole barn walls. Do you think it’s strong enough not to fall out or break out? As compared to standard Osb covered sheathing

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!

did you stain the outsides of the logs?

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!

This is a great demonstration,very informative. Thank you. I still think it's faster or the same as milling all the lumber an the end result ls beautiful.

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

Add some borax with the saw dust it kills bugs and ants six buc a box no bugs !

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.

That's a beautiful cottage you got there. I'm not sure if that's dirt or melanoma on your face, though.

Is there a reason you wouldn't use cobb instead of mortar?

It is beautiful.

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

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

After living in a log home for a few years, I decided against building with cordwood because of all that end grain will certainly be drafty in there. Sure the lime mortar will help

Do you use the wood green or dry it out?

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 .👍🏽

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.

So are u using caustic lye or non caustic lime?

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

I've seen others treat the cordwood (borax) before letting it season for bugs. Since your wood was already seasoned, would you treat it if you were putting away green wood to air dry? I just don't want to treat a lot of wood incase it becomes just fire wood.

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.