Cordwood Homes and Barns

also known as Stackwall, Log End, Stovewood or Cordwood Masonry...

cordwood house
The Kruza House, built in 1884 in Shawano County, Wisconsin was built of stovewood
laid in a bed of mortar. www.lsvejda.wordpress.com
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cordwood house
Cordwood Lodge Bed & Breakfast in Bracebridge, Ontario. www.bedbreakfasthome.com
cordwood house
Renyard Felt's cordwood home near Adel, Georgia. The home is made of cypress and was
built in the 70's. Using dry wood and building with slow curing mortar is key to minimal
cracking. www.cordwoodconstruction.org

cordwood house
Camp Cordwood, Northern Michigan. With cordwood building, curves are easy.
www.thenauhaus.com
cordwood house
Mushwood on Chataugay Lake by Rob Roy. If you do the labor yourself, and use wood
from your property, this is a very inexpensive and environmentally friendly way to own a
home. Image by Pseu www.flickr.com
cordwood house
Cradlerock under construction, Ontario, Canada. www.cradlerockhomestead.com
Cordwood Home by Rob Roy near Rochester, NY., image by Peter Turkow. Via Rob Roy's
FB page: www.facebook.com
Carlson Home near Rochester, NY. by Rob Roy. Via Rob Roy's FB
page: www.facebook.com
cordwood house
Local building codes often require a supporting structure, such as post and beam, then
cordwood as an infill, even though the cordwood alone could support a substantial load.
University of Alaska www.snras.blogspot.com
cordwood house
Alan Adolphson's cordwood home, Hope, Maine. Although spacing the split wood close
together is fine, it should not touch, as this could promote damp conditions leading to
rot. www.midcoast.com
cordwood house
The whole house is built with 14" Aspen (poplar). All the walls are load bearing. Great
Stuff foam was used for insulation. Alan Adolphson. www.midcoast.com
cordwood ho
cordwood house
Alan Adolphson's cordwood home, Hope, Maine. Looks like stone from afar.
www.midcoast.com
cordwood house
True arches around many doors and windows. Alan Adolphson's cordwood home, Hope,
Maine. www.midcoast.com
cordwood hou
cordwood house
Alan Adolphson's cordwood home, Hope, Maine. Do not place the split logs with a flat
surface facing upward, they will collect rain. www.midcoast.com
cordwood house
Stone fireplace & oven to left - cordwood wall on right. Alan Adolphson's cordwood
home, Hope, Maine. www.midcoast.com
cordwood house
Alan Adolphson's cordwood home, Hope, Maine. www.midcoast.com
cordwood house
Mark and Chelsea's home in Kenai, Alaska. The walls are 14 spruce with foam insulation in
the center cavity between the two 3 mortar beads. thenauhaus.com
cordwood house
Mark and Chelsea's home in Kenai, Alaska. thenauhaus.com
Cordwood Lodge, Northern Wisconsin. daycreek.com
Cordwood Lodge, Northern Wisconsin. daycreek.com
cordwood house
Cordwood home in Upstate New York, off-grid. www.rainharvest.co.za
cordwood house
Luke & Amy's cordwood home of debarked cedar in Spartanburg, SC. Lots of overhang for
South Carolina's wet weather. Via: cordwoodconstruction.wordpress.com
Cordwood House by Wayne Higgins (Stonewood) - Log cabin on left, shingle for the
second floor, cordwood on right. www.daycreek.com
cordwood house
Ravenwood is a double wall, LPM, foam insulated triangular home in upstate New York by
Bruce Kilgore and Nancy Dow. www.daycreek.com
Cordwood Garage in New London, MN. Photo by Greg Harp. www.pbase.com
Cordwood Carriage House, New London, Minnesota. For a rectilinear house without a
heavy post-and-beam frame, stackwall corners can be built of squared log-ends called
quoins. The stacked corner functions as a post. www.facebook.com
Bear Claw by Ojibwe tribal artist Bill Paulson, in the wall of the cordwood home on the
White Earth Reservation in Naytahwaush,
Minnesota. cordwoodconstruction.wordpress.com
Cordwood home in Northern Wisconsin. www.daycreek.com
cordwood house
www.ourcedarcottage.blogspot.com
cordwood house
Richard Flatau, West Canada. www.daycreek.com
cordwood house
Lakewood Hollow, www.lakewoodhollow.com
Stone, shingle and cordwood house. If you have stone on your property, start building
with that. Collect logs and let them dry for about a year, then add a cordwood addition
to your stone home. Image by Mark Angelini www.flickr.com
Cordwood Barn, Oconto County, Wisconsin. www.rootsweb.ancestry.com
Cordwood Barn, Oconto County, Wisconsin. www.rootsweb.ancestry.com
cordwood house
Stone Creek Camp, Flat Head Lake, Montana. www.stonecreekmontana.com Architects:
www.anderssonwise.com
cordwood house
Stone Creek Camp, Flat Head Lake, Montana. Architects: www.anderssonwise.com
cordwood house
Stone Creek Camp, Flat Head Lake, Montana. Architects: www.anderssonwise.com
cordwood house
Stone Creek Camp, Flat Head Lake, Montana. www.stonecreekmontana.com Architects:
www.anderssonwise.com
Cordwood home in Quebec, Canada. Love the old pipes, as well as the wall.
For more info: www.troglodium.com
Luke and Amy's cordwood home in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Via:
cordwoodconstruction.org
Inside walls.
Mermaid Cordwood Cottage in Del Norte, Colorado. Via: cordwoodconstruction.org
cordwood house
Feather by Ojibwe tribal artist Bill Paulson, in the wall of the cordwood home on the
White Earth Reservation in Naytahwaush, Minnesota.. Image: Robert Zahorski.
cordwoodconstruction.wordpress.com
cordwood house
Grant Nicholson's arched door on his double wall, slip form, cast quions cordwood home
in Owen Sound, Ontario. Via: www.facebook.com
cordwood house
Glass bottles frame the window. Cordwood walls on top of a stone foundation. Image by
Scot DeGraf www.flickr.com
cordwood house
Indoor tile mosaic 'stream', interior cordwood wall, and hand-hewn beams from self-
harvested timber at Rainbow Valley Farm. Photo by Kristi www.flickr.com
Cordwood Home (without mortar) of Armin Blasbichler, Tyrol, Italy.
www.arminblasbichler.com
Cordwood Home of Armin Blasbichler. Cordwood and clocks are sandwiched between
glass. www.arminblasbichler.com
Cordwood in the bathroom.
blueforest.com
cordwood house
Mecikalski Store, built in 1900, in Jennings, Wisconsin. Eighteen-inch lengths of cedar logs
were used. www.rentandmortgagefree.pdf
Cordwood Barn. www.gallery.pasty.com
Stackwell cornered barn, Canada. www.cordwoodmasonry.com
cordwood house
George J. Sauvala barn, 1929. Between Houghton and Chassel Michigan. Image: Wayne
Higgins. www.daycreek.com
Cordwood Barn.
Stovewood Chicken Coop, Michigan, built in the 1930s. Bob Kisken www.fadingad.com
For a cob mortar mix: 5 gallons clay soaked in water, 5 gallons sawdust, 5 gallons dry
manure, 5 gallons sand, 2-1/3 c. flour glue/EM, 1/3 c. psyllium powder, and 1 tsp. EM
ceramic powder and 1-2 gallons of water. www.home-n-stead.com &
www.daycreek.com
cordwood house
Sage Mountain Center, Montana. Love the mix of rectangular wood with the logs.
www.sagemountain.org
cordwood house
Sage Mountain Center, Montana. Love the mix of rectangular/square wood with the logs.
www.sagemountain.org
Cobwood construction, the inner wall space will be filled with an insulating material.
www.daycreek.com
Cordwood workshop in Grand Marais. See more pictures and info here:
www.bennetthouseproject.blogspot.com
cordwood house
Spray foam as insulation at White Earth Reservation, Minnesota. NPR
www.minnesota.publicradio.org
More about cordwood on wikipedia - www.en.wikipedia.org. Image by Greg Webster.
There are remains of cordwood buildings in Greece and Siberia that date back a thousand
years.
Before you Build:
As with all building methods, planning is necessary. Logs need to be dried to prevent
expansion, shrinking and cracking. Trees should be cut and debarked, then allowed to dry
for 1-2 years, before they are cut into lengths. Or, if you want your wood to dry faster,
split it. The wood will dry faster, and it will crack and check less when in the wall.
Before placing in the wall, spray or soak the cordwood in Borax. The Borax acts as an
insecticide, a wood preservative and a fungicide. Use four cups of Borax (borate) mixed
in a gallon of hot water. This can be sprayed on, or the logs can be dipped in the
solution. You want your mortar to be 'soft' or a little flexible, not straight concrete or
brick mud, because the logs continually shrink and swell.
R-value depends on the species of wood, thickness, and insulation you chose. Cedar has
an R-value of 1.5 per inch; cut to 18" the R-value would be approximately R-27. The
mortar will need to be insulated to bring the R-value up to par with the wood. In Canada,
Cliff Stockey builds double wall homes (not shown): two cordwood walls with a vapor
barrier and insulation in between. Cliff states that a 24" (8" cordwood + 8" insulation + 8"
cordwood) double wall has an R value of 40+. Although this sounds like double the work,
it is not, as you only need to point the outside and most inside wall. www.daycreek.com
Wood types:
Softwoods are best. Cedar has a good R-value (1.5 per inch) and is naturally decay
resistant. Hardwoods have a tendency to swell and crack mortar joints. The best
softwoods: white cedar, white pine, cottonwood, poplar, red cedar, spruce or larch
followed by hemlock and poplar. If all you have is hardwood, you must split the wood
and let it dry for only months instead of years, otherwise it will expand in the wall.
Follow Follow @InspirationG @InspirationG
For a 32' x 36' one story structure - you need approx 5 cords of cedar wood.
Resources:
Earthwood Building School's full length how-to videos. www.cordwoodmasonry.com
Best Practices with Cordwood Construction By Richard Flatau www.thenauhaus.com
Yahoo cordwood forum: www.groups.yahoo.com
Info on spray foam and double walls: www.daycreek.com
More photos: www.daycreek.com
Table of Insulation R Values - www.inspectapedia.com
Books:
Cordwood Building: The State of the Art, Rob Roy (Editor)
Collects the wisdom of more than 25 of the worlds best practitioners, detailing the long
history of the method, and demonstrating how to build a cordwood home using the latest
and most up-to-date techniques, with a special focus on building code issues.
Author/editor Rob Roy has been building, researching, and teaching about cordwood
masonry for 25 years; and, with his wife, started Earthwood Building School in 1981.
Information about what species of wood are best, how to select, prepare and store the
wood. www.amazon.com
List of recent books: www.daycreek.com
See Cordwood Sheds and Cabins as well...inspirationgreen.com/cordwood

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Post Comment
cord wood cabin, round large in Ga. mts.
Reply #9 on : Mon July 01, 2013, 17:18:15
Any direction would be helpful, I have much flex in my design and would like a large round
lodge and 7 to 8 cabins on property.
All the Best, David
Re: Cordwood Homes and Barns
Reply #8 on : Mon May 06, 2013, 12:43:20
I am a freelance writer wanting to do a story on cordwood homes. I live in Joplin, Missouri, so
need a cordwood homebuilder within driving distance: Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma or
Kansas. Preferably a home under construction. Please email me if you or someone you know is
building such a home.
Insurance
Reply #7 on : Sun January 27, 2013, 07:08:27
I live in Arkansas and my wife and I love this style of home. The only set back is home owners
insurance. We have called in state and out of state but have had no luck in finding home
owner insurance that would cover this style of structure. Can anyone help us?
Re: Cordwood Homes and Barns
Reply #6 on : Tue January 08, 2013, 17:51:59
This is a great resource. I have always wanted to build my own cabin and this have given me
lots of great ideas. Thanks for putting this together.
Cordwood Homes
Reply #5 on : Thu December 27, 2012, 12:57:47
I have a book from the seventies of Cordwood Homes out of Canada. One home is huge. It is
a dream of mine to build it here in Maine.
Thank you!
Reply #4 on : Mon November 26, 2012, 14:27:11
I am moving to Alaska and have 5 acres there. Thank you for these images, because I
probably will be making a home from some of these designs; my land has a lot of wood on it.
Thanks again and Happy Holidays! :-)
Thanks
Reply #3 on : Thu July 19, 2012, 04:18:09
Thanks for sharing lovely images, and great inspiration for own ideas.
Re: Cordwood Homes and Barns
Reply #2 on : Mon April 23, 2012, 18:09:55
I really enjoyed your site. I've always wanted to build a cordwood house. some day I'm going
too.
wood and house
Reply #1 on : Thu November 24, 2011, 02:58:41
my qeutions is what will you do to the insect the wille find your woodenhouse?
Greats Hillie from Holland Slagharen
Showing 1 - 20 of 69 Articles
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Building Blog Additional Posts
Cob Under
Construction

Sand, clay and hay. Mix it
with your hands, your feet
or a Bobcat.
Historical Cob

There are cob homes in the
UK that are a thousand years
old. In Jericho, by the
Jordan River, a cob building
still stands that was built
10,000 years ago.
Cob Interiors

Earthy and warm, the inside
of cob homes exude an
incomparable charm.
Cob Homes

Cobbing is making a
resurgence. Form clay, sand,
water and straw into lumps
(or cobs) and create an
'anyform' house.
Herb Walls

Vertical herb garden
inspiration.
Books As Furniture

Creating furniture from
books... Due to the glue that
binds books along their
spine, most paper recyclers
will not take books for
recycling unless the cover
and glue is removed.
Hugelkultur

Instead of putting those
branches, leaves and grass
clippings in bags by the
curbside...build a hugel bed.
Keyhole Gardens

This sustainable gardening
method uses kitchen and
garden waste and gray water
(or wash water) as food for
your vegetables.
Moon Gates

A threshold between worlds,
(or garden features).
Dry Stone Walls

Constructed without mortar
or cement. The art of the
waller.
Wattle Edging

Ancient as gardening.
Wattling is fun and
attractive.
Wattle Fence

Since Neolithic times we
have fenced our sheep and
vegetables in this easy to
make (albeit time consuming)
wooden fence.
Earth Sheltered

The earth-house uses the
ground as an insulating
blanket that efficiently
protects it from temperature
extremes, wind, rain and
extreme weather events.
Modern
Underground

Underground homes with a
modern bent. A large thermal
mass stabilizes inside
temperatures, giving you free
heat in the winter, free
cooling in the summer.
Pit Greenhouses

For those in northern, high
altitude or windy climates
who wish to grow their food
year round. Take advantage
of the insulating properties
of the Earth.
Stacking Firewood

Ingenious ways to stack
firewood.
Rocket Mass
Heaters

The rocket mass heater
works on similar properties
as a masonry heater. A fast,
high heat and oxygen-fed fire
burn up the volatile gases
and particulates, leaving very
little pollution, and turn
almost every ounce of wood
fuel into energy.
Masonry Wood
Cookstoves

Masonry heaters can
incorporate cook stoves. And
cook stoves can act as
masonry heaters for small
homes.
Masonry Heaters
with Ovens

Bake ovens can be either
white (the fire is in another
box, usually below the oven)
or black (the fire is in the
same compartment as the
food being cooked).
Masonry Heaters

Heat, not pollution. The
cleanest burning wood
stoves have been around for
centuries, yet have taken a
backseat to metal wood
stoves and other polluting
energy sources for far too
long. Time for a revival!
Showing 1 - 20 of 69 Articles
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