Building with Logs

BUILDING with LOGS
Miscellaneous Publication No. 579
U. S. Department of Agriculture
Forest Service
The art of log construction is relatively simple, once a few basic principles are understood. The pioneers who opened the lands beyond the eastern seaboard did not have boards with which to build such shelter as they needed. Logs were so plentiful in the forested area of our country that, with their resourceful ingenuity, the settlers built their homes in conformity with those principles of log construction which prevailed in the countries from which they migrated. Those principles have remained the same down through the years.
The pioneer had but an ax for a tool and consequently made only those articles which could be hewed out of wood. Today there are many tools available, and to do a first class job of log construction one must know how to handle the double-bitted or single-bitted ax, the broadax, saw, adz, chisel, slick, ship auger, and drawknife. In this bulletin it is assumed that the reader is familiar with the ordinary frame building methods used where wood is the principal construction material.
Washington, D. C. Issued September 1945

BUILDING WITH LOGS
By Clyde P. Fickes, Engineer , and W. Ellis Groben, Chief Architect, Forest Service
Contents
A building should have a good foundation, and a log structure is no exception to the rule. For the sake of economy in labor and material it is sufficient, in some instances, to place small buildings on piers of concrete or rough native stone, but usually it will be more satisfactory to use continuous walls of stone masonry or concrete to provide uninterrupted support for the logs and thus avoid their tendency to sag. These walls, however, should be provided with small openings for the circulation of air to prevent the wood from dry rotting. Furthermore, the continuous foundation wall has the additional advantage of preventing rodents from getting under the building. In no case should the logs be placed directly upon the ground since wood tends to decay when in contact with the earth.