# Most well-made log cabin anywhere?



## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

I have seen a lot of log cabins/homes, and most were crude at best, even the expensive log homes were poor quality.

It is stunning how well made this one is. The Finnish really know woodworking!

Traditional Finnish Log House Building Process


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

I watched the whole video. Wow! The video is in Finnish, I think, and I do not know that language, but you can learn much from just watching. 

This was very well made and was lots of work. Surely it was made by master craftsmen.

I love the pegging used for several aspects of the build. They used a bit similar to the one OldCoot just got at a flea market to make the holes for the pegs. The whole thing was built with hand tools, various types of axes, saws, planes, brace and bits, scrapers, and variations on tools I have never seen. 

I saw three men working at various times in the video, but a meal was shared with 7 men present. There were several things that required 3 men to move the hewn logs. The one scene had two poles laid parallel from the ground to the top with one guy pulling from the top with a rope while two men rolled the pole up the parallel poles. 

I would think it would be so much more difficult, if not impossible for one person to build something like this. It would be difficult for two men.

They used two different materials for insulating joints. One appeared to be a hair, and the other appeared to be moss. I am not positive due to the language. 

I liked how they used what appeared to be soil to insulate under the floor and maybe the same in the attic. I have always thought of making a root cellar under the floors, but maybe in a place that cold, there is more need to insulate the floor than to store food.

What I did not see was a source of heat such as a fireplace or stove. There appears to be no chimney. Did I miss it?


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## hiwall (Jun 15, 2012)

> what appeared to be soil to insulate


I think it was saw dust.


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

I will definitely watch the video when I have time, I have very little use for "modern" log homes; they are almost always drafty, have architecture that makes them difficult to heat, and at the minimum have very little insulation where the logs meet. On the other hand I have seen some really amazing ones built by European immigrants over the years, as well as examples in Europe itself. Some styles include dovetailing the WHOLE logs together to give a consistent wall width and eliminate drafts (along with chinking). A more practical style involves using whole logs with a simple saddle notch or similar, of course staking with the proverbial "square peg in a round hole" , then plastering the entire wall from at least the inside, some of the logs can remain exposed on the inside or the walls can be flat plaster. The outside walls can be finished similarly and a variety of plasters can be used including an earthen plaster with a lot of straw, hair, etc added. Alternatively, siding of any type can be applied on the outside, and on the inside tongue and groove boards or whatever can be the finished wall if desired.

This gives an incredibly sturdy, fire resistant, well insulated house with a huge amount of thermal mass for not that much effort and quite realistically nothing that needs to be "brought in" except typically the glass.


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

Wonderful!
This is an old craft carried on by true craftsmen, you do not learn that level of skill in a week end.
They did not use a laser level, that I saw, but they did not need one to get the quality, safety & reliability to build & live in a fine cabin.


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## Ezmerelda (Oct 17, 2010)

weedygarden said:


> What I did not see was a source of heat such as a fireplace or stove. There appears to be no chimney. Did I miss it?


No, I looked for one too, and didn't see anything that could be exhaust for a stove or fireplace. Maybe this was a storage building rather than living quarters?

Either way, it was built very tight. Thanks to LincTex for the video link.


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## Moose33 (Jan 1, 2011)

It looked to me like the chinking/insulation in most smaller places was washed wool. If not washed at least combed a bit.

Weedygarden, i agree with you, the larger areas looked to me like various kinds of moss/sod like material.

Like others I was curious about heating. Beautiful little cabin though. I'd live in it.


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## CulexPipiens (Nov 17, 2010)

Click on the "CC" icon in youtube and it does a semi reasonable captioning in whatever language you choose.

Really interesting video, especially when you consider how few tools were used to put it together. The axe alone was probably 75% of the work.

Thanks for posting it.


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## Resto (Sep 7, 2012)

I had to watch the Whole Video. Incredible Craftsmanship.


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## FatTire (Mar 20, 2012)

Good find, very inspiring! 

And thanks for the tip on closed captioning!


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## Salekdarling (Aug 15, 2010)

There is another video you should check out. It's called Alone in the Wilderness. Dick Proenneke spent 30 years in the Alaskan wilderness by himself - he actually took video in the 1960s putting together his cabin with all homemade tools. It's really enthralling to watch. Plus, the narrator's voice is so soothing.


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## Cast-Iron (Nov 8, 2013)

Salekdarling said:


> There is another video you should check out. It's called Alone in the Wilderness. Dick Proenneke spent 30 years in the Alaskan wilderness by himself - he actually took video in the 1960s putting together his cabin with all homemade tools. It's really enthralling to watch. Plus, the narrator's voice is so soothing.


I was thinking about Dick Proenneke's cabin while I watched this video. From what I gather (_and I believe it shows_) the Finnish video was about modern day carpenters plying their craft using more traditional tools. While their workmanship was certainly "top notch", IMHO the log framing was more of a hatchet job (_pun intended_) than the quality achieved in the Proenneke cabin. Perhaps the Finnish crew had greater time constraints they had to meet? I did prefer the roofing system used by Finnish though. That is the one area where I felt Dick Proenneke took a serious shortcut in his project. Doors, tool handles, and even hinges were made on site. Truly a remarkable display of workmanship. It is now maintained by the US Park service within Lake Clark National Park.

Both are good videos, thanks for sharing LT!

Here's a link to one of the many YouTube vids about Dick Proenneke's Alaskan adventure:


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

Cast-Iron said:


> I did prefer the roofing system used by Finnish though.


Yes, it's top-notch. The notched log system was really tight (literally!)

A cabin in the winter climates needs to handle a significant amount of snow load at times, perhaps several tons.


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## Virginia2Hillbilly (Dec 19, 2013)

Yea I am starting to see alot of that popping up around here there's atleast 20-30 cabin's on or near the blue ridge parkway.


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