Part 3

If you have been wise, you have a long, straight log of unquestioned strength saved for your ridge pole. This should rest in notches at the very peak of the gables, and since it forms the keystone of your house, be sure it is solid and well bedded in oakum. The auxiliary roof supports, called purlins, run parallel to the ridge log and should be set by notching out the gable log where the purlin end rests. Cope the log above it so that the two gable logs grip the purlin firmly. These purlins ought to project eight or ten inches beyond the roof itself to allow for axe-trimmed ends. (Fig. 9.)

Smaller Logs for Rafters

Rafters are the next problem. Choose smaller timbers, yet ones that are well proportioned to the purlins. For the average cabin, logs with four-inch butts are about right. They should be spaced not more than two feet on the centers. Saw a square cut into the plate log—the top logs of your walls—then square a place on your rafter to fit into this cut. Drive it well home. (Fig. 9.)

FIRST LOG OF SIDE WALL, NOTCHED TO FIT OVER JOIST JOIST FLATTENED VERY SLIGHTLY SILL, HEWN FLAT ON TOP FOUNDATION GAIN TENON

Each rafter should be cut in slightly to the purlins and spiked tightly to each purlin and to the ridge log. When setting in any of these pieces don’t forget to bed them well with oakum to make sure that they are weather tight. Dressed siding is good material for the roof. On this nail the roofing you have selected.

The type of roofing used depends on how much you want to spend. Composition roofing is fire resistant and will last quite well, but it is not particularly attractive on a log cabin. Shingles laid in the customary way with the butt ends exposed for about one-third of the length make a good roof. Shakes probably make the most interesting as well as durable roofs for a cabin, although they are more expensive. Shakes come in various sizes and add a final distinctive touch to a house.

If you expect to use your cabin in very cold weather, a double roof would be the wise provision. After laying your sheathing, cover it with a layer of building paper or other insulating material. Then nail on a series of 2×2 timber strips parallel to the rafters beneath. Across these strips lay another layer of sheathing and then the shingles or shakes. This forms a dead air space that is effective in insulating the house against cold.

Use Planks for Cabin Doors

If you are going to keep the pioneer atmosphere in your log cabin, don’t spoil it by buying millwork doors. Good, honest plank doors—made of any dressed timber, with cross pieces firmly nailed and clinched—are more in the spirit of things. A little ingenuity will go a long way toward making a beautiful door out of humble materials. Have some country blacksmith make a set of strap hinges and an old fashioned latch. You’ll be well pleased with the effect. A good, strong snap lock is a necessity to keep out intruders in your absence, of course.

If you want a good floor with a cabin “look” to it, get a supply of planks in widths varying from 6 to 12 inches—and have them tongue-and-grooved at the mill. Instead of nailing them, bore ¾-inch holes half way through and fasten them down with screws. Into each hole drive a hardwood plug, gluing it for tightness; then cut it off and smooth it down flush with the floor with sandpaper. This gives the effect of a “pinned” floor, which was very popular with the pioneer cabin builders.

Tongue-and-grooved flooring in narrow widths should be “blind-nailed”—the nails driven in at a slant from the sides and set with a punch, but for wide planks it is perfectly all right, if you wish, to nail through the boards and let the heads show.

How to Prevent Pests

Log cabins, particularly those where the bark is left on, fall heir to many evils in the form of borers and beetles that make their homes in the bark. Winter-cut logs are less likely to have borers than others, and if they are to be peeled, peeling should be done in the spring before the first flight of the beetles. Cedar and redwood are almost entirely free from borers. Peeled logs are not likely to attract boring pests, but they may be the home of larvae previously laid there.

If you do not care if your logs are stained, they may be painted with a solution of liquid oil coal-tar creosote. This stains the bark a dark brown, if used straight, but diluted with three parts kerosene it stains only slightly. The odor is rather unpleasant, but if the treating is done several months before the logs are used, it will wear off.

Pyridine, a colorless liquid, is one of the best pest killers. It also has a strong, unpleasant odor. It should be applied on a windy day and in the open air. It burns the skin slightly, so be careful. Also, it is highly inflammable.

Paradichlorobenzene is a very effective control but is not permanent in effect. It will, however, rid your logs of existing pests by slowly liberating a gas which kills the insects. Dissolve three parts, by weight, in a gallon of kerosene and apply either with a spray gun or a brush. Small logs may be dipped in a trough filled with the solution. Two gallons will saturate about 100 square feet of wood surface.

For logs that are to retain their bark, it is also well to paint all cut places and knots with crude creosote soon after cutting and again before use.

BUILDING A CABIN OF STONE

Next to a log cabin one of the most effective in appearance is one built of stone—rough field stones and boulders that can be picked up on the shore of any lake or stream. Naturally, such a house is a pretty big task for an amateur builder—not that it requires much more technical knowledge but because stones have a way of getting pretty heavy when they have to be lifted 8 or 10 feet off the ground. However, the result is well worth the effort.

If you are ambitious enough to want to build a stone cabin, here are some simple directions about how to do it. They are the result of actual experience but, of course, cannot be taken as a practical course in masonry.

The first step is like the old recipe for rabbit stew—you get some rocks and a load or two of aggregate, clean sand and numerous sacks of cement. (Tell the cement dealer what you plan to do and he’ll advise how much of each you’ll need.) You’ll also need a quantity of rough lumber, 2×4’s, 1×6’s, and such, for the framework and a more or less water-tight mortar boat in which to mix your mortar.

A cabin of stone requires a full concrete or rock foundation. The walls will be extra heavy, so the footings as well as the foundation walls should be proportionately wider and thicker than those described for log and frame cabins.

MORTAR FILL SMOOTH FORM OF PLANKS OR PLYWOOD MORTAR FOUNDATION

After the foundation is poured, erect a frame for your house to the height of your roof plate on the inner side of the foundation walls, putting rough boarding on the outside of 2×4 studs. This will give you something to work against to insure plumb walls.

Stone walls should be at least one and one-half feet thick at the bottom (remember this in building the foundation) and taper to eight inches or so at the top. The larger rocks, of course, should be used lower down, although, if the work is carefully done, an occasional large one may be set in higher up to lend effect.

Mix Mortar Thoroughly

Start the first course of stones about three inches from the board form and fill in the space between with mortar. The correct mixture for this mortar is six parts of clean sand to one part of cement. After a little experimentation you will find the correct consistency, but be sure that it is well mixed. As one expert says, “Mix the stuff with your hoe until your back is broken and then mix it some more.” Wet the stones thoroughly before setting in the mortar.

The end of each stone should be firmly bedded in the mortar, and as soon as several courses of rock have been laid, tamp the mortar well down. Small pieces of rock may be pushed into the mortar if you wish to make it go farther.

When you build your wooden form, of course you put up the door and window frames. They can’t be cut out of the walls afterward as with a log cabin. Drive numerous long spikes into the outer surfaces of these frames. This gives you something to “tie” to when you reach that height with your masonry.

Building a stone house is slow work, and since you’ll have to leave your work at times, remember that all mortar that has been laid the day before must be thoroughly wet before fresh mortal is applied on top of it. And the entire walls ought to be wet down at least twice daily for a week or more after completion.

When you have reached the top course of stones, set in a row of threaded iron bolts two feet apart and long enough to allow three inches of the threaded end to stick up. On these you must bolt 2×4’s, so that you have something to nail the rafters to.

2″×6″ WINDOW FRAME SPIKES TIE FRAME TO MASONRY

When the walls have set, remove the interior wooden forms and go over the inside walls to fill up any air holes. These are not important unless they are too large. The rest of the job is done just as in finishing any other house. You’ll probably want to cover the interior with some material, because concrete is pretty cold and might remind someone of the time he was arrested for speeding.

The cost of a stone house depends on the amount of material you can find lying around the neighborhood and the cost of labor. Some stone cabins, with most of the labor hired, have been built for approximately $2.50 per square foot of floor space. This includes labor, materials, built-ins, electrical wiring and fixtures, and plastered walls. If you find it necessary to hire skilled stone masons or to transport your material considerable distance, the cost will be higher. You can, of course, lower it by doing a larger amount of the work yourself.

Remember that stone work is slow work, so allow yourself plenty of time. The first course or so of stone will drop into place pretty fast, but don’t forget that Rome was not built in a day—and Rome was built of stone.

For making colored concrete, for floors, hearths, etc., a topping containing the color is put on over the previously-poured base. This topping consists of _five gallons_ of water per sack of cement, _one_ cubic foot of sand and 1½ cubic feet of coarse aggregate. You may use factory-colored cement, or mix it on the job by passing the dry cement and coloring matter through a screen with a ⅛-inch mesh until well mixed.

An excellent treatment for colored concrete is to rub the surface thoroughly with equal parts of paraffin oil and benzine. This closes the pores and brings out the color uniformly.

In considering such permanent types of construction as stone, the great advantage of concrete should not be overlooked. Walls of this material are poured between wood, plywood or metal forms in the manner previously described for foundation walls.

Perhaps you object because the finished structure would not be “in keeping” with a woods atmosphere. But one method is possible whereby a facing of natural stone backed by poured concrete combines the advantages of concrete with a stone house “look.” This is called a Flagg Masonry Wall after its originator, Ernest Flagg, New York architect. The illustration shows the method of pouring such a wall.

For a beach house the smooth, modern lines of the concrete walls are quite appropriate for the clean, clear atmosphere of a beach site.

Concrete is fireproof, termite proof, requires little or no maintenance, and is not subject to decay. In a house that is often not in use, like a beach or mountain retreat, the value of a material of these characteristics is obvious.

FURRING STRIPS LATH & PLASTER, OR ONE OF THE PLASTERBOARDS, OR PLYWOOD FORM LUMBER OR PLYWOOD CONCRETE STONE

FRAME CABINS AND BEACH HOUSES

Frame-type cabins present no structural problems that are unfamiliar to anyone who knows the fundamentals of ordinary frame house construction. The essential details of building almost any sort of simple frame house are the same, the main difference being in your choice of exterior finish.

If your vacation home is a beach house, you may even find the regular type of stucco finish appropriate for your particular location. Or you may want to combine stucco finish with wood siding or with board and batten. The main objective is to keep the structure in harmony with its surroundings.

This is particularly true of simple cabins in the mountains. A brick bungalow, for example, would be splendid for warmth and strength for a hunting lodge, but it would be wholly out of place in the forest, as would ordinary concrete finish, stucco, or certain types of frame houses.

There are a number of western lumber companies that specialize in manufacturing novel types of siding designed primarily for cabins and other buildings with a forest background. Some of these cost only a little more than ordinary lumber and make a very attractive cabin.

Among the novelty sidings, you may buy rounded siding that gives the effect of smoothly finished half-logs, or “hewn” timbers that look exactly like hand-hewn logs. You can even get special end pieces which, when carefully attached, give the effect of projecting log ends. As you can see from the illustrations, this novelty siding can be applied by anyone who knows how to use a set of carpenter’s tools.

If you are planning to build a frame cottage or summer home, the field of design is, of course, limited largely by the amount of money you have to spend. If you are not an old hand at carpentering it would be well to get the assistance of a builder or a lumber company in selecting your materials. A man with a knowledge of building can keep you from making mistakes that might not be discovered until the house was built.

One of the easiest and most effective cabins is built with a “board and batten” exterior. This consists of broad planks ... their width is a matter of your own judgment ... applied either horizontally or vertically. Between each pair of planks runs a strip of batten which may be nailed flat over the seam or, if you get the specially milled battens, there is a groove into which the wide boards fit. A combination of board and batten and stone construction makes an exceptionally attractive exterior if you use some artistic judgment in combining the two.

If you are planning to use the house in the cold months, it is well to insulate the walls at least with heavy building paper. In very cold climates it is best to finish the walls on both the exterior and the interior, filling the spaces between the studs with one of the commercial insulating “wools,” made of wood fibre or asbestos. If you must save money, you can buy sawdust at the local mill and pack it in.

Hand-split shakes also make an attractive cabin finish. The rough pioneer effect of the crude shakes is quite in keeping with the wilderness atmosphere. These are applied in much the same manner as ordinary shingles.

RANDOM WIDTHS SAW-TOOTHED ANGLE BUTTS

If you undertake the construction of a frame cabin without the assistance of an experienced carpenter or builder, you should keep in mind the minimum requirements set up by the Forest Service as standard specifications for cabins to be built in deep snow country:

All girders should be not less than 4×4 material spaced not more than 7 feet on centers.

All main posts supporting building should be not less than 4×4, spaced not more than 7 feet apart in any direction and should rest on rock or concrete base; this applies to open porches also.

All floor joists (including those under open porches) should be not less than 2×6 material, spaced not over 2 feet on center.

Studding in sidewalls, where siding runs vertically, should be spaced not more than 6 feet on center and should be not less than 2×4 material. At least one 2×4 should be placed around the building, horizontally, between the floor plate and ceiling plate, and the side boards should be securely nailed to this horizontal ribbon as well as the top and bottom plates.

On buildings where siding runs horizontally, studding should be placed not over 2 feet on center on outside walls and be not less than 2×4 material.

Double headers and proper bridging should be installed over all openings in outside walls. This is not necessary in partitions.

Rafters should be spaced not more than 2 feet on center and should be not less than 2×4 material on all spans up to 16 feet. All spans of more than 16 feet should use rafters of not less than 2×6 material and be spaced not more than 2 feet on center. Rafters and other members of the roof frame should be of selected, straight-grain lumber.

All ceiling joists should be good, straight-grained sticks not less than 2×4 material and spaced not more than 2 feet on center. Nail them securely to both rafters and plate. All buildings with a gable roof should contain ceiling joists. All spans of more than 14 feet should have collar beams to support the rafters.

THIRTY CABIN PLANS

a CABIN in the CLOUDS

The ideal mountain cabin should be almost a part of the rugged landscape that surrounds it, with rough walls and stout roof that seem to hug the rocks. The very majesty and sweep of the hills dwarf any attempt by man to build himself a tall, imposing mountain home—it is better to build for simplicity and strength.

In this “cabin in the clouds,” resembling some of the mountaineers’ huts in the Alps, every effort has been made to keep the atmosphere as rustic and as rugged as possible, at the same time providing all the conveniences of a comfortable modern home.

The walls, the designer says, should be of stone, 16 inches thick. The roof should be of redwood shakes or slates, but remember that any roofing must stand storms and very high winds in the mountains. The railing of the car shelter is of stone, also, with roof supports of heavy hewn redwood timbers.

The living room centers around the massive fireplace, which should be of rough stone. It is flanked on one side by a built-in seat, and a wood box on the other, with an outside door. Walls should be finished in rough plaster or wood panelling, with ceiling beams exposed. All floors are of wood except the terrace, which is flagstones.

On the front a broad window overlooks the terrace and, presumably, a sweeping view of a valley. A big sliding door of glass opens on the terrace also.

Opposite the fireplace is space for two built-in bunks in an alcove, enclosed by a curtain hung from a ceiling track. The bunk room proper, with a dressing closet and clothes closet, contains two double-deck bunks.

The kitchen may seem a bit small, but it is larger than many found in modern city apartments, and much more convenient.

a BEACH HOUSE MODERN

A broad beach, with lots of fine white sand, would be the ideal location for this ultra-modern beach house, with its clean, sweeping lines. As in the case of many of the new houses, there is a generous use of glass. In the outside walls are shown 22 windows, which should satisfy any fresh air addict.

Construction of this streamlined beach house calls for a concrete substructure and first floor with wood frame above. To insure a cool house, the most satisfying exterior would be dazzling white stucco, which is an excellent heat reflector. The floors should be of concrete flagstones or tiles, tinted and waxed.

The sun deck is a welcome feature on any beach house, because there are days when the ocean breezes are cool, and one may bask here behind the protection of glass screens.

Inside, the plan calls for a single room with high ceiling, and a series of sliding curtains which cut off the bunk room and a dining alcove if desired. There is a separate bunk room for guests. If double-deck bunks are used, eight persons may occupy the house.

The bathroom has the added convenience of an extra toilet, or the space may be used for another closet. As in all well-planned beach houses, there is an extra shower just inside the entry from the beach.

The whole interior may be done in plywood panels, either natural color or painted in a light-colored eggshell finish.

The broad open spaces beneath the house serve several purposes. They offer ample storage for beach umbrellas, chairs, ping-pong table and such, as well as a dressing room for bathers. By careful planning beforehand, a dumb-waiter could be installed to connect the kitchen with the beach, thus saving many steps when serving a barbecue meal or a cold snack on the sand. It will be noted that the fireplace chimney base has been utilized as a beach barbecue, so that food may be prepared without going up to the main kitchen.

a SKI LODGE in SNOW COUNTRY

1^st Floor 2^nd Floor

Here’s a quaint little mountain hut that the Seven Dwarfs might like to live in. It’s a ski lodge, designed to withstand the roughest weather, yet its construction is simple and the cost extremely modest. The cabin consists of a 16-foot octagonal room on the ground floor for living quarters and a second floor bunk room. Five or six may be accommodated upstairs, since three beds just fit. A wall bed on the first floor sleeps two more.

Construction of this unusual cabin is all of wood, with concrete or flagstone floor. Built for use in cold weather, the walls should be of double sheathing packed with insulating wool, in addition to the shakes applied outside. Eight posts form the frame, with 3×4 rafters running to an octagonal block at the peak. Two 6×8 timbers support the second floor.

Tiny as it seems, this lodge offers a maximum of room for lovers of snow sports. The height is 14 feet from floor to peak.

Most unusual of its features is the door in the roof. At first glance this might seem odd, but the first time the main door is buried under ten feet of snow, you’ll be glad the roof door was put in.

There’s a fireplace on the ground floor, of course, and all the conveniences for a week-end stay. However, in such limited space as much of the furniture as possible should be of the folding type. It will be noted that no provision was made for bath or toilet. These features would have to be in a detached structure, which is preferable to addition of a side room, which would spoil the unique shape of the house.