Construction of a Greenacre Log Cabin
A Greenacre log cabin is an intricate building however its construction is simple yet strong. It is important to check that every piece is included before you start to construct your Greenacre log cabin kit.
To begin, the pressurised ring beam is constructed onto the top of the pressure treated bearers which together make up the solid foundation of the log cabin. Next, the interlocking tongue and grooved, Baltic sourced Pine boards are stacked on top of one another locking the notched ends together to create a wind tight connection to each corner of the cabin. It is best arrange these around the bottom of the construction and work around and up so that each level is interlocking correctly. The half boards are arranged between front gable and door space to create a gap for the entrance to slot into. The other boards are placed between door space and window space to create an area for both the door/s and window/s to fit into. Once the height of the door is reached, the window and door are slotted in and fixed with the rest of the notched boards. The remaining full tongue and grooved boards are interlocked and notched into place on top of the door/s and window/s of the log cabin kit up to eaves height on all four gables. It is imperative at this stage to ensure that the height of each gable is the same and that each top board is flat.
When the eaves are in place and everything is laid flat, the two gable tops slot onto the top of the construction to create the apex of the log cabin. After these are in place, the storm bracing needs to fixed onto the interior corners. This is because as each storm brace is fixed and screwed, it can twist the log cabin construction slightly which if not aligned with the other storm braces, could affect the overall position of the log cabin and cause the roof to be off-centre. If this occurs, the roof could have gaps, causing the building to be drafty. When it is apparent that everything is straight and level so far, the roof purlins need to be slotted neatly into the gable notches. These will create a level base for the log cabin roof tongue and groove panels to fit onto. These are then fixed with hammer and nails to the purlins. The finishing boards are then fixed to the ends of the log cabin roof and this completes the exterior building ready for shingle overlay to be applied.
The inside of the log cabin is now ready to be finished, tongue and grooved floor boards are laid onto the pressure treated bearers neatly into place and the beading is then laid around the bottom of each internal gable.
The building is now finished but it’s important to remember that over winter when conditions are damp, the log cabin wood may swell and that in the summer, when conditions are dry, the wood may shrink. For the first year of having your Greenacre log cabin, it may be worth adjusting the tightness of the screws on the storm bracing to ensure a stable building all year round. After the first year, the building will settle and won’t require this specific maintenance. It is important to keep the building protected from the elements however with a high quality log cabin preservative. This will need to be applied when the building is finished and subsequently afterwards according to manufacturers instructions.