DIY Log Cabin

[thebraketester]

Hi.

Has anyone had success in designing and building their own Log cabin? Along the lines of the picture below but bigger?



Any ideas where you can get the T&G style "logs" from? I have looked online and not found anything outside the USA.

We are wanting to build one that is 7m x 4m keeping in the 2.5m height restriction. Most of it being a sound insulated studio and the smaller partition being an actual shed.

Thanks

Rich

[thebraketester]

battered said:

Not a log cabin but a big shed. My Dad designed and built it, I helped here and there. This being my Dad, it was built to a better standard than most houses. It had cavity wall insulation. No, I'm not joking. The outer skin was ~12mm T&G, inner OSB. Do not underestimate the labour involved, and you will probably need a table saw. You can get by without, but it's hard work.

Sounds like the sort of plan we have. Double skin with insulation and a few sheets of plasterboard.

We are Herts so average weather conditions.

So we a thinking that a traditional Frame and TG&/Shiplap exterior would probably be a better way to go?

Thanks

[thebraketester]

Thinking about it... it would take forever and a day to chop all the logs to slot in.



This is pretty much bang on what we want. 3/4 studio and 1/4 normal shed.

[thebraketester]

battered said:

They look a damn sight better with a low pitch roof and you can stay under 2.5m.

You could build that as a traditional T&G shed without drama, it would look very nice.

Cool. Got a handy neighbour who built his own shed, so he might be called to duty! :-)

[thebraketester]

Jesus.... Just had word back from the guy who made the one in the last picture.

He estimates around £800 per floor square meter.

7m x 4m ..... yep.... £22,400.

:-O

[thebraketester]

21TonyK said:

thebraketester said:

Jesus.... Just had word back from the guy who made the one in the last picture.

He estimates around £800 per floor square meter.

7m x 4m ..... yep.... £22,400.

:-O

Did he gold plate the interior?

haha... my thoughts exactly.

[thebraketester]

battered said:

£22k? WTF is it made of? Gold?
A 5m x 3.5m (appx) with a shallow pitch roof will cost you about £1000 for the wood if bought as planking. Then you have to build it, bearing in mind it is just a pile of planks. Interior trim is of course extra.
for windows and roof trusses you can hang around your local merchant until something comes along that's close enough to what you want and you build it with that.

Thanks battered.

I am gonna very roughly budget about £2500 quid for it. Including a concrete base and all the double skin insulation, electrics, lighting and finishing the interior.


Just had a quote of 680quid for a 7x4x0.2 poured concrete base. I presumed thats the best option. Maybe 20cm is too thick anyway

Edited by thebraketester on Monday 25th July 17:51

Edited by thebraketester on Monday 25th July 17:52

[thebraketester]

Electricity is already there and we dont have the worry of water or drainage etc.

Like you say... no doubt that budget will be firmly booted into outer space once we start specing it up.

Looks like a beefy cabin that one magooagain.:-)

[thebraketester]

V8RX7 said:

Costs do add up.

I built a nice 4m x 4m shed with double doors using shiplap and 3x2 framing - but made it in sections so it could be moved.

It took me and a carpenter 1.5 days to build and cost circa £1k in materials using plywood floor and roof - however 8yrs on it's still pretty much as new.

Thats good to hear. My neighbour is recommending shiplap too over T&G

[thebraketester]

Simpo Two said:

thebraketester said:

Thats good to hear. My neighbour is recommending shiplap too over T&G

How about cedar shingles over T&G? Not the cheapest option but I think they look nicely arboreal and cosy. They also last for several decades.

Yeah they do look nice. I presume you tack that on over OSB?

[thebraketester]

Muppet32 said:

You have to watch out using plasterboard as your inside skin as the timber structure has a tendency to expand and contract a lot more than plasterboard will, leaving you with cracks, especially where the walls meet the ceiling. Log cabin manufacturers often use a metal channel walling system to isolate the p/b from the wooden structure.

Obviously you could consider some form of timber cladding inside too - painted, stained etc.

Good point. I had not considered that. I think brick build is out of the question due to planning permission?

[thebraketester]

No. Also brick it gonna get expensive.

Ive just read that the max size I can build is 15sqrm floor before I have to get PP. 7*4m would need PP then :-/

[thebraketester]

Looks nice turbo spud. I absolutely love cedar... but we have got to cover about 45sqrm and it would get "expensive" :-)

Edited by thebraketester on Wednesday 27th July 10:41

[thebraketester]

We have decided against plasterboard inside now due to the mentioned moisture issues. We are going to use, thick marine ply and paint it. We could even ship lap the internal walls too i suppose.

Some of the spec is thus far. (not in order of construction)

~6x3.3m base out of 45x120mm treated timber with 25mm Celotex between the floor joists. and rockwool on top... then 18mm OSB to make floor. Divided into a 4x3.3m studio and 2x3.3mm shed

~Shell constructed from 38x140 CLS. 25mm Celotex in between batons the packed with rockwool.

~Breathable membrane wrap the entire structure.

~Shiplap exterior walls.

~Roof out of 38x140 CLS (maybe treated timber not sure). again 25mm celotex then rockwool and boarded with board of some sort, ply or moisture res mdf inside and OSB on top with roofing felt

~Then the Whole inside wrapped again and clad with board.

~Floating floor. high quality laminate or maybe even engineered wood floor on sound insulating mat.

~Maybe carpet the ceiling.


Already up to £2700 thats including 400quid for a skip. I still need to work out costings for windows and doors, and acoustic door seals etc. and LX etc. (its gonna be 3.5k isnt it... LOL)


Basically the theory is to pack the 140mm cavitiy walls, ceiling and floor with 2 types of insulation as thickly as possible, hence 140 battons. We should end up with a ~3x3.7m usable room space.

We are thinking UPCV (dark grey) exterior windows and doors with triple acoustic glass. There will be a double door system on the studio with a heavy fire rated door on the inside, with rubber seals. The window "void" will be then glazed from the inside too.

Basically get it as airtight as possible. Its never going to be 100% soundproof, but hopefully it will cut the racket music we make down to a minimum

Ill then make 2 baffled air vents boxes and add them on the rear of the construction. One with an inline fan inside to give some air flow.


And I am being to start to wonder if its gonna be worth it! lol

Any glaring issues? or advice? much welcomed.


Rich

Edited by thebraketester on Wednesday 27th July 11:31

Edited by thebraketester on Wednesday 27th July 11:38

[thebraketester]

magooagain said:

The underside of the floor joists need to be ply lined before insulation is installed. Get it completely sealed so no rodents can enter from underneath and nest.

Good thinking. So just use a 3.6mm ply would do it?

[thebraketester]

Ive worked out the costing so far via known dimensions and item cost per length or sqrm etc. 2700 so far... however I dont think we will get much change out of 4K by the time we have finished.

[thebraketester]

Those tiger garden shed look fine but thats £4K for a 6x2.3m one, which is too small. And Its got too many windows and we would still need to double skin it on the inside. So that would end up being 5.5K

The one I am mapping out will be way better than that one. The timbers in that one look very narrow.

[thebraketester]

LOL.... now THAT is a log cabin steve.

I really need to change the title as its going to be more "shed" in terms or its basic construction.

[thebraketester]

Blimey.... thats quite reasonable.

[thebraketester]

Well it wont come as a surprise that its running "slightly" over budget... I have yet to even buy one fking nail yet.

Current running total is 5K.... lol

Current wall/ceiling spec is...
-89mm CLS Stud work
-25mm Celotex
-50mm DMF 80kg acoustic insulation
-11mm OSB (maybe)
-Resiliant bars
-19mm Acoustic Plasterboard
-2.6mm Techsound 50 mass loaded Rubber membrane
12.5mm Acoustic Plasterboard.





And yes... it will have a roof :-)

Edited by thebraketester on Friday 12th August 22:22

Edited by thebraketester on Friday 12th August 22:23