Interior wall trim sheetrock wall to Double D log wall

[jdinapoli]

I have purchased an unfinished "Real Log Home" log home. I am finishing the interior. Is there a premade trim to cover where sheetrock walls meet Double D style logs? If not any ideas?

Thank you all for your time.

Joe

[dvb]

I have seen but have not tried this method. They made a vertical cut into the logs and slid the drywall into the grove. If you nail a 1 x 4 to the wall and then run your circular saw on the board, it will make a groove with a flat bottom after a few passes. When you have your 1/2" wide groove your drywall will slide into it and no seam will show. This all assumes that you do not have interior walls up yet.

Good Luck!!

[jdinapoli]

Thanks for the quick response but yes the walls where up mudded and taped. I just had to texture and paint. Thanks again.

[rreidnauer]

It wouldn't really be possible to make a premade trim, unless the logs were VERY uniform. No, you'll probably have to do a custom scribed trim. With either a sheet of drywall, or a wood trim, you'd hold it up against the logs, assuring it is vertical. Then, you need to scribe a line that follows the contour of the logs onto your drywall or trim board. A tool to scribe the line can be anything that will hold your pencil away from the logs several inches, but something that is fairly narrow where it will come in contact with the logs, so it will make the most accurate copy of the log's profile. A 12" ruler with a pencil taped to one end at 90` angle would work. You have to use care that you hold the tool as level as possible to duplicate the profile as accurately as possible.



I hope you can visualize this. I realize it's always easier for the person who's describing to understand it, verses the person trying to figure it out. If still not sure, continue asking questions.

[Kama]

Here's another way to scribe the profile. Stand the sheetrock up against and perpendicular to the place needing work. Take a ball bearing, or something similar, put a pencil in the inside hole of the bearing and run it down the wall tracing the profile onto the sheet rock.

[adubar]

A washer can be used with a pencil, with good results.

Although, in a log wall application a bearing would have more surface area in contact with the pencil, which may be easier to use.

The trick is to keep the pencil as "level" as possible to allow for a truer line.

When I've used this type of method for scribing, I've always had the work on a table in front of me (with the contour I was copying laying flat and the piece I was scribing set up perpendicular to it), so the "level" I was seeking was the ground. It was easy to let gravity move things along in a horizontal fashion. All I had to worry about was that my pencil kept parallel to the ground.

Working vertically, I assume you would need to find a "base line" to reference your pencil point so that you do not underdraw or overdraw your line. The tendency most people have with pencils is to rotate or move the pencil toward or away from themselves while drawing long lines, which moves the point and the line is affected. This must be prevented in this case to get an accurate line. So, whatever you decide is a "level" reference/position for the pencil you should strive to keep throughout drawing the line.


Regards,

A

[rreidnauer]

Actually, that wouldn't work, because the resulting line will draw a profile larger than the log itself. Also, depending on the depth of the joints, it would not provide enough "reach" for the trim to get all the way into the low spots of the mortar joints. (you'd run off the edge of the trim-piece before your scribing reaches the full depth of the joint)

I forgot to say that a cheap pencil caliper would work just fine, and can probaly be bought at any five and dime store. Example:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/titantornado/ca_1_b.jpg

[Kama]

That's true. I never used it on something like this before. The depth in the profile is to much. It would fall off the sheetrock. I haven't really thought through that yet. The first foot of sheet rock is nothing but the profile, isn't it.

As far as a good representation of the profile. I use it all the time for my woodworking projects. The radius increases by 1/8" to 1/4". I use the bearings from my router bits. It's never been a problem and with sheet rock it's very forgiving.

The thing I don't like about the compass is that if it isn't held perdendicular your profile gets off. But again with sheet rock it's very forgiving.

[rreidnauer]

Yep, it takes a careful hand to get it right. I won't kid anyone by saying it's an easy thing to do. If you recall Ellsworth demonstrating scribing logs for notched style construction, he emphisized the great need to hold the tool at a proper and constant position to get maximum results.

Practice on something cheap before attempting it on your expensive trim-piece. :wink: