question about stacked milled timbers need for chinking gap?

[redburn]

I'm planning to build a stacked milled dovetail home.I was planning on using 8x10 with a 1/2" chinking gap.I thought I needed it for a little bit of settling and to have a good sealant inside and out. I plan on using seasoned canta that will be resawn in a couple of weeks. My question is can I stack them without the chinking gap use some king of groove cut down the middle of the timber filled with a wool insulation and then a sealant inside and out? I guess I'm asking if there will be settling issues with no gap? All of my windows/doors interior walls will have the appropriate settling spaces and slip joints.I planned on using wooden dowels spaced 3/4' apart pegging each row. Thanks for any input

[StressMan79]

red,

In short we don't know. I wouldn't build that way, and no other member would either. More power to you, but we really believe in the tight pinned Butt and Pass System for too many reasons to list here (it takes 2 seasoned instructors 2 days of talking nonstop to get all the info across).

-Peter

[redburn]

Peter
When you say " you wouldn't build that way" is that without any chinking gap or you wouldn't build a milled log house with dovetail ends.
Thanks Redburn

[edkemper]

Redburn,

This is a Log Home Website. We build with real logs that are just debarked and stacked basically. We don't mill our logs and don't really have any expertise in how to build with cut wood. We chink to keep out the weather. Our places don't settle so what you should use is different that what we know and use. Our logs have 2 cuts. One at both ends. Can't put a square peg in a round hole.

If you hang in there, perhaps someone smarter than most of us might have a suggestion to 2. But it's likely to be just a guess as we don't have experience dealing with the pitfalls of cut lumber.

[ChainsawGrandpa]

A friend of mine did that.

He milled seasoned timbers, built the cabin on a concrete pad right from where the eighty year old timbers were taken, disassembled the cabin, and then rebuilt it on site. He had gaps, and spent way too much time and money. It was a waste of valuable old timbers, and time. The cabin owner had the lumber for free, but in the end he would have saved money had he just milled the timbers, sold them (old growth) and then built the cabin properly from logs.

G'pa

[Basil]

I have a freind that built his stacked timber home in the same time period I was building my log home. He did a butt and pass style too, IIRC, and to maintain a chinking gap he placed a pressure treated 2X6 in between each row. I can definitely see some advantages, he had all the same size timbers, his chink gaps were all uniform, his shell went up a lot faster than mine, and the wood that was slabbed off to make the timbers was used to floor the interior. He used metal spikes to hold it all together-I'm not sure about wooden dowels. he insulated each side of the 2X6 then used permachink to finish everything out, and for good measure built a porch around most of the house. He moved out fairly quickly though, and I lost touch, so I don't know how it has fared through the years