What To Consider

What to consider...

Northern Scandinavian Spruce & Scandinavian Pine

The type of Tree we use Scandinavian Spruce & Scandinav...

The type of Tree we use

Scandinavian Spruce & Scandinavian Pine are two names given to the same type of tree. The tree is by far the largest and most important variety of all the coniferous, providing more resin, paper pulp and building timber than any other tree family. Evergreen and resinous, the spruce's thick and scaly bark provides a protective layer around the sapwood and heartwood interior.

Sapwood is the youngest part of the tree and is generally softer due to its conduction of water and fluids. Recognizable by its texture, it is lighter than the inner heartwood, is low in resin content and has very few knots. As the tree grows in diameter, the innermost layers of sapwood become heartwood and new sapwood is produced on the inside of the woody stem.

As a tree increases in age and diameter an inner portion of the sapwood becomes inactive and finally ceases to function, as the cells die. This inert or dead portion is called Heartwood. Its name derives solely from its position and not from any vital importance to the tree. Full of preservation fluids such as resin, the heartwood section is much harder in texture.

The type of Wood we use

We only use Heartwood from the Northern Scandinavian Spruce for our Log Cabins. The Northern Scandinavian Spruce provides the very best timber for this type of application. Northern Scandinavian Spruce is grown near the Arctic Circle where the extreme cold reduces growth rates and, this means the wood has a very tight grain and higher density than faster growing varieties.

We buy timber from several forests with different mills; this allows us to source the best quality timber; although we ensure that each cabin is made with wood from the same batch of logs from the same mill.

Our wood is inherently stable and does not give rise to the twisting or warping often associated with the inferior woods used in log cabin manufacture these days. In addition to sourcing quality wood, all of the timber we use is kiln dried to ensure dimensional stability. High quality wood is expensive. With a very cheap log cabin it is just not possible that it is manufactured from as high a quality of wood that we and many other suppliers would wish to use. It is a fact of life that if the price looks too good to be true then there is usually very good reason why it is so cheap!

Log Cabin Design Tips

Log cabin design requires careful thought and planning in order to achieve efficiency ...

Log cabin design requires careful thought and planning in order to achieve efficiency and control construction costs:

Overall Plan

Stack bathrooms over each other, or place them next to each other, or stack a bathroom over the kitchen to save on plumbing costs.

Spend some time on your property at different times of the day and different seasons to get a sense of light and shadow, as well as views that reveal themselves when the leaves disappear. Orient your house to take advantage of the views and the light.

To utilize passive solar gain, keep the main façade facing south and include long overhangs to block summer sun but still allow winter sun to peek under the eaves.

If utilizing an existing plan, bear in mind that it's generally not a problem to simply flip the entire design if that gives you a better layout for your site.

Keep your footprint square to save money on corners - one of the reasons costs can escalate as corners are more difficult for concrete forms, framing, finishing, roofing, etc.

Build up rather than out and you will save money since your footprint remains small. You will maximize your log cabin design and capture more usable floor space on the same foundation on upper levels.

Plan in an outdoor room to bring the outside in and the inside out. Outdoor space comes in at a fraction of the cost of finished interior space.

Be careful of too much open, sweeping space inside your cabin. Cozy is good, too. Some rooms benefit from a cozy feel, such as bedrooms and kitchens. Tuck these under a ceiling and leave the open cathedral ceiling for the great room.

Interior Elements

Don't be afraid of using a plaster wall on some interior walls. This can break up the expanse of wood and provide dramatic relief with bold colors or set off the wood with a soothing pale shade.

Tucking a fireplace in the corner on the diagonal makes a commanding statement and saves space as well.

Good lighting is made up of three key elements: task lighting, ambient lighting, and overall space lighting. Consider carefully how you include all three.

Install CAT-5 or CAT-5e wiring to every place where you might want a desk or computer at any time in the future so it will be easy to expand your capabilities.

These are just a few tips to keep in mind to save money and maximize efficiency with your log cabin design.

When thinking about a Custom Built Log Cabin

What do you need? Guest room, spare room, work room, leisure room, therapy room, garag...

What do you need? Guest room, spare room, work room, leisure room, therapy room, garage, everyone needs some extra room. What you need is a custom built log cabin, that is just the right size and is designed to your specification.

Here are some of the choices you can make when designing your custom built cabin:

• Wood thickness - 45mm, 60mm or 95mm
• Wall - single log thickness or dual wall with insulation
• Size - width, depth and height
• Extra internal walls - have as many rooms as you want
• Windows - choose the type and size of each of your windows
• Doors - type and size of your doors, full glass, half glass or solid wood
• Glazing - single or double glazed windows and doors
• Roof covering - the colour is up to you
• Floor and roof insulation - make your cabin more efficient to heat
• A Terrace and, or veranda is possible on both the width and depth
• Roof - choose either a ridge roof or sloping roof and the angle of it

Send us a plan or description of your needs and we can get a quotation calculated for you.

Roofing Options - Bitumen Roofing Shingles

See how easy they are to fit. Our shingles are guaranteed 15 years! ...

See how easy they are to fit. Our shingles are guaranteed 15 years!

green shingles black Red shingles

Our bitumen shingles are available in three colours - Forest Green / Coal Black / Tile Red, see Right.

Each standard pack covers 3m2 if applied correctly, the dimensions of each shingle is 1000mm x 330mm and each pack contains 21 pieces.

Ridge tile packs cover 5m2, ridge tiles are 1000mm x 250mm and each pack contains 20 pieces covering up to 20 linear metres to line the roof edge or 12 linear metres of ridge.

Bitumen shingles require a minimum 13 degree roof pitch.

Approx weight of each pack:

Standard pack - 35kg

Ridge Pack - 30kg

Roofing Options - Tile Profile Roofing

Our Metal Profile Roofing fits stylishly into both the natural la...

Our Metal Profile Roofing fits stylishly into both the natural landscape and the architecture of a log cabin.

The Polyester matt coating has good weather and corrosion resistance. A matt surface is characteristic of this coating. The matt surface is ideal for log cabin holiday homes and other buildings where roof insulation is going to be used. Products made of Polyester matt coated steel comes with a 10-year warranty.

At the moment we are only able to stock the Red shade of this roofing. We have included an image of what this colour of roof looks like below, though this should only be used as a indication and not an exact match.