Would you like to check out our new Cordwood Construction Website & Blog? It is easy to navigate, filled with beautiful pictures, videos, instructional posts, books, plans & links. Go to https://cordwoodconstruction.org/cordwood-timber-framed-sauna-in-michigan and have a “click around.” If you’d like, please sign up to subscribe to the new blog. FYI, all NEW blog posts will be posted at this new site. 
Want to learn about the Top Ten Best Practices to make your building warm and energy efficient (or cool and energy efficient)? 
How about a cozy place by the fire?
Thinking about an Off-Grid cordwood cabin? 
Want to build a sauna that doubles as a guest cottage?
How about a cordwood castle?
Or a hybrid cordwood cottage?
Million dollar cordwood lodge.
16 sided cordwood home?
Want to create a cordwood work of art for your community?
Whatever your cordwood ideas; on this new site, you will find detailed information so you can proceed with confidence. Visit https://cordwoodconstruction.org to explore all your options.
Bryan & Lois Pratt built this unbelievably gorgeous cordwood home in Woodland Park, Colorado. It is 12 sided with a full post and beam log framework. This is a masterpiece of good construction and design. The back windows and deck look out onto Pike’s Peak!
The kitchen at the Pratt’s home is a lovely place for a healthy meal. 
Albert Norris built this beautiful cordwood cabin with double doors in Alberta, Canada.
Cordwood and blue windows with bottle bricks in Alberta, Canada. 
Double Wall with 4.3 KW array in LaCrescent, Minnesota by Alan Stankevitz.
Nick Kautzer post frame and cordwood in California.
Oklahoma cordwood using red cedar and bottles to make a cozy family room. 
Washington State cordwood with Western Red Cedar.
Vancouver Island cordwood home with a fish pond.
Spartanburg, South Carolina with a spiral staircase and a basement. 
Asheville, North Carolina, cordwood on a mountain top.
Cordwood home at White Earth in Minnesota made of cedar, with a room in the attic truss for an additional 800 sq. ft. of living space. 
The Cordwood Education Center Classroom in Merrill, Wisconsin.
Flatau’s Chateau lovely cordwood home in Merrill, Wisconsin (above and below).
The Cordstead in Quebec: a BnB by Sandy and Angelika. 
Sebastien Demers and his round and rectangle cordwood home in Quebec City, Quebec.
His banana tree produced 30 pounds of bananas!
Kinstone Cordwood Chapel in the springtime. 
John Meilahn, Copper Harbor, Michigan. 
Should you wish to learn how to build a cordwood cottage, cabin or home, please visit 
“It’s around 12 feet square, we used lime mortar, the wood is softwood-larch and pine. It’s in the garden between 2 areas. Front door to enter, back to get to next bit (side to BBQ area). I haven’t totalled the cost-the cordwood was free, mortar not much, but the post and beam frame and roof were costly… could have been done with much smaller beams etc – we just went for chunky so it would last.”
“We still have to render the blocks once we get a bit of decent weather. We are planning to insulate in between the beams, as we have found it retains heat well. We have electric and a radiator, so it could be used as an extra room to sleep in when the family all descend on us.”
It is a lovely place to sit, we have great views & it’s a perfect spot to watch the sunset.
“We just used the lime mortar-there’s a lot of old stone buildings around us with thick walls, all done with lime mortar and they’re still standing and cool in the summer so we figured it would be fine.”
“We cut and dried the wood in our polytunnel for around a year, and dipped each log in a borax solution before using. The mortar was easier, as we have a nearby supplier of lime mortar, which we mixed using your instructions for lime putty mortar. We used what they call an unhaired course mix and added a bit of argical as it’s pretty damp in Cornwall. We mixed it in a cement mixer a batch at a time and after a while learnt how much wall we could do per bucket of mortar.
It was really good to have a range of shapes and sizes for filling awkward gaps but I often wanted little triangular ones and wood does not split into 4 evenly. (We ended up with a nice lot of kindling!) I would advise anyone attempting a build with a partner to be sure they have a good relationship, as we had quite a few heated ‘discussions’ during the process (but were always ready to tackle it again the next day)!
We could only get green or clear bottles, so after cutting I painted the inside end with glass paint that is set by putting in an oven-a few didn’t take well, but the majority did and it’s nice to have some different colour in there.
Baz writes, “Another pic of the inside…using an old sanding disc, I used friction to “scorch” the wood to darken and bring out the richness in the grain and also to protect the cordwood...this part of the UK it’s very damp so charing the ends of posts etc without using chemicals is not uncommon. We will see how that turns out in years to come… for fun, under the window is “hidden” a sailing ship for our gran kids to find,on other walls there are a clown and a cat…skirting boards are nearly finished and the white double doors are going back to wood…it’s been fun and thanks for the positive feedback…ocean apart, but same ideas …happy builds, Matey’s…”
Western Red Cedar in a 30 year old cordwood home in British Columbia. The mortar joints are approximately one inch and the cordwood has all been split into unique and interesting shapes. 
(Above) lots of well placed cordwood in a wall at Greg and Clare’s. 
Above is a fine example of various shapes embedded in a mortar matrix. 
Ned Thilo used a brick framework with a random display in the center. He also used an off center crescent moon motif to create a work of art.
As did Chelsea and Mark with their Alaskan sauna. 
Eric and Beth used rocks, bottles and a lightning bolt. 
Here deer antlers, bottles and marbles are used. 
Maranda is rightly proud of the work she (and others) did on the star wall at Kinstone.
A sauna in Poland benefited from a very large, undulating piece of log and a red earthen mortar.
Rounds and splits with 8 inch cordwood. 
Paying attention to and having many different sizes and shapes is incredibly helpful in creating your own piece of wall art. This process starts when you are splitting and stacking your wood for drying.
Made from Western Red Cedar and Douglas Fir, this is a massive post and beam framed beauty with large overhangs.
A primary check will run right through the large rounds, from inside to outside and must be stuffed to prevent air and insect infiltration. 
Huge Douglas Fir posts make a sturdy statement. 
These large pieces will continue to shrink in the wall, so caulking like Permachink or Log Jam (which comes in mortar colors) is important to have on hand. 
This home was built in 1994. It is on the top of a hill and shows a wonderful view of the surrounding mountains and valley. It has 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths and sits on 1.26 acres.
These buildings house classrooms, kitchens and dormitories that serve the middle school girls from the area. The girls are able to continue their education and learn skills that are income producing. Many volunteers and organizations have helped in the support and construction of this wonderful community. Rob & Tara Cahill are the Directors.
The shingles are recycled tires and are donated by a Canadian shingle company. They are guaranteed to last for 100 years. Comforting thought in the rain forest!
The Quetzal’s have high stone foundations to funnel the ever present rainwater away from the buildings.
The community grows traditional fruits and vegetables (local squash is pictured above) and has an industrial kitchen to make jams, jellies and salsas to sell on the world market.
The beautiful windows are handmade by local artisans.
Students learn valuable skills that help them with high school and employability.
Elvira, a graduate of the Cloud Forest Conservatory, is teaching plant identification and their uses to a group of visiting students. There is also an ornithology program run by Cornell University. Many unique species of birds and plants are to be found in the adjacent rain forest.
Young students were taught masonry skills to erect the buildings. 
The front porch is a valuable and beautiful teaching space.
Cleaning logs for the cordwood infill.
The 12 sided cordwood chapel with thatched roof.
The Dragon’s Keep with living room. Most excellent photos are courtesy of Rick Swanson. 
An entrance center with a Star Wall. 
Looking to the every changing horizon.
The chapel has nature motifs from St. Francis of Assisi’s poem The Canticle of Brother Sun and Sister Moon. The yellow orb is Brother Sun. 
The stone circle is the largest in the USA. Visit 
The reflecting pool gives one a chance to sit and refresh. 
The exterior is 12′ x 16′ and makes a nice footprint for a tiny cabin.
The straw-clay cottage sits on a pier foundation and has three coats of earthen plaster. It has honey bee motifs in the walls. 
The scales of the dragon in the Dragon’s Keep are apparent and the trapezoid window shows her wing.
The large dragon (there are 24 in all) shows off his green eye. 
The 10 point “shed” provides a nice coat hanger for weary travelers.
9. Door frames and window boxes attached and ready for cordwood infill.
Cygnus and the Red Planet (without Matt Damon).
Many hands make light work. 
![Leftover Log Ends [Cordwood]](https://cordwoodconstruction.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/bird-feeder.jpg?w=200&h=200&crop=1)
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