Building your Log Cabin: Working with Flooring and Rafter

Building your Log Cabin: Working with Flooring andotherwise. The corners should bediagonally braced.
RafterIf you are going to use vertical tongue-and-groove
Connectionssiding as theexterior finish, be sure to use a
Girders are used to support concentrated weight.herringbone bridging system asshown in the sketch.
Sometimes theyappear at the outer edge of theThe purpose of this bridging is to stiffenthe structure
building in pier foundationwork. More often they areand to give an intermediate nailing surface forthe
at some mid-point of a joist span. Theuse of girdersvertical siding. Where sheathing is used, it is
permits joist members to be smaller.notnecessary to use bridging. If the exterior finish
In most cases the girders are made up of severalrunshorizontally, sheathing is optional and bridging is
2-or-3-inch-thick members supported on piers. Solidnotnecessary.
memberswould be better but are harder to handleSupporting members for your finished roof are called
and aren't alwaysreadily available.rafters. Inthe case of single-slope roofs, they look
Each cabin should have only one %-inch thickness ofand act like floorjoists. A pitched roof has the rafters
flooring fora starting point. This is sufficient for mostrunning from the plate atthe outer edge to the ridge
cottages. At alater date you may want to add eitherpiece. Like the floor joists, theroof rafters have been
a composition or finishedhardwood floor. The planksdesigned to carry a load of 35 pounds persquare
where a composition floor is to belaid should not befoot and are based on a fiber stress of 900 or over.
wider than 3 inches or may be %-inchMost members are 2 by 6 inches. If you live in an
plywoodsheets. All flooring should bearea of veryheavy snowfalls, you will want to
tongue-and-groove except plywood.increase the size of the roofmembers (probably 2
The sole is run around the perimeter of the buildinginches in depth. A double plate made of
like thesill, except that it is laid on top of the flooring2-by-4-inch material is essential for all the cottages.
and joists.Thispart of your construction is at the top of the
A sole should also be placed under each partition. Ifstuds, and itforms a support for the roof members.
the studsare placed so that their wide edges areAt the corners plates arenotched or butted and
parallel to thepartition length, it will be necessary tospiked together.
cut the 2-by-4-inchsole to the 2-inch width of theYou will find that over door and window openings
stud.something hasbeen added to the plate beam or
The sole helps to transmit loads to the joists, girders,additional support to take theextra load of the span.
andfoundations. It also serves as a nailing surface forWhen there is a pitched roof on thehouse and the
theinterior finish. The studs will be nailed to thisceiling follows this pitch, be sure to use collarsor
surface.crosspieces as shown in the illustration. These should
Studs are usually 2 by 4 inches thick. They arebeless than 5 feet on center.
available inlengths from 4 feet to 20 feet in multiplesCollars keep the pitched roof from pushing out the
of 2 feet. They reston the sole and are tied in at thesides and areusually l-by-6-inch boards. When erecting
top by a plate. The siding ofyour cottage will bea pitched roof, nailthe end rafters to the ridge and
attached to the studs.plate first--this will give youa nailing surface for the
In the corners of your building use three studs asother rafters. You can also use one ofthe end rafters
shown in theillustration. All door or window openingsas a pattern for notching the rest of therafters.
should have two studson each side unless shown