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