Insulating a log cabin

[zanp]

I just purchased a log cabin that was built in 1980. The logs are 6" thick, rounded on the outside and flat on the top, bottom, and inside. The are connected with a tongue and groove and a thin layer of foam. There is no chinking. It has cathedral ceilings and a metal roof. I do not know what type of insulation is between the ceiling and the roof, hopefully something. The house is approx 1600 sq ft with a finished basement (no heat in the basement but an older Fisher wood stove). There is insulation on the ceiling of the basement. The basement temp stays around 40F unless I use the stove, which I rarely do.

We are heating the house with a Regency I3100 insert and this works great until the outside temp drops below 25 F. Below 25, it is difficult to get the house above 62 F.

Other than hanging drywall and insulating the interior walls, what are some things I can do to insulate this cabin? Will caulking between the logs help, replace older windows, etc?

 

[mikeathens]

Sounds a lot like my situation...

I have a 1870's cabin w/chinking. Drafty as hell. I get out the expanding foam, backer rod, fiberglass, etc, and fill in cracks as I find them.

What I would do if I were you is to get an energy audit done. Might cost a couple hundred $$, but worth it. I will be doing the same on my house. They will actually pressurize your house with a fan and then take IR photos on the outside. The super leaky areas will show yellow/red - if you have poor windows, these will also show up.

I can't remember what that test is called - or who would do it - but if you search, you should be able to find a pro in the area. I know it is a common thing in the energy effeciency world.

 

[mayhem]

I built a Lincoln Logs log cabin in 2002 that sounds very similar to what you're describing (1750 sq feet, cathedral ceilings, full basement, etc). We used a product called Log Builder to seal up any drafts and larger chinking. I would recommend that you do your best to identify the spot in the outside shell where you have air intrusion and seal from the outside in to keep any potential water out...additionally this helps trap air which acts as an insulator. I bought a case of log builder adn then another one when I went through it...I have a few tubes left and I use a bit every year for new chinking and as the house settles and develops new drafts.

My roof is asphalt, but the trusses are 16" thick and heavily insulated. If you can hear rain on your roof as abnormally loud then you may have insufficient insulation in your roof...metal roofs amplify the sound of rain considerably, but the proper amount of insulation will totally negate this, so if you can't hear it you're probably good there.

On a cold day, walk around your house and feel everywhere for temperature changes and drafts. This is easier to find on cold and windy days. Whereever your hand feels a cold wall, you've got a suspect spot that may need some attention.

Another route you could go is to contact your local energy companies and get a home energy audit. One of the steps they do is a draft test where they'll close all the windows and door and put a real big fan on one door, then test for drafts with either smoke or maybe infrared.

For what its worth, I would say 98% of my insulation problems are my door and window frames or the doors and windows themselves (Lincoln uses Vedder windows and doors..."just as good as Anderson" they say...I disagree) They're all low e glass and doors, but many were not mounted properly and I've been yanking them off one at a time in the summers to correct the problems. The logs themselves are easily the best temperature insulators I've ever experienced...even on the coldest days my logs are nice and toasty on the inside, even at the seams. The only places it gets even cool to the touch is near a door, window or where an outlet had to get grooved into the logs at a doorframe. I found much to my surprise that one of my biggest drafts was a 3 switch lightswitch panel thats right on the front of my house next to the end sliding glass door. Since the switches are embedded in the logs, what they did was cut a lotch in the logs from the floor right up to the log where they had to go and then drilled a one inch hole horizontally to where the switches are. This owuld have been fine if they made an effort to seal it up, but they didn't. I filled in the drill hole with non expanding foam and then put those switch plate foam things in behind the wall plate to help cover it all up...almost no draft there now.

 

[Mr. Zog]

aaah the realization that wood is not a good insulator. I will spare you my personal beliefs in log cabins and try and help you out. You can get an energy audit done, Energy Partners in downotwn does a fine job.
I am familiar with the log home you are talking about. The logs are tight so sealing the logs probably isn't the answer. Your cheapest route is looking at your basement. If you don't plan on using the basement spray icynene on the underside of your floor, basement ceiling. This will tighten up the gaps and you will notice an improvement immediately or you can frame out your basement walls and then spray icynene.
Assuming your walls are tight you can focus on the ceiling/roof. Most all timber framing companies in the area usually layer the pine ceiling, 3" foam board, plywood, another layer of 3" foamboard, plywood and then the roofing. This dampens the sounds of the metal roof and is plenty of insulation. The downside is the cost seeing as how your roof is already on and additions to roof insulations are costly.
Lastly, you can update your stove to a masonry stove utilizing thermal mass, utilize solar heating if you have the exposure, and weather proof doors and windows.
Remember these cold snaps we are having is not typical unless you are above 3500' elevation.

 

[raybonz]

I just purchased a log cabin that was built in 1980. The logs are 6" thick, rounded on the outside and flat on the top, bottom, and inside. The are connected with a tongue and groove and a thin layer of foam. There is no chinking. It has cathedral ceilings and a metal roof. I do not know what type of insulation is between the ceiling and the roof, hopefully something. The house is approx 1600 sq ft with a finished basement (no heat in the basement but an older Fisher wood stove). There is insulation on the ceiling of the basement. The basement temp stays around 40F unless I use the stove, which I rarely do.

We are heating the house with a Regency I3100 insert and this works great until the outside temp drops below 25 F. Below 25, it is difficult to get the house above 62 F.

Other than hanging drywall and insulating the interior walls, what are some things I can do to insulate this cabin? Will caulking between the logs help, replace older windows, etc?

Hi zamp,
I have a log home too and it sounds similar in design to yours. We ended up sealing between the logs outside with ultraclear acrylic latex caulking and replaced all the windows and doors with Andersen products. We had a massive draft problem where the upstairs met the downstairs and cured that by shingling and overlapping upstairs which is standard to the logs and this took care of that. I think the claim is that 6" thick logs are about R-11 or same as a an insulated 2x4 walls. Drafts are the real killer though. My woodstove heats this house well and it feels warm. Hope this helps.

(broken link removed to http://www.reddevil.com/products.cfm?c=cs&cat=41)
bottom of page, right side worked well and was inexpensive.

Ray