For those who may be interested;  here is the link to the foam we used.  

http://www.energyefficientsolutions.com/foamproducts.asp#AC   

It is the Quick Cure type listed in the first couple of slots. 

 There are other "spray-it-yourself" foam companies out there.  Do a google search and ask questions.  Shipping can be very expensive.   This company gave us a break on shipping and a discount on the kits.

  The cost was approximately $4000+ for the whole "kit and caboodle."

  Sandy has a method of figuring out how much foam one would need.  Sandy please advise.

A couple of questions, respectfully submitted:

I'm assuming you used foam between the cordwood for insulating/infiltration. If you have a material with high R-value (the foam) next to a material with a lower R-value (the cordwood), heat, being the lazy bugger it is, will take the easy path thru the wood, thereby negating the (very exspensive) R-value of the foam. Wouldn't work better to create a thermal break with the foam?

Once the wood checks won't you have infiltration problems anyway?

With a hydroscopic material (wood) next to a closed cell foam aren't you causing the dew point to happen in the wood? Once the wood is moistened isn't the R-value is decreased even more?

I'm all in favor of spending more money up front to permanently lower the long term impact of a building, but it would seem to me the $4K spent on the foam just dosen't get you much bang for the buck.

It is a beautiful building, I really enjoyed the pix!

Hi Captain Steve,

   Thank you for your interesting questions.   I would start by saying that you trained the General Contractor on this crew in all things renewable and energy efficient and solar.  Robert Zahorski rented your home and eventually bought it near Ladysmith.  He talked fondly of you as we built.  We decided, that based on performances by two homes in Canada (Ontario & Quebec) that this would be the "toasty ticket" for northern MN.  Not what you would call a statistically significant sample, by any stretch of the imagination.

    I am theorizing that the cordwood will do its usual "wicking away" of moisture like the short log ends do.   The wood being used here is cedar and the "straw effect" (the log ends acting like a bunch of strawberry milkshake straws to wick moisture in or out) of the relatively short log ends (16") seems to work well for cordwood walls.   This is certainly not a scientific statement (perhaps a botanical one), just an experiential one.  My cedar log end home of 30 years acts that way.   When a wall gets wet from rain or snow, it doesn't stay wet, but dries out quickly. 

  As to the checks that develop in log ends:  We filled each of the primary checks with foam before they were mortared into the walls, and if a random check opens up we will stuff it on each side.   This is part of the maintenance of a cordwood home.   Check stuffing. 

  Having discussed this in detail with Sandy Clidaras: who has lived in his closed cell,  foam insulated, single wall cordwood home for 5 years now,  he writes of the lack of air infiltration, the warmth of the walls and the ease of heating.   This has become more of an 'ancedotal method' than a laboratory tested method, which come to think of it, is a lot of what has fueled the cordwood movement.   However, the book Cordwood and the Code: A Building Permit Guide was an attempt to put all the cordwood testing data in a cohesive document. 

   In the final estimation this was an attempt to give the gal who is purchasing this home the best bang for her buck.   Hopefully we did that, time will tell.

   Avast and shiver me timbers Matey,

Captain Cordwood

Shiver me timbers!?, these days its "shiver me foam core vacuum bagged fiberglass coated hull with carbon spars", does't quiet roll of the tongue the same!

If I remember right, Ann and Robert sold thier boat to buy our house, not sure he ever forgave me! I do have a picture of Robert feeding Iguanas (just before he went swimming with the shark), nothing to do with cordwood but I'm sure the crew up a White Earth would get a chuckle out of it...

   Pirates and their questions!  Geesh!

1.     16" cedar cordwood log ends (treated with borax, exterior ends   stained with a UV blocker: Lifeline from Permachink)  To reduce darkening.

2.    Mortar joints are 4.5 inches.

3.    Insulation cavity is 7"

4.    The Fomo Foam that we used is listed at R 6.2 per inch.  http://www.energyefficientsolutions.com/Quick_Cure.asp?item=FOAM605

   Watch out for capn steve, iguanas & for sale homes & boats.   Forewarned is forearmed. 

Captain Cordwood

All of this is wonderful. Great job on the house.

I have been trying to spark interest in alternative building methods in the First Nation communities in Northern Ontario. Many of the communities suffer from substandard housing and on overall lack of housing to meet needs. I will be forwarding the link to this discussion to the editor of an Anishinabek newspaper to see if it will spark some more interest amongst community leaders.

When I attended a workshop at Rob Roy's home in NY several years ago, there was a Mohawk couple there learning cordwood methods.  I believe they were from near Montreal.  I wonder if they ever built their home?  I seem to remember that they lived in a Mohawk community and were researching ways of building inexpensive, natural houses. 

Enjoying the pirate talk, by the way! We missed national "Talk Like A Pirate Day" by a few weeks;  it was Sept 19th, I think.

Oh my gosh!  Naytahwaush is practically in our back yard!  Probably 10 miles cross country from where we are building our cordwood home/garage on Long Lost Lake!  How exciting!  We would love to trek over there next Spring on the 4-wheeler to check it out!

Do you have contact information for Robert Zahorski.  We may be looking for a roofing crew next Fall or Spring of 2011 for our house.   

Pics of our garage taken earlier this year and house plans are at this link ("House Plans" Forum topic): 

http://www.daycreek.com/dc/asp/forum2002/display_topic_threads.asp?ForumID=2&TopicID=1997&PagePosition=3

It was pretty exciting to see this posting!

Wow!  Small small world!  We know exactly where on Long Lost Lake he used to live.  We're southwest corner.

 Thank you so much, Richard!   We'll be giving Robert a call.

Cord wood Eye Candy. Totally cool. Heh Richard, I meant to ask you when you first posted, could you elaborate a little more on that "corner post" explanation. (I think its the 7th photo down from the top). It looks like the concrete block wall is already 16" wide (at both sides of the corner) so I don't quite follow how the 12" vertical course came into play.

I know in the past you showed a hand drawn top end view of a corner detail using back to back 8" upright post beams. That design required mortering the stackwall against the 16" side first, then mortering the opposite corner which "overlapped" the previously mortered wall by 8".

Thank you

This house / project made it on Minnesota Public Radio today.

Here is a link to the MPR website that has pictures and the radio segment.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/11/10/cordwood-homes/

Congratulations to all involved!

Thank you for the explanation and additional photos. I now see why a vertical course of shorter logs were required. I guess I was not sure why that smaller diameter post was even used on the inside. Maybe it provides additional support for the floor joist/ truss system above. Speaking of that upper floor joist/roof truss connection that last photo makes me scratch my head some more. ( I am getting good at that ) Those side ways U shaped 2 x 4 braces are what I speak of. Maybe those will help transition the top of the cordwood wall once it is completed that high. Sorry for the barrage of questions Richard, I do enjoy learning from these various building methods which I hope will help me with my future project. Maybe another photo from the inside of that upper wall area I spoke of. (with the cordwood wall completed)

Thanks again