How Were Roofs Made on Log Cabins?
Early settlers built log cabins due to the abundance of wood and ease of building such a structure. The log cabin was often built in a square or rectangular shape with the roof constructed of sturdy wood shingles.
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Material
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The type of wood used for roofs depended greatly on local availability, though popular choices included oak, chestnut and cedar. Using green wood ensured that the shingles would not split when a nail was hammered into them.
Rafters
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Rafters made from whole or split logs and notched at the top were used to build the basic roof structure. Nailing strips were applied horizontally across the rafters.
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Amount
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It took thousands of shingles to cover the roof of even a small log cabin. Settlers used an iron tool known as a froe to split shingles.
Shakes
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Pieces of wood larger than shingles, known as shakes, were sometimes used to cover the roof of log cabins.
Other Options
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Many settlers constructed log cabin roofs without shingles, instead laying a log across the top of the structure at the middle, parallel to the long side of the cabin and then using log planks to cover the length from the top of the wall to the log at the top.
Fun Fact
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Log cabins held up extremely well and only needed a roof every five decades on average, according to the Rural Life Museum at Louisiana State University.
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References
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- Photo Credit log cabin image by Ray Kasprzak from Fotolia.com
