How to Build a Solar Log Cabin

If your long-term wish list includes owning a hideaway far from the urban sprawl, building an energy-sufficient log cabin could be the paradise you seek. With the exception of needing a nearby water source -- a stream, a well, or the ability to pipe in water from elsewhere - everything else about your cabin will be self-sustaining. Given today's advanced solar technology, you needn't have an electrical source, either. Using innovation and technology available on today's market, you can build the cabin, install your own solar power system, and enjoy the blissful life of a self-sufficient homesteader. Ready to start the job? Answer these questions: do you own a piece of land that's situated high enough to keep the floor of your cabin high and dry? Have you located a way to bring water to your cabin site? If you answered both questions with an enthusiastic "yes," use the following instructions to move closer to solar log cabin ownership.

Things You'll Need

• Power chain saw and tools Enough logs to complete the cabin Sheets of plywood Nails Caulking Door hinge Window(s) or alternate window treatments Cement (if desired) Solar panels Nearby water source Alternate power sources

Instructions

1. To start the project, stake out the length and breadth of the cabin you wish to build on your property using string and wood dowels to mark the building's boundaries. If you plan to build on a cement foundation, you must truck the cement mixer to the site, frame up the pour area, and fill the space uniformly. Many log cabins have no foundations and are structured around well-tamped dirt floors. If this is your plan, skip the cement stage and go directly to wall construction. If you want a wood floor, you must wait until the wall foundations are in place so you can secure the wood planks to the side walls.

2. Experts recommend using 12- and 14-foot logs (don't strip the bark if you love a primitive appearance) to construct your cabin. Calculate how many you will need to fit your building's specifications. You can use nails to join together the logs, but tradition calls for mastering the old-world lock-joint method of wall building. Here's how this system works: notches are cut about one foot from the end of each log on both sides. Join the logs together matching notch to notch to create a snug grid. Continue laying and layering the logs horizontally on all four sides of the cabin using the notches to connect them. Think of the Lincoln logs you adored as a child. Remember how nicely all of the logs fit together fitting notch to notch? That's the beauty of the lock-joint method of cabin construction. No nails are required; the notches secure and align the walls as you build them.

3. Continue to build up the log walls until the foundation is a few feet high. If, at this point, you have decided to add a wood floor, this is the time to install it. Arrange your choice of wood poles or beams across the dirt floor in one direction. When all of the planks are in place, use nails to join the wood pieces to each other and to the walls. Once the floor is complete, you can continue to layer and notch logs together until you reach the cabin's desired height. If you plan to lay a flat roof, stop when all four walls are the same height. If you plan to add a pitched roof, continue adding logs in decreasingly small lengths to two sides of the cabin until they reach the two peaks that will support the center of the roof.

4. To construct the roof, choose from plywood sheets, wood boards, metal sheeting, or whatever material you prefer to serve as the roof's foundation. Will your roof be flat or pitched? The style will drive the construction method, but remember that the roof must be sturdy enough to support the solar collectors you plan to install. You can choose from flat boards resting on walls to shape either style roof or you can use more logs to complete the job. You may also want to finish your roof with standard roofing tiles. There's only one choice you can't make: no thatched roofs or natural material roofs because they likely won't do a good job of securing your solar panels.

5. Assuming that you've left openings for a door and windows, you can choose from a variety of materials to fill these spaces. Insert a new or recycled glass window into the frames. Install shutters. Experts recommend crafting a door of vertical boards that have been nailed together with three horizontal wood braces. Install hinges and a simple latch and the heavy construction portion of the cabin is done. As a final precaution, insulate and protect your cabin by caulking all junctures to seal logs and windows from the elements.

6. Your cabin-building job will be complete when you meet your goal of installing solar power. The foundation of this type of system is the solar collector. This flat unit is fastened to the roof to absorb sunlight. You may mount as many solar panels as your roof can hold. Collectors have become cheaper, thinner, and less complicated and are readily available on the internet. If you're skilled and wish to make your own, there are many books and websites offering directions. Since solar collectors regularly run out of steam, you may wish to employ a generator and/or large batteries (the type that powers a golf cart) as backups so you're not powerless when your collectors are depleted. Finally, add some of the conveniences of home. A propane-powered 'fridge is a great start. Wood stoves serve heating, cooking, and bathing needs. If stealing behind a tree to conduct "nature's business" is off-putting, your next project will be to build an outhouse!

Tips & Warnings

• Log cabin dreamers who love the idea but lack the skills to do the construction will want to choose from these alternatives: • Hire a cabin building specialist and turn the job over to him. • Collaborate with a contractor and work together to design and erect it. • Purchase one of the many log cabin kits available on today's market. They range from easy to complex.