~ 2001 ~
A Night with the Leonids
A Night with the Leonids This journal entry has nothing to do with building a cordwood house, but I felt compelled to share with you my Leonid meteor hunting adventure. If you still think I’m...
Stacking Cordwood and the Northern Lights
Stacking Cordwood and the Northern Lights Its not as large as the first great wall of cordwood, but a double row over 60 feet long by over 4 feet high isn’t too shabby either. Each log was cut...
Barn Board Bonanza
Barn Board Bonanza On a recent trip to one of the local state parks, I noticed that the state of Minnesota had purchased farmland adjacent to the park. There were two barns left standing, pretty...
Doing the Splits with a Log Splitter
Doing the Splits with a Log Splitter After much debate and realizing that a lumberjack I am not, I broke down and invested in a log splitter. There are many different log splitters on the market,...
Pining for Pines
Pining for Pines I gave up hunting through the wood scrap piles at a log home company. It was mostly slim pickin’s (whatever happened to him?) and the number of 150 mile round trip drives I...
Cordwood Veneer for Interior Walls?
Cordwood Veneer for Interior Walls? It doesn’t have the same ring to it as lions and tigers and bears, but they have been quite a menace over the last week. Monday morning the thermometer read...
It’s Getting A Little Nippy Up Here
It’s Getting A Little Nippy Up Here Autumn arrived a few days ago and the days are getting shorter and shorter. Working until 8 p.m. is a thing of the past now and by 7 p.m. it’s getting...
The Days After 9/11
The Days After 9/11 Over the last three days I haven’t gotten much work done on the house. The terrorist attacks on America have made working a bit difficult. Every hour or so, I dial up the...
In Search of the Lost Cord (Or Two)
In Search of the Lost Cord (Or Two) This title is a bit obscure, but for anyone who is a fan of the Moody Blues, you’ll get this pun. Anyway… The fifteenth wall was completed this week....
Installing Window Frames
Installing Window Frames One of the recent questions asked on the forum was how I was able to secure the window frames by myself. Installing the first floor window frames have been quite painless...
Lucky 13th Wall
Lucky 13th Wall Now that the house has been slowly taking shape, so has the hill in front of the house. Earlier in the summer the hill in front of the house was shaped using a bulldozer. This did a...
Some Like it Hot, Some Like it Cold
Some Like it Hot, Some Like it Cold In the last journal entry I complained about the heat. I really didn’t think it could get any worse, but without any wind and a prolonged period of 90 to...
Attempting to Stay Out of the Heat
Attempting to Stay Out of the Heat Temperatures this last week have been brutal along with the humidity. Highs for the entire week made it into the 90’s with one day topping out at 100 degrees...
All About Stuff
All About Stuff All About Stuff While building cordwood walls, your mind tends to wander a bit. Besides wondering if the Cubs will ever make it to the World Series again, I sometimes think about...
Up to Double Digits—Wall Ten!
Up to Double Digits—Wall Ten! Behind Every Cloud There’s A Silver Lining Although the photo on the left looks rather ominous, the breeze it brought really felt good. Eventually a cool front...
Wall Number Nine
Wall Number Nine The Fans Follow Me No Matter Where I Go Contrary to the desert, the weather here has been a wet heat as of late. Daytime temperatures have been in the 90’s with dew points in...
I Lost My Bearings
I Lost My Bearings I Lost My Bearings It was the front, left bearing to be exact. I was merrily on my way to Minnesota from our home in Illinois last Sunday when the truck started pulling to the...
I Gave the Hoe the Old Heave-Ho
I Gave the Hoe the Old Heave-Ho Up until this past week I had been mixing all of the mortar by hand in a wheel barrow using a hoe. It really wasn’t too bad physically, but it did take time to...
Glass Bottle Wall
Glass Bottle Wall Wall number six is the center wall to our master bedroom so I decided to get a little creative with the wall. A double wall cordwood house (such as ours) does not usually lend...
A Visit to the MREA Fair
A Visit to the MREA Fair With the Summer Solstice comes my favorite event of the year; the Midwest Renewable Energy and Sustainable Living Fair in Amherst, WI. The fair is the largest and longest...
Landscaping, Cordwood Building and A Cat Shower
Landscaping, Cordwood Building and A Cat Shower It’s funny how things snowball sometimes. Our gravel road took quite a beating this spring. Early spring rains, thawing, refreezing and gravity...
Snap, Crackle, Pop!
Snap, Crackle, Pop! Ahhh, the sound of cereal crackling in a bowl of soy milk. Does life get any better? Well, it could get a lot better if the sound wasn’t coming from the walls. No...
The Chop-Saw Gets the Axe
The Chop-Saw Gets the Axe After numerous attempts at preventing logs from flying off the table, I have shelved the chopsaw idea. The chopsaw does work when cutting long logs to 8″ lengths, but...
The First Wall (1 of 64)
The First Wall (1 of 64) On Sunday, May 6th the first logs were placed into position marking the start of what will prove to be a long road towards completing the walls. I chose one of the back...
Chop Saw Build
Chop Saw Build How much wood could a chop saw cut if a chop saw could chop wood? Faced with the fact that I have 32 face cords of 16″ wood that has to be cut in half, I decided to cut to the...
To Use Paper or Not?
To Use Paper or Not? To Use Paper or Not? That is the question. The use of papercrete mortar for cordwood construction has been limited (so far) to the works of Paul Reavis and James Juczak....
Lightning Protection System
Lightning Protection System Spare the Rod and Spoil the House Last summer I had quite a scare when the house took either a direct or indirect lightning hit. Although no damaged occurred, my heart...
Thermol 81
Thermol 81 Trash or Treasure? Ed McAllen put me in touch with a women who was looking for a home for some rather unique solar heating tubes. She didn’t want to just pitch them, so I decided...
Return to Day Creek
Return to Day Creek Well, it’s been months since I have been able to return to our house-in-the-making. December brought significant snowfall to the Midwest, both in the La Crosse area and in...
Bob Schneider’s Cordwood Chop-Saw
Bob Schneider’s Cordwood Chop-Saw BEFORE READING ANY FURTHER — The following information is for “interesting reading material” purposes only. Chain saws are a very dangerous...