Cordwood Building

Rob Roy has been building, researching and teaching about cordwood masonry for four decades. Widely recognized as a world leading authority on cordwood construction, Rob started Earthwood Building School in 1981 to train builders in the latest cordwood building methods. He has authored and edited a dozen books on alternative and natural building including the first edition of Cordwood Building, Timber Framing for the Rest of Us and Earth-Sheltered Houses. Rob has also presented four videos, including two about cordwood masonry and has taught cordwood masonry all over the world.

Acknowledgments

Prologue: History of Cordwood Masonry
The Origin of Cordwood Contruction by William H. Tishler
An Old Cordwood House Near Stockholm by Olle Lind
Historical Variations by Olle Hagman
Our Personal History by Rob Roy

Introduction
What is Cordwood Building?
But Why Build with Cordwood?
How?

PART 1: CORDWOOD BASICS
1. Three Cordwood Masonry Styles
Cordwood Infilling Within a Strong Timber Frame
Cordwood as Curved Load-bearing Walls
Cordwood with Stackwall Corners
Door Frames
Summation

2. The Wood
What Kind or Species of Wood Is Best?
How Long Should the Wood Dry?
Should I Bark (or “Debark” — Means the Same Thing) the Wood?
How Much Wood Should I Cut?
How Thick Should the Walls Be in a Cordwood Home?
How Should I Cut the Wood?
Split Wood or Round Log-ends?
Can I Mix Species of Wood in the Same Wall?

3. Building Cordwood Walls 101
The Mortar
Insulation Options
Building a Cordwood Wall
Window Bucks
Pointing
Cleaning the Log-ends

4. Building with Cordwood 202
Wood Expansion
Wood Shrinkage after the Build
Mortar Cracks
When Everything Shrinks — A Solution
Building Thicker Cordwood Walls Within a Timber Frame
Time Efficiency
Stand Back from the Wall

PART 2: THE NEW STATE OF THE ART
5. Is Cordwood Green?
Sustainability
Leaving Little Impact on the Planet
Low Embodied Energy
Energy Efficiency
The Healthy Home
So, Is Cordwood Masonry Green?

6. Double-wall Cordwood by Cliff Shockey and Rob Roy
Introduction
Solar Design
Foundations and Under-floor Radiant Heat
The Double-wall Cordwood Technique
The Evolution of Double-wall Cordwood

7. Foam Insulation with Cordwood
Open Cell Foam
Soy-Based Foam
Foam Insulation with Single-wall Cordwood

8. Bottle-ends and Other Design Features
Making Bottle-ends
Creating Bottle-end Designs
Design Features at Mushwood

9. Electrical Wiring in Cordwood Masonry Buildings by Paul Mikalauskas, Mike Abel and Rob Roy
Wiring Mushwood

10. Lime Putty Mortar by Rob Roy and Bruce Kilgore
A Short History
Lime Putty Mortar Versus Portland-based Mortar
Making Lime Putty and Lime Putty Mortar
Pay Attention to Detail

11. Cobwood Revisited
Cobwood at Earthwood
Our Latest Cobwood Wall Building
To Summarize

12. Paper-enhanced Mortar by Jim Juczak, Alan Stankevitz, Tom Huber and Rob Roy
Papercrete, or Paper-enhanced Mortar (PEM)
My Paper-enhanced Mortar
Cellulose-enhanced Mortar
Paper-enhanced Mortar Observations

13. Cedar Eden: Design Considerations by Tom Huber
The Pattern that Connects
Place-based Design Considerations for Cold Climates
The Hobbit Way of Homesteading
A Cabin with Four Doors
Intentional Patterns — The Nature of Order; Building as Sacred Practice
Retreat from the World

14. Cordwood-to-mortar Ratio: An Analysis
Consistency in Cordwood Build Quality
Varying Wood-to-mortar Ratios
Impact of Wood-to-mortar Ratio

15. Cordwood Cutoff Table for a Chainsaw by Rob Roy and Bruce Kilgore
Fabrication Skills Needed
You Will Also Need
The Frame

PART 3: CASES STUDIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
16. The Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership by Studio Gang Architects
Why Wood Masonry?
Learning from the Experts
Playing by the Rules
Thermal and Structural Constraints
Pushing the Limits with Digital Tools
Mixing It Up
Not the End

17. My Cordwood Construction Evolution by Geoff Huggins
Cordwood Constants. . .and Why
Cordwood Embellishments. . .and Why

18. Adirondack Cordwood Cabin by Rarilee Conway (with James Conway)
If I Was to Do It Again

19. Ravenwood: A Labor of Love in Northern New York by Bruce Kilgore (with Nancy Dow)
Our Cordwood Odyssey
A Five-year Plan
The Trisol Design
Breaking Ground
Racing to Get the Roof On
Cordwooding Commences
Closed In!
What Worked. . .and Hard Lessons Learned

20. Hexadecagons in Hawaii and Tasmania with Peter Robey and Blythe Tait (and with help from Ben Oliveros)
Builder Ben
Australia's First Council-approved Cordwood Residence?

21. The Hermit's Hut
Cultivating Coincidence
Siliconized Sealer

22. La Casa del Trunco
Cultivating a Coincidence in Nicaragua
Solentiname's Cordwood Homestead
The Cordwood Dorm Room
When We Got Home

PART 4: ECONOMICS AND CODE
23. The Mortgage-free Cordwood Home
The Grubstake
The Land
The Temporary Shelter
Keep It Small
Keep It Simple
Use Recycled Materials
Work Parties
The Add-on House Strategy

24. Getting a Building Permit for a Cordwood Home
Part 1: An Engineering Viewpoint by Dr. Kris J. Dick, P.E. and Professor A. M. Lansdown
Part 2: A Code Enforcement Officer's Viewpoint by Thomas M. Kwiatkowski
Part 3: Other Cordwood Code Issues by Rob Roy

Afterword: Where We Go From Here
Annotated Cordwood Masonry Bibliography
Glossary of Terms
Appendix: Products
Index
About the Author
A Note About the Publisher