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Thread: Building A Log Cabin

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    Default Building A Log Cabin

    I'm building a log cabin the walls are up and I'm at the roof stage. The rafters are 4X8 rough sawn beams and my roof pitch is 12/12 to allow it to shed snow and rain easier. My dilemma is what do I finish the roof with? Tin, clapboard & cedar shakes, plywood and cedar shakes? What lasts the longest bear in mind I have snow eight months of the year here. Also what is the best way to seal the roof?


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    Alaska, The Madness! 1stimestar's Avatar
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    Metal roofs are really popular up here. I don't think they are tin though. I think they are steel.
    Why do I live in Alaska? Because I can.

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    Default Steel roof

    Quote Originally Posted by 1stimestar View Post
    Metal roofs are really popular up here. I don't think they are tin though. I think they are steel.
    I was thinking steel roof for some safety from forest fires the only real draw back is getting all that steel to the build site.

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    My mother's cottage has a steel roof. it's lasted these 19 years without trouble, and it sheds the snow well. Never had a leak that I know of either. And as far as I recall, metal roofs are not uncommon in Nunavut. So they are okay for the long winters, although you're probably getting a greater volume of snow.

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    Alaska, The Madness! 1stimestar's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Western Mountain Man View Post
    I was thinking steel roof for some safety from forest fires the only real draw back is getting all that steel to the build site.
    Pull it on a sled with a snow machine in the winter. That's how all our remote building supplies get out to the sites.
    Why do I live in Alaska? Because I can.

    Alaska, the Madness! Bloggity Stories of the North Country

    "Building Codes, Alaskans don't need no stinking Building Codes." Sourdough

    Yes, I have wifi in my outhouse!

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    Quote Originally Posted by tundrabadger View Post
    My mother's cottage has a steel roof. it's lasted these 19 years without trouble, and it sheds the snow well. Never had a leak that I know of either. And as far as I recall, metal roofs are not uncommon in Nunavut. So they are okay for the long winters, although you're probably getting a greater volume of snow.
    Metal roofs need less maintenance then wood and shingle roofs.

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    When we had our log home, we did not have the cash for a metal roof. Always regretted it even though we had thirty-year asphalt shingle.

    We now have built an insulated concrete form house and have a white steel roof and love it.

    Kudos for the 12/12 pitch-that is what we did with our log home also. One other piece of knowledge to pass on is to make sure your overhangs are sufficient so that when the snow lets loose on the roof, it does not splash back on the bottom logs. We had 11 feet of fieldstone from the ground up before the logs began to prevent splash back and rotting.

    Good luck on the entire process. We loved our log home.
    But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. Joshua 24:15

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    Quote Originally Posted by Solar Geek View Post
    When we had our log home, we did not have the cash for a metal roof. Always regretted it even though we had thirty-year asphalt shingle.

    We now have built an insulated concrete form house and have a white steel roof and love it.

    Kudos for the 12/12 pitch-that is what we did with our log home also. One other piece of knowledge to pass on is to make sure your overhangs are sufficient so that when the snow lets loose on the roof, it does not splash back on the bottom logs. We had 11 feet of fieldstone from the ground up before the logs began to prevent splash back and rotting.

    Good luck on the entire process. We loved our log home.
    Thank you for the info. I never considered splash back will take your advice for sure

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    Senior Member randyt's Avatar
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    I like steel for roofs. In snow country I keep stacks, chimney, plumbing vents etc near the peak. I have seen a heavy snow push a stack off a roof, either break it or flatten it over.
    so the definition of a criminal is someone who breaks the law and you want me to believe that somehow more laws make less criminals?

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