# Who here has plumbed a log cabin?



## Alan (Jun 18, 2008)

How about a 2 story? What a pain in the 

Good learning experience, however. :thumbup:

I seem to recall 6000 sqft as the number, but I can't recall if that was before or after the daylight basement was eliminated. :blink: 3 1/2 bath downstairs, 2 bath upstairs, 2 kitchens, 2 laundries, . This thing is major custom work on many many levels. Not only that, but NOTHING in this house is the same as what was on the original plan. :laughing: 

Thank god we are nearly finished. On to the next job.......


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## GrumpyPlumber (Jun 12, 2008)

*I have, Lots of creative offsets and doublechecking with the builder on what can & cannot be drilled.*


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## drtyhands (Aug 16, 2008)

Yep,fabbed up in Canada.The Canadians came with it until the roof goes on then it's up to the individual builder to figure out.What a mess for a bunch of first timers.I had it easy I had Plumbing walls built.
Electrician lost it big time.

They tell you about shrinkage?


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## GrumpyPlumber (Jun 12, 2008)

*HEY HEY BUDDY!~*
*'Bout time ya posted!*


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## Cal (Jun 17, 2008)

Done a few . What a PAIN !!! Of course the finish product is GREAT !

They just need to figure in a couple more trade walls .

Cal


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## Song Dog (Jun 12, 2008)

Done a few. Limited space to take things thats forsure. BTW gotta love the expansion fittings between contraction floors.

In Christ,

Song Dog


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## Ron (Jun 12, 2008)

Never had, but would love to experience it one time.


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## nhmaster3015 (Aug 5, 2008)

We probably do 4 or 5 log cabins a year. They make expansion couplings in 1 1/2, 2, 3 and 4" to take up the settling between floors. They also make them in copper pipe but we use pex which will flex anyway. The real challange is when they want to keep the exposed beams and still run the upstairs plumbing.


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## Herk (Jun 12, 2008)

I've had my share of experiences with log homes. On one, I specified things that I wanted and when they did the build they didn't do them, and I insisted on re-bidding. When I gave the new bid, the owner balked and hired someone else to finish. That was OK - he was on his fifth framing crew already and I'd had nothing but trouble with him.

I usually find that some problems have not been thought out very well. On one house I did, I asked the HO who was building it where the basement stairs were going to be. He wasn't sure.

I think it was my first year in business that I did a dome house - that was pretty strange, too. Lots of offsets.


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## 22rifle (Jun 14, 2008)

I have done log homes and a log cabin or two.

Not my favorite projects.


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## drtyhands (Aug 16, 2008)

nhmaster3015 said:


> We probably do 4 or 5 log cabins a year. They make expansion couplings in 1 1/2, 2, 3 and 4" to take up the settling between floors. They also make them in copper pipe but we use pex which will flex anyway. The real challange is when they want to keep the exposed beams and still run the upstairs plumbing.


The one I did years ago waste was ran in plastic.The only thing did not like was having the mechanical joints for settling covered.How did you guys provide access to yours?


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## Bill (Jun 17, 2008)

I never plumbed one, though I did participate in the construction of a few, so I can believe its a PITA!


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## nhmaster3015 (Aug 5, 2008)

Sometimes access covers, sometimes just placement.


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## uaplumber (Jun 16, 2008)

Haven't had the chance yet. But like anything else, let me at 'er!!


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## younger-plumber (Sep 12, 2008)

expansion fittings? never seen one. do explain.lol.what r they made of??


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## I'mYourTourGuide (Jun 23, 2008)

Never done a log cabin, although I just plumbed a house made out of rough-sawed lumber about 2 months ago.

Had to drill through the floor joists of the 2nd floor for the 1.5" branch vent from the tub and washer box.

Rough-sawed lumber is a b*tch to drill through.


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## DUNBAR PLUMBING (Sep 11, 2008)

I plumbed only one, back in 1989. 


Had to offset water and drain 6" above and below for settling. The trade walls were butchered to death and don't dare drive a nail in that wall to hang a picture; you'll hit something.



Most roofs on those were metal sheeted, along with nearly a foot thick of insulation board. No effing way I was doing the roof boots on those jobs; that's the roofer's job!


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## Herk (Jun 12, 2008)

I had thought about a log cabin many years ago, and studied up on wiring one. Pretty interesting. Much easier than hiding pipes in the logs. :laughing:

A router and long bit are necessary and a basement is pretty important, too.


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## gusty60 (Oct 21, 2008)

drtyhands said:


> Yep,fabbed up in Canada.The Canadians came with it until the roof goes on then it's up to the individual builder to figure out.What a mess for a bunch of first timers.I had it easy I had Plumbing walls built.
> Electrician lost it big time.
> 
> They tell you about shrinkage?


I learned about shrinkage in a cold Minnesota lake!


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

I thought everyone knew that when you plumb a log cabin you have to use wood pipes that were made from logs they bored out...


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## ToUtahNow (Jul 19, 2008)

My property in Utah has quite a bit of old pioneer wooden piping on it. The pipe is about a 6" line and is made up of hand cut pieces of wood to make a six sided pipe and then they wrapped it in wire. The pipe was never watertight but as the pipe filled the wood would swell and get pretty close to watertight. Tracing old water rights maps I have traced a little over a mile of the line. It looks like there was a reservoir at the top of my property (rock dam still there) where an old mill site use to be. When they were done with the water they piped the water across the canyon and over the river to a mine which had no water.

Mark


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## RGB Plumbing (Oct 10, 2008)

I live in the hills between sacramento and lake tahoe. I have plumbed many log cabins. These are a pain in the ass. Always some sort of offset, or chase required to run your pipes. Ive done them in abs with copper or pex. It takes a creative mind to be able to install a system to code which will actually work and not be an eyesore or a complete hassle to place. Most of the time the sub floors are 12" TJI that i can get most of the piping in and usually some of the upper interior walls will be standard so you can get the vents out. Chases and drop ceilings or soffits are sometimes required when options run thin.


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## ToUtahNow (Jul 19, 2008)

A lot of plumbing a log cabin or post and beam building is having a Architect who knows what he is doing and designs the building with stacked plumbing walls.

Mark


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## Wethead (Oct 13, 2008)

I have never roughed an entire log cabin but I have added a bathroom on a first floor and it was a real pain indeed and I do agree it was a true learning experience for sure, The one I did just had a crawl space full of huge spiders as well 

But all in all it makes a good story


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## Scott K (Oct 12, 2008)

I worked on about a 10,000 square foot Log Cabin House this past Summer for about 3 monthes in the Log Cabin Capital of the World, 100 Mile House, BC, Canada. Wasn't as difficult as some of what you guys have described but definately interesting. And those expansion gaps between the top plates were wild - about 6" left for settling although they didn't think it would go that far down but left that much just in case.


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## Plumb_John (Nov 29, 2008)

*Log Cabin*

I Plumbed A Log Cabin... Took Forever because the Lady decided she wanted totally different fixtures... The toilet had to be moved! Thats not the end of it. I was glad to be done with it. Turned out nice though.:thumbsup:


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## uaplumber (Jun 16, 2008)

Welcome to the site John. How about a post in the introductions area?


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