Live Edge Pine from a Sawmill question

[EddieWalker]

I'm in the early stage of converting my shop into a Great Room. It's 24x30 with 12 foot walls. The way things get done around here, it's probably a 2 year project, so I'm not in a rush for this, but I want to finish the interior walls with flat, live edge pine logs from my land and chink between them so you can still see some of the edge of the log.

I plan on hiring a sawmill to come out to my place and cut them here. Then I will store them in my haybarn, which I'm going to build when I'm done with my equipment shed. The slabs will be 16 feet long and 2 inches thick.

How long do you think that they will need to dry before they can be installed? What would happen if they where installed before they where dry? What issues or concerns should I have about doing something like this? Is 2 inches a realistic thickness?

I really like the look in this picture from the Permachink website and want my home to look like this.

 

[Buggs67]

I think that will look great. I think 2" is overkill as it's strictly cosmetic. 1" or 1.5" would suffice and you'd get more planks from the trees.

 

[/pine]

I still own a small house in FL where the interior of the living room is finished that way...Bald cypress slabs with plaster chinking...it has a cathedral ceiling with full round logs for cross ties... it's a great effect...

To prevent the possibility of any insect larvae etc. within the logs/bark etc (may enter after sawing)...the slabs should be heated to an internal temp of 140*...
You can get a moisture content meter for $20 +/- once the MC is down to 15% it should be stable...

 

[fried1765]

I still own a small house in FL where the interior of the living room is finished that way...Bald cypress slabs with plaster chinking...it has a cathedral ceiling with full round logs for cross ties... it's a great effect...

To prevent the possibility of any insect larvae etc. within the logs/bark etc (may enter after sawing)...the slabs should be heated to an internal temp of 140*...
You can get a moisture content meter for $20 +/- once the MC is down to 15% it should be stable...

You won't get that hand hewn look in the picture from a sawmill cut, but it certainly will still look beautiful.
Would be best if you can get it cut with a circular blade, rather than a band saw mill.

 

[oosik]

We built our cabin in Alaska with two sided spruce trees. They were only two weeks from standing in the forrest when we installed them on the cabin. So ..... they were soaking wet. A year later they were as dry as they ever got.

Two inch rough cut will dry faster than that.

If you install the planks before they are completely dry. They will shrink away from the calking material and you will need to fill the cracks that will form. Not a major problem - just a PITA.

 

[ponytug]

Sounds gorgeous. If you want the rough cut look, I would use a chainsaw mill, or a circular saw mill, and then take an adze to it for character.

Look for tips on using green lumber. As @oosik pointed out, green timber shrinks, so you want to make sure that you angle the nails in so that as the board shrinks, it will cinch the nail in, rather than loosening it. Most green timber construction methods have overlapping boards, so that as the boards shrink, the walls are still covered. If you use green timber, and don't go for overlap, I wouldn't chink it for a year or two, it will dry faster, and you only have to do it once.

There is also old school splitting of the timber lengthwise. (Half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth, etc. depending on how big your tree is and how thick you want the boards.) You get tapered boards, but you get all of the irregularity of the grain.

Have fun! And please take lots of pictures!

All the best,

Peter

 

[MossRoad]

I'm in the early stage of converting my shop into a Great Room. It's 24x30 with 12 foot walls. The way things get done around here, it's probably a 2 year project, so I'm not in a rush for this, but I want to finish the interior walls with flat, live edge pine logs from my land and chink between them so you can still see some of the edge of the log.

I plan on hiring a sawmill to come out to my place and cut them here. Then I will store them in my haybarn, which I'm going to build when I'm done with my equipment shed. The slabs will be 16 feet long and 2 inches thick.

How long do you think that they will need to dry before they can be installed? What would happen if they where installed before they where dry? What issues or concerns should I have about doing something like this? Is 2 inches a realistic thickness?

I really like the look in this picture from the Permachink website and want my home to look like this.

Live edge or rough hewn?

The picture (which looks beautiful) appears to be rough hewn, not live edge. I may be mistaken, but I think that's the terminology. Live edge hasn't been touched by tooling, while rough hewn has. Anyhow...

I have very rough wood paneling in portions of my home from a previous owner. I have to say, that while I like the looks, you cannot dust rough wood worth a hoot. The duster gets caught in the splinters (as does your skin if you fall against it). It collects dust extremely well, especially with our cats and wood burner. So I'd take that into consideration.

 

[Egon]

Look up shrinkage on the internet. It may be a little more than you are expecting.

 

[/pine]

It does not cost that much to get rough lumber kiln dried...usually transporting is the biggest logistical issue...

We pay about $400 /1000 BF
This dries the material to a stable state and also kills any insects or their eggs etc...

 

[plowhog]

I have looked into producing slabs, and read a recommendation to dry 1 year for every inch of thickness. Not sure if that is accurate-- seemed like a long time to me.

I can vouch that wood moves a lot as it is drying. I created a 10' long 8x8 pine cant about 4 months ago. I figured I would use it either for a post or a beam. I didn't cinch it down well enough-- and I noticed last week its starting to looked more like a turned post instead of straight lumber.