Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
LEFT
These shop-built French doors have dual glass sealed panels in both the doors and the
transom lights over the doors. The heavy muntins are necessary to handle the extra weight.
RIGHT
The single barn sash is perhaps the simplest log cabin window. Close it against
weather stripping with a cupboard latch.
It's simpler to hinge windows so they swing inward,
leaving room for screens outside. If you need the
space, swing them outward, but you'll need some
method for controlling them through the inside
screen. I have yet to fabricate a satisfactory low-cost
device, but you can easily buy crank-out controls from
your local hardware store.
Everyone I know who has a log house with hinged
windows wants hand-forged hinges. I usually install
barn strap or T-strap hinges temporarily, and some-
times I find time to replace them, one by one, as I can
get to my forge. At this writing, I still have not com-
pleted this job in our own house.
Latches, too, can be simple and inexpensive. I use
cupboard latches on windows, of the type that lift and
drop into a notch, but these must be good quality to
wear well. A sliding thumb latch will also work. Even
simpler is the screen door-type hook and eye.
level, and nailed into place. Casement windows come
with devices for cranking the glass open.
Suppliers have unlimited design offerings, but
standard sizes vary, so make sure you can get the win-
dows you want. Any supplier will custom-build for a
price. You will certainly want wooden windows, not
metal or vinyl or clad windows.
Again, I will warn you that these windows can be
the single most expensive item of your cabin. But hav-
ing draft-free, attractive windows adds to the pleas-
ure of living in your house. And by this time, you may
be at a stage when your time to do other things is
worth more than the extra expense.
Window size is a matter for your own taste, within
certain bounds. A huge single-paned picture window
is out of place in a log cabin. A double window works
better, and often will solve another problem: Some of
the decayed log notches or sections in that wall may
have to be recut. This means shortening the logs and
enlarging the window space for the doubles.
Most people do prefer the double-hung windows,
which come in several grades. Wooden six-over-six
pre-hung units with screen and single-thickness glass
were the norm for 150 years. Now, single-thickness
glass has to be special-ordered, and costs more than
dual glass. Better name brands — like Marvin, Pella,
Commercial Window Units
You can, of course, avoid just about all the details
of window and screen installation by buying the com-
pletely assembled units. They come with screens,
hinges, and latches — all boxed into jamb framing that
is simply inserted into a hole in the log wall, shimmed
