Essential Cordwood Building

The first highly illustrated, comprehensive guide to cordwood building

Cordwood building – log-ends set in insulated mortar – is an economical, low-impact building method. Essential Cordwood Building is the first fully illustrated, step-by-step guide for design, material specification, construction, detailing, maintenance, and code compliance of cordwood. For both the DIYer and professional builder.

Build Beautiful, Durable, and Low-impact Homes with Cordwood Construction
Part of the Sustainable Building Essentials series, Essential Cordwood Building is the complete guide to using log-ends set in insulating mortar for versatile, economical, and environmentally friendly construction. Learn how to create structurally sound, aesthetically unique homes with minimal environmental impact.

What You'll Learn

• Durable and Low-maintenance Walls: Proven longevity, fire and pest resistance, and excellent thermal mass for naturally regulated indoor temperatures.
• Material Selection and Preparation: Choose wood species, log lengths, seasoning, and mortar types for optimal performance.
• Step-by-step Building Techniques: Detailed, illustrated guidance for wall construction, window and door installation, chinking, pointing, plastering, and finishing.
• Design Flexibility: Decorative features, special designs, and integration into modern or traditional building projects.
• Budgeting and Planning: Estimates, code compliance, and building science guidance for safe, high-performance construction.
• Rigorous yet Accessible: Ideal for homeowners, builders, designers, and natural building enthusiasts.

Written by Rob Roy, a world-renowned expert in cordwood construction, this guide combines decades of hands-on experience, workshops, and best practices for both DIYers and professional builders.

Explore the full Sustainable Building Essentials series for highly illustrated, step-by-step guidance on natural and sustainable building techniques that deliver durable, high-performance results.