Most viewed video from the youtube channel Wooden magazine is about log houses. It is a subject that has always aroused interest, and the information conveyed by Dorin Văideanu and the assurance with which he speaks is, in my opinion, what wins over those interested. Doralnic, the company represented by Dorin, is one of the country's best-known builders of whole log houses. I recently went back to Coșna, to the Doralnic construction site, to see what he has been up to since we last saw each other, what houses he has built, what plans he has for the future. For me, meeting Dorin always means interesting technical discussions in a field where quality information is hard to find.
Appraisal, left and right shafts and other technical topics
The theme with which I left Bucharest was subsidence houses in bușteni. It is one of the very important aspects of houses of this type and if it is not given proper attention big problems can arise. I had the opportunity to see the consequences of subsidence in a cottage near Gheorgheni where we stayed for one night. The floor, where the rooms were, was all tilted. After a short time in the room I had a constant feeling of losing my balance, I was dizzy. The doors would hardly close (if they closed at all), and the water in the shower would not drain.
The wood dries out. As the trunks are whole, water is harder to get out and it takes 3-5 years to reach equilibrium. Immediately after felling, the free water, which has carried the nutrients into the tree, comes out. The wood quickly reaches a moisture content of about 30%, without dimensional changes or stresses. This occurs when the bound water, the water that is part of the wood cell wall, comes out. This is how contracting as a result of which the log changes size. The most important changes are in the radial and tangential direction, those along the fiber (longitudinal) being minor. As a result of water loss, the diameter of the log decreases, which causes it to settle back into the wall.
Building a log house is done in two stages. The first takes place on the builder's construction site, where the logs are processed and laid to form the wall. It's also the first stage of the tamping. After processing, there is a gap of 1-2 cm between the logs, which disappears during the 3-4 months the house sits on the construction site. At the end of this period, it is disassembled, the logs are numbered and transported to the client where the second stage of construction takes place. The house is erected again according to plan, after which it is left for another 6-8 months before windows, doors, installations and finishing. The way the logs have been processed is crucial at this stage. Correct processing will ensure that they find the right place in the wall, resulting in strong, well-jointed houses. Incorrect processing will result in loss of watertightness and holes in the wall, uneven boards.
Appraisal continues after this period, but at a slower pace. In order not to damage the doors and windows, they are mounted in a special frame with a tamping cassette on top. The box will take up the pressure, the windows will not warp or break and the doors will close normally.
Talking with Dorin, I learned that logs can't be put in the wall of the house anyway. The addition of wood mass to the annual ring follows a helical pattern in resinous trees, similar to that of branches grown in one year on the trunk. In the majority of trees this fiber twist is to the right. But there are also left-handed trees. Their shrinkage is different during drying and therefore they cannot lay down randomly. The shape of the tree can be seen after removing the bark, especially if it is done with a water jet. That's why Dorin bought one of these peeling systems.
Mentors - teachers and log home builders from the USA and Canada
To get all this technical information, Dorin follows famous log home professors and builders in the US and Canada. In the on-site office, among the chainsaws, chains and wood treatments, there's a small library of books by Robert Chambers, Allen Mackie and other specialists in the field. Chambers is a well-known teacher, consultant and home builder in the US, and Mackie is a teacher and log home builder in Canada, where he founded the log home school that bears his name.
To keep up to date, he is a member of the International Log Building Association (ILBA) where he regularly receives newsletters with the latest techniques, methods and building materials. This is how he ended up bringing in special tapes from Canada for better sealing between logs.
Not quantity but quality. Better homes as close as possible to "turnkey
For Dorin it is not important to build more but to build better. He doesn't want to build more houses like last year, but to build more special ones that come with new challenges. He wants to make log and timber frame combination houses, to have the opportunity to build large buildings that put his skills to the test.
A project for the future is to offer customers the most comprehensive service possible. This means from the ideas for the architectural design, to the calculation of the strength design and the interior design so that the client receives the house "turnkey". This way he will be able to ensure quality all the way through to the end to Doralnic standards. But it's a tough project that takes time, money and energy. Because a log house is difficult to build, it takes a long time, and the investment is only justified if the project is of a certain scale.
We talked a lot with Dorin, and we stayed on the construction site from morning till evening, at the end of the program. We also filmed, so you can now learn more about all these topics and the price of log houses in the video below, made with Dorin Văideanu in Coșna.
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We also have a house made in 2016 by the gentlemen from Doralnic. And they were indeed perhaps among the most serious of the tradesmen we have worked with. Unfortunately they did not deliver a finished product - a turnkey house. The moment you do the foundation with one builder, the house is assembled by another team, the carpentry, the painting with someone else, you end up with a chain of this where one team blames the previous one and no one is responsible for mistakes and errors that occur. The fact that the windows and doors are subsequently fitted by the recipient (with another company obviously) and he gets absolutely no warranty on their fitting because any decent carpenter who sees the structure of the house knows that changes will occur (wood always moves). The fact that almost every aspect of interior decoration from kitchen furniture, any shelves - the simplest things in a normal house with straight walls - here have to be made to order, becomes difficult (same with bathroom fittings, fitting radiators). If you don't know skilled tradesmen who take an interest you end up doing them twice, three times or having to repair them all the time. You should show cottages and houses done by Doralnic that are already a few years old and explain what happens to these walls and the gaps between these logs that don't dry evenly over the years? We have had wasps, wild bees, crickets, mice, bats that have made their way into these spaces between logs that (even after 6 years) have not dried out as they explain. Moreover, the volume of the logs has decreased and these spaces have become even larger 3-4cm in some places. Wind and cold in winter I don't even mention. Yes, it's a beautiful house at first glance, but if I had my mind right now I'd make a classic brick or concrete house and use wood only as an accent.
I forgot to mention that I respected the waiting times and deadlines recommended by Doralnic at the time. Even though their recommendations changed along the way (at first they recommended using a water based dip - Italian brand) then they changed the recommendation to oil based paint. Do you realise what it means to clean water based bait and re-treat a whole house with oil based paint? Just so people know what they're getting into when it comes to wood.
Hello!
We have always wanted to offer our customers the most complete and high quality services, which we have completed and achieved over the years.
The working technique used by us was and is constantly being improved according to current standards, but as we discussed, and as we were guided by our teachers, the working technique was correct at the time, the minuses being the lack of studies, sealing materials and round wood protection.
All builders in this field have faced such situations in the past, not because of poor implementation of the technique, but because of its limitations.
Because of these shortcomings, materials have appeared on the market in Canada and beyond that correct these imperfections in homes that are already inhabited, thus giving homeowners the comfort of their home!
We have access to these new materials, and we invite you to contact us to remedy any unpleasant situations that have arisen in your home. Thank you!