GUARANTEED WOODEN HOUSE CONSTRUCTION
TYPES OF CORNER JOINTS FOR A WOODEN HOUSE
We carry out the full construction cycle – from harvesting and processing round timber to turnkey house building
- Construction Company "KOLEO"
Joints and types of notches
For round logs and for rectangular timber the following corner joint methods are used:
- With overhang – “saddle notch” and “cup notch”
- Without overhang – “dovetail notch” and “tooth notch”
For profiled and glued laminated timber the following joint types are also used:
- Butt joint – on dowels, or a “warm corner” (on a stub tenon)
- T-joint for installing interior walls
- Longitudinal joint for splicing beams to reach the needed length
corner joints for profiled timber
corner joints with overhang, for profiled timber
“Half-lap” – this joint is made by cutting a rectangular notch to half the thickness of the beam.
“Tongue lock” – this joint is made by cutting an extra tongue in the rectangular notch of the previous joint type.
“Notch joint” – this means cutting recesses on both sides of the beam for a secure fit in the lock.
corner joints without overhang, for profiled timber
“Butt joint” – the simplest and fastest option. The beams are butted together and then fastened with toothed steel plates. It’s rarely possible to fit the beam ends perfectly, which results in corners that aren’t very airtight.
“On dowels” – this uses a hardwood key for corner strength. The dowel in the grooves stops the joints from shifting. There are several dowel types: transverse, longitudinal and diagonal. The diagonal one is the best but quite difficult to make.
“On stub tenons” – this option is used quite often. In one of the two beams being joined a groove is cut, and in the other a tenon sized to fit the groove. Inter-crown insulation is placed in the groove. For construction strength the beams alternate grooves and tenons.
“Half-lap” (a cut to half the beam’s width) – for this joint, holes for dowels are first drilled near the corner joints; the dowel’s length should be enough for several beams. Sometimes a dowel is also added at the beam butt joints, which increases the joint’s strength.
“Dovetail” – probably the strongest option. The method is very similar to the stub tenon, only here the tenon has a trapezoidal shape.
Longitudinal joint for profiled timber
“Oblique lock” – the most complex method, but also the strongest.
“Tenon on dowels” – beams with identical grooves cut at the ends are placed flush against each other and fastened using a hardwood dowel driven into the groove.
“Half-lap” – similar to the corner joint, but the beam ends are cut to a width equal to half the beam’s thickness.
“Longitudinal stub tenon” – the joint is made similarly to the corner stub tenon joint, by cutting a groove in one log and a tenon in the other.
“T-joint” – dry profiled timber can be used for installing an interior wall, where the beam is notched perpendicular to the wall. This is also done in various ways. Sometimes, as in the “saddle notch” method, a groove with an inserted tongue or a groove with a stub tenon is used, either rectangular or in the popular “dovetail” shape described above. A trapezoidal stub tenon makes for a very tight fit and is known as a “frying-pan joint”. If the tenon is cut rectangular, it’s commonly called a “half frying-pan joint”.
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Joints and types of notches for wild-style log cabins and round logs
method of joining round-log crowns with overhang
“Half-lap” – formed by cutting a simple longitudinal groove with a semicircular cross-section.
“Tongue lock” – forms a joint using a tongue cut into the lower log, which is inserted into a groove in the upper log.
“Comb notch” – a comb-shaped ridge is cut into the bottom of the cup for a tighter corner fit and better sealing of the log cabin.
“Notch joint” – the locks are cut into both the upper and lower logs, sometimes supplemented with a tongue.
“Dropped cup” (Siberian cup) – an oval groove is cut into the upper log that drops over the lower log. It may include additional elements: a ridge or a tongue, sometimes both.
method of joining round-log crowns without overhang
“Dovetail notch” – this lock closely resembles the notch joint, but is cut from the sawn-off end section of the log. The dovetail joint can be straight, oblique (“dovetail” shape) or oblique with an added groove. – this lock closely resembles the notch joint, but is cut from the sawn-off end section of the log. The dovetail joint can be straight, oblique (“dovetail” shape) or oblique with an added groove.
Other types of crown joints in log cabins
“Hook joint” for logs – a structurally complex, high-strength corner joint for logs. There are two types – either it’s cut to half the log’s thickness with a hook-like shape at the log ends, or the logs are also flattened on one side to increase the usable floor area inside the house.
“Finnish notch” – very similar to the round-log notch with a “moon groove”, but has two channels along the sides of the groove. This achieves a tighter fit between crowns and reduces draughts through the walls. The inter-crown sealant is fully hidden within the groove, not extending beyond the channels, which improves its performance.
“Swedish lock” – an exclusive option, a creative hexagonal log shape with a trapezoidal cup. This shape is very difficult to make, so this type of log cabin is quite rare.
“Norwegian / Scandinavian lock” – made from a half-log (log flattened on two sides from a pine trunk). The distinctive feature of the Scandinavian lock is a wedge-shaped tenon in the upper log that sits in a groove in the lower half-log.
“Canadian cup” – essentially the same Norwegian lock with a wedge-shaped tenon, but made on round logs with a trapezoidal cup.
“Post-and-fill” log construction – a very old building technology, in which logs with tenons at their ends are laid between posts with specially cut grooves. These posts are set vertically into the ground.
EXPORT OF HOUSE KITS
If you’re interested in building with glued laminated timber but live outside Ukraine, find out about importing a timber house kit to:
“KOLEO” – WOODEN HOUSES
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Check out the answers to the questions about construction that we’re often asked. If you still haven’t found the answer to your question, get in touch – we’ll try to help.