A little insight to how you can format the parts of our Modern log cabins

So you have built up your new log cabin up to roof height and you will come across a sight like the one below, the skeleton of a roof ready to be finished off.

I have made a quick guide which I hope proves useful, there are different methods in doing this roof style that you may prefer to use.

Firstly lets identify all the roof components that we will eventually call upon, in this case we have the two-tiered eaves boards for all four sides, squared battens and a mixture of mounting slats and blocks, sometimes the eaves boards for the longer cabins arrive in half lengths which when offered up to one another span the full required length. 

A good opportunity is often missed at this stage which is treatment and plenty of it as a lot of these parts become very inaccessible once you get further along, for more guidance on what treatments to use you may be interested in the following; https://www.tuin.co.uk/blog/log-cabin-treatment-again/

To begin with let us install the mounting blocks on the front and back of this particular log cabin, these provide more support for the eaves boards when you fit them, sometimes these blocks can be fitted to the sides instead, depending on the model, to fix these I am going to use a two of the 60mm screws at each point.

Please do not think too long and hard where the mounting blocks need to be placed, as if the plans in front of you do not show a specific precise location, as the eaves boards may have arrived disassembled as shown in the second image above, just place them in a realistic fashion and copy the same for the back.

The mounting blocks have all been fitted, so now it is time to think about making up the eaves boards, in this case we have been supplied with a narrow and a wider board, these two together make up the full eaves height, you may have seen that the plans are telling me to use the wider boards on the top, so let us do just that.

To join the two boards together we need to use the mounting slats supplied in the kit and identified earlier, anything can be used including spare pallet timber.
Please pilot drill these before securing them, by doing this with any wood you can be more sure that the wood will not split or crack, make sure their locations are correct, use the roof as a guide lining up the slats with the blocks already in place or take measurements.

Screw the mounting slats all onto one side of the boards, I used 30mm screws which worked nicely.

Mounting slats lining up with mounting blocks and overhanging the wall logs/purlins.

Now we have all the eaves boards made up as well as all mounting blocks and slats fitted, we then need to think about how we want the chosen roof material to be formatted.Roofing Felt, Easy Roofing or EPDM

Fitting roofing felt, Our aim is to fold this under the roof edge on all four sides of the roof securing it into place using the supplied battens or sourced trims.

Fitting Easy Roofing ( ERM ) this is an easier solution to roofing felt and requires no nails as its all self adhesive, A heat gun in the colder months of the year is suggested to enhance the overlaps

Fitting EPDM now we save the best until last! The Epdm rubber roof, supplied with a spray adhesive and laid straight onto a “clean dust free roof”, like with the easy roof you would dish this up on the inside faces of the eaves boards on all four sides or just the front three

FELT ROOFING FIRST

We do have a video showing how felt in general is laid which for the basic principle is important as well as our very detailed online installation manual for pretty much everything you would need to know about getting the cabin constructed from the ground up; https://www.tuin.co.uk/blog/tuin-tuindeco-log-cabins-instruction-manual/

but more specifically here for a pent roofs which we hope helps further.

Assuming it is felt that we are fitting today we need to get the roof boards on before anything else, However what we like to suggest at this stage is to temporally tac your front eaves on first as this then gives you a line to offer them all up against knowing they will be correct.

You may find that the mounting slats obstruct some of the roof boards from sitting flush so I am trimming them down, or I could have trimmed the relevant roof boards instead to slot around them.

When you go to fit the last roof board you nearly always need to rip it down to allow it to sit flush with the ends of the purlin(s)

Remember to use two nails or screws per board at every junction as the roof boards are key to strengthening the whole building, in the summer leave a 2mm gap
in-between each board whereas in the winter you close them up as tight as possible.

After that you can then remove the front eaves board as its time to fit the felt.

As mentioned, we really want to get the felt wrapped round the ends of the roof boards and under, most cabins come with battens to attach the felt under the boards, in this instance I have been supplied with the two long lengths as shown in a previous picture, I will use these and any other spare pallet timber to secure the felt if needed.

You will at points have to work your way around the mounting blocks, purlins or wall logs, you could remove the blocks temporally while the felt is fitted. you can also leave the felt simply wrapped round the sides of the roof boards to avoid the obstacles but just be sure they are secured down in some way either using Felt Glue or clout nails, Ideally both.

After the felt is fully installed you can then fit all your eaves boards around all sides, the natural gap at the back is there to allow the water to drain off the roof

EPDM or ERM Rubber Roofing

For more specific guidance on the actual installation of the rubber itself, Please visit the following for support and advice

https://www.tuin.co.uk/Easy-Roofing-Membrane.html

EPDM on LOG CABINS roofs.

For this cabin we opted for the Easy roofing as it is the best with no overlaps, the same fitting aid also applies for the Easy roofing, for these rubber options I am going to dish the roofing up on the front three sides then wrap it around the back to allow the run off.

After the initial stage of fixing all mounting blocks onto the cabin I am going to go ahead and fix all four completed eaves boards onto the sides of the roof.

An extra pair of hands is useful for this part, but you could use clamps if you have some large enough. I screwed through the outside fascia of the eaves boards through the mounting slat into the mounting block with two 70mm screws at each point.

With them all fitted to the perimeter of the roof I’m ready to fit the roof boards following the same process as we did for the felt part of the guide.

Dishing of the rubber roofing can be formatted in different ways, As an example you can just have the rubber coming upwards against the inside face and apply a hidden trim to cap it off, however it is best to actually wrap the rubber around the top of the eaves board and down the other side as it helps prevent any possible ingress under it, you can then cap this off as you wish.

You may like to cut the mounting slats down on the front three sides like we did for the felt approach early as this makes offering the Epdm rubber roof easier to lay on the inside face of the boards.

Then for the back where the natural drainage gap is we are going to wrap it around the side of the roof boards, Some fitters at this point will actually make cuts into the tops of the blocks so they can get the EPDM wrapped further around, But you can just glue and tac the roofing to the sides

Some fitters will be very clever at this stage and actually cut a channel into the tops of the mounting blocks, eventually fitting a guttering length directing the water into a downpipe, you may need to increase the wood size of the block used depending on the gutter size, you can then glue the EPDM into the inner face of the gutter instead.

I will mention once again that the methods above do not have to be strictly followed, “like anything in this world there are always room for enhancements!. “So fill your boots ladies and gents” and have a go. Any questions please feel free to contact us for advice