In the old days, settlers and people in the wilderness didn’t have the luxury of perfectly planned wood run through large mills. Instead, they had hand tools. As a result, the trees and timber they cut down for building were stripped and carved unevenly. While these timbers were useful for building very solid walls and structures, they also had noticeable gaps in their seams. If the gaps weren’t plugged up, basically cold and wind could seep through, nullifying the heat and shelter built up inside with a fireplace. It’s this way that cabins became to be known as drafty, cold, and less than cozy places to stay.
More endeavoring types put a good amount of work into using mud, clay, moss, and anything that was malleable that would stay put to close up these gaps. It wasn’t perfect, but it worked for a while. Eventually, the pitch was used, a tarry substance from dried-out oil, that stuck and repelled water, but it wasn’t perfect.
Today’s Cabin Learned from History
Modern log cabin design focuses on a low tolerance fit of timbers and wood pieces with each other. Unlike our ancestors’ homes, the timber and planks used today are cut smooth and in straight lines with clean edges. That allows significant mating between parts. Yet even then, additional industrial sealant is used to provide additional layers of protection and gap blocking. The results between timber, window edges, frames, and similar is a fit so snug, the warm temperature stays in, and the cold stays out. It’s what makes the modern log cabin so comparable to a regular home today in terms of the ability to stay insulated. The draftiness just doesn’t exist.
Physics is Involved
The primary driver of drafts in a building involves a bit of physics. Cold air moves downward and hot air moves up and rises. When there is heat inside a structure, it rises up and looks for gaps to go outward. This is why all fireplaces have a chimney and vent. Without it, all the hot gases and smoke would soon plug up the entire room. Cold air, on the other hand, looks for low points. When a house or cabin has gaps, the hot air pushes out and the cold air pushes inward at the floor level. It’s why you get cold feet in a drafty room first. The trick to maintaining good temperature then is to break the movement cycle and keep the warm air inside or vice versa on a hot day.
Quality log cabins like those found online at Frontier Log Homes (https://frontierloghomes.com/) and other quality builders have solved the problem of drafty cabins. You’re not going to be sleeping in that old camping cabin you remember as a kid. Instead, you’ll be sleeping a comfy home away from home that’s just as warm or better.
