Window and Door Bucks

[RRG]

Can anyone point me to a website that covers window and door bucks for log walls?
I've come across a few but they are somewhat vague.

[Rich]

What exactly do you want to know? How to do it or what to use..etc?

[RRG]

I would basicly like to see how it is done laid out step by step with pictures.
I have a good idea but sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.

I am building with 6x8 D logs and plan on bucking the openings with dimensional 2x6 lumber.
Making my log openings 3" larger than the called for RO's.
Slotting the 2x6's so that the nails (with washers) will "ride" these slots as log walls settle.

Where I get a little confused is how to properly flash the windows and caulk/seal where logs meet the bucks.

[Joe Bartok]

A picture is worth a thousand words, but there's no way I can get one ready until tomorrow. Meanwhile, here's a description of door/window installation as I learned it. I don't know if this will work for your situation, this is for fully round logs where settling is also a major factor, but here goes ...
A channel large enough to accommodate a 2 × 6 is cut on each side of the opening. The height of the opening is increased by 1/2 inch per foot of door/window height to allow for settling. The 2 × 6 spline is installed in the channel, and the door is secured to the spline. The entire assembly floats, accomplishing the same thing as your lag/slot method. (Which also works where an interior partition that will eventually be sheetrocked meets a log wall).
Insulation (fibreglas "pink", or, sheep's wool is currently fashionable) is placed behind and around the spline before door installation, and backer rod is used to further seal any gaps between the spline and the logs. The building will settle 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch per foot over the next few years, so make sure the spline is definitely NOT longer than the frame of the door. The door frame is also rabbeted along the top, inside and out, to permit flush installation of 1/8 or 1/4 pine "settling boards"; insulation fills the space between the boards. The header log has two narrow channels cut deep enough to allow for anticipated settling.
After the splines, door, and settling board assembly is installed, any gaps, inside and out, are filled with backer rod before caulking.
Well, that was probably as clear as mud, and will probably need editing; it's been a long time since I've done this and have probably forgotten some "minor" details.
P.S. : I wasn't certain if there was a diagram when I first posted this, but check out the Log Building Standards pdf at
http://www.logassociation.org/resources/standards.php, it has diagrams that describe what I'm talking about.

[Joe Bartok]

RRG: Here's a diagram of what I described verbally in my last post. I know it's a bit different than what you are doing, but perhaps there may be something here that you can apply to your particular situation.
Sorry about the quality of the image, but my resources in terms of graphics are limited.

[RRG]

Joe,

Thank you so much for the information!
Is there a common size of backer rod you use on windows and doors?

[Joe Bartok]

The openings for the splines and settling grooves in the headers were cut with a chain saw, so the size might deviate by a 1/16th of an inch. We kept backer rod handy in quarter-inch increments, from 1/4 " to 1", and used whatever was necessary for a tight seal.
I've added another attachment, I think this is what you were referring to with the nails and slots to let the logs slide. This method was used for interior partitions, but could also be adapted install a door or window.

[Rich]

We always slotted the wall. Probably easier doing it your way.

[Joe Bartok]

Those are slots in the wall (I called them "channels") in the last diagram, though they are not very well drawn in the section view. This isn't one of my "stock" drawings, was done in haste, and I probably could have labelled things a little more clearly.
Or, perhaps there's another method of slotting the wall to accommodate the drywall? Just curious; it's been a while since I've done this kind of work, and I didn't stay at it long enough to have learned everything I could have. And many techniques have been changed and improved over time.

[Rich]

We just slotted the full width of the wall - so the wall framing also sits into the wall. It seems like it would be more stable than having a nail do the work.

[Joe Bartok]

Now I get it. :) And now that you mention it, it does seem more stable to house the entire frame.
....
Rich: After I posted the last two sentences, I started thinking about your last message, and did a bit of research at the ILBA link I posted last week. And according to the ILBA guidlines, and as you say, the entire frame is indeed recessed, provided 55 percent of the wall is left intact. And I could have researched this; I don't have the Internet on my PC at home where I created the drawing, but I do have a hard copy of the Log Building Standards which I was too lazy to look for.
Perhaps this is another thing that's changed and been improved over the years, as I honestly don't recall recessing the entire frame in this fashion (but, there was no ILBA or Log Building Standards then, either).

[Rich]

I don't know if it meets any standard or not :)
Just the way I was taught.
The guy who taught me was something else. Dope smoking biker - but I've never seen a guy do such nice work with a chainsaw, chisel, and an offset grinder. Taught me quite a bit.