Finnlife Helsinki Log Cabin

Whether you want to use your Finnlife Helsinki Log Cabin as a guest room, hobby hideaway, or personal library you'll find the Valo is more than up to the task. Once the door is closed you'll find yourself in a world of your own. The Finn Life Helsinki is about going back to basics: you, nature and the things you care for most.

The Finnlife Helsinki Log Cabin is the ultimate in log cabin design

Incredibly flexible, spacious and airy. If you have space restrictions then the Helsinki Log Cabin is the answer. The Helsinki is truly a castle in its own right, featuring 5 rooms.

A ladder leads up from the downstairs to an incredibly storage area upstairs. It’s a multiple-use space that will easily adapt to any of your needs; your teenagers may need a club room … your own outdoor office … even a little house in the garden. Such a flexible space can be rearranged should circumstances change.

The Helsinki Log Cabin will solve all your space problems in one go. There’s room for a business that can be run from home, entertain an endless string of guests, or even have a gym.
Why buy the Finnforest Helsinki Log Cabin?

* Made from Scandinavian White softwood

* 45mm wall logs

* Timber joists

* Pre-cut floor & roof boards

* Roof shingles

* Ready made, fully glazed doors

* Reinforced corners and pre-cut wall battens

* All necessary fixtures and fittings

* Illustrated step-by-step instruction manual

* Outside terrace

* Upstairs space accessed by ladder

* Felt shingle roof.

* Large cabin with 5 internal rooms.

* Incorporates decked terrace area.

* Separate handy loft area for storage.

* French doors and opening windows supplied with double glazed toughened glass.

* Size approx cabin external (H)358, ridge, (W)979, (D)514cm / (H)11ft 9in, (W)32ft, (D)16ft 10in.

* Size internal (H)328, ridge, (W)953, (D)398cm / (H)10ft 9in, (W)31ft 3in, (D)13ft 1in.

* Requires a quality timber treatment after assembly (treatment not included).

* Supplied in kit form containing all the components and instructions required for self assembly.

* Manufactured from Scandinavian whitewood.

* 44mm tongue and groove wall boarding provides additional strength, insulation and resilience to cope with extended year round use.

* Traditional timber tongue and groove ceiling and flooring.

* Wind block system ensures a tight wind-proof seal.

DIMENSIONS
Internal External
Width 9.53m 9.79m
Depth 3.98m 5.15m
Ridge Height - 3.56m
Area 29.97msq 50.39msq

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Building your Finnlife Helsinki Log Cabin

Relaxing, lazy summertime days may be coming, but don’t hurry to erect yourFinnlife Log Cabin. Allow the time to understand how it is put together, and you'll certainly enjoy many years of hassle-free pleasure. No specialist knowledge are involved. Everyone can erect a Finnlife Log Cabin, although some jobs may need more than one pair of hands. Construction times will vary depending on your skills and the number of people helping. Obviously you don’t have to do it yourself!

It is possible to present this text to a professional builder then take it easy until he hands over the keys to your brand new Finnlife Cabin. But, whoever gets the cabin built, the initial stage is to understand fully these instructions. The trick is to be methodical and to plan ahead. Though Finnlife log cabins share many options in common, each model style is exceptional. This set of overall instructions cover the basics of log cabin construction and apply to all Finnlife cabins.

For features that are unique to your own Finn Life Log Cabin – such as dimensions, component numbers, building plans and component lists – you should refer to the individual Building Plans and Parts List. If you are building cabins Finnlife Helppo, Finnlife Helsinki, Finnlife Joki, Finnlife Kesa, Finnlife Pori, Finnlife Seita and Finnlife Valo
be aware that certain instructions may differ a slight amount from those found here.

Gravel option: Get rid of all organic matter before you start work on the foundations. Foundations should always be laid bigger than the base of yourFinnlife Log Cabin – 300mm wider in every direction and 6” thick when using compressed type gravel. For compressed gravel foundations you should use retaining boards to keep the gravel in place and compressed.

Before you begin to erect you should check that you have a full set of components. Check off each component against the component list in the Building Plans and Parts List as you remove it from the transit packaging. In the unlikely event that there is a missing component or that a component has been broken in transit get in touch with the distributor, stating the Finnlife Log Cabin reference number displayed on the packing label of the transit packaging. As you check each component place them out on the ground around the site of the log cabin. Place each component near to where it will be used. Laying out helps you visualize how the Finn Life Log Cabin goes together and it means that components are ready to hand when you need them. You can use the Building Plans and Parts List as a guide to what goes where. Be wary not to place components too close to the Finn Life Log Cabin footprint. Give yourself adequate space to work in.

Put out the four sides of the door frame on a dirt-free and level area so that the doors open outwards. Loosely place them to match the ready frame. The top and bottom jambs are not quite matching. Place the one with the Lock RECESS AT THE TOP AND BOTTOM. Ensure that the door cills go behind the doors. Slot the joints together loosely and check THAT YOU CAN STILL OPEN THE DOORS before proceeding.

Pull the frame apart again and squeeze PVA glue into the joints at the end of each frame piece. Press the sides together tightly. Ensure that the frame is alignrd correctly by measuring the cross-diagonals. Wipe away all excess glue from the frame. Use a damp cloth and rinse it out completely between wipes to prevent glue smearing onto the frame. When you are happy that the frame is square, fix all corners with the screws provided.

When laying the roof boards, you will need to temporarily stick an eaves face board to the ridge beam as a guide batten, and use it to make sure that all roof boards terminate in a flushed ridge line. Mark the middle line on the front and rear faces of the ridge beam. Begin nailing roof boards on one side of the roof, starting from the front. The leading edge of the first roof board should be set 5mm from the ends of the ridge and roof beams. The topmost end of the roof board must be flushed with the temporary ridge-beam guide batten. Nail each roof board to the ridge beam (V-Joint facing downwards) and each roof beam, driving 2 nails per board - per joint in at right angles to the roof slope.

Tack an eaves face board temporarily with nails to the ridge beam so that one edge is flushed with the marked middle line. Do not hammer in all the way. You will have to take it out later on. When making the Finnlife Log Cabin during the summer periods, we suggest to leave small gaps between the roof boards to accommodate expansion of the boards during the winter months. Where building during the winter period we would recommend hitting the boards together, to minimize any gap appearing during the hot and dry periods.

Work through, board-by-board to the rear gable. Make sure that the eaves line
created by the lower edges of the roof boards is as straight as possible. The final roof board may stick out beyond the rear gable. Tack it down lightly and mark on the beneath where it meets the ends of the ridge and roof beams. Remove the final roof board and cut it length ways 5mm inside the marked line. Put it back on the roof and nail down. Remove the temporary guide batten from the ridge beam, then repeat steps for the opposite side of the roof.

Ensure that the eaves line created by the roof boards is reasonably straight. If necessary use a cut to trim it flushed. Attach the eaves face boards perpendicular to the roof boards, and flushed with their upper surface. You need one piece for each side of the cabin. Fix by nailing into the ends of the roof boards with 50mm nails.

Roofing shingles are rectangular. The lower half of the face side is a decorative green with slits that divide it into three flaps; the upper half is black and coated with bitumen. With the exception of the first row, all shingles are laid with the green flaps at the bottom. Ridge shingles are created by cutting individual roof shingles into thirds. Put roof shingles when the temperature is above 5°C. We recommend that you use a bitumen shingle adhesive on the underneath of the tiles. This would be an additional measure to ensure longevity of the shingle life.

Put the initial row of shingles with the green/black face topmost and the green flaps at the top. Place the first shingle so that one side aligns with the right-hand edge of the roof and the black bitumen overhangs the eaves face board. Move until the edge of the black bitumen extends about 10mm out from the edge of the eaves face board.The 10mm overhang is known as the 'water drop edge'. Fix the shingle with four clout nails driven through the bitumen patches on the shingle into the roof boards. Finish the row by laying more shingles edge-to-edge until the full length of the eaves is covered. Trim the excess from the left-hand end of the roof. Retain cut pieces for later use.

Begin the second row from the left-hand end. Put this row (and all subsequent rows) with the green/black face topmost and the green flaps at the bottom. Line up the second row of shingles so that the lower edge of the green flaps are just proud of the roof edge. fix with four clout nails driven through the lower green part. Put these nails just below the line that separates black bitumen from decorative green. Properly located nails will be obscured by subsequent layers of shingles. Trim the final shingle to fit. Retain cut pieces for later use. Put the initial shingle in row three so that the mid-point of the left-hand flap aligns with the edge of the roof. Adjust its height until the tips of the decorative flaps align with the tops of the slits between the flaps in the row below.

Nail down the shingle. From now on each row has to be aligned with the row below to create an even pattern. Start every row from the left hand end of the roof. In each case the first shingle in the row must be offset to the left by half a flap, that is by 16 of its total length. That means that the middle of the flaps of the current row will align with the gaps between the flaps in the row below. Continue laying shingle sheets from left to right, edge-to-edge, to complete a full row.cut off the excess from both ends and retain cut pieces for later use. Carry on putting rows of shingles from left to right, giving each row an additional half-flap offset to the left. Where possible, use the cut off pieces you have already saved as the first or final shingles in the row. When you reach the final row, the upper edge of the shingles will extend beyond the roof ridge. Bend the excess over the ridge and nail it down. Cut several roof shingles into thirds to create ridge shingles. Cut them by extending the slits between the flaps right through the bitumen layer. You can do the same with any trimmed pieces left over from lower rows. To complete each ridge shingle you should taper the half containing the black bitumen. Start the taper at the point where the original slit ended. Finish it at the furthest edge of the black bitumen. Take the taper in about 10mm at either side of the bitumen.

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