Finnlife Mirva Log Cabin

The light and airy Finnforest Mirva Log Cabin has a tough shingle roof, and comes available with the option of under floor heating from selected retailers - see individual sites for further details!

The Finnforest Mirva has a pair of outward-opening windows, double doors and additional panels; all of which are fully glazed. The walls and floor are constructed using 28mm thick logs, the walls have an interlocking layer design at the corners that is both decorative and aids in making the log cabin building more rigid. The roof overhags at the front, which makes is great for use as a veranda, and is covered in shingles giving both attractiveness and durability.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

Windows
Mirva 2 side opening windows
Mirva with underfloor heating 2 side opening windows

Door Opening Size (w x h)
Mirva 0cm 0cm
Mirva with underfloor heating 0cm 0cm

Material Pine

Cladding Style Tongue and Groove Interlocking Boards

Glazing Material
Mirva Styrene
Mirva with underfloor heating Styrene

Floor Material Tongue & Groove

Roof Material Tongue & Groove

Cladding Width
Mirva 2.8cm
Mirva with underfloor heating 2.8cm

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How to build your very own Finnlife Mirva Log Cabin

The slow sunshining afternoons may be coming, but don’t hurry to erect your Finnlife Log Cabin. Take the time to work out how it is constructed, and you’ll enjoy many years of hassle-free pleasure. No construction knowledge are required. Anyone can erect a Finnlife Log Cabin, although some tasks may require more than one pair of hands. Construction times will change dependant on your skills and the number of people helping. Of course you don’t need to do it yourself!

You could present this text to a professional builder then take it easy until he hands over the keys to your great new Finnlife Cabin. However, whosoever finishes the task, the first step is to get to know these instructions. The trick is to be orderly and to plan ahead. Although Finnlife log cabins share many options in common, each model style is inimitable. This set of general instructions cover the basics of wooden cabin construction and are applicable to all Finnlife cabins.

For items that are unique to your own Finnlife Cabin – such as exact 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 be different a slight amount from those found here.

Gravel option: Remove all organic debris before you start work on the foundations. Foundations should always be laid bigger than the footprint of your Finnlife Log Cabin – 300mm wider in all 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 start to construct you should make sure that you have a complete set of components. Check off every 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 damaged in transit get in touch with the distributor, stating the Finnlife Cabin reference number shown on the packing label of the transit packaging. As you check each component lay them out on the ground around the site of the log cabin. Place every component near to where it will be utilized. Laying out aids you visualize how the Finnlife Cabin goes together and it means that components are ready to hand when you need them. You can utilize the Building Plans and Parts List as a scheme to what goes where. Be wary not to lay components too close to the Finnlife Cabin footprint. Give yourself ample space to work in.

Lay 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 finished frame. The top and bottom jambs are not quite matching. Place the one with the Lock RECESS AT THE TOP AND BOTTOM. Make sure that the door cills go behind the doors. Slot the joints together loosely and make sure THAT YOU CAN STILL OPEN THE DOORS before proceeding.

Note again that if your Finnlife Cabin includes internal walls, also Lay the full-height wall boards that form the bottom layer. Refer to the Building Plans and Parts List for help. Pay peculiar attention to the location of any notches in the wall boards of multi-roomed cabins. The position of these notches shows where the interlocking walls go.

Screw one end (5mm Dia x 100mm length wood screw) only of one half-height wallboard to the underlying outermost floor beam by driving a screw (supplied) through the base of the corner joint. Leave the other three corners free. If necessary, make adjustments to the internal floor beams to retain an even spacing between them. Screw the half-height wall boards (5mm Dia x 100mm length wood screws) to the rest of the floor beams. 10.5 Check that the structure is square by cross-examining the lengths of the cross-diagonals. If necessary, you can adjust by pivoting the four linked wall boards on the one corner that you have already screwed down. Momentarily lift the full-height wall boards so that you can affix screws into the three remaining corner joints into the outermost floor beams.

Begin laying the second layer of wall boards. Bear in mind that the wall that houses the door will consist of two distinct wall boards with a door-width gap between. To ensure a smooth fit, you should knock each layer down on to the layer below. Do not hammer wall boards directly. Use the pre-requisite assembly piece (a short length of wall board with a matching joint on the lower surface) to take the blows. In the event that you have not been supplied with an assembly piece then any scrap piece of wood will offer adequate protection for the tongues. Do not hammer too hard.

Persist with laying wall boards in line with to the layout of the Building Plans and Parts List you will have received with your order. The final few layers of side wall boards in some Finnlife Log Cabin are longer. The lengths increase in steps to offer support to an overhanging canopy. Lay angled gable boards in sequence starting with the longest. Be careful with the alignment of the angled gable boards. The sloping roof line should be symmetrical and even at both gable ends. Use nails at both end to fix each layer of gable boards to the layer below. Hammer nails in at an angle through the sloping ends of the gable boards.

Building up the gable ends shows a succession of gaps for the roof beams. As every gap appears, tap in a roof beam. Make sure that the angled side of each roof beam lies flush with the angle of the gable. Nail through into the gable boards to fix. Tap the ridge beam into place at the apex of the gable ends. Secure by nailing into the topmost gable board. Slide ridge and roof beam extension pieces on top of the exposed ends of the beams at both ends of the cabin. Make sure that the upper surfaces of the beams and the extension pieces are flush, then fix by nailing from each side. Fix the wall board extension pieces to the ends of the topmost wall boards in the same way.

Roofing shingles are rectangular. The lower half of the face side is a decorative green with slits that divide it into three surfaces; the top half is black and coated with bitumen. With the exception of the first row, all shingles are laid with the green surfaces at the bottom. Ridge shingles are created by cutting individual roof shingles into thirds. Lay 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.

Lay the first row of shingles with the green/black face topmost and the green surfaces 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. Adjust till 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'. Secure 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. Hang on to cut pieces for later use.

Start the second row from the left-hand end. Lay this row (and all subsequent rows) with the green/black face topmost and the green surfaces at the bottom. Line up the second row of shingles so that the lower edge of the green surfaces 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. Hang on to cut pieces for later use. Lay the first shingle in row three so that the middle of the left-hand flap aligns with the edge of the roof. Adjust its height until the tips of the decorative surfaces align with the tops of the slits between the surfaces in the row below.

Nail down the shingle. From now on each row has to be parallel with the row below to create an even pattern. Start all 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 complete length. That means that the middle of the surfaces of the current row will align with the gaps between the surfaces in the row below. Continue laying shingle sheets from left to right, edge-to-edge, to complete a full row.trim the excess from both ends and hang on to 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. If available, use the trim 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 surfaces right through the bitumen layer. You can do the same with other trimmed pieces left over from lower rows. To finish each ridge shingle you should taper the half containing the black bitumen. Begin 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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