Finnlife Reikko Log Cabin

The FinnForest Riekko Log Cabin

The Finnlife Riekko Log Cabin is an attractive log cabin offering a good-sized space inside and the scope to create something very special for yourself and your garden.

Like all log cabins in the Finnforest range it is constructed using top quality Scandinavian White softwood. This comes from sustainable forests which are well managed, and where industry and the wildlife live in harmony.

Why buy the FinnForest Reikko Log Cabin?

Well illustrated, step-by-step plans are supplied with your log cabin making assembly more simple and more straightforward. The doors and windows come fully glazed making life easier for you. The wood is packed in protecting sheeting and comes packed in the right order for assembly

FEATURES

* Made from Scandinavian White softwood
* 28mm 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

DIMENSIONS

Height:9'5" (2.9m)
Width:9'7" (2.96m)
Depth:14'11" (4.34m)

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How to build your very own Finnlife Riekko Log Cabin

Sumptuous, long summertime afternoons might be enticing, but don’t rush to build your Finnlife Log Cabin. Spend the time to understand how it goes together, and you’ll get pleasure from many years of trouble-free pleasure. No carpentry abilities are required. Anyone can build a Finnlife Log Cabin, although some tasks may require more than one pair of hands. Build times will vary dependant on your experience and the number of people helping. Of course you don’t have to do it without any help!

You may present this document to a handyman then relax until he hands over the keys to your great new Finn Life Log Cabin. But, whoever does the job, the initial step is to get to know these instructions. The plan is to be orderly and to plan ahead. Though Finnlife log cabins share many options in common, each model style is distinctive. These general instructions cover the basics of wooden cabin construction and are applicable to all Finnlife cabins.

For items that are unique to your Finnlife Cabin – such as dimensions, piece numbers, building plans and piece 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 alter slightly from those found here.

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

Before you commence to construct you should check that you have a complete set of pieces. Check off every piece against the piece 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 piece or that a piece has been damaged in transit get in touch with the distributor, quoting the Finnlife Cabin reference number displayed on the packing label of the transit packaging. As you check off each piece place them out on the ground around the site of the log cabin. Lay every piece near to where it will be utilized. Laying out helps you visualize how the Finnlife Cabin goes together and it means that pieces are available to hand when you need them. You can utilize the Building Plans and Parts List as a guide to what goes where. Be wary not to place pieces too close to the Finnlife Cabin footprint. Give yourself sufficient room to work in.

Lay out the four sides of the door frame on a clean and level area so that the doors open outwards. Loosely place them to match the complete 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 check THAT YOU CAN STILL OPEN THE DOORS before proceeding.

Note again that if your Finnlife Cabin includes partitioning walls, also Lay the full-height wall boards that form the lowest layer. Refer to the Building Plans and Parts List for assistance. Pay specific attention to the location of any notches in the wall boards of multi-roomed cabins. The position of these notches decides 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 loose. If required, adjust 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 comparing 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 through the three remaining corner joints into the outermost floor beams.

Begin laying the second level of wall boards. Bear in mind that the wall that houses the door will consist of two separate wall boards with a door-width gap between. To ensure a snug fit, you should tap each layer down on to the layer below. Do not hammer wall boards directly. Use the provided 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 taken receipt of an assembly piece then any scrap piece of timber will offer adequate protection for the tongues. Do not hammer too hard.

Continue laying wall boards according to the layout of the Building Plans and Parts List you will have received with your order. The ending few layers of side wall boards in some Finnlife Log Cabin are longer. The lengths increase in steps to give support to an overhanging canopy. Lay angled gable boards sequentially beginning with the longest. Be careful with the alignment of the angled gable boards. The angled 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 angled ends of the gable boards.

Building up the gable ends indicates a succession of slots for the roof beams. As every slot appears, tap in a roof beam. Make sure that the angled side of each roof beam lies flushed with the angle of the gable. Nail through into the gable boards to fasten. Tap the ridge beam into place at the apex of the gable ends. Fasten by nailing into the top gable board. Slide ridge and roof beam extension pieces over 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 flushed, then fasten by nailing from either 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 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 fashioned 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 top 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 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'. Fasten the shingle with four clout nails driven through the bitumen patches on the shingle into the roof boards. End the row by laying more shingles edge-to-edge until the entire length of the eaves is covered. Cut off 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. Lay this row (and all subsequent rows) with the green/black face top 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. fasten with four clout nails driven through the lower green part. Locate these nails just below the line that separates black bitumen from decorative green. Properly located nails will be obscured by subsequent layers of shingles. Cut off the ending shingle to fit. Retain cut pieces for later use. Lay the first 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 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 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 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 cut off pieces you have already saved as the first or ending shingles in the row. When you reach the final row, the upper edge of the shingles will extend beyond the roof ridge. Bend the extra 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 finish each ridge shingle you should taper the half containing the black bitumen. BeginStart the taper at the point where the first slit ended. Complete 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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