Finnlife Valo Log Cabin

Whether you want to use your Finnlife Valo 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 Finnlife Valo is about going back to basics: you, nature and the things you care for most.

Situate your Valo south-facing and the sun never seems to set. A wonderfully welcoming log cabin like this catches the sun at almost every angle. From early in the morning to late in the day, sunlight will stream through those massive side windows; In the middle of the day, you'll get warm lovely sunshine right through the doors.If it gets too hot, you can always swing open the doors and windows. Too cold, simply shut them tight to keep the warmth inside. Even on a dull or rainy day, the Valo's fabulous 90-degree views will lure you into the garden.

This log cabin's components are precision-cut from quality Scandanavian softwood for a perfect fit, first time and every time. The timber comes from well managed forests where indigenous wildlife and forest industries co-exist - and where the rate of tree planting exceeds the rate of felling.

Cabin Measurements

The Valo comes with these features as standard:

· 28mm Log Thickness
· Square Roof Shingle Tiles
· Perspex Glazing
· Made from Scandinavian White softwood
· 38mm wall logs
· Timber joists
· Pre-cut floor & roof boards
· Roofing shingles
· Reinforced corner and wall battens
· All necessary fixtures and fittings
· Illustrated instructions

Look out for optional extras:

· Guttering Kit
· Underfloor Heating

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Build your very own Finnlife Log Cabin

Fantastic, lazy summery afternoons may be beckoning, but don’t hasten to build your Finnlife Log Cabin. Take the time to understand how it is put together, and you’ll get pleasure from many years of hassle-free pleasure. No construction knowledge are needed. Everyone can erect a Finnlife Log Cabin, although some tasks may require more than one pair of hands. Construction times will alter depending on your skills and the number of people who help you. Of course you don’t have to do it without any help!

You might show this document to a handyman then take it easy until he presents you with the keys to your brand new Finn Life Cabin. But, whoever does the job, the initial stage is to read carefully these instructions. The knack is to be systematic and to plan ahead. Though Finnlife log cabins share many options in common, each model style is inimitable. 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 Finnlife 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 Finn Life Helppo, Finn Life Helsinki, Finn Life Joki, Finn Life Kesa, Finnlife Pori, Finn Life Seita and Finn Life Valo
be aware that certain instructions may differ a slight amount from those found here.

Gravel option: Get rid of 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 dense type gravel. For dense gravel foundations you should use retaining boards to keep the gravel in place and dense.

Before you begin to build you ought to check that you have a full set of components. Tick 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 damaged in transit get in touch with the distributor, quoting the
Finnlife Cabin reference number shown on the packing label of the transit packaging. As you check every component set them out on the ground around the site of the log cabin. Put each component close to where it will be used. Laying out helps you see how the Finnlife Log Cabin is built and it means that components are available to hand when you need them. You can use the Building Plans and Parts List as a scheme to what goes where. Be wary not to set components too close to the Finnlife Log Cabin footprint. Give yourself ample room to work in.

Lay out the four sides of the door frame on a clean and level surface so that the doors open outwards. Loosely arrange them to match the completed 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. Put the joints together loosely and check THAT YOU CAN STILL OPEN THE DOORS prior to proceeding.

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

Set up door frames after you have laid 3 layers of short wall boards in the relevant walls of your cabin. The door frames come as complete units with wide grooves cut into the architraves. Slide the frames vertically into the proper gaps so that the ends of the wall boards match the grooves. Tap the door frames lightly from above to ensure they go all the way to the bottom, but be careful not to exert too much pressure or to twist or distort the frames. Check that the doors open outwards effectively. Set up door frames after you have laid 3 layers of short wall boards in the relevant walls of your cabin. Check that the door frames are square and vertical before you continue to build up the cabin walls. Mis-aligned doors will not open properly. Attach handles to the doors.

It’s effortless to figure out which way round your windows should go: the outer face has a wider cross-section and the top architrave is longer than the one at the bottom. When you have laid the number of boards indicated on your Building Plans and Parts List, start laying shorter-length boards in the walls that contain windows until you have a window-sized gap two or three layers deep.

Windows arrive as completed units with wide grooves alike to those on the door frames. Slide them vertically into the gaps between the wall boards.Hit lightly from above to ensure they go all the way down. Be careful not to twist or distort the windows. Check that the windows open outwards and that the frames are square and vertical. Misaligned windows will not open correctly.

Roofing shingles are rectangular. The lower half of the face side is a decorative green with slits that split it into three flaps; the top 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 made by cutting individual roof shingles into three. Lay roof shingles when the temperature is above 5°C. We suggest 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 flaps at the top. Put 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. Alter 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'. 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 entire length of the eaves is covered. Cut off the excess from the left-hand end of the roof. Keep 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 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. 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 last shingle to fit. Keep 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 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 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 overall length. That means that the mid-points 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.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. Where possible, use the trim pieces you have already saved as the first or last 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 may 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. BeginStart the taper at the point where the original 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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Finnlife Models