Watch: Time Lapse Log Cabin Build With Hand Tools

This is a cool, super-speeded-up video of a log cabin build. This guy did most of the work with hand-powered tools using trees he felled himself. He custom-fit each log to build the cabin, and then took it all apart and moved it to his property!

This video moves very quickly, but it’s not exactly time-lapse, except for the roofing. Watching him lay down two layers of planks was certainly impressive.

The roof was then dried in and horizontal one-by boards nailed down, and charred boards were placed in a board-and-batten fashion. I would be amazed if the roof doesn’t leak at least a little bit, because water can definitely find its way through the spaces between the boards.

From the log work to the chinking, and even a small cellar space for food storage, this is one cool build. And if you want more details, he has more-detailed videos on his YouTube channel.

Here’s what he says about it:

At the beginning of the video, I show a winter drone photo of the cabin in the snow in December. Then I flashback to the first balsam fir tree I cut down with a saw and axe near the cabin. I drag the trees into place and clear the cabin site. All summer, I cut the notches in the logs as I built the cabin up, offsite. Once I was finished notching the logs with a log scribe, saw, axe, adze and wood carving gouge, I loaded up the entire cabin of logs and moved them to my land near Algonquin Park, Ontario Canada.

Once on site, I spent a month reassembling the cabin on a foundation of sand and gravel. Once the log walls were up, I again used hand tools to shape every log, board and timber to erect the gable ends, the wood roof, the porch, the outhouse and a seemingly endless number of woodworking projects.

For the roof, I used an ancient primitive technology to waterproof and preserve the wood – shou sugi ban, a fire hardening wood preservation technique unique to Japan and other areas in northern climates.

Because the cabin is off-grid, I have used hand tools for most of the build and without power, I have no options on site regardless. The tiny house will continue to be operated with power, not even renewable energy for now, so I’m heating the cabin with a wood stove fire place, which I also cook on.

The cabin is made of cedar fence posts, twelve feet long and the cabin measures 10 feet x 20 feet inside with a one hundred square foot sleeping loft on the second floor.

The floor is made of two inch thick pine planks, torched to help repel water and to give them a rustic barn board appearance.

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.