Finnlife Joki Log Cabin

Finnforest Joki Log Cabin: very complementary to your garden space.

The Finnlife Joki Log Cabin is a strictly no nonsense type of cabin, and that's why it will always look perfect anywhere. Wherever it goes - by the pool, near your tennis courts, overlooking the lush croquet lawn - this log cabin always blends in.

The Joki has that lovely Nordic style, yet doesn't look ill-fitting anywhere on the British landscape. Here, the living is easy.

Why buy the Finnforest Joki Log Cabin?

* Made from precision-cut top quality Scandanavian White Softwood
* 34mm wall logs - provides additional strength, insulation and resilience to cope with extended year-round use
* Timber joists
* Roof shingles
* Ready made, fully glazed doors
* Reinforced corners and wall battens
* All necessary fixtures and fittings
* Illustrated instructions

Dimensions

Width:
Internal: 3.83m
External: 4.10m

Depth:
Internal: 3.83m
External: 5.60m

Ridge Height
External: 2.84m

Area:
Internal: 14.68m²
External: 22.96m²

This log cabin is also available with underfloor heating - see stockists for details.

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How to build a Finnlife Log Cabin yourself

Sumptuous, slow summer afternoons may be beckoning, but don’t rush to construct your Finnlife Log Cabin. Take the time to figure out how it is constructed, and you’ll enjoy many years of trouble-free pleasure. No specialist abilities are needed. Anyone can erect a Finnlife log cabin, although some jobs may require more than one pair of hands. Build times will alter depending on your experience and the number of people helping. Of course you don’t have to do it without any help!

It’s possible to show this document to a professional builder then relax until he delivers the keys to your finished Finnlife Cabin. However, no matter who finishes the task, the initial stage is to familiarise yourself with these instructions. The plan is to be disciplined and to plan ahead. Although Finnlife log cabins share many features in common, each model style is unique. These general instructions cover the basics of wooden cabin construction and apply to all Finn Forest cabins.

For features that are unique to your own Finnlife Cabin – such as dimensions, component numbers, building plans and component lists – you should refer to the separate 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 maydiffer slightly from those found here.

Concrete option: Get rid of organic material before you begin work on the foundations. Concrete foundations should always be the exact base size stated in the Parts List and Plans instructions to minimize the amount of water that the base will carry. It is suggested that the concrete base be six inches thick.

Foundations and preparation: You can build your Finnlife Cabin on foundations of concrete or on compacted gravel. Whichever option you make, a solid and level base is important. Time spent on the foundations is well spent. An uneven or unstable base may well detract from the end outcome of the Finnlife Cabin. Doors and windows will not fit exactly, walls may stoop and joints may not fit together.

Before you start to erect you should make sure that you have a full 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 broken in transit get in touch with the distributor, stating the
Finnlife Cabin reference number displayed 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. Place every component near to where it will be used. Laying out helps you visualize how the Finnlife Cabin is built 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 careful not to set components too close to the Finnlife Cabin footprint. Give yourself sufficient space to work in.

Put out the four sides of the door frame on a clean and level surface so that the doors open outwards. Loosely place them to match the built 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 make sure THAT YOU CAN STILL OPEN THE DOORS prior to proceeding.

Begin with the half-height wall boards. They form the primary and bottom level. Put them over the ends of, and at right angles to, the floor beams. Note: If your Finnlife Cabin features internal walls, also set the half-height wall boards that make up the bottom layer. Refer to the Building Plans and Parts List for guidance.

Pay specific attention to the location of any notches in the wall boards of multi-roomed cabins. The location of these notches determines where the interlocking walls will go. Put the first layer of full-height wall boards across the ends of, and at right anglesto, the half-height wall boards. The overlapping corner joints slot together. Please note that if your full-height boards include spaces for doors, make sure you Put them in the appropriate position.

Set up door frames after you have laid 3 layers of short wall boards in the pertinent 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 make sure they go all the way to the bottom, but be careful not to exert too much pressure or to twist or distort the frames. Make Sure that the doors open outwards effectively. Set up door frames after you have laid 3 layers of short wall boards in the pertinent walls of your cabin. Make Sure that the door frames are square and vertical before you continue to construct the cabin walls. Mis-aligned doors will not open properly. Attach handles to the doors.

It’s simple to tell which way round your windows should go: the outer face has a wider cross-section and the topmost 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 come as finished units with wide grooves similar to those on the door frames. Slide them vertically into the gaps between the wall boards.Tap lightly from above to make sure they go all the way down. Be careful not to twist or distort the windows. Make Sure 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 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 uppermost 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. Complete the row by laying more shingles edge-to-edge until the complete length of the eaves is covered. Trim 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. Put this row (and all subsequent rows) with the green/black face uppermost 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. Trim the final shingle to fit. Keep cut pieces for later use. Put the initial 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 each 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.remove the excess from both ends and retain cut pieces for later use. Continue putting rows of shingles from left to right, giving each row an additional half-flap offset to the left. Where possible, use the remove 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 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 may 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 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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Finnlife Models

Finn-Life Joki Cabin

Finnlife Joki Log Cabin

How to build a Finnlife Log Cabin yourself

Finnlife Models