# dovetail .....on a house....



## jaxonquad (Jan 26, 2011)

I saw this today on route. There was no one home so I didn't snoop too much. Forgive the quality its my phone.
This may be common practice, but I've never seen it. Impressive to say the least.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Don't know if it's common practice or not, but it sure is cool. Thanks for sharing.
:thumbsup:


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## Longknife (Oct 25, 2010)

Log houses has been the dominant type of building in Sweden for around 1,000 years and still is popular. Different techniques has been used and there are some 250 - 300 different types of end joints. The dominant type is this









At the end of the 1800's this type of joint became popular, similar to the one in your picture. In swedish it's called "laxknut" in direct translation meaning salmon tail joint.


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## dbhost (Jan 28, 2008)

Now that is something worth noting... I have never seen a dovetailed house before... Very cool...


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

Been a long time since my nose was in one of my TF books so I can't give the history/origin of the through-dovetail used in cabin wall construction but I can tell you that is was not only common across NA & Europe but at one time, in many regions it was the most popular way to construct a cabin wall especially where only smaller timbers were available. 

I stand to be corrected but where larger logs were used I think saddle notch, Swedish cope etc. would have been chosen. 

If you lived in the NE or in Canada I wouldn't be much surprised to see that picture but for Alabama that's quite a find. It doesn't look very weathered to me do you think it was built recently say within the past 20 years? Perhaps a restoration of something built in the teens to 30's? 




.


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## jaxonquad (Jan 26, 2011)

This one is right over the state line in GA. Being right between Birmingham and Atlanta, you wont see many houses over 140 years. Most were burned in the civil war.
I would guess less than 20 years old with my untrained eye. I really wish someone would have been home so I could have got a little history.


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## AlWood (Apr 18, 2010)

jaxonquad said:


> This one is right over the state line in GA. Being right between Birmingham and Atlanta, you wont see many houses over 140 years. Most were burned in the civil war.
> I would guess less than 20 years old with my untrained eye. I really wish someone would have been home so I could have got a little history.



jaxonquad, wow, for GA it must be really amazing... Besides, I've never seen one made using such thin logs, boards actually... No wonder, it was done using dovetails; a traditional (saddle) wouldn't hold...

Seeing it lightened my heart: while there are some people here who have seen those logcabins with similar joints, I doubt anybody have BUILT them; but I had... Going 55 years back, in my old country, on the south edges of Sibiria, I, with three other fellow carpenters, bult up two full-blown houses (5 walls), using logs up to 2 feet thick, saddle-like manner (you've got to make a groove all the way in the bottom side of a log, by which it will be riding on the lower log -- using your ax only!). This style houses ("izba") used to be a standard way all over Russia for a few centures, and came there, no doubt, from the West -- Sweden being the most probable original source... Nobody does it there anymore, I guess; but they used to be pretty warm in the winter...


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## firehawkmph (Apr 26, 2008)

Jax,
I have seen a number of dovetailed log cabins like the one in your pic here in Ohio. The funny part of your pic is the electric meter. That looks out of place there.
Mike Hawkins


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## Jim_Rogers (Oct 6, 2011)

There are probably lots more of these houses around, it's just that you can't see the logs and dovetails as the tails were cut off flush and they put siding over the outside of the building to stop the wind from blowing in between the chinking. 
When we toured Ohio years ago we did tour some log cabins built this way. And the tour guide told us that there were lots of houses that had been sided over.
You'll never know until you need to do a "re-model"....

Jim Rogers


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## RandyL (Jan 24, 2012)

Tons of dovetail structures up this way in Ontario. Most older buildings are smaller structures like barns and such. Many older buildings were once a main home for a family but are converted to someones cottage/cabin. Many dovetail logs that have a profile sticking out a couple inches or so sometimes fail and rot over time because the roof overhang didn't extend outwards enough to cover the corners, therefore allowed water to sit on the ledge and rot. (not sure if I explained that correctly) Plus, I'm not sure if they had any type of wood preservative to seal the logs with. Anyone know if there was any type of sealant used back then?


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## jaxonquad (Jan 26, 2011)

Since I have been to this house, Ive seen 3 more within 20 miles of each other...Who knows how many Ive driven past and never gave a glance.:huh:


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## joesbucketorust (Dec 13, 2011)

Meh - dovetailed corners on a log house are nothing. You wanna impress me? Show me the second story connected to the first with a sliding dovetail. :yes:
I do like that style on the corners better than the plain stack, it gives it a bit of a flair.


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## johnmark (Jul 21, 2012)

TexasTimbers said:


> Been a long time since my nose was in one of my TF books so I can't give the history/origin of the through-dovetail used in cabin wall construction but I can tell you that is was not only common across NA & Europe but at one time, in many regions it was the most popular way to construct a cabin wall especially where only smaller timbers were available.
> 
> I stand to be corrected but where larger logs were used I think saddle notch, Swedish cope etc. would have been chosen.
> 
> ...



the dovetail construction helps with the weathering, and of course the roof helps, but the way the water comes off the dovetail plays its part.


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## red (Sep 30, 2008)

The dovetail corners are common place around here in the NC mountains. I'm having one built as I write this. It makes a beautiful corner detail and its strong. 

Red


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## cibb911 (Jan 14, 2013)

I haven't seen many in the south but they are semi common up north. I've made some self centering dovetail jigs for making that joint before.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

No biggie where I live at 53N.
McBride has its Centennial bash this coming summer so even the homesteads aren't very old.
I've been told that the dovetail style in the corners of houses and barns
is often a give-away of the immigrant's origins.


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## jharris2 (Jul 9, 2012)

This is a very interesting thread.

I found this:


http://logdovetailjig.com/cutting_dovetail_notches.html


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## jigs-n-fixtures (Apr 28, 2012)

RandyL said:


> Tons of dovetail structures up this way in Ontario. Most older buildings are smaller structures like barns and such. Many older buildings were once a main home for a family but are converted to someones cottage/cabin. Many dovetail logs that have a profile sticking out a couple inches or so sometimes fail and rot over time because the roof overhang didn't extend outwards enough to cover the corners, therefore allowed water to sit on the ledge and rot. (not sure if I explained that correctly) Plus, I'm not sure if they had any type of wood preservative to seal the logs with. Anyone know if there was any type of sealant used back then?


If you were rich you used linseed oil mixed with clay pigments. As the chemistry got better oil based paint evolved.


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

It was common along the gulf coast. Here are a few links that touch on the design if you are interested to read them.

These are mainly geared towards Louisiana however it is applicable to the gulf coast from La to almost Fl.

These are from the LSU museum I work with: http://www.louisiana101.com/5-2-03_lsu_rural_life.html (pay attention to the dogtrot house)

http://www.louisianafolklife.org/lt/virtual_books/guide_to_state/newton.html

http://www.oldhouseweb.com/architecture-and-design/cracker-farmhouses-1840-1920.shtml


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## Tom King (Nov 22, 2013)

Notice the difference in the ones in the first post, and the one with the red "paint"? One is simpler than the other, and may allow a log to twist. The other locks them together more securely.

The first is called a "half-dovetail", and the other "full dovetail" or simply "dovetail".


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