| Looking at all the beautiful full-color glossy photos of | | | | your builder will place it at eye level, since each knot |
| log home in magazines gives us an idealized vision of | | | | is truly unique. However, don't be surprised if the |
| the perfect wooden house. Like a supermodel, we | | | | knots ooze sap on the sunny exterior walls of your |
| can't imagine wrinkles and imperfections, but like any | | | | house. Even the sealant won't stop the sap from |
| natural product, log walls are full of traits that are an | | | | working its way out. This will not happen on the |
| integral part of their character. | | | | inside of the house, or on the shady side. It only |
| CHECKING: The new visitor to any log home is | | | | happens when the sun is beating down on the logs |
| invariably struck by the cracks in the logs, sometimes | | | | and heating them up in the summer time. |
| stretching for several feet. Initially they might look | | | | HAND-PEELED or MILLED: (or anything in between). |
| alarming, but these cracks, or checks, are a natural | | | | Hand-crafted log homes are just that: the logs are |
| process that occurs over the first few years when | | | | cut and peeled by hand with a draw-knife, which |
| logs are still drying and reaching equilibrium with the | | | | creates a uneven surface along the log. For an even |
| environment. In no way do they weaken the | | | | more rustic look, some of the bark is left intact. If |
| integrity of your log wall. | | | | the log is milled, the machine takes off the layer of |
| When trees are cut down, there is naturally still some | | | | bark, leaving a fairly smooth surface to the log. This |
| moisture left in the cells, especially when the tree is | | | | can be sanded to a fine finish, if you have enough |
| cut down live. These logs are called "green" and will | | | | time or money. Sometimes, the manufacturer might |
| settle many inches if used right away to build a | | | | take that milled log and run a draw-knife across it to |
| house. Some manufacturers let their logs dry naturally | | | | make it look peeled. The type of finish is totally up to |
| - air dried - while others put the logs in a kiln and | | | | the buyer. |
| bake them for 30-45 days, which removes 80-85% | | | | CHINKING vs. CAULKING: Chinking is historically done |
| of the moisture. However, they can't go any farther | | | | to a hand-crafted log home in order to keep the |
| without doing damage to the wood, so the logs dry | | | | wind from howling in between the logs. It looks like a |
| naturally for the next few years, and this process | | | | broad white band between log courses. When cut by |
| can create checks in the wood to relieve the | | | | hand, logs can be scribed so that an upper log is |
| pressure. However, the heartwood closest to the | | | | shaped to match the contours of the log beneath it. |
| center of the tree is so hard that the checks will not | | | | However, not all logs are scribed; some just rest |
| go beyond the center of the log. As a result, you will | | | | atop the log below, creating large gaps in the uneven |
| not see the checks go all the way through. | | | | surface. Either way, handcrafted log homes tend to |
| SETTLING: As you may already suspect, there is a | | | | be chinked, which was historically a mix of clay, sand, |
| relationship between moisture content and settling of | | | | lime, mud, thatch, you name it, but is now an acrylic |
| your log walls. No, settling does not have to be a | | | | compound which expands and contracts with the |
| "dirty word". As long as your builder knows how to | | | | wood. Some homes still require chinking, and others |
| deal with the settling and make provisions for the | | | | use chinking for aesthetic purposes. |
| windows, doors, plumbing, and interior walls, your | | | | Many milled log homes are actually caulked with an |
| house can settle many inches and still age | | | | acrylic product designed for log homes. This comes |
| comfortably. Any log home will come with about a 2" | | | | out of a caulking gun, and creates a neat, finished |
| gap above all the doors and windows, which will need | | | | look as well as protecting the seams from infiltration. |
| to be filled with insulation. The builder will cut a | | | | We tend to caulk milled homes or do nothing at all |
| vertical groove in the frame and affix nails to the | | | | between log courses, because the joinery system is |
| windows and doors that will slide down the groove | | | | so tight that this step is not mandatory. |
| as the building settles, so nothing gets crushed. Most | | | | Every log home is unique, and each has its own |
| kiln-dried homes will only settle a couple of inches | | | | personality. It's amazing how many different |
| overall, and much of that will occur during the | | | | construction systems are available to create homes |
| construction phase. | | | | out of logs, and every style has its own |
| KNOTS: Depending on the species of wood used in | | | | characteristics. But overall, no matter what your log |
| your log home, some logs have more knots than | | | | home looks like, the cozy warmth of logs cannot be |
| others, just as some trees have more limbs than | | | | duplicated in any other kind of house. |
| others. The more interesting the knot, the more likely | | | | |