Logs are the only renewable major construction material. They are able to efficiently regenerate from a well managed forest. As stated by the Canadian Wood Council, “Canada is at no risk of deforestation”. “Canada’s forests account for 10% of the world’s cover & only ¼ of 1% of the Canadian forest is allowed to be harvested each year”, not to mention the hundreds of tree planting operations happening on a yearly basis.

2. Preservation of Nature

Log Homes are the only type of home that preserve nature. It is known that 90% of the wood used to construct a log house goes into a wood frame house the same size. True, the size of a log is much greater than dimensional lumber, however, the amount of waste produced by the manufacturing process accounts for nearly the same amount of wood used. The difference is: The log house preserves nature instead of hiding it. It is the log that provides the structural and finish (exposed) material, complementing nature’s real beauty and heritage & able to be enjoyed by all..

3. Low embodied energy

Definition: Embodied Energy is the hidden energy in a house required to manufacture materials resulting in pollution and supply to the point of use.

The log home has the lowest form of embodied energy in any building since material is not manufactured. Environmental impact is kept to a minimum. An example: Western Red Cedar is commonly used as an exterior finish material in eastern Canada, even though Eastern white Cedar is as readily available from Ontario to Newfoundland. White Cedar is also as naturally rot resistant and as good of an insulator. The difference: White Cedar is local, Red Cedar is transported up to 6000 km away from its source. Not too environmentally friendly is it?

4. Low flame spread rating

Simple terms: The lower the rating, the better the performance.

Building codes for flame spread rating in a residential construction wall assembly must be around 150. A 2’x6’ wall with fiberglass insulation and drywall is rated at 150 (typical conventional construction). “Logs of the softwood nature are between 75-125”. (Flame spread rating, Log Home Council). It is well known by now that in order to ignite an average size log on fire, an enormous amount of heat has to be present. Due to a logs flame spread rating, they are less of a fire hazard than typical construction. Most Insurance companies are well aware of the situation. The log home myth, “it’s difficult to insure a log house”, simply is not true.

5. Energy Efficiency

The Softwood Log is among the best natural insulators known to man. Why? Simply speaking, as wood dries, its cellular structure changes from holding water to tiny air pockets. These air pockets act as resistance to heat flow through the log. Therefore, causing wood to be an extremely poor conductor of heat & an excellent insulator. In addition logs also act as a thermal mass when heated, meaning they are able to radiate heat back to the inside or outside of the building, which ever is the warmer side of the log. What is the result? Less pressure is placed on your heating system during the winter and a cooling system in most locations is not required any time of the year.

The insulative performance of different wood species is based on the“u Factor” (rate of heat flow through a substance). Most people would be more familiar with the “r-factor” (resistance to heat transfer) which is how fiberglass insulation is rated. Standard wood – frame houses are insulated to a value of r-20. After converting a logs u-factor, it has been proven that Pine or Spruce Species are around 2.5 per inch and cedars 3.5 per inch. A typical handcrafted home of pine would have an insulative performance equivalent to r-35.

6. Air Quality

Basic air quality in any house should be of a high standard, even to people who have severe allergies. Too bad 90% of the time, this is not the case. Basically, the more manufactured materials in a home the higher the air pollution in the home mainly due to the glues and adhesives used commonly in conventional house construction. Materials include OSB, tar paper, fiberglass insulation, paints, carpets, linoleum, & varnishes to name a few. This does not mean you shouldn’t apply paint or varnish, it means if you don’t want these products to compromise air quality, they should be of an environmental and low-VOC standard. People with severe allergies who live in standard wood-frame houses usually require some form of air-purification system. Most Log home builders use minimal manufactured material, therefore low toxins and healthy indoor air quality actually exists.

7. Authenticity

Log homes were permanent shelters of our early pioneers and settlers. It is authentic, it binds us to our heritage. Some of the oldest structures in the world are constructed with logs. A properly designed log house (protection from the elements & weather-tight construction) should last a lifetime

Milled Timber: Logs are machined to the same thickness in timber (square or rectangular) form. Depending on the product,  timber thickness could be as small as 6″ x 6″ or as large as 10″ x 10″. Our standard profile is 8″ x 12″. 8″ thickness in a pine timber is equivalent to R-20 insulative value. Corners are either Dove-tail, Saddle Notch, or Butt n’ Pass. Lengths are tongue & grooved or flat-on-flat. Milled homes are made of pieces (8-16’ lengths) or full-length logs. Spikes or timber screws are used in milled homes to secure the pieces together. The main advantage of a milled log home is cost. Less labor is needed to machine a house compared to a handcrafted one.

Hand-Crafted Round Log: Logs are kept in their natural form (excluding the bark), retaining their natural taper and appearance. Logs are normally hand-peeled with the help of a drawknife. Full length logs are used & average diameter is 14-16”.

Scandinavian Full Scribe: Round logs are scribed (by hand), together, throughout the entire building (corners and longitudinal grooves). An expandable gasket and wool insulation is normally placed within each corner and groove.  With proper construction tecnique, the logs will rest tightly together with no need to ever chink.

Scribe Fit Chink Style: Round logs are scribed (by hand) together in the corners only. Longitudinal grooves are sealed (on both sides) with an insulative chinking material. The chinking rests on foam gaskets placed between the logs & if properly applied, will be permanently attached to the logs.  This type of home is the least expensive of handcrafted homes since only the corners are scribed & notched, not the grooves.

Piece-en-Piece: This style uses a combination of vertical posts & horizontal logs. Posts are placed in the corners & may be placed within the length of each wall. Between posts could be either sections of full log (as in the picture below) or a combination log & wood-framed walls. Piece-en-Piece is a versatile method to use when long lengths are not available.

Hand-Crafted Timber: Round logs are converted into squared timber retaining the natural taper of the tree (large at on end, smaller at the other). Sides of the log may be removed either by bandsaw, chainsaw, or axe… which ever finish or appearance is preferred. Full length logs are used & average thickness is 10”.

Timber Dove-Tail: Logs are squared by bandsaw, chainsaw or axe. Timbers are dove-tail notched in the corners with the longitudinal grooves capped with an insulative chinking material. Behind the chinking should be a foam gasket or backer rod with an additional backer rod in the center. With this procedure, the gap between the logs is well insulated and performs better than a thermal-pane window. The dovetail notch is the most authentic one of all…it has been around for centuries. The dovetail is also believed to be the strongest type of notch in log construction…as the building settles, it actually becomes tighter over time.

The main advantages for handcrafted homes are:

• Size of the logs: large diameter = large thermal mass = greater insulation & less heating costs.
• Aesthetics: more authentic look with naturally tapered logs

With proper building techniques & construction practices,  all types of log homes listed above have the potential to be as efficient as each other (of the same category) and 30% to 50% more efficient than typical conventional construction (wood-framed).