Log cabins/homes
What extra maintenance is there with a log house? Just repainting or staining the exterior every couple years?
I'm seeing that it's common to use white pine for the logs. How do you keep the bugs out?
My wife and I looked at one yesterday and on the interior it was very nice. Walking around outside showed bug damage in the eves and overhangs, and the attached log garage looked like it was put partially together with the left over scrap pieces of log. On the ends every other layer was a short 2-3ft piece. From the end of the garage door to the corner was only about 3 feet and every other layer had 2 pieces of log to it.
What all should I pay special attention to if I look at any other log homes?
I'm seeing that it's common to use white pine for the logs. How do you keep the bugs out?
My wife and I looked at one yesterday and on the interior it was very nice. Walking around outside showed bug damage in the eves and overhangs, and the attached log garage looked like it was put partially together with the left over scrap pieces of log. On the ends every other layer was a short 2-3ft piece. From the end of the garage door to the corner was only about 3 feet and every other layer had 2 pieces of log to it.
What all should I pay special attention to if I look at any other log homes?
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Here is my house. I built this house up here in the North Carolina mountains. It is made of white pine. White pine is very good wood for log cabin building.
Maintanence of a log cabin is an interesting subject. In the first place, you want big roof overhangs. As you can see I have massive 4 foot roof overhangs on the gable ends, and 6 foot overhangs on the log walls.
On the other part of the house, as this is actually 2 log cabins joined together, I have porches on the long walls. Ten foot porches with 14 foot roofs. We want to keep the rain and sun off of the logs.
Also, you want no bushes growing next to the logs. These will trap moisture and can cause the logs to rot.
The original part of my house is 22 years old. I didn't treat the logs at all when new, when 10 years old, I put on latex log cabin stain. That is all the maintenance I have done.
The problem with bugs is carpenter bees and woodpeckers. The bees make holes in the wood, holes about 3/8 inch diameter.
They lay eggs in the holes. Then the damn woodpeckers show up and peck out big holes to get those larvae.
This is a problem with a log cabin. I put up carpenter bee traps.
Also I have bought two plastic horned owls off of Amazon, I am going to put them up. Woodpeckers are scared of horned owls.
In 22 years on the original cabin I have had carpenter bees make holes in 6 or 8 spots. Interestingly they hit the timbers of the porch roof but not much the logs. Only one spot on the logs where carpenter bees made a hole, and it got pecked out by the woodpeckers. That hole is about 8 inches long and 2 inches wide.
I filled it with wood putty.
If you have any more questions about log cabins, ask away! I have built 4 of them turn key and have built 8 total.0 -
Just like your house, a log home needs to have periodic treatment on the exterior to prevent weathering damage. There are a number of companies that sell stain sealers specifically for log homes.
As far as bug damage, it probably occurred before the logs were debarked and dried. Most bugs don't seem to like dry wood.0 -
or use fake plastic logs ...look good from a distance , not so great from about 200' away...real ones near our lake place start turning dark from the ground up because of the humidity and damp... 0 -
There is a few different ways of building log homes.
Check into the type you are buying.
Some need periodic adjusting of steel rods used for the strinkage
of the logs.
Some doors and windows are framed into slots so the logs can move down
as they get older. If done wrong, windows bind and doors leak.
Clinking and caulking is needed on some types.0 -
I have a log home I built 33 years ago and have added two additions. I agree with AG on maintenance and woods bees and wood peckers.
I would not even consider a log home that you need to do any jacking to it. The logs should be kiln dried before you get them. If not I would not use the logs. When log homes are constructed the framing for windows and doors is spaced accordingly for expansion and contraction of the logs.
Any problems with windows and doors usually comes about by a contractor who does not know how to construct a log home.
Their are two important components in buying a log home. One make sure you know "exactly" what materials are included with the log home package.
The next item is find a contractor who has built a log home before otherwise you pay for the contractors education.
Last make sure you put in more electrical and other connection but boxes then you think you will ever need. You do not add new ones in the log walls after construction.
One other item to consider. Some packages also use wood for all of the interior walls. That can make for a lot of wood and not much opportunity to change up wall colors over the years.0 -
Allen, what keeps the snow from sliding off all at once? 0 -
Thanks Allen
Do you know of any disadvantages to white pine for the logs? Jhst seems with what knowledge I do have on different woods that white pine is so soft it would invite problems.
With this specific stain for log homes, how often are you supposed to paint it?
Also as far as the bug damage being done to the logs the limber came from and there for being already in the boards, that was my initial thought as well. But my wife picked out the stains from the larva droppings on the logs below the eves and overhangs. Mameing it done since the house was built.0 -
Down here in the southeast white pine is the wood most commonly used.
I have built one cabin with cypress, and one with yellow pine.
White pine is very good for log cabin construction. In the configuration of a beam there is other wood that is better, for instance, yellow pine is stronger in the beam configuration. But for wall logs white pine is great, or else, I would not use it.
There are bugs that get under the bark, in the wood yard, and they will burrow holes into the wood, and lay eggs. I have had several larvae pop their heads out of logs and timbers, a year after I built the cabin. These bugs don't amount to much.
But carpenter bees get into the wood after the house is built.
I don't remember what stain I used on the house but I have the jug at home I can look it up if you want, I am in Laredo right now.
My original house I did nothing to for ten years, applied that stain 12 years ago and it still looks fine.
The second part of the house, which is most prominent in the photo, I stained it during construction, which was 3 years ago.
As for how often you might have to stain the logs that depends on your roof overhangs. If you have minimal roof overhangs and rain and sun hit the cabin all the time you will need to re stain more frequently.
As for the snow coming off the roof, it just slides off in a big pile and with that 12 12 pitch it gets going!0 -
do people chink logs anymore? 0 -
I owned a 1947 Chestnut log cabin on the NY/NJ line for 11 years, up until about 6 years ago.
I re-stained and Thompson water proofed (brush coated) it every year.
I used clear silicone caulk on any upward leaning crack in the wood, smoothed in to place with a fingertip.
I had a 4' (or more) gravel base all around my house to help with drainage, and to keep moisture away from the base. The base was rock/concrete by the way. No logs touching the ground.0 -
quote:Originally posted by bobski
do people chink logs anymore?
Perma-chink is a sprayed on polymer foam, that expands and contracts as needed to inhibit cracks between the logs and chinking. It is State of the Art. My cabin was chinked with concrete. I was constantly finger massaging clear silicone caulk in to any gaps. I was meticulous in making sure the outside was a weatherproof as possible.
Our whole neighborhood was log cabin based, from the 1940's to 1950's. Owners would constantly stop by to find out/ask what I was doing in terms of maintenance to my log home. When sold it listed "Owners Pride, and Meticulous Maintenance," amongst its attributes.0 -
There are Log Cabin based/dedicated magazines, that list products, have articles, etc. That specifically deal with the questions you are asking.
I'm sure you can google them. I left them all with my buyer, when I left. A plethora of insightful knowledge.0 -
In my cabins there is a space between the logs of between 1/2 inch up to 2 1/2 inches. Just like the pioneers did in North Carolina in 1819.
Pioneers chinked it with red clay.
I use foam. I get 4x8 sheets of foam, 1 inch thick and 2 inch thick.
I get a 4 inch wide board. I use that board to cut strips of the foam, 4 inches wide.
Then I go around the cabin stuffing that foam into the chinking crack.
So that most of the chinking crack is filled with these sheets of foam, 4 inches wide.
The logs are six inches thick so this leaves 1 inch of air space, inside and outside.
Then, I get a couple cases of Great Stuff spray in foam. All these spaces around the foam sheets, all the little 1/2 inch cracks, every space is filled with Great Stuff. This stuff expands to fill every square inch of chinking space. It is utterly air tight plus it is good insulation. But, it doesn't look good.
Then, I mix up red clay, sand, and Portland cement. I use little point trowels to smooth on 1/2 inch of this mixture, inside and outside of the cabin. This dries to a real nice dark brown/red color.
So, I have airtight chinking that is good insulation, but you see the red clay, looks just like the pioneers did it.0 -
Here is the cabin under construction with the foam in place.
Same corner of the cabin.0 -
Been looking at Southland long homes. They have round or milled logs. I'm thinking those milled logs would be about as air tight as you could get. 0 -
We have the "D" shaped logs as shown at the website below:
https://loghomes.org/log-profiles-corner-styles/
With this type of log there are two channels. When erecting the logs there is a rubber gasket plus a special caulking put on top of each channel of the logs. Then in our case there were 12" spikes driven to hold the logs. Some companies use 12" screws.
We have no air leaks and don't have to do chinking.0 -
In the west Ponderosa is commonly used, except where redwood is abundant.
Carpenter bees favor dry locations, so roof beams and even 2x4 rafters are commonly used as they are almost always under roof and dry. Heck, I would live on Allen's porch too.0
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