This page contains answers
to common questions.
By placing a down payment of 25% of
the total kit price, you have locked in your price for up to a year,
and you have also locked in a delivery date. We request that
you allow us 10-12 weeks between the time of deposit and your delivery
date. This will give us the time needed to properly dry your logs and
produce a nice log home kit for you.
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Next.
One of the most common questions
asked of log home companies
is "How much will the trucking cost?" Obviously, the farther the travel
distance, the more the cost. On average, shipping can range between
ShippingRange, depending
on your distance from our plant in Parish, NY. Usually, the entire
average home can be transported in one shipment. We will do our best
to contain these costs for you.
We have also had many of our customers
provide their own 18-wheeler for shipping. In that case, we'll
load the log packs on the flatbed at out site, and away it goes to it's
destination.
Please judge these costs
against the bigger picture of the final total cost. Some
companies will offer you "free" shipping. In these cases, it should
be obvious that the freight charges are already built into the price
of the kit. We all have to pay for shipping somewhere along the line,
whether it's mailing a box of clothes to a new college freshman, or
trucking a complete log home to a customer six states away. It's just
part of life.
We realize
that nobody likes surprises that cost
them more money, and sales transactions will run more smoothly if everyone
knows all costs up front.
Log Preservation
On the country roads in your area,
take a good look at the old w ood
barns that have been there since you were born... Look closely, and
you'll notice that the barns that are in good shape are the ones
with a good roof. The roof is the key to any wooden building's long
life. Very rarely did anyone use preservation on the wood in those days,
but they did make sure that there was no permanent water or moisture
on it. If you allow any wood to remain wet or moist, you automatically
invite fungus to begin it's systematic destruction of the wood's cellulose.
It doesn't matter to the fungus whether the wood is sawdust,
regular 2x4's or cabin logs. With a good roof and overhang over your
building, you can eliminate the permanent water/moisture problem.
 We
can only guess how many hundreds of spring and summer rains those
old barns have seen, and they are still standing square and solid. it's
because of their sound roof; not because of preservatives. As long as
they can dry out after the rain, they're fine. The same holds true for
log homes. A good solid roof is the ultimate protection from fungus.
Common sense indicates
that the interior surfaces of a log wall are protected
from exposure, simply because they are inside the home. The 2x4's that
comprise your stud walls, and the lumber used for your floor joists
and rafters are dry and protected because they also are inside the home.
No amount of discussion
ever convinced the building industry to apply preservatives to these
interior timbers, 2x4's, and 2x10's, because it wasn't necessary. Common
sense says the same holds true for the interiors of your log walls.
Having said all that,
we are not opposed to applying a preservative to the exterior
of your log home after construction, in spray or brush form
(NOT dip-treating, because that will put the preservative INSIDE
the home, where you will inhale it for years). We sell an ultraviolet
resistant coloration that contains the fungicide in it. you may know
it as TWP, and it can be obtained in a variety of shades and colors,
from a golden yellow to a dark brown. However, we are entirely opposed
to applying any preservative material
at all to the interior log surface.
With a dipping process,
the preservative is applied to the interiors, as well as the exteriors
of the logs. For years, we have opted NOT to do this. it seems that
many of yesterday's preservatives, after chemical testing, have been
banned for interior use.
Creosote is a great preservative, but
it cannot be trusted to be good
for your health. Imagine breathing it in for years in the enclosed environment
of your own home. The EPA decided that it should do something about
it years ago.
Pentachlorophenol sounds like it can
really kill fungus, doesn't it, but what can it do to you? It was banned
for interior use by the 1980's. Lots of log homes were treated with
it, inside an out, and people are still living in those homes. Then
came Zinc Naphthanate. Yes, it inhibits fungal growth, but after years
of breathing in the fumes, what allergies will you get? The latest in
the list is the Borax solutions. Time will tell with this, too.
Years ago, we began recommending
no wood preservative on the interiors of our log homes. It is no good
to go "back to the land", build your dream home on the back forty, and
develop allergies or some other similar problem because you are breathing
in chemicals. In the past, too many chemicals have been given the go-ahead
for our use, (not just in our industry- remember DDT?) only to be pulled from the shelf at a later date. By
then, we have already been exposed. Most people will agree that
it's better to avoid exposure in the first place. We are comfortable
with preservation on the exteriors of your logs, only. By avoiding interior
application, you will also avoid years of concentrated exposure.
Some manufacturers have tried to make
an issue over air-drying versus kiln-drying. We air-dry our products,
and we have always air-dried. Our logs are as beautiful and functional
as any, and at a lower cost. With any drying method, the logs should
be dried to approximately 20% or less. With a kiln, the moisture content
of the logs can be reduced further, depending on the kiln's setting.
However, once the logs are removed from the kiln, they are now in the
environment again, just the same as the air-dried ones are.
You can imagine what happens now.
Again, we'll refer to using your common sense.....
If the weather has been rainy and wet,
both will absorb moisture from the air, in their attempt to find a moisture
content equilibrium. If it's been dry out (let's say 10% ambient moisture),
both will lose moisture to the surrounding atmosphere, as they again
attempt to find that moisture equilibrium. The gain and loss of moisture
in wood is a never-ending process that varies with the daily weather.
Once you think about this, you soon
realize that the moisture content of the logs is a function of the
local climate, regardless of how the wood was dried.
This whole process, where the wood
is constantly "chasing" the ever-changing moisture content of the surrounding
air, occurs with ANY wood.....not just logs. It happens with kitchen
chairs that get loose in the winter as they dry and creak, and with
interior doors that maybe don't shut right in winter because they, too,
have changed shape a little with the seasons.
In conclusion, you will experience
more seasonal changes with your own log home, as your heating system
dries the logs out in winter and they expand again when the heat is
turned off for the summer,........ than you will ever see because of
the method of drying used in manufacturing.
As long as your logs have been dried,
whether with air or kiln, the majority of their shrinkage has occurred
before construction, and they are ready for the building process.
5.5" high Camp-log |
7.5" x 7.5" D-Style |
Hand-Peeled |
Lodge-Log |
In these log samples, note:
1. Our Triple Tongue-in-Groove weather-seal.
2. The logs are usually at least as
wide as they are high, to provide more stability to the log wall.
3. Lags (screws) are staggered between
tongues, to add to wall stability.
4. The heart of the tree is contained
within the log.
5. Look closely at
the interface between the top and bottom logs. Where one log rests on
another, there is a space on top of each tongue. (and below the groove
in the log above it.) This is extremely important, and this is
why......
Please pay attention
here...... You have read this far, and the next paragraph describes
how any weather-seal acts in log homes.........
This is where the weather seals
are located, and there must
be permanent spaces here after the wall is constructed. This space is
allowed for a purpose- to keep the gaskets from becoming part of
the load-bearing surface. If there were no room allowed here for
gaskets, they would be crushed flat during construction. Then, when
the logs are subject to their first heating season (winter), they will
dry more and shrink somewhat. The gasket that was crushed during
construction will not rebound to maintain the seal, and the logs will
develop air leaks.
With our weather seal,
this potential problem is solved by allowing room for the gasket in
the first place. Our log gasket is a canned, pressurized foam
that expands when it is exposed to air. It fills in all spaces in the
wall, and sets to a flexible semi-solid state that "follows" the logs
as they move with the seasons. This ability to follow is crucial to
preventing air leaks.
We have produced
log home kits in both linear and precut
form, and all of our kits over the last 20 years have been shipped as
a lineal kit. Our lineal kits are the same as the precut
kits, except that the logs are not cut to an exact length. This is left
up to the on-site contractor, and here are a few reasons why most customers
now choose our lineal log packages:
Read on to see why a lineal log kit is better all-around for a buyer.
1. Price.
Obviously, the cost of a kit is cheaper
if you purchase your logs in lineal form.
2. Searching
for individual logs during construction.
You'll usually have between 200-300 logs in your home. It is frequently more
time-consuming to locate each numbered log (precut kit) than it
is to pick any log you like and lag it in as you go (lineal kit).
3. Log Butt Joints are hidden
behind interior wall. This
has always been a big plus for our lineal packages. As the home is being
constructed, we can locate nearly ALL of the log butt joints
behind the interior 2x4 walls. This is easy to do with a lineal package,
and it makes a very pretty log
wall. Impossible to do with the precut kit.
4. Late floor plan adaptations and
window changes. While we're
building a local log home, the homeowner almost always has a couple
of changes in window and door locations, or more often, window
sizes. One has to realize that once a home is under construction,
it looks a little different than it did on paper, and this is
when most people want to make the changes. With the precut kits, the
changes are a big problem (so much so that you will choose not to make
the change), but with the lineal kits, the contractor can make the on-site
modifications and keep on building.
5. Foundation sizes vary.
We have seen enough foundations that
are 2-3" off to make this point to you. If your log home is precut for
a 28 x 42 foundation, for example, and your foundation is 2-3" different,
it's a big problem and the solution is left in your own lap. If the
foundation is too small, you'll have to cut your log wall shorter on-site,
and if the foundation wall is too long, you'll have to order more, longer
logs, which takes time. This happens more often than people realize,
and 2" makes a big difference, but with the lineal packages the compensation
in size is easy to accomplish. With a pre-cut log package, we'll
just call it a nightmare.
6. IT'S YOUR CHOICE
as to which logs go where in the log wall.
As soon as you start log construction, you will notice that each log
has it's own look to it. This is due mostly to knot patterns and knot
sizes. Depending on where in the tree the log was located, and
the diameter of the raw log that was sawed to produce the cabin log,
knot sizes and patterns will vary between logs. Look at some of our
pictures, and you'll notice this variation. Everyone is different. Some
people like a lot of knots in a particular room, and some like a clearer
wall look. To others, this does not matter. With the linear package,
you can dictate where each log goes. With the precut kits, each log
is limited to a specific location in the home, like it or not.
7. TWO CUTS PER WINDOW:
We've used a chainsaw and saw-guide for years for field-cutting our
window openings. This is a simple, inexpensive squaring jig that mounts
to your chainsaw, and it cuts a very exact opening AFTER the logs have
been installed. The logs are "stacked" and lagged in, up the sides of
each window and door location, allowing for each log to protrude 3-4"
into the final rough openings. Then, two cuts (one for each side) finish
the opening, all at once. (We also use the same jig on our solid log
gable ends). This method is about 10 times faster than stacking a precut
wall, tapping each log end-ways to it's exact required position, then
repeating the same process again and again.
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