Log Cabin with Bark Siding

scesnick · Feb 20, 2006

I have a log home and this notion that they are very high maintenance is a myth. The one key to keeping your log home low maintenance is to be sure to only build with kiln dried logs. As a matter of fact there is now a product out that requires you to stain the exterior just one single time in a 20 year period !
I have heard all the horror stories about log homes and high maint. and shifting logs, etc.. if you look into it they are all air dried log packages that have the problems. Kiln dried is . in fact, more expensive initially but, well worth the piece of mind. The Company i bought my home from has a 100 yr. warranty. No air dried log company will ever give you that.

KentT · Feb 20, 2006

( Some with log homes realize how much work it is to keep a log home from rotting away. )

Not necessarily..

Here's a log home on the opposite side of the Smokies that's approaching 200 years old (built in 1820) and has likely never seen paint nor preservative of any kind...

I also have no experience with hickory bark siding -- too expensive for my budget -- but I know of several mountain resorts/lodges in that area that have it on them -- for well over 50 years now. Most are from the early 1900s...

Couple more keys to using logs, board-and-batten, or any unpainted wood is to use DEEEEEP overhangs to keep rain and sun off it, and to make sure the wood is 18" or more off the ground, so rain/dirt doesn't splatter up on it...

Tom_H · Feb 20, 2006

( this notion that they are very high maintenance is a myth.)

In my case and the case of the vast majority of all log home owners, it certainly is not myth. It is first hand knowledge. Perhaps a more accurate statement might be, "the notion that they must be high maintenance is a myth." In 1993, I paid $48,000 for just the logs for a 2800 ft.2 house. The logs are Doug Fir, cut green at above 8500 ft. MSL in Montana, and air dried in an open air barn for 19 months. A check groove was cut to the center of each with a chain saw to reduce checking. Logs on the north side of the house and those protected by porch overhangs are fine. We have cold wet winters and hot dry summers. The highs of up to 115 degrees blister the outside of the southernly exposed logs and open micro-checks all up and down the logs. Keeping these checks sealed against water is a nightmare. These didn't start appearing until the house was 4 or 5 y.o.

How much did you pay for your logs and what is the size of the house? How long have you been in the house? Do you have overhangs all around the house? What kind of climate do you have (temp., humidity)? What is this new product? I'd like to hear more about the specifics of your situation.

Alan L. · Feb 20, 2006

The only problem is that they probably value it about 3 times what its worth, so by the time you mortgage it to pay the taxes on your winnings you aren't that much ahead.

Tom_H · Feb 20, 2006

( Here's a log home on the opposite side of the Smokies that's approaching 200 years old (built in 1820) and has likely never seen paint nor preservative of any kind...)

I take this word likely to mean that you don't really know whether that's true and that you're guessing. I sincerely doubt that it is true. Those old log structures often have had many logs pulled out and replaced. The construction methods of those houses actually makes it not too difficult to jack up several courses of logs, pull rotted ones out, and replace them. This is not possible with most modern methods of log construction. My house has threaded rod running through the saddle notch joints, The logs are toenailed with 5 inch nails and 1" dia. 4' long steel drift pins were driven into pilot holes drilled all up and down the run of each course. I'll be happy to retract my statement if you can present documented proof of what you have claimed.

beenthere · Feb 21, 2006

scesnick
/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gifYou may believe that if you wish. Not a problem with me if you do. The myth, IMO, is that log homes are so durable and examples of something claimed to be 200 years old with the implication that they are the 'original' logs are passed around to try to substantiate that myth. I don't believe it for a second.
Log homes are beautiful structures, and I like to stay in them on occasion to enjoy that beauty.
Now, I'll let this thread drift back to the subject of bark siding. I didn't mean to cause it to deviate away from that. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

scesnick · Feb 21, 2006

I think the key here is that you have air dried logs. No matter for how long , they are still air dried. What kind of warranty did the company you bought them from give you? I agree that sealing the checks is very important but you also have to stack the logs according to the way the checks face. Any check that is facing upwards will collect water and that log should be either turned around or not used.
I have an Old Timer Log home. 3,400 sq. ft. yellow pine "8" Saddlenotch "D" logs. I live at 3,000 ft in the Md/Wv. mountains and in a very high wind area. I also grew up in a log home ( kiln dried ) with zero problems.
My home is 6 yrs. old no problems so far.
Again the key here is kiln dried logs. I have a freind that built an air dried log home to save a few bucks 5 years ago. he is paying the price now. His cabinets fell off the wall, doors won't open/shut. logs are shifting...it's just a mess.
check this site out http://www.oldtimerloghomes.com/importance.htm

KentT · Feb 21, 2006

( I'll be happy to retract my statement if you can present documented proof of what you have claimed. )

Well, all I know is that it hasn't been painted, stained, nor sealed in my 50+ year lifetime, so you likely won't need to eat your words... But, that doesn't mean that you have the "final word" of authority on the subject, either.

This building, the John Oliver cabin, and quite a few more of its age are in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. I have two sets of great-grandparents buried not far from this old house, but I can't readily query them to see if it had ever been painted in the 1800s....

Another key to the longevity of these, and of some of the modern machined ones of the same style, is that the exposed sides are primarily heartwood, since the sapwood has been hewn/sawn off to make the flat, slab sides. This flat sided log profile also doesn't have the round, upturned profile that catches the sun and rain and checks as you describe. Another key is that they use dove-tailed corner joints that do not protrude out from the walls like saddle-notch or other corner joints. (Ends of the logs act like wicks, pulling moisture into the walls. ) Finally these were made from "old-growth" trees, many of them American Chesnut (straight grain that split easily).

Bottom line is that there are MANY variables in how long log houses/cabins can last, and to blanketly categorize them as high maintenance is NOT accurate. There are many log houses in Europe that are 500 - 1000 years old. Almost universally, they are flat-sided logs with some form of a recessed corner, even if not dovetailed.

I doubt that some of today's advertised "maintenance free" products like vinyl siding will last that long before they crumble away due to exposure to the elements. Meanwhile, I'll bet that the "reclaimed" logs used in this "showcase" house are already over 100 years old, and are being used again.

scesnick · Feb 21, 2006

Tom H,

I researched log homes for 2 years and even visited a few of our final picks of manufacturers before we spent that kind of money on a log home. The method of putting together a log home that you decribed is a tell tale sign that the logs are NOT sufficiently dried. that is why you have the threaded rod running through your saddle notches.
I'm also going to go out on a limb here and guess that you have to actually tighten these rods everey once in a while, a borate bug treatment to exterior logs, that should be repeated every few years,, etc...
In this type of construction there is going to be a good amount of maintenance involved. These rods are there for a reason. and that reason is ( although the manufacturer of this package will probably deny ) that the walls are going to shift sooner than later with air dried logs.
How are your kitchen cabinets mounted?
how big of a gap was required around your exterior doors?
My point is this, The amount of maintainence involved in owning a log home depends on what type of log you buy ( air dried or kiln dried) and what the manufacturers building method is used.
BTW, I have seen very few old abandoned " stick built " homes that have last anywhere near as long as old abandoned log homes.

beenthere · Feb 21, 2006

scesnick
The theme here has been bark siding and relating that to maintaining with resect to decay of the wood. Not shrinkage of the wood as a result of seasoning over time.

Your theme of 'kiln drying' and its advantage with respect to the walls 'settling' is a bit different, and even kiln dried logs or home timbers will decay if they are not protected from water/moisture by either large overhangs, treated wood, or natural resistance of heartwood. You 'researched' a lot, but you missed 'a lot' and probably heard just the things that you wanted to hear. About wood, you will learn a lot more with your log home. Trust me. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif Those sales people know the right combination of words and 'tell tale' signs of their competitors to distract one from the real problems to be faced.
I don't mean to pick on you, but there are many readers who might be interested in learning more, and I'd like to suggest there is more information, rather than just 'this-information'. I don't mean to play down one bit that 'kiln dried' logs is not good (just would wonder what 'kiln dried' with respect to house logs really means however /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif ).