HOW TO CHOOSE A GREAT LOG HOME
What would you do to find a great log home? Many people look for floor plans that they like. Some will simply start calling or looking for different log homes without any plan of action. Others simply ask everybody for information, but we need to consider who writes the info. To give you an example, a friend asked a company for information about a certain product. They sent him statistics about their product which was edited and published by them. Not by an independent organization. Do you think they will be biased? A viewpoint is not what you want when you choose, YOUR Dream Home! True facts are what you want.
One more example to get the point across: A Russian newspaper printed a headline stating: U.S. comes in next to last – Russia comes in next to first. There were only two runners in the race. How they word the facts can be confusing and misleading.
The answer is to use a check-list of important items log home companies must meet, but very few sit down and work out a plan of action and follow it through.
So what is you plan of action?
There are 10 things to consider that will lead you to one of the top ten log home companies in the industry. I have spent 30 years building many different types of log homes and in that time these 10 things have come out on top.
1. Buy only in the USA (or in the country you live in).
2. Look for a company that has been in business for more than 15 years, (the longer the better).
3. Find a qualified dealer near you from the company of your choice.
4. Check out the company’s reputation with the BBB and other state organizations.
5. Buy only logs that have been dried to 15% moisture content to the center.
6. Purchase only from a company that uses select or better, graded logs from standing GREEN timber (not DEAD standing).
7. Log profile is very important. A Swedish cope with a tongue and groove holds up best.
8. Use only a through-bolt system that hooks to the j-bolts in the foundation.
9. Be sure that the company has a good warranty of at least 20 years. A Lifetime Warranty would be even better.
10. Finally but also very important buy from a company that puts some type of drying cut in their logs.
There are less than four log home companies, out of six hundred, in the United States that can meet these standards. So why use these 10 things to qualify a company? Let’s go over each one and see why.
1. Buy only in the United States. This is most important because you have no way to legally correct any problems with a company out of your country. You are completely at the mercy of the company.
2. Look for a company that has been in business for more than 15 years. Many companies in the log home industry only last about 10 years. So be sure to buy from a company that has been in business for much longer. That way you know that their warranty is good. These companies value their reputation, so they will be more inclined to help you with any problems you may have with your home. Things that go wrong with log homes not dried to 15% will take several years to develop. This is because green trees take longer to dry when applied. Problems occur in logs only after they are mostly dry.
3. Find a qualified dealer near you from the company you choose. Do not go directly to the factory to buy a log home. Always find a qualified dealer as close to the building site as possible. A qualified dealer will know how to deal with the factory, and will keep their reputation in good standing even more so than the log home company. All dealers should sell for near the same price as the factory, with the exception of extra cost in their area, such as state tax and/or levies. These dealers can help you a great deal and will be close by during construction whereas, the factory will not and probably could care less. Many times in the past 30 years I have seen people with the idea that they can get a better deal from the factory, and every time they have problems with the factory, or they end up paying a lot more than they would have from the dealer after all was said and done.
For example: A couple decided to buy from one log home company because they could get the logs at over half the price of another well known log home company. They thought they were saving money, but they did not consider how hard it is to cut and drill every log, or how to throw out cull logs. They also did not allow for settling, shrinking, twisting, warping and other problems that occur with logs that are not dried or graded properly. They bought from the so-called factory that simply did not help, period. The end result was they lost their home, and a lot of time and money. So I ask you, do you really want a good price or a good product that will last and save you money in the long run?
4. Check out the company’s reputation with the BBB and other state organizations. This is very important because it may save you a lot of money. All log home companies require money down; many of the ones in good standing require ½ down to order your logs. Several times in the past I have seen companies in the red fail, and on the way down take the money paid to them for log orders with the buyer losing out altogether. Some log home companies are in bad standing within some states, and they are not allowed to sell in them. This should put up a red light for you. One state in particular is New York. There are several companies that cannot sell in that state. Stay away from such log home companies. You can call the Attorney General’s office of any state and get such details. So make sure they are in good standing and in the black, both within your state and in the state where the company is located. This is probably one of the most important things you can do. Why lose your money!
5. Buy only logs that have been dried to 15% moisture content to the center. Moisture content is very important when selecting the logs for your home. A stable home that doesn’t shrink, twist, or break windows will give you great satisfaction. And logs that are dried to 15% moisture content are very stable. They will not cause you the severe problems of a green or partially dried log home. This will save you a great deal of money and time, offsetting any difference in price for the superior logs. Some of the problems that I run into in the last 30 years include: Logs twisting and raising the roof up. Logs twisting and warping which raise the floor system up or sideways. Logs splitting and letting the wall system fail. Log walls settling or shrinking for a period of up to 6 years or more, breaking windows and allowing everything in through open space with shrinkage as much as 12 inches in a 9 foot high log wall. Also splitting logs can happen during their drying period. There was one such incident I know of where the log split in half in the middle of the log wall and that was not easy to fix. ( This is very expensive.) Chinking is required in most log homes that are not dried to 15% before building it, and that can cost about $15,000.00 for the average home. (Chinking holds water behind it and will soon rot the log wall.)
6. Purchase only from a company that uses select or better, graded logs from standing GREEN timber. Standing dead trees come with, YOU GUESSED IT, BUGS!!! There are rots of various kinds, as well as, great variances in moisture content. For example, the butt cut (bottom) usually has 22% to 26% MC, the second log 18%, and the third log 13%. What happens if you have more logs with 22% MC in one wall and 13% in another wall? (This happened to me and I had a house so lopsided it looked like it was going to fall down about 3 years later.) Green logs select graded and better are higher quality, therefore easier to maintain with less chance of problems down the road. Whereas most standing dead trees will not meet select grades. No bug or worm holes allowed. Have you heard of TPI (Timber Product Inspection) Inc? This company is now the leading timber grading company in the USA and all log home companies that are with it, use them. The thing to watch is most companies use TPI 30 grade, which is the lowest grade before cull, and this grade allows 8 inches of rot per 16foot of log. TPI 40, the next grade up, allows 8” of rot in a 16’ of log. So do you want rot in your log home even before you move in?
7. Log profile is very important. A Swedish cope with a tongue and groove holds up best. Water is the biggest enemy of logs. Keeping the water running off, (no flat places) and the logs have no problems. That is why the Swedish cope was developed hundreds of years ago.
8. Use only a through-bolt system that hooks to the j bolts in the foundation. Some log home companies use spikes or lag bolts, Each of these cause a wedging effect in the logs, and then years later if you happen to get a drying crack in any of the logs that line up with these fasteners, your log home will FAIL! With a through bolt system this will not happen. Through bolt systems will allow the logs to settle, not holding the logs apart. Spikes or lag bolts will not allow the logs to settle properly. Watch out for the log home company that uses through bolts but does not attach them to the foundation or those that do only some through bolts and the rest lag screws.
9. Be sure that the company has a good warranty of at least 20 years. What you see is NOT what you get with a new log home. Most log home companies do not dry their logs completely. Climate will also change the logs, so 10 years down the road you could have a problem with YOUR log home. Will your log home company stand behind their product? A good indication is how well they manufacture their product. The better the product equals better the warranty. Watch out for those companies with long term warranties, but are almost impossible to collect, (kind of like the small print on a car sales agreement). You bought it, you own it. One way to insure you don’t get a bad product is to make sure the log home company you choose follows all 10 requirements.
10. Finally, buy from a company that puts some type of drying cut in their logs.
Log Home Living magazine rated log home companies several years ago, and all of the top ten companies have some type of drying cut in their logs using the Swedish cope log with lower moisture content than the average of 18%. Again, the company that I would recommend is Lodge Logs out of Boise Idaho. They make their cut at the top of the log, allowing for less cracking in the top ¼ of the log, critical for eliminating most of the water penetration. Which means there will be less upkeep because the finish will stay on longer, and less upkeep means less maintenance which = $aving money.
I hope you do well in picking out your log home, but I would like to give one more example:
I have been doing log home shows for 30 years now and it really gets to me when a log home salesman doesn’t tell the truth. This particular person has been selling log homes for a long time and was from a so-called reputable company, but the company sells butt and pass corners which are used with flat logs. He stated to a group of people at his seminar that all log corner styles are good ones to use and stated the different ones including butt and pass. Now if you were to take a flat board and stick it out of a wall, when it rains will not water stand on it? And if you take that water and follow it, it will soak into the log wall system. Butt and pass corners are the worst type for making the wall system ROT!!! The moral is, take the time to do your homework. Check out some log homes built by the company you are thinking about buying from, and make sure they are more than 5 years old. And PLEASE, do both you and me a favor, don’t buy butt and pass log corners. I have repaired, and seen so many beyond repair, that it is unforgivable for those people to sell them.
Have a great time choosing your log home company.
PS: I just returned from New Hampshire. While there, I visited a butt and pass log home and the owner was just finishing up repairing his back wall corners from severe rot due to the elements, because he had flat logs with butt and pass corners. This home was less than 20 years old and has already cost him a great deal in repair. So buying the right home will eliminate this cost.
Written by Log Man Dan Year 2006, revised in 2010
(Trails End Log Homes, Florence, Oregon)
Phone: 541-999-5477
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