Who Were The Greatest Log Home Builders in the World?

Who Were The Greatest Log Home Builders in the World? 5/12/2010

Is it the people who represent the log home council in the US? No, not even close.
Is it a company existing today? No but there is one that is close if not as good.
We should really ask the question; who built the longest lasting log home in the world?
That is the secret is it not? If we find the longest lasting log home then we have found the best and the greatest log home builders.
So where are the longest lasting log homes and who built them?
We find in the Scandinavian countries that they have homes that are hundreds of years old. Nowhere else in the world is there log homes that have lasted that long and are still in good shape. Who built them and how did they manage to make them to last that long.
Why do most of the log homes made in modern construction today have problems? What we find will probably up set you, it has me.
Those old builders took their time and did it right. They selected straight logs just the right size peeled the bark from them then let them dry for 4 or 5 years.
Woops, what was it that they did? They used completely dried logs. Most of the log home companies in the US and Canada only half way dry their logs to 17% moisture content. Why? And why is this a problem? When logs dry they twist, warp, and crack. Nothing can stop them. In this modern day world, competition for that almighty dollar is foremost for many log home companies, not how your home performs. You see if they actually dried them before you put them in your home they would lose about 25% to excess cracking and warping and twisting.
Those old log home builders threw out the ones that had excessive cracking or other problems due to the drying process. Then they plained them to fit like gloves with a Swedish cope and used stockade corners. A Swedish cope is a log with a profile that has a concave bottom that fits to the round convex top of the one it sets on. This makes for a very tight log home. And it stays that way because the log is completely dried. All logs crack when they dry (So when you go to a log home show and see logs in a log home companies display that are not cracked you know they are NOT DRY!) The old timers simply placed the cracks that were not excessive where they will not cause a problem. The twisted and warped logs were simply cut up for shorter ones or not used at all. With the modern log home companies you get the bad logs with the good ones.
Things that the old timers did were to use a one, two, or three tong and grove with their Swedish cope profile. This locked in the logs which made it even better. They used full round logs with the hart at the center of each log. They did not use cants which are round logs made from squared timbers that are cut from larger trees and there for almost never have the hart at the center of the log. With the hart at the center you have a lot less warping and twisting because the annual rings go clear around the log. They are not cut through as with cants. The cracking will only go to the hart not all the way through as they sometimes do with cants. About 85% of the log home companies in the US and Canada use cants.
These old timers did not have to use chinking or calking to seal their log homes. Their homes did not twist or crack or do anything after it was built. Our modern day log homes need all kinds of chinking and calking. One big problem with chinking and calking, it causes rot! This is because the logs will always have minor cracks that can-not be filled completely or they start anew and open up to channel water behind the chinking and calking. Later much of the chinking and calking starts to pull away from the top first and this creates a dam effect holding more water that soaks in to the log home. Again I can-not stress this enough if you want a long lasting log home buy one like the old timers made with no, NO chinking or calking. All the homes I have repaired that had chinking or calking was rotting because of this. I have repaired and seen many homes with this problem.
So to recap what they did:
1. Dried completely or to 15% Moisture content to the center of the log.
2. They threw out the bad logs.
3. They used a Swedish cope profile with a tong and grove.
4. They used a stockade corner.
5. They did not chink.
6. They used full round logs with the hart in the center.
There is a log home company that does all of this and even more. Find it and you will have the best log home on the market. One that will last.
Have a great time with your log home.
Log man Dan
PS: If you would like some help, some technical advice, give me a call.
PH: 541-999-5477.