LOG HOME and LOG CABIN EDUCATION INFORMATION
|
LOG HOME and LOG CABIN EDUCATION INFORMATION
|
|
|
Construction Log homes area all pretty much constructed the same way. One log stacked on top of each other. The major difference is how the logs come from the manufacturer. Pre-cut, random length and what fastening system is used to secure the logs.
Pre-cut packages come from manufacturers with milled logs where the door and window openings are already cut. Some manufacturers back the liner footage of log for the opening out of the cost of the package; some charge you for the waste. By cutting the opening the manufacturer saves you money on product and labor it would take for someone to use a chain saw and try to cut a straight line. Some manufacturers us a computer automated system that can save you considerable amounts of labor saving you money by not having to have additional employees to process the package or to have the home preassembled and disassembled before shipping. Pre-cut packages save you time and money from the mill throughout the completion of your home. What looks like a great deal on the front end may end up costing you lost more in the years to come? You must look at the quality of product provided by the manufacturer. This is an industry where you will generally end up with exactly the quality you are willing to pay for. Do your homework! Random length packages are just what is states. Manufacturers send you out a log package with random length logs. Your builder stacks a wall and then has to go back and cut out your door and window openings with a chain saw creating more waste that becomes expensive firewood and you have to pay more for labor to have the opening cut. For example: you have a 20 foot wall 8 foot high out of 8” diameter logs. The manufacturer charges you for 266 liner feet of log and then you have a door and window cut out, you just paid for 69 liner feet of firewood plus labor. Now where is your value? Handcrafted homes are pre-cut before being delivered to you property. Handcrafted is your most expensive log home to build. On the average 4-5 times more than a milled log home. The manufacturer takes each log and has to hand scribe it to fit one location in the package. The home is built in the mill yard then disassembled for shipping. There is considerable amounts of labor involved on the front end and when the home is delivered and stacked. From when the first log is scribed to when the package is delivered a handcrafted home will lose bound cell water and the logs will shrink now requiring the builder to work each saddle notch and logs to make it fit again. As the home loses more bound cell water gaps between the logs will develop and you will now have to chink your home at a cost of $6,000 per 1,000 square foot of home. Handcrafted homes are usually use a lag bolt fastening system , spikes or wood dowels escalating the labor involved in building your log home. Milled log homes generally use a “thru-bolt fastening system, oly-screws, spikes or lag-bolts. The “thru-bolt” fastening system has been proven to be your most structurally stable fastening system only if it is connected to the foundation “J” bolt. Homes with the “Thru-bolt™” fastened to the foundation have been proven in severe earthquakes, 180 mile hour hurricane winds to the extent that F.E.M.A. now requires a “Thru-bolt ™” fastening system to the foundation on any new home built on the coast any where here in the United States. The only thing you must keep in consideration other than the system being fastened to the foundation is the moisture content to the center of each wall log. Some log home manufacturers use a spring on their system that is 9-11 inches which indicates high moisture content and you will have to continuously go in a keep tightening down the springs. There are 2 manufacturers that guarantee you will never have to touch the springs after the home is built. Ask any log home manufacturer how often you are required to tighten the springs and how the system is fastened at the top and bottom. It makes a huge difference. Oly-screws and spikes are another fastening system used, but take an excessive amount of labor. They need to pre-drill a pilot hole and then set the screw or spike every 18-24 inches on every log in the home. It’s not just the cost of the labor, but the cost of the spikes and screws. It is very important to look at the bottom line cost of building your complete log home and not just the cost of the log home kit. Too many consumers look at just the cost of the package and do not realize the cost of labor. Again, the Thru-bolt ™ may be a little more on the front end, but will save you on the over all cost of your home by going up in 1/3 less time than manufacturers using spikes and screws. Lately there has been conversation with the National Home Builders Association and Log Homes Council about the International Codes Council that may affect fastening systems. They are considering in the future eliminating the use of screws and spikes for log home fastening systems. This would be for the benefit of homeowner safety due to spikes and screw shearing off and jeopardizing structural integrity of the log walls. In all homes there is interior atmospheric pressure and exterior atmospheric pressure that consistently moves the walls in your home. You remember when you are sitting in your home and the furnace or air conditioner comes on and the windows rattle. For example: As the walls move back and forth the screws and spikes are bending. Imagine taking a paper clip and bending it back and forth between your fingers. The metal heats up and crystallizes and shears off. The same thing has been discovered in the walls fastened with spikes and screws. This is why the NHB and LHC are looking to someday adopt the ICC code and eliminate the use of screws and spikes. Sources of expert timber frame and log home building advice: www.customwoodcraftbuilders.com For log and timber trusses and entryways - please visit timbertrusses.net and timbertruss.net. To learn about building options with authentic reclaimed lumber, beams, logs & timbers for true historical 'green' building, please visit reclaimedwood.biz and reclaimedtimber.org. If you are interested in more information about timbers, timber framing and log and timber frame construction in general, please visit the following sites: Be sure not to miss a wide array of log home and log cabin suppliers, builders and accessories at the Outdoor Sport Lake & Cabin Show in Fort Wayne Indiana March 12-14, 2010. This event is produced by Coliseum Productions Inc.
|
|
Send mail to
info@universityofloghomes.com with
questions or comments about this web site.
|
