I built mine in 99. Yes, there are a lot of myths and most are false. One thing for certain though, the knowledge of the builder and designer play into log home construction much, much more importantly than a typical stick built home. Labor is on average double that of stick or brick. I’d inquire to how the builder affixed the interior walls, ran plumbing and electrical. The roof and exterior walls move while the interior remain rigid. That can pose some interesting challenges. Leaks are predominately around the windows and doors. Because the walls do move, you have to be very creative in sealing the around them. Thermal mass is a relative term, and opinions on how to calculate that vary. I had my home evaluated for tightness and thermal efficiency after I finished it. In Alaska, there used to be a program where you could get a reduction if financing interest depending on how well the home scored. This also takes into account roof, floor, wall insulation, window type, boiler efficiency, number of south verses north facing widows….etc. My home has 16” Red Cedar logs and it was given an R rating of 15. There’s also numerous different techniques for building the shell. – scribe fit, chinked, square jointed, wall in wall and a few others. Mine is scribe fit in a traditional Swedish Cope method. The shell was built by, as the type implies, a Swedish builder in BC. They trucked it up to me after they built the walls and roof beam network, and I put it together on the foundation and pony walls I built earlier that year. I then finished it out from there. When the testing was completed and the tester tallied all the data points and my home earned a five star rating, just missing five star plus (the highest). I was contacted later by the state and interviewed. It was the first five star rated scribe fit log home built in the state. I’m heating 4700 square feet and this past season my highest fuel use was 140 gallons. I know many people who have much smaller, five star rated stick built homes that used more than I, so that puts to rest the argument that log homes can not be built for efficient heating. One thing you should look real close at, is the bottom few courses of logs. Depending on the amount of overhang and how close to the ground the first course is, you may have rot.
Insurance is more expensive. It costs more to repair them, so the insurance companies tack on a “log home premium”. Also, if the value is high enough, many insurance companies refuse to give you a policy. I think I’m paying around $2500 a year.
Upkeep is a never ending battle. No way to deny that. It’s wood…. Exterior coating is very important and periodic re-coating is necessary. The southern exposure should be re-done every three years or less, while you can get away with longer periods on the northern exposure. The west and east are somewhere in-between.
All my interior walls and gable ends have sheet rock and there’s a lot of windows. I did not want a “dark” home and I can tell you that I don’t have one.
If you have any specific questions or concerns, feel free to ask. I absolutely love living in my home. I’ll never build another one, but I will enjoy this house till I build my next home (which will be a timber frame home).
