Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Any Log Home owners on this forum?

Gutters....Oh ya, I forgot about them things. They don't work here. The snow just rips them off.

Are you sure the logs are "pressure treated"??? Unless you are talking about a method I'm not aware of, it's nasty stuff and will kill you. Might want to check into that too while you are asking questions.

One other thing, building codes don't always work with log home construction and the local inspectors will usually work with experienced builders because some codes just are not possible without bending the rules some.

Good luck Randy.

I think we had a total of around 70" of snow this year, at times a ft at a time. I've never seen gutters fall of on a home because of snow?

The logs have some type of treatment to protect against moisture/water, and also insects like termites I believe. Isn't the whole point of putting an exterior stain/protectant on a deck or wood home to protect the wood? There is a special wash your supposed to use to keep the home clean and remove any potential mildew, etc... Not sure how often this has to be done. But you use a low pressure sprayer I believe, around 1500 or so psi.

Thanks for the help so far.

Here is some feedback I got tonight via email...

Air tight – there’s a gasket that runs on both sides of the tongue of the top of the logs. That blocks air flow. After getting rid of the French doors, I have no problems with air leakage. And I’m the top of a west facing hill in the winter.

Bugs – the logs are pressure treated with a borate solution. The solution does not wash out or deteriorate over time. Basically that protects the logs from insects and fungus. A bug would bite in to the wood and would get a mouth full of soap. No problems. The lady bugs I get and those bodies you have to sweep up every so often. Flies I have fewer flies in my home than I remember having in my mom and dad’s home. That’s just my impression.

Plumbing – runs up the central stack like the electric does to get to the 2nd floor. There’s a rubber gasket between the two floors so that the plumbing is not cracked as the house expands/contracts.

Log fit: you can come look at the logs again. The wall in the kitchen shows you exactly how they fit together. They are not “scribe” as that is where someone takes the logs on-site and carves the bottom of one log to match the other. They are machined to have a type of tongue and groove. On either side of the tongue is a gasket to help seal up from wind.

Rot: not an issue for me. The house sits on a foundation so that they are not in contact with the earth which could cause rot.

Insurance: I do not pay a higher premium as far as I know. I have State Farm. As for repairs, the house is actually quite sturdy since the logs interlock and they are spiked together. There are pictures in log home magazines of homes that have had trees fall on them. The roof had to be repaired, but the walls were not damaged at all. Kinda hard to knock down 2 stories of solid log. You would probably be best off talking to your insurance agent to determine what your situation would be (perhaps some companies charge more and some do not).

Products: Permachink is who I use. I believe their site is Permachink.com.

We average 350" of snow a year. I have walked through snow chest deep before to get to my truck that more closely resembled a white loaf of bread in the driveway. There are no gutters here.

Yes, you treat the logs for weather and bugs. Red cedar is the exception. Bugs don't like red cedar and it doesn't rot. I just haven’t heard of “pressure treating” them before. I think it’s just a term that we are confusing. Pressure treated lumber for example is treated with CCA (chromated copper arsenate). This stuff is highly toxic. If you throw some on a camp fire, it could actually kill you, and will most definitely make you puke your guts out. It sounds as if what the builder used is OK.

It sounds as if the owner is giving you honest feed back. That’s a good sign. I know this type of log home construction and I helped a friend build one. If done correctly, they are very tight. Because the logs are milled and use a tongue and grove fit, they can be built that way. They also dry them quite a bit before they mill them. I’d ask for more clarification around the “rods” they used though.

More feedback from my buddy...

Beams: Beams, posts and joists are all Hemlock. The company changed the year before I built to hemlock as they found that provided strong support and hemlock twists less over time than Pine does. The logs are all southern yellow pine (if I remember properly).

Gable Ends: they are framed with log siding. Since you can't tell that they aren't solid log is good. Means we got it done well enough you can't tell it's not log. Roof is its own structure sitting on the log walls. All walls shrunk the same amount and the roof just rode down with them.

Shrinkage: the logs compressed vertically. That shrinkage is done now. You'll still have some compression/expansion with the weather changes, however the massive shrinkage is done due to the through rods and springs. That shrinkage does show up vertically (the height of the house changed a couple inches over the years).

Interior walls and windows: those are riding as he mentions. In essence the interior walls, exterior doors and windows are all "free floating" this way. They aren't going to fall out, but they are unaffected by the expansion/compression of the logs. Otherwise, the doors and windows would have already been crushed by the compression.