Species of Logs Used in a Log Home

3 kinds of logs are primarily used in the log home industry.

1) Green trees

2)  Dry “Dead Standing” trees

3)  Cants (a bi-product)

Green trees- only a couple of milled log home manufacturers that harvest their own tree straight from the forest. Green trees are healthy live trees that are disease and insect free. Manufacturers work directly with the United States Forest Service and State Department of Lands to selectively harvest in areas with high density to help create open space between trees to create a healthy forest. With space in-between trees it slows the spread of disease and insect infestation. On of the best reasons for thinning our forests is to help eliminate wild fires that have consumed millions of acres of land over the past several years costing tax payers hundreds of millions of dollars.

With green trees you receive logs with a straight grain and no spiral checks (cracks). You have no disease that may jeopardize the fibers and best of all if the forester is responsible…no insect infestation where larva in the logs can stay dormant for 5 years before hatching. *note see section on Insects*  If the logs are not kiln dried to the core at a temperature of 180 degrees for 7 days the larva will not be killed. *note see section on Timber Products Inspection Agency (TPI).

Dry “Dead Standing” trees- is just what it says. A majority of log home Manufacturers are using this lower quality grade product because it offers customers an inexpensive product, but the home owner will end up paying more in the future for maintenance and repairs. You will hear manufacturers say this product is the best because it is air dried and kiln dried. To you the consumer this sounds good, but what they are not telling you is that this product will only grade in the bottom 2 grades on the Timber Products Inspection Agencies grading scale. *note see section on Timber Products Inspection Agency Grading* Very little “Dry Dead Standing” will grade over Wall log 40 on the TPI scale.

The big question is what killed the trees being used in your home. Disease will effect the fibers and insect infestation could have an effect up to 5 years after insects laid their eggs 1-4 inches deep in the tree. Larva can stay dormant up to 5 years before hatching and surface kiln drying will not kill all the larva unless the logs say in the kiln for 7 days and at a temperature of 180 degrees. If the trees died of forest fire or old age then they become susceptible to disease and insect infestation. If the bark did not come off then it becomes a moisture barrier and decay will begin on the fibers in 30 days which is just a natural process in nature to deteriorate waste in the forest.

When a tree dies in the forest the grain will twist and depending on how long the tree stood in the forest will determine the severity of the twist. Remember the time you walked through the forest and you looked at the dead trees noticing the big spiral crack that twisted around the tree from bottom to top. This is what you will see in your home depending on when the tree was harvested. Dry dead standing trees usually remain standing for years before being harvested.

These spiral cracks, also referred to as “checking” become pathways for bees, flies and other insects to continuously get into your home. No matter how much caulking or chinking you fill the checks with, these insects will find a way through to get inside.

I remember a home owner telling me about a log home he once owned and had to sell it. He and his wife built a beautiful home in the Northwest out of dry dead standing trees. The house logs had spiral checks and he put enough caulking in the checks to choke a herd elephants and still had bees in his home. They had their first child and before they would use the home had to go in and use a bug bomb to kill the bees because they were afraid of their child being stung. They did not know if the child was allergic to bee stings and did not want to find out the hard way. He said the bees would get in and go to the ceiling where it was warm and when the home cooled the bees would go dormant while on the ceiling. When a fire was made the heat goes up and warms the bees and they would drop down from the ceiling into their lap as thy sat on the couch and yes they would get stung. He said one time there were at least 20 bees on them and the couch. They sold their log home and rebuilt being very specific to choose a manufacturer with Timber Products Inspection Agency graded logs of Select or Premium with no spiral checking. He also had the log home manufacturer sign an agreement that there would be no spiral checks in his wall logs. *note see section on Timber Products Inspection grading*

Log home manufacturers using dry dead standing trees are now running in to a shortage. The Federal government started on the West coast and moved East clearing stands of dead trees in the forests. This inventory has been depleted and manufacturers are buying what every they can get their hands on and where ever they can. They are now starting to mix tree species and grades in their wall logs. When you look at a home with 3 different species in one wall it looks like a butcher block and you will never stain the home to look good. You would have to paint your home a dark color to hide the different grain coloring from each different species. The painting is your least worries. Each species has a different cell and fiber structure and mixing species will cause structural problems as each log species dries at different rates. You will have gaps between your logs and you will have to apply expensive chinking losing the beauty of your log walls and now having to look at horizontal pin striping.

Cants- are a bi-product used in the log home industry. Cants are brokered in from mills that cut the round off a log and make a dimensional timber 4×4, 6×6 to custom sizes. Manufacturers using cants take the square timbers and try to make them into a round log. They try to take off the bare minimum due to the cost so their logs end up being oval shaped. If you have an eight foot high wall and selected 8” diameter wall logs a true round log will stack 13 logs high. With cants they will have to stack 15 logs high costing you more money. When manufacturers turn the cants into oval shaped logs an 8” diameter is really only 7 ½” thus cause of being smaller and effect you pay more.

Have you ever built a fence with 4” x 4” posts? Notice how they were bowed, twisted and wrapped. The same happens when cants are used for log homes. When dimensional timbers are cut they destroy the natural growth ring promoting bowing, twisting and warping. You can take a 4”x4” post from the lumber store and set it out in the sun and watch it twist in one day. At log home shows manufacturers that use cants select the very best logs for show, but in reality what they are showing in not necessarily what you will get. The majority of logs made from cants will not have heartwood or the heart is located off to one side or the other. Look very closely at the photographs displayed. Most photos will be at a distance so you can not tell if there is heartwood or not. Most manufacturers also take photographs long before the home is chinked. Ask if they have a customer that has lived in one of their homes for more than 10 years that you could call and see what they have to say.

Now if you selected a manufacturer that uses cants you have logs with a minimum growth ring and stand a chance of having the pitch ring popping. When this pops can you fix it, the answer is it will not be very pretty. The warranties I have read give you a very short period of time to have the logs stacked before your warranty becomes void. Some manufacturers give you 6 weeks. If you have any logs that have become bowed, warped or twisted most manufacturers will not replace them. They make your contractor screw the log down at one end and work down the log to straighten it on the wall. This becomes timely and will cost you more money for the excessive amount of additional labor from our contractor. A log home contractor working with cants told me that he had one 10’ log that took a full day to set and guess who paid for that day.

You must put any manufacturer using cants under a microscope. You the customer must become educated on product and spend as much time as possible reviewing contracts and warranties at home and with the salesperson. I can not stress enough to not give any manufacturer at a log home show a check. They might be offering what looks like a great discount to get your money, but these companies will not give you a refund. You need to walk away and go research on the internet more about any manufacturer you are considering. By not giving them money or signing any contracts allows you to check references with the Log Homes Council. *note see section on Log Homes Council* Do a Dunn and Bradstreet credit report to know their financial stability. Both of these organizations are your best free insurance.

This is a buyer beware industry. Know what you are buying. If you want cheap, you will get cheap on the front end purchase, but will end up paying more in the future for excessive maintenance and fixing problems that could have been avoided by paying a little more for a better grade product.