Does anyone live in a 'log' home?

[Ringodoggie]

I am getting ready to move and I'm looking at new houses. One of the styles that intrigues me is the log home style. Pretty cool inside. Not sure if I would get tired of all wood everything. LOL Walls, floor, ceilings. LOL


I am old and retired and definitely don't want a lot of maintenance.


Anyone live in one of these and shoot some of the upsides and downsides?

 

[troutman]

I've been in one for weekend once and they are very nice.

No walking on the floor with muddy shoes though or you'll ruin the shine.

Bunny slippers, socks or barefeet only.

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

Upsides are the insulating factor of logs, awesome tonal characteristics, very warm and inviting.


Down sides I know of are they need refinishing every 3-5 years, strip/stain/re-chinked. New homes (new logs) spend a few years cracking and popping without warning, sometimes requiring additional chinking to seal up the gap. Use a good company known for quality work, since the cruddier the job the more damage your home will take before the next re-finishing.


They're not lumber with drywall, so making modifications is a bit different. I'm sure actual owners have a much longer list of ups and downs, I simply worked on re-finishing them for about 6 months total.

 

[Stoner4Life]

I've owned one since '95, don't go log if it gets real cold where you are.

a 10" log at it's thickest point (10" obviously) has an R-value of 10..... but where each log sets upon the next one is usually a 3" seat, with an R-value of 3. So actually each log has a very varied R-value as it goes from narrowest seat to its thickest part.

I'd assume that you'd like a fireplace, great option for heating but don't build it to share or be part of an exterior wall, or a good portion of the btu's it generates will be lost to the outdoors; build it to be 100% inside and the stone will shed all of its btu's inside instead.

Do you need 2 stories? heat rises and will be lost to the downstairs area, large slow ceiling fans can push some of it back down. My vaulted ceiling is 14' high and not well insulated for winter use, however I have an area toward the back of my home w/a 7.5' high ceiling, great for holding the heat. Look at some ranch style log designs, keep your heat closer to you.

In short, log homes suck for insulating quality unless you're covering the interior walls w/insulation & sheetrock YECH! OR on the exterior you go with 3 feet or so of either real or cultured stone running around the perimeter, which again does not have any significant R-value.

get used to Terry Redlin prints.......

best of luck.

 

[Ringodoggie]

Thanks a ton, bud. That's great info. I live in the midwest so the weather is super cold here almost half of the year.

Probably not something I would do but the look is very appealing to me and the wife also. Which is very rare in our life. LOL

Thanks again.

 

[armedoldhippy]

there is synthetic chinking material i have read about that they now guarantee for the life of the structure. they aint GIVING it away though...

 

[Muleskinner]

There are tons of these in Northern New England, I've stayed in a few and I really like them. Did not seem cold to me. I've always liked the natural wood look.

 

[Stoner4Life]

I hope you didn't think I meant 3 foot thick rock running the perimeter, just 3 foot high, starting your logs from there up, then inside you can use those 3 feet for more conventional insulated construction.

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

Interesting about the insulating factor being low. I only worked on them. lol You get a deeper understanding by living in a structure for sure.


They certainly are beautiful homes when properly built and cared for.

 

[Bud Green]

Every log house I've seen, (even the nice, well constructed ones)
always seem to have more bugs (ants, spiders, beetles) getting into them...

 

[OldSchoolGrow]

My second home is a log cabin.

 

[Gypsy Nirvana]

I built a house once made out of co-co lumber (wood from the coconut tree). Gorgeous little beach house it was.

It was a lovely native design and lasted for about 5 years.....till the cursed termites ate it.

 

[insomniac_AU]

Yes termites are a problem with any timber house. My father built our house at our farm almost entirely out of timber except for a concrete slab. The main roof bearers were oregon and the termites have destroyed them. We're just about going to have to rebuild the house.

 

[Ringodoggie]

Yeah, I figured insects might be a problem. Looks like I am back to looking at brick homes. LMAO

 

[Water-]

.

 

[Gypsy Nirvana]

Its got a lot to do with the wood you use and how its treated to stop parasites using it as a home and grubstake....

Where I was is SEAsia the ironwood or 'Epil' was the best hardwood you could get, and the harder the wood the more termite resistant it was. There were restrictions on being able to even get hold of good hard wood, and coco-lumber being a more softer wood without restrictions and readily available since we had quite a few coconut trees to clear was used. If I ever go back there to rebuild it'll be all hollow-block-rebar and cement, termites don't eat that.

 

[insomniac_AU]

..the harder the wood the more termite resistant it was...

We thought that but hardwood certainly didn't slow down our Australian termites. The house I was talking about earlier had a hardwood frame, oregon roof beams and treated pine cladding. The only thing the termites didn't eat was the cladding. It's a crying shame but he didn't have a lot options in 1980.

 

[Stoner4Life]

Every log house I've seen, (even the nice, well constructed ones)
always seem to have more bugs (ants, spiders, beetles) getting into them...

my home is western white cedar, bugs hate cedar, ants hate it too, in 25 years here I've seen less than a dozen ants in here, spiders however are able to tolerate migrating from outside to in, I've already sprayed for them this year; but the frigging mice they always find a way.......

and some of the luck of living in this bitterly cold climate? zero termites, in any homes this far north; I was in real estate for about 9 years (7 active) and we never had termite inspections. And no Africanised honeybees (yet?).