On Tue, 15 Dec 2015 23:27:45 -0500, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 12/15/2015 9:48 PM, Dean Hoffman wrote:

That's the title of a show on GAC. Log cabins in Oregon seem to be
$400,000 and up.
Two, three, or more bedrooms. A bath, or two, or three.
The people in those just as well be on another planet than me.


Log "home" is more accurate than cabin. Most of us think of the little
cabin built in the woods but log homes have been very mainstream. They
just substitute logs for aluminum siding.

That's not completely true. A real log home is built from actual logs
which are stacked up to form the walls. In the old days, they built
these cabins or homes from raw trees. They cut down the trees, removed
the bark, and often they somewhat squared them to fit fairly tight. Then
they knotched the ends to make them fit together and stacked them up.
Most or all of the debarking, squaring and knotching was done by hand,
so it was a lot of hard work. That explains why they were usually small
(cabins). Usually just one room. These logs were then chinked, which
means they packed a rope like material and clay or crude cement between
the logs.

Modern log homes are built similar, but the "logs" are actually factory
made, planed. sanded, and possibly knotched too. They are almost the
same as the old "Lincoln Logs" sold as toys. These logs fit tighter
together and they then use some sort of "caulking" between them. (I am
not sure what that caulking is made from).

What you're referring to, when you say "they just substitute logs for
aluminum siding", are traditional stick built homes (or can be pre-fabs
too). Then they cover the outside walls with siding that looks like
logs. This siding is real wood, often treated, and its sold just like
regular lumber. It's surface is rounded like logs, but it's only about
2" thick, and is tongue and groove. It does not need any chinking or
caulking (as far as I know). I have a few boards of this stuff, which I
got as part of a pile of misc. lumber which I bought at an auction. I
dont have enough to side anything, so it just takes up space in one of
my sheds. A building built with this stuff is NOT a real log home, it's
just a standard home covered with log-looking siding. Actually it does
look nice, but it's very costly.

I once saw a mobile home at a trailer sales lot, which had that log
siding. That mobile home cost almost twice as much as another one right
next to it, which was comparable as far as features and size. I took a
tour of it, just because I wanted to see it.

Anyone with land that has trees, has the skills, some antique tools and
a lot of time, can still build one of the "traditional" log cabins/homes
if they like to work really hard. One could be built for almost no money
(as long as you do it yourself without hired help, and dont have to buy
the logs). But you'll need some really good friends to help you at
little or no cost. In the old days, neighbors all helped each other
build their homes, and after they helped you, you had to help them, or
their children build their home. But we live in different times, and
thing are not done that way these days. One thing for sure, you can not
do this alone. You either need manpower or some machinery to lift those
heavy logs in place.

One drawback of any REAL log home, is that there are no hollow places
inside the walls for plumbing/ wiring, ducts, etc. So these things must
be mounted on the indoor wall surface, and be exposed, or covered with
some wooden trim.

I had to wire one of these real log homes once, and it was a learning
experience. I ended up using wiremold channel for most of the wires, and
surface mounted boxes. But I did manage to put some horizonal wires
between the logs and then the owner chinked over them. Of course if you
were to sheetrock the interior, you could use furring and then have a
place for wires and pipes. But a real log home has the logs exposed on
the interior too.

Either way, a *modern* log home is very costly to build, and any log
home needs a sealer or stain on the exterior and regular maintenance.