Article Title: Choosing a Log Home

Excerpt: Demand for log homes is up, partly because an increasing number of people view them as an attractive — and more sustainable — alternative to conventional housing. Others simply like the idea of living in a log home, for its warm appearance and solid wood walls. Recent consumer surveys show that log homes are one of the fastest growing segments of the building industry, with more than 25,000 built every year, mostly as the homeowner’s principal residence, according to the Log Homes Council of the National Association of Home Builders.

Excerpt: The manufactured log home, as the name implies, is produced in a mill. The wall logs are sawed, planed or otherwise shaped to a specific size and uniform profile. The end result usually has a uniform appearance on both the exterior and interior. Because mill buildings and the machinery in them are expensive capital investments, manufactured log home companies generally are large organizations. And many of these companies also utilize the latest in computer-aided design (CAD) technology. The Log Homes Council has more than 50 manufacturer members that participate in a certified log-grading program and agree to follow a code of ethics.

Excerpt: A log home is not necessarily more energy efficient than other types of houses, but under the right circumstances it can be highly competitive. Many factors affect a home’s energy efficiency, but eliminating air infiltration is one of the most important issues — a drafty wall is a problem, regardless of the type of house. Consequently, one of the most important characteristics of a well-built log wall is that it be airtight. Modern log walls incorporate a variety of different sealing strategies between logs to ensure an airtight fit, including a wide range of tongue-and-groove or spline designs normally used in conjunction with closed-cell foam gasket tape, acrylic chinking, butyl tape or other sealant products.

Excerpt: The size of the average log home in the United States has increased substantially in the past few decades. Fifteen to 20 years ago, the average was about 1,100 square feet. Today, the average is more than 2,000 square feet. “We definitely have seen an increase in the size of log homes that most people are purchasing today,” Horn says. But this trend is not necessarily mirrored on the handcrafted side of the industry, according to Savignac. “Although there are exceptions, in general I’m finding that people are building smaller and smarter,” he says. “They’re taking more time to design a house that is more functional, but not necessarily bigger.”