■ Logged in
Traditional log homes are comfy but need attention and care By Joanna Bastian
T
here is a certain primitive nostalgia to living in a log cabin. A sanctuary of trees is both soothing and arousing to the senses. Living in a literal tree house, you can hear the creak of the once-living trees as the logs expand with the heat of the day and contract with the cool of the evening. Coming home to a log cabin at the end of the workday is like taking a vacation every day — a relaxing retreat.
And modern log homes are naturally green and energy-efficient. Many of America’s greatest writers lived in and were inspired by their log cabins in the woods. Robert Frost, Ernest Hemingway, Jack London, Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Anne Bradstreet are just a few of the literary artists whose works continue to quicken the hearts of readers today. Although many people dream of living in a log home, the reality requires more planning and a bigger
Upkeep is essential for log home owners. Photo by Joanna Bastian
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“This house is but a slight departure from the hollow tree, which the bear still inhabits — being a hollow made with trees piled up, with a coating of bark like its original.”
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Henry David Thoreau budget than traditional stick-frame houses. To build a log home is nearly double the cost of a stick frame because of the labor-intensive planning in advance: electrical, plumbing, HVAC, lighting — all of these details have limited space and access in a solid log-walled home versus a traditional wooden-frame home where all of these elements can be tucked inside walls. Once a log home is built, the basic design is not easily changed. For these reasons and more, some home owners who want the look and feel of a log home without the cost and design restrictions are opting for log accents inside and outside the home. Whether your house is made entirely of fallen trees or simply accented with logs, routine maintenance is required to protect the integrity of the wood and ensure the long lasting health and beauty of your home. A log home needs a four- to five-year checkup by an experienced builder. Logs can suffer sun, water and insect damage, and may need to be replaced. Ed Rogers of Eagle Handcrafted Homes in Twisp builds custom log homes and offers restoration and maintenance services using environmentally friendly products. “All
wood expands and contracts. A log is always alive, always moving. It moves with temperatures, hot and cold,” Rogers said. He noted there are three main areas of maintenance for log homes.
Energy seal Sealing a log cabin is also commonly called “chinking,” the sealing of joined logs in a building. When building a log home, small spaces are left between each log to allow for the natural expanding and contracting with the daily change in temperature. A flexible sealant is applied to the space between the joints and logs to make the home energy efficient and keep out chilly drafts. The seal will flex as the logs naturally expand and contract throughout the day. My log home is older and does not appear to have any sealant between the logs. Even though the walls provide more insulation and protection than a double-walled stick-frame home, there are still drafts that can come through a log home that has not been sealed, or is due for re-sealing. On a cold winter’s night, I place my hand up against the modern energyefficient windowpanes and feel no chill, but the log walls have small icy cold drafts flowing from the joined line where log meets log. An energy seal will make a log wall completely weather-tight and significantly reduce and eliminate drafts, improving the heating and cooling efficiency of a home by up to 30 percent. I spoke with Rogers about my concern that sealant in between the logs would give the home a horizontal striped look, and I wanted my home to look like a cabin in the woods,
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