WV Executive

For a home with its heritage in the past and a future that is growing steadily each year, the rustic one room log cabin of Abe Lincoln's era is an antiquated vision compared to the luxurious log homes being built today. "Over 25,000 log homes are built every year with the majority being the homeowner's principal residence," says Mark Feder of Appalachian Log Structures of Ripley, West Virginia and the outgoing president of the Log Homes Council, an arm of the National Home Builders Association. "Log homes now represent 7 percent of all custom homes."

Over 90 percent of these homes are built for permanent residences, with the balance as second homes to be used after retirement. The average size of a typical custom log home is 2,300 square feet with an average cost of $287,500. Log home enthusiasts are active, passionate and committed to the log home lifestyle which offers a warm and inviting retreat at the end of a day.

Dwell Well

With over 300 companies providing building materials for these log home projects, it is important for potential owners to understand some of the basic terminology used before purchasing. Choosing the log wall style, species of wood, manufacturer and components in a log package are all areas to be studied in the decision-making process. Log wall materials are generally divided into two segments: handcrafted logs and milled logs. The handcrafted logs, which comprise about 15 percent of the log home market, are generally large in diameter, individually meas-ured, cut, hand peeled and hand scribed. No two logs are the same in these homes and provide a truly unique look with chinking between each joint. These homes are usually assembled at the manufacturer's site before shipping to a job site to assure a quality fit. This labor intense process to manufacture and reassemble this type of log home makes them more costly than purchasing milled log home components, but it still gives the massive appearance that many log home customers desire.

Manufacturing of milled logs, which comprises the other 85 percent of the log home market, is much more de-pendent on machinery than manual labor and produces a log wall that is uniform in dimension. There are many dif-ferent shapes that the log can be molded into, which provide a future homeowner with many visual options. The most prevalent look in a milled log is the 6 or 8 inch thick D-shaped profile which produces a rounded edge on the outside and a flat interior surface for an easy finish. Another common shape is the square cut log with a surface notch that replicates the look of the original Appalachia log home with dovetail corners and chinking. These log shapes are generally milled with a tongue and groove, which allows the logs to be secured tightly with lag screws and other sealing products.

The logs can be purchased as a linear foot product or continue the manufacturing process to include custom pre-cutting of log corner notches, end joint notches, window and door openings, as well as beams for the second floor and roof. The precut materials are lettered and numbered to match the blueprints generated for the custom log home and then erected at the building site.

The most common wood species used in the log home industry are white pine, yellow pine, northern white cedar, cypress, oak and standing dead pine. Each species can be found regionally throughout the United States and pro-vide a local source for log inventory that manufactures need. Most manufacturers offer species that are available locally because they can purchase the raw materials at a reasonable cost.

The wood that is procured from these trees each have individual characteristics of length, strength and durability, and how they perform in an area's climate should be considered when a selection is made. All log homes, no matter the species, should have an exterior water repellent sealer applied on a regular basis to maintain the looks and per-formance of the log wall.

Beyond the Looks

Choosing a company to supply the log home building materials can be a daunting task. Most people begin their research using Web sites, log home magazines and attending local and regional log home shows and seminars. Companies considered should provide not only the log style that matches a vision, but also the service and customer support that will be needed during the building process. Be sure to check references for the log home manufacturer. Membership in an organization such as the Log Homes Council, which has a written code of ethics, implies a high level of integrity. Council members also must have a comprehensive construction manual and adhere to agreed log grading standards. Council standards have been developed to benefit consumers as they continue to research and develop the best practices for the log home industry as a whole. Building code standards are also constantly evolv-ing on the local and national level and it is important for manufactures to stay current.

The quality and quantity of the log home building products purchased through a manufacturer in what the industry calls a "package" varies widely from company to company. Taking the time to become knowledgeable about the dif-ferences and comparing "apples to apples" can ultimately save not only time, but money as well. These "packages" can include anything from a linear foot log wall only to a totally precut and numbered wall and beam system that in-cludes the windows, doors, roof insulation, porches, decks and the additional materials to enclose the structure from the weather. Like any other building project, log home construction needs to be researched in depth and a good un-derstanding of the components specified for the project should be had by the purchaser as well as the building con-tractor.

Most often the general contractor hired to build the log home will oversee not only the assembly of the log components, but will also coordinate the site preparation, foundation, mechanicals and interior finish of the home. Appalachian Log Structures (ALSI), a West Virginia-based log home manufacturer, has over 28 years of experi-ence producing milled log home components.

With its corporate headquarters and model log home in Ripley and two manufacturing facilities in Princeton, West Virginia, the company produces components and packages for over 200 homes each year. Appalachian has the lat-est technology available to precut, borate pressure treat and deliver log home building materials in over 40 predes-igned or custom floor plans.

One of the most unique features of a log home from Appalachian Log Structures is the pressure treating process which provides protection for the log wall materials. This process forces borate, a natural mineral, deep into the wood, where it continues to diffuse, assuring that the log walls are protected against wood digesting insects and de-cay. This allows the company to provide a purchaser with a 5/25 year warranty on the precut log wall components.

ALSI mills five different log profiles, and four corner cuts are available. Log profiles offer a precut, tongue and groove, solid wood wall. The engineered premiere building system also includes a precut timber frame loft floor, raf-ter roof and porch system with thru-bolts, hardware, caulk and gasketing. All log wall materials are grade stamped and protected by the 5/25-year warranty. As a member of the Log Home Council, ALSI continually strives to meet and exceed the high quality and customer service that log home enthusiasts expect.

ALSI also has a Regional Sales Office/Model located between Exits 92 and 95 in Gaffney, South Carolina off I-85 that offers service to the southern states.

Appalachian Log Structures just introduced its four newest predesigned models, the Northridge #1, #2, #3 and the Waters Edge, as well as a product line of interior and exterior railings to complement the unique appearance of a log home. Available in four styles: Rustic Round (Smooth), Rustic Round, Traditional and Contemporary, there is a look that will harmonize with the numerous log profiles available through the company.

If you are considering building a new home, consider the natural choice of a log home. For more information or tour of a log home, call Appalachian Log Structures at 1-800-LOG-HOME or visit www.applog.com.