Log Home House Logs

All of the timber (logs) used in our log homes are harvested in Oregon.  Our logs go through a 3 part grading system to ensure top quality home logs.  We use three different species of timber.

Lodge Pole Pine, Douglas Fir, and Juniper

Juniper

Juniper is a wood full of character and very durable, but its short lengths, taper of logs, burls and knots make it the least practical cost wise to build with.  This is because every imperfection has to be fitted by a logsmith, this takes more time with Juniper which raises labor costs, but makes for a beautiful custom log home!

Lodge Pole Pine

Lodgepole pine is known for its long, slender trunk and wide diameter.

Primarily growing in the Rocky Mountains, Northwestern United States and Canada, lodgepole pine grows an average of 70 feet high, and can live for 200 years. Native Americans used the sturdy poles of the lodgepine to support their lodges, hence its name.

Lodge Pole Pine offers beautiful colors and has a good amount of character with knots and burls.  Its longer lengths and fair amount of taper made it a desirable wood to work with.  Lodgepole pine logs have an average diameter of 24 inches. Homes built from a combination of lodgepole pine and other western timber species gives them a distinctive “fortress” look. Oregon timber provides for a sturdier and better-insulated home that tends to not twist or shrink like many of the other wood species available on the market today.

Douglas Fir

Douglas Fir consists of a clear straight grain and smooth appearance, it is a very strong wood and capable of very long lengths.  It is an excellent wood to be used in the roof and 2nd floor system of your log home.

Dry Logs or Green Logs

Trees that are alive are full of moisture, after the tree dies it loses moisture slowly.  As it loses moisture is becomes smaller (shrinks) this shrunk log makes for less allowance for settling when building a log home.  However, allowances need to be made for dry logs too.  Even dry logs will settle and crush, so every handcrafted log home builder has to allow for settling, just less for dry logs.

If you try to build a log home with green logs or dry logs and do not allow for settling you will have serious problems with the house.  Central Oregon Log Home builders go to great lengths to allow for settling dry logs and green logs.