Log Profiles and Corner Styles
How To Tell Styles Apart
Milled or Manufactured
What’s a milled log home look like? Look for uniformity in the profiles and diameters, especially at the corners where the logs intersect. About 90% of all modern log homes built today are milled or manufactured. Using high speed milling machines, harvested trees or squared cants are milled to a specific profile (D-log, round log, etc.). Depending on the company and its building system, this milling procedure can include precutting of each log to fit a particular home design.
Handcrafted
What do handcrafted logs look like? Detect these by noticing larger logs with varying diameters at corners or along the length of the wall. Handcrafted logs can also display a hand-hewn appearance or exhibit wide bands of chinking between log courses (milled logs can employ chinking as well, either decorative or structural). Handcrafted homes account for about 10% of all modern log homes constructed annually. Some members of the Log Homes Council offer both milled and handcrafted logs.
Half-Log Siding
A conventional 2-by-4 or 2-by-6 frame for a home can be wrapped inside and out with half-log siding (or tongue-and-groove paneling on the interior). Exterior corner sections can be full log to maintain the illusion. Log siding are used in full-log construction as well, on dormers, garages and outbuildings.
Post & Beam or Timber Frame
This style includes large horizontal or vertical beams on the interior of the home (think large vaulted ceilings with open interior areas). Beams can either be handcrafted or milled.
Milled or Manufactured
What’s a milled log home look like? Look for uniformity in the profiles and diameters, especially at the corners where the logs intersect. About 90% of all modern log homes built today are milled or manufactured. Using high speed milling machines, harvested trees or squared cants are milled to a specific profile (D-log, round log, etc.). Depending on the company and its building system, this milling procedure can include precutting of each log to fit a particular home design.
Handcrafted
What do handcrafted logs look like? Detect these by noticing larger logs with varying diameters at corners or along the length of the wall. Handcrafted logs can also display a hand-hewn appearance or exhibit wide bands of chinking between log courses (milled logs can employ chinking as well, either decorative or structural). Handcrafted homes account for about 10% of all modern log homes constructed annually. Some members of the Log Homes Council offer both milled and handcrafted logs.
Half-Log Siding
A conventional 2-by-4 or 2-by-6 frame for a home can be wrapped inside and out with half-log siding (or tongue-and-groove paneling on the interior). Exterior corner sections can be full log to maintain the illusion. Log siding are used in full-log construction as well, on dormers, garages and outbuildings.
Post & Beam or Timber Frame
This style includes large horizontal or vertical beams on the interior of the home (think large vaulted ceilings with open interior areas). Beams can either be handcrafted or milled.
Log Profiles and Corner Styles
Log Profiles
A log profile determines how logs stack up in a wall system. The profile of each log is both structural (load-bearing surface) and aesthetic (design shape). Home buyers have a number of options. Which profile performs best? All work well when constructed to a log home producer’s specifications and construction manual. Which profile is the most popular? Whichever one strikes your fancy.
Corner Styles
Corner styles fall into several categories, each with its own charm and functionality for keeping Mother Nature at bay.
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Dovetail Corner
Used primarily with square or rectangular logs, each log is cut to produce a fan-shaped wedge. As each course of logs are stacked, the log ends lock into each other. |
Dovetail V-Groove
Dovetail Chink
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Saddle Notch
The notch on the bottom of each round log straddles the one below it. Both logs then extend past the corner. |
Saddle Notch
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Stockade Round/Flat
Logs are round on the exterior to maintain a traditional outer appearance, but are flat on the interior to allow greater flexibility. |
Stockade Round/Flat
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Stockade Round/RoundLogs are round on the exterior and interior to give a conventional look on both the outside and inside
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Stockade Round/Round
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Log Plank StyleWhen logs are cut in the log plank profile the end result is a look that is similar to conventional siding. The logs can be flat or round on the interior of the home. On the exterior side logs are flat and angled outward toward the bottom. They are assembled using a corner post. This ensures a log home feeling inside, and a modern look on the exterior of the home
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Log Plank
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At first glance, you may think there isn’t much difference between one log and another. Seen one tree and you’ve seen them all, right? Well, you’re in for a bit of a surprise. There are more corner styles, profiles and sizes in the modern log home industry than you can shake a stick at.
More than 17 tree species are used, each with its own unique physical characteristics. This can include the color of the wood, size (diameter & length), grain pattern, thermal performance and resistance to decay. Plus, logs can be fashioned into a host of different corner styles and profiles, using different crafting and milling techniques.
How do you decide which style is right for you? Just as with deciding on the design of a conventional home, it’s often a matter of personal preference. But it’s important to understand your choices. That’s why the Log Homes Council created The Perfect Path to Your Dream Home, to educate consumers on their options. Use these tips and tactics to sort out which log wall style is right for you.
Protect Your Investment
While there are hundreds of log home companies to choose from in the United States and Canada, fewer than 60 companies qualify for membership in the Log Homes Council. Why so few? The Log Homes Council membership requirements protect consumers during the buying and building process. But don’t think that limiting yourself to Council members limits your design choices. Council members, in total, offer every log style used today in log home construction.
Are Logs & Timbers Graded?
To ensure your home is constructed with quality building materials, only buy logs and timbers that are graded by a third party agency. The good news is that all Log Homes Council members grade their logs—it’s part of the membership requirements for joining the council. You can tell if logs are graded by stamps that are printed on logs. The stamps will be either from the Log Homes Council or Timber Products Inspection (TPI).
Graded Logs Often Required to Meet Building Codes
Bear with us, we’re about to get all technical here. The grading rules and subsequent design values used by the grading agencies are based on the nationally recognized Standard ASTM D3957 “Standard Methods for Establishing Stress Grades for Structural Members Used in Log Buildings.” Grading programs ensure the logs are timbers are accepted for use in home building by the International Code Council, the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development and many regional and local building codes.
General Categories of Log & Timber Styles Since most companies specialize in one particular style, the process of elimination should start with what you find attractive. Start by viewing council members’ photo galleries. You should also visit completed homes, to grasp how the visual and aesthetic impact of log walls affect the feel of the home.
More than 17 tree species are used, each with its own unique physical characteristics. This can include the color of the wood, size (diameter & length), grain pattern, thermal performance and resistance to decay. Plus, logs can be fashioned into a host of different corner styles and profiles, using different crafting and milling techniques.
How do you decide which style is right for you? Just as with deciding on the design of a conventional home, it’s often a matter of personal preference. But it’s important to understand your choices. That’s why the Log Homes Council created The Perfect Path to Your Dream Home, to educate consumers on their options. Use these tips and tactics to sort out which log wall style is right for you.
Protect Your Investment
While there are hundreds of log home companies to choose from in the United States and Canada, fewer than 60 companies qualify for membership in the Log Homes Council. Why so few? The Log Homes Council membership requirements protect consumers during the buying and building process. But don’t think that limiting yourself to Council members limits your design choices. Council members, in total, offer every log style used today in log home construction.
Are Logs & Timbers Graded?
To ensure your home is constructed with quality building materials, only buy logs and timbers that are graded by a third party agency. The good news is that all Log Homes Council members grade their logs—it’s part of the membership requirements for joining the council. You can tell if logs are graded by stamps that are printed on logs. The stamps will be either from the Log Homes Council or Timber Products Inspection (TPI).
Graded Logs Often Required to Meet Building Codes
Bear with us, we’re about to get all technical here. The grading rules and subsequent design values used by the grading agencies are based on the nationally recognized Standard ASTM D3957 “Standard Methods for Establishing Stress Grades for Structural Members Used in Log Buildings.” Grading programs ensure the logs are timbers are accepted for use in home building by the International Code Council, the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development and many regional and local building codes.
General Categories of Log & Timber Styles Since most companies specialize in one particular style, the process of elimination should start with what you find attractive. Start by viewing council members’ photo galleries. You should also visit completed homes, to grasp how the visual and aesthetic impact of log walls affect the feel of the home.