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Home Buyers/Owners Guide to Slab-Sided Log Homes InspectAPedia®  -

• Guide to Diagnosing & Repairing Leaks & Other Problems on Modern Slab-Sided Log Homes
• Log checking, cracking, shrinkage, & Leaks
• Window & Door Installation Details for Log Homes can prevent later leaks & Damage

Here we discuss the inspection and construction of a slab-log sided cabin, explaining how these buildings work and including suggestions for durability, economy, and comfort in these modern log homes. This series of articles provides information on the inspection and diagnosis of damage to new and older log homes and includes description of log home insulation values and alternatives, and also a description of the characteristics of slab-sided log homes. We include illustrations of log structures from several very different areas and climates in both the United States and Norway.

© Copyright 2009 - 1991 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

Guide to Log Slab Sided Homes or Log Siding

Our page top photo shows a 2007 cabin restoration project that we managed together with its owner. Slab log sided homes and cabins are buildings constructed using conventional wood frame or other methods, and whose exterior is covered with rounded wood siding cut or milled from logs.

However these homes or portions of homes built in this manner are not constructed using solid logs.

Our photo (left) shows that the building is constructed using conventional 2x6 framing with fiberglass batt insulation in the wall and ceiling cavities.

The log slab siding design also permits use of wood frame or panelized construction capable of providing very high wall or ceiling insulating values, though we did not take that approach on this building.

Since our bully contractor completely ruined the in-slab floor radiant heating system by an improper installation (see RADIANT HEAT Floor Mistakes to Avoid) , we resorted to portable electric heaters to keep this building habitable in winter. Despite very cold Minnesota temperatures, we found that tight construction and a good insulation job (by the same contractor) lets the owners heat the cabin to comfortable temperatures using several portable electric heaters.

Our photo at left shows test-color staining in progress on a section of log slab siding before installation on the cabin. Good practice coats both sides and all edges of the cabin siding with a preservative stain before the siding is nailed in place.

From the exterior log-slab sided buildings look like a log cabin or log structure and, depending on the choice of designs, can even include protruding overlapped logs at corners as a cosmetic detail.

That detail was not included on the log cabin shown in our photo above.

Comparing the Insulation Value of a Solid Log Home to a Conventionally Framed Home

A 6-inch fiberglass frame wall has an "R" value of about R-19 while a 6" log solid wood wall has an "R" value of about 1 per inch or about R-6 in insulating value. When a solid log wall is built using logs rounded on one or both exposed sides, the nominal log diameter does not give an accurate estimate of the wall's insulating value. That is because portions of the wall are constructed at a thickness less than the full log's diameter. The average wall thickness should be used to calculate the "R" value of a solid log wall when rounded logs are used.

Thermal Mass of Solid Log Homes Compared with Insulated Wall Wood Structures

While the "R" value of a solid log home is almost certainly less than that of a modern conventionally-framed stud wall home insulated with fiberglass or other products, the wall "R" values alone do not accurately describe the comfort level of a log home. Provided that the log construction has been well-built without drafts or leaks, the thermal mass of solid log walls is considerable.

A large thermal mass in any building tends to make temperature changes occur more slowly than in structures lacking that feature. As a result, occupants of solid log homes often assert that they find their building very comfortable in both heating and cooling seasons.

Use links just below or at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

LOG HOME GUIDE
    Types of Log Houses - Log Choices
    Antique & Old Log Cabins
    Cracks, Checking or Splitting Beams & Log Homes
    Condensation &Moisture in Log Homes
    Insulation Values of Log Home Walls
    Leak Diagnosis & Cure for Log Houses
    Log Wall Height Changes
    R-Values of Log Homes
    Sealants, Caulks, & Coatings for Log Homes
    Shrinkage In Log Home Walls
    Slab Log Cabin Siding
    Spline & Gasket Designs for Log Buildings
    Spline Gaps & Gasket Omissions
    Vertical Log Walls on Cabins & Homes

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• Additional technical contributors & reference sources for this article are listed below.
• Thanks to Arlene Puentes for the photograph of a checked log in a log home exterior. Arlene Puentes, a licensed home inspector, educator, and building failures researcher in Kingston, NY. Photographs © Arlene Puentes 2006 All Rights Reserved. Text © Daniel Friedman Arlene Puentes 2008 All Rights Reserved.
• "The Logless Log Home," Jim Robbins, New York Times, 01/22/2009 Home section, p. D1 & D6.
• "Shop Talk," Martin Mintz, AIA, Builder Magazine, April 1986, detailed solutions for log shrinkage movement by using a "T" jamb at windows and doors. A January 1986 Builder Magazine article shows window installation details in 8" thick log walls.
• "Caulking, Chinking, Insulators, Sealants - which System works Best," Log Home and Alternative Housing Builder, Nov-Dec 1983.
• Insulating Characteristics of log homes were neatly summarized by Roger Rawlings in "Log Homes in a New Light," Rodale's New Shelter, April 1983, p. 28
• Lincoln Log Homes Marketing, Inc., 6000 Lumber Lane, Kannapolis NC 28081 704-932-6151
• Merrimac Log Homes, Henniker, NH, sells log home products, milled log home kits, log siding, and log home plans and log home construction accessories. 866-637-7462 or logs@mlhnh.com - merrimacloghomes.com
• Critique, contributions wanted: Contact Us to suggest text changes and additions and, if you wish, to receive online listing and credit for that contribution.

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