Wall Efficiency Facts

What’s it cost to make fiber Glass -Insulation, Sheetrock, Paint? With a hollow space, what a waste. So we mill a round 8” round log to a 7” round house log, then turn the chips into pellets. This is the best use of a renewable, regrowable even recyclable source of wood. While we are helping keeping forests green remember our milling uses less electricity. When making our house logs we use the least amount of energy to build a log. Take a Steel stud, there’s energy to dig the ore, transporting, smelting, cooling molding, rolling, folding shearing, hot dip galvanizing coating…. How much coal, oil, diesel to make a steel stud? Or even a 2x4 sawed from a round log, planed in Canada then shipped from Canada ? We mill a round log round.

The most energy efficient use of manufacturing

We create a demand for the small log unused in the timber business.

Keep in mind since about 1990 the Forest Service started limiting the taking of logs out of the woods, well intended environmentalist movement, so the sawmills have dried up, disappeared, logging trucks, jobs, sawmill equipment, tractors, skidders, all most all logging mills and heavy equipment shipped into Canada. Last I heard 70% of Americas lumber comes from Canada.

Woody forest litter, dead wood, beetle kill, dry standing is called biomass is very abundant and these small logs is exactly what we use.

Saving tax payers money

The Forest Service will this year spend millions paying loggers to thin, prune, make slash piles of brush & burn.

They also have to building roads, fire breaks, maintaining infrastructure. More millions actually fighting the fires paying for losses. Then fire moves onto the private property. Then the loss of life! The forest service cut back on selling timber to sawmills 30 years ago, so it grows, stands until it falls laying in the woods to rot, dead, drying, forests building up the fuels supply. The USDA is trying to utilize the Biomass but there is no market for it yet, but we can use allot of small logs.

Lodge Pole Pine: I call it the Miricale tree.. the only tree, first tree to grow in the forest acid laden fire ash. It thrives where others cant! Except the Fireweed! Its sun tolerable where other conifer, larch, spruce, Hem Firs can establish. Most all them other forest trees need shade, cool moist soil. Not the Lodge pole!. The lodge pole grows fast tall thick creating a forest so thick you could hardly walk thru. Approximately 70, thousand trees per acre. I believe, the forest service paid us by the acre to eliminate all trees 100.00 an acre as young men, but leave one every 20 ‘. They were stacked 12’ deep by then. Called today a fire treatment and thinning. We were to leave all Doug firs, Larch, Spruce if the could be found. The lodge pole created a canopy they shaded the forest floor so the money makers could grow.

When lodge pole pine gets shaded it dies. When their paper thin gets bugs in it, it dies, when Lodgepole see a fire on a distant mountain… I swear it dies. Not fire tolerable.! Lodge pole when growing or racing for the Sunlite will drop it branches to send growth energy to the top, reaching for the sun.

Now look at my forest photos. See what im saying? Long tall, strait and true. And if cant keep up with its competition .. It dies, cant fall over it so thick, but because it has thin bark it cures and in storage. the breeze, ideal for poles, rails and log homes!

Don’t worry...Solid wood wont stay ablaze by its self when burning it needs fuel to aid it to burn.

Solid wood walls wont stay ablaze all by them self, the solid wall needs fuel to start. Even when a fire totally burns this 7” log home miles from a town, no one home. This log walls still stood. Here is one I was called to investigate. The black spots were used, bolts that distorted the wood, causing gap-air leaks and fire sucked air into home for burning the fuel. Floors and roof burnt, then fell into the basement leaving 2 feet of ashes. The log walls were left, charred inside 1.5 inches. the wood and flame went out. Log walls are not the problem! Worry about the decks, porch roofs, trees, brush, tall grass & roof when designing. It was not one of ours.

The interlocking saddle notch corner system

The natural water shed saddle notch corner is the strongest interlocking corner systems. Combined that with strong glue laminated logs, acrylic rubber flexible caulking, the lodge pole pine, 6% moisture logs, precision milling, then spiked with sledge hammer, there impossible to pull apart with out destruction. This eliminates settling and air leaks.

Ask the right Questions

Whys is moisture important ? What's punky white wood ?

Because green wood is like celery, mostly water, at room temperature its moisture dries down to 6% out west, twisting, warping shrinking, and checking starts taking place at 30%. Kiln Dried is at 19% , How do we eliminate the problem in shrinkage ?

We mill at 6% moisture, that's 1/3 kiln dried lumber.

What about settling ? things that cause settling, bad or lazy, uniformed builders, moisture content and foam gaskets, the species of wood, age of wood, lack of precision milling, dull blades, the joints. CAUTION he that throws in a bundle of gasket or carpet pad guarantees they settle ?

Why we are air tight ?

No gaskets or carpet pad needed here on the horizontal joints. We included Sashco product around the notches and window bucks. We glue our logs, with glue stronger than wood , wood is 350 PSI. Solid glue-adhesive is 450 PSI and up, eliminates more settling. Construction tubes.

What's the best wood ? Doug Fir and Lodge Pole Pine, its firm colorfully, solid, strong, flexible, plentiful, renewable, fast growing.

Water plus air together, dampness, ad natural organisms growing in the air, time, weather, will reorganizes wood, Us back to mulch eventually, its the enemy… Hence Linseed oil, covered decks, roof overhangs! Designs. Slow it down. But some woods rot faster than others. Redwood and Cedar are great but structurally weak, full of air, burn easy.

lodgepole colors

Logs Wall and Wall Facts

Is a Log Wall really 46% more energy efficient ?

0ur Log assembly system makes the Strongest and Most Energy Efficient Wall System. Glue, using Sledge Hamer, Spikes and bone dry Lodgepole