Buying a Log Home in the Delaware Valley

LOG HOME BASICS:
As we start to look at log homes, it quickly becomes apparent that there is much more variety than one would ever think. Log homes come in all shapes and sizes…the logs themselves come in as many variations as you can imagine.

There are two categories of log homes: handcrafted and milled log homes. A handcrafted log home is just that; the logs are peeled by hand, notched by hand, and in many cases each log is shaped to fit exactly on top of another log. In many handcrafted homes, the logs are stacked alternately, so the large end of a log is stacked on top of the tapered end of the log beneath. Whereas a milled log home will feature logs that are uniform in shape and the logs will be precut to fit together so that they stack easily and evenly. The vast majority of log homes built today are of the milled variety.

If you see chinking (the white strips between logs), you are probably looking at a handcrafted log home. Chinking was a mortar-like material that filled the gaps between the logs to make the house air-tight. Many log homes were built in the eighteenth century; in fact, they were often the first house built by early settlers. If you see a part stone/part log house, you can easily assume that the log portion was built first.

Many of the older log homes were built with flat, squarish logs. The corners were notched in a triangle shape called dove-tailed which is very traditional.

The average milled log home will use pine or cedar logs in 6"- 8" diameters. More rare are log homes built out of oak, cypress, fir, hemlock, poplar, spruce, and walnut.

As far as insulating value is concerned, the logs are their own insulation. To compare an ordinary 2x4 wall to a log wall by using the "R-value" is not comparing "apples to apples". Logs have a different "R-value" than insulated 2x4 walls. They work on the principal of thermal mass. Because of the organic cellular structure of logs, they tend to absorb the heat and hold it longer than traditional walls. The logs will actually absorb and hold the heat from the interior of the house or from the sun, and when the temperature drops at night, the walls will generate heat back into the house. Log homes take longer to warm up, but stay warm much longer. Conversely, they stay cooler in the summertime.

WE SPECIALIZE IN LOG HOMES.
In fact, Mercedes lives in a log home that she and her husband built five years ago. Not only do we understand log home living, but we have listed and sold many log homes in the Delaware Valley.

So if you're looking for a log home... call us! We can certainly help.