Your Materials Checklist For Building A Log Home

Your Materials Checklist For Building A Log Home

23 June 2020
 Categories: Construction & Contractors, Blog


Few experiences are as rewarding as constructing a log home. Before you venture out to a log home material supplier to pick up what you need, it's wise to assemble a checklist. Here are 7 items, besides logs, you'll need before you can get started.

Sheathing

Unless you're shooting for the legit frontier experience, you're going to want to have several vapor barriers installed. The first layer should be sheathing that goes underneath the flooring, especially if you're planning to build a log home with a foundation and basement. You'll also need a sheathing layer for the roof to keep out rain, keep in climate-controlled air, and provide insulation.

Lag Bolts

The genius of a log home is that the outer walls also act as structural supports. However, something has to keep the supports together. Using lag bolts to hold the joints together will provide a very solid structure.

Joint Dowels

Further structural strength can be achieved by using long dowels to reinforce the corners. Not only will this hold the logs together, but it will reduce the amount they'll shift over the coming decades.

Sealant

Normally, a wooden structure is built with treated wood. Particularly when using on-site timbers, though, you won't get that benefit. That means you'll likely want to seal the logs to get longer use out of them. When you purchase sealant, though, make sure it is appropriate for the type of wood you'll be using.

Insulating Foam and Tape

In addition to holding vertically-stacked logs together, foam and tape will provide insulation by sealing gaps. Even microscopic gaps can let air and moisture in, significantly reducing the insulating value of your other log home materials.

Roofing Materials

Although it's possible to build with nothing but wood found at a construction site, many people prefer to use finished materials to construct the roofs for their homes. Joists and trusses are frequently bought from suppliers. Likewise, you may want to consider using a traditional roofing system with decking and felt even if you want to employ wooden shingles.

Doors and Windows

Before you choose doors and windows, it's a good idea to review your blueprints to verify what will fit. Ideally, your blueprints were drawn up with standard-sized doors and windows in mind. This will reduce the costs associated with customizing the doors and windows. Otherwise, the alternative will be to redo the openings to accommodate stock products.

For more information, contact a log home material supplier.

About Me
Life and Construction

Tomorrow, as you go through your daily life, try making a list of everything you can thank a construction worker for. Before you even step out your door, you'll probably have to list several contractors who worked on your home, from the painters to the drywall hangers. Then, you'll drive down the road, noting the work of the road construction companies. By the end of the day, your list will be pretty long. We know — because we've done this experiment ourselves. It is actually what inspired us to write this blog about construction work. With so many contractors to thank, we figured we could share a bit about their work while we're at it.

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