Which logs are best?

[dental1975]

Hi everyone i cant wait to take the class, been doing some research lately.Im buying 5 acres in Southpark Colorado and i want to know the best logs to use Spruce,Cedar,Lodgepole Pine? What is the best way to go about getting them? Thanks

[kyle]

Welcome Matt,

Not sure if there is a "best" log to use. Most people on this site would agree that "free" logs would be the best!!!

As far as getting logs. The class covers several different methods of obtaining logs.

[dvb]

Without a doubt, the best logs are the ones you can get the easiest and cheapest. As for how to get them; you don't want them until after you take the class. After you take the class, you will know the best way to get them. (Clue - Shop around)
I do not mean to be a smart@$$.

[RockEngineer]

Richard Rock, Rock Engineering
Each type of log has its own good and bad points. Cedar is beautiful and is naturally resistant to decay. Each has it's own color and warmth characteristics. Lodgepole pine under the right conditions is straight with less taper than cedar or spruce. For the LHBA method it is very helpful to have long straight logs minimal taper because you are using natural logs without shaping them.

Most types of logs will work. Use a design that protects them from weather to insure they will last.

As Skip Ellsworth who formed the LHBA use to say "If you can't be with the logs you love, love the logs your with".

[dental1975]

thanks for the good advice.

[Ellsworth]

One of those early fundamental question that consumers encounter when starting their log home journey.

The question that can spark, 1000 questions.

The question I've heard, thousands of times.

I love this question: "What species is best."

The willingness to learn, the openness to new information.

[Basil]

You spoiled people out west, with your wide selection of log species that grow tall, straight and with little taper...

[loghousenut]

Oh, I don't know. When we saw Shackshaker's place in Tennessee, with those big ole White Pine logs that are bigger than mine, it made me wish I were not bound by west coast logs.

I'll admit that, from what I saw of our 2020 tour of the southeast, my biggest surprise was Tulip Poplar. Beautiful logs that peel easy and are cheap.

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[Basil]

I built mine with poplar. We have surprisingly little pine in my neck o the woods

[Ellsworth]

Ron's was the first log home I saw that convinced me that trees from the forest with a lot of branches can make a beautiful log home.

After a few more years I did stumble upon something to consider.

An arborist or tree trimmer hit a pocket of rot when bucking a freshly felled tree and couldn't understand why.
He encountered it on more than one job, so he spent part of his career looking and thinking.

I paraphrase his conclusion, on a living tree that seems healthy, excessive water can enter a tree where the branch grows out of the trunk.
That water can lead to rot inside the trunk, 10' +- up or down.

There was zero mention of previous branch thinning.
He did not describe the type of branch.
He specifically mentioned was that there was zero external evidence of the internal rot.
IIRC he wasn't limiting it to one species.
AFAIK a T.P.I inspection would not reveal such a fault.

Rather than 'ideal species' to use, trying to avoid using any log with existing hidden rot seems a lot more crucial.
There are some cost prohibitive methods that might work using sound waves or fancy drills that measure resistance.

So the cheapest and easiest method to try and avoid the issue might be to take core samples, at your rebar locations (before drilling for rebar).
It would be a lot more labor and a little additional cost.

For species with a lot of clear wood at the base (like douglas fir) the issue is more commonly heart rot at the base, which is evident immediately upon felling the tree.

Someday I hope to build with cedar, but I know it can't be before my dog Cedar passes away.
(There's a capitalization pun in the above sentence, but the overall sentiment is real)

Make do with what's available, as they say, and things usually work out.

Edited to add:
The concept of undetectable rot expressed above is not meant to spread FUD.
I found the account on a US based arborist type forum (not UK/EU), while researching possible causes.
AFAIK the incidences are low.

[mudflap]

anything but coconut, I reckon.

and if you take a picture of it at night, you can't even tell what kind of logs were used...

[loghousenut]

That thing is WILD looking at night!

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[Shark]

anything but coconut, I reckon.

and if you take a picture of it at night, you can't even tell what kind of logs were used...

Did you guys move to Florida? Lol like palm trees

jandjloghome.blogspot.com

[mudflap]

lol. they are bananas. Was trying to get a jump on the port strike since the USA imports 100% of their bananas, which are the most popular fruit by far....

but they don't quite like our climate here (zone 7), so I have to cover them in the winter, and they take a lot longer to produce than they would in their natural climate.

[Shark]

Ahh that makes more sense!

jandjloghome.blogspot.com

[loghousenut]

Here in sunny southern Oregon, our climate is also not banana friendly. Yet, 8 miles from our place lives a guy who has a couple of banana plants that produce, every year, a crop of little sweet, red bananas.

They are planted under an almost LHBA style eave on the south side of his house and he cuts them off at the ground just before the first frost.

Who woulda think it.

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