Permits and R values?

[wristwister]

Hello folks. Attended Skips class and built a couple small cabins, but now I'm getting ready to tackle something a bit more difficult, a permitted home! In discussing with my county building department, I think we can work through the structural issues, but the insulation R values of the walls may be tough to show. They have guidelines for typical milled log homes with a thickness of tight fit between logs, but the idea of full-round logs with air gaps sealed with insulation and chinking was alien to them. So a question for the group: have any of you had to deal with this in permitting? Is there any data out there on R values with this type of construction? Thanks

[Shark]

We had to do a ResCheck and found the r value of logs passed everything no problem.

[wristwister]

Thanks Shark. I've played with ResCheck calculators, and I haven't seen how one can specify round-on-round logs with air gaps filled with insulation and chinking. The calculator just looks at "minimum log thickness". Were you able to specify this particular type of construction with ResCheck?

[wristwister]

In case anybody is reading this thread, I've gotten approval from County Building for insulation values. I armed myself with data, including ResChek calculations, log insulation values, diagram of what the chinking and insulation looks like between logs etc. I sat down with the building inspector, he finally said "You know what, we've got bigger fish to fry than one simple log home. This all looks good to me, go for it, we'll approve it". Thanks for pointing me to ResCheck Shark, that was very helpful. Now I'm putting together structural data, plumbing and electrical plans, foundation details etc. for the full permit. Pain in the butt, but worth the effort for a permitted structiure.