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Active solar heating—Use of a system that converts
and stores energy from solar radiation to heat a home or its water.
Activity zones—Categorization of a home’s
spaces by what activities each space will accommodate. Used to help design
a home’s floor plan.
Adhesion—In comparing caulks, adhesion measures a caulk’s
ability to stick to another object, such as wood. The adhesion of some
caulks may be reduced if a wood has been treated with a preservative.
Adhesive—High-performance glue used to adhere wood or other building
components. May be used as a sealant in log homes.
Adjustable rate mortgage—Mortgage loan that has a
flexible interest rate over the course of its term, as opposed to a fixed
rate mortgage.
Air-Dried—Logs are considered air-dried
when they have been dried in producers’ yards or warehouses for six to
24 months. We only use logs dried to 15-18% moisture for 12 to 24
months.
Appraisal—An evaluation made by a lender to
establish the value of a home before the lender approves a loan on that
home. Typically done at the completion construction when the
construction loan is converted to a mortgage. Log homes typically appraise
for 10-20% higher than conventionally constructed homes.
Awning window—Type of window that opens out
from the bottom.
Backfill—Placement of excavated or imported
soil or fill around the base of a home’s foundation.
Bay window—A window or grouping of windows
that protrudes outside of a home’s exterior wall.
Beam—Horizontal member of a home’s structural frame.
Blueprints—One name for the construction
drawings used to build a home.
Borate—Chemical used as an insecticide to inhibit insect
infestations in wood. We use not chemicals on any logs.
Buck—Frame of dimensional lumber set into a log wall and
used to frame windows and doors.
Builder-dealer—Sales representative for a log
home producer who also serves as a professional builder or general
contractor.
Builder’s risk insurance—Insurance policy carried
during construction that covers damage to home or property caused by fire,
wind, theft or vandalism.
Building code—Standards of construction
designed to protect the health and safety of a home's occupants.
Building permit—Permit issued by a municipality
that allows construction work on a specific site to go forward according
to approved plans. Ensures that all proposed construction work meets
building code and is added to the tax rolls.
Building system—The master structural
engineering plan that defines how components of a log home are connected
to one another and how these components interact once connected. There are
many different building systems. Some are very good, many are good, and
some are not good enough to guarantee the longevity and soundness of a
structure.
Butt and pass corner—A form of butt corner where one
log end extends beyond the intersection with the log in the opposing wall.
In this design, every other log extends past the corner, giving a home
that distinctive log home look.
Butt joint—Fastening together of two
shorter logs end to end to create a longer timber that will span the
length of a wall.
Casement window—Style of window that typically
opens out with a crank mechanism.
Caulk—The most common type of sealing material used on
log homes, available in five different formulations: acrylic, butyl,
oil-base, silicone and urethane.
Change order—Written record of a change made
to a building project once construction is under way. Builders may charge
for each change order a home owner requests.
Character log—Log that contains imperfections,
such as scars or burls, that are considered aesthetically pleasing or
interesting.
Check—Crack-like opening that forms in a log as it shrinks
and dries.
Chinking—Historically a mortar-based material used to seal
the gaps between logs, modern chinking resembles mortar, but remains soft
and pliable to move with the logs. Chinking is often used as a visual
accent to log walls.
Closed-film coating—High-gloss wood coating, such as
spar varnish or polyurethane, that forms a hard, brittle film on the
wood’s surface. We do not recommended for this exterior use.
Colonial—A type of home design typified by
two stories with a central hall and symmetrical window placement.
Comparable—The sales price of a similar home
in a similar neighborhood, used to appraise the value of a home.
Construction draw—Amount of money paid out from a
bank-financed construction loan in exchange for proof that labor and
materials have been used to complete a certain stage of a building
project. Draws usually follow a set draw schedule.
Construction to permanent loan—A
single loan that includes both a construction loan element and a long-term
mortgage. This type of loan may result in lower origination fees than
would be required by two separate loans.
Corner post—In this corner style, the ends
of the intersecting logs do not touch, but connect with, or butt into, a
vertical corner post.
Cost-plus—Type of contract made between a
general contractor and a home owner that stipulates the owner will pay for
the cost of building materials as the project progresses, plus an added
percentage for the general contractor’s fee. This type of contract is
opposite of a fixed-price contract.
Cutting detail—The extent to which logs in a
log package are cut to specific lengths before being shipped to a home
construction site.
D-shape—A style of log profile in which one side of the
log is left rounded, while the other is flattened. Allows for flat
interior log walls that resemble paneling.
Dormer—A structure that protrudes from a sloping roof and
contains a window or group of windows.
Double-hung window—A window style with two separate
sashes, each of which can be raised or lowered vertically in the window
frame.
Dovetail corners—A style of interlocking corner
created when the end of each log is cut into a fan-shaped wedge that is
narrower toward the middle of the log. Most often used with square or
rectangular logs.
Draw schedule—A schedule of payments that will
be made to a general contractor or builder as work progresses on a
building project.
Drift pins—Typically unthreaded steel rods
1 to 2 feet long. Designed to be driven through two or more courses of
logs in pre-drilled holes about 1/16-inch less in diameter than the drift
pin. We don not use this type of fastening system. We only use screws or
through-bolts.
Drip edge—A lip or protrusion on the lower
outside edge of logs that forces rainwater to drain down the exterior face
of a log wall and past the seams between logs
Easement—Right that one party owns to a
portion of another party’s property for a limited use. For instance, a
utility company might own the right to cross a section of land owned by a
private owner.
Elevation—A type of architectural drawing
that depicts each façade of a home when viewed straight on.
Fascia—The board that encloses the ends of a roof
overhang.
Fasteners—Hardware used to fasten logs to
one another and make a log wall more rigid.
Fixed glass window—Also called a picture window, a
window that does not open.
Fixed price—A type of contract in which a
builder or general contractor sets a price for a construction job up
front. Opposite of a cost-plus contract.
Fixed rate—A mortgage loan in which the
interest rate remains the same over the entire term of the mortgage.
Flashing—A sheet material, such as metal, that bridges two
building elements and prevents water from entering.
Foam gasket or tape—Putty- or rope-like extrusions
of PVC foam that are used to prevent drafts or moisture from seeping
between logs.
Footing—The base of the foundation that supports the
foundation walls.
Frieze—A horizontal band or board that appears at the top
of a wall.
Full-length support system—A method of stacking logs into walls in which the
logs intersect at the corners and then rest securely on one another along
the entire length of the wall.
Full logs—Logs that are not sawn in half.
Gable—The triangular shaped wall at the end of a roof.
Galley—A type of kitchen in which the appliances and
cabinetry are lined up against a single wall.
Gambrel—A type of roof, often used on barns, that features
two pitches on each side of the roof, the top section typically less steep
than the bottom section.
General contractor—A professional who oversees a
construction project, including the scheduling, supervision and payment of
subcontractors.
Grain—Wood’s grain usually refers to the quality of a
log's annual growth rings or to the arrangement of the wood fibers in a
log. Annual rings are said to have either a fine or coarse grain.
Green wood—Wood or logs that are used
within weeks or sometimes even days of having been cut. Never used by
Strongwood.
Half logs—Logs that are sawn in half
lengthwise and applied to a conventional stud-framed wall to create a wall
that looks like full logs. Used in conjunction with insulated wall
construction. We do not do this type of construction which frequently
relies on less desirable species of wood.
Handcrafters—Log producers who do not use
mechanization to produce logs of uniform shape or size. Handcrafters
typically use some hand tools and craft each log home individually.
We do not do this type of construction since it is very
expensive and less precise.
Hand-hewn—Log that has been squared
through the use of hand tools such as an adze or ax.
We can add a hand-hewn finish to logs, if requested.
Hardscape—In landscaping, refers to
structures and features such as walls, pathways, pools and ponds.
Header—Built-up horizontal member of a home’s frame that
tops a window or doorway.
Horizontal surfaces—The load-bearing log surfaces
that touch when logs are stacked horizontally to form a wall. These
surfaces form the top and bottom of the log profile, or its shape as
viewed from the end.
HVAC—Heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems.
Inspection—Review of work on a construction
job. May be performed by a local jurisdiction’s building inspector to
ensure that work is following approved plans and building codes, and by an
inspector sent by a lending institution to ensure that work is completed
before money is paid out to the general contractor.
Joist—A horizontal beam that supports the weight of a
floor or ceiling.
Kiln-dried—Logs that are force-dried in a
kiln to reduce moisture content. The logs are subjected to heat and
humidity in stages to both dry them and reduce the side effects of drying,
such as checking, twisting and warping. Our logs are either air-dried or
kiln-dried to 15-18% moisture. Many manufacturers only dry to 20-25%.
Knot—A portion of a branch or limb that is incorporated
in a piece of lumber. Knots interrupt the direction and flow of the wood's
fibers and can affect the wood’s strength.
Lag screw/bolt—Fastener used in log home
construction.
Laminated logs—Built-up timbers that are
manufactured by gluing, or laminating, dimensional lumber together, then
shaping the timbers into traditional log profiles. We do not do this.
Lateral load—Those loads imposed
perpendicularly to a wall surface by winds and earthquakes.
Lien waiver—A legal document signed by
subcontractors stating that they have been paid for work completed on a
construction project and cannot make a claim against the home for lack of
payment.
Lintel—A horizontal member of a home’s frame that forms
the top of a window or door opening.
Loan to value ratio—A measurement of the size of the
loan in comparison to the value of a home. Many lenders prefer a down
payment of 20 percent of the home’s value, to establish a loan-to-value
ratio of 80 percent when a loan is made.
Log grading—Practice of ranking an
individual log’s suitability for use in a log home and its overall
quality, using set standards.
Log profile—The shape of the log when viewed
from its end. The top and bottom surfaces are the horizontal surfaces. The
side, or vertical, surfaces are commonly referred to as the visible
surfaces because they remain exposed when the logs are stacked into walls.
Log siding—Siding material made up of logs
that are sawn into thin strips, which still retain the curved shape of the
log.
Manufacturers—Log producers that use
mechanized saws, planes and shapers to produce logs that are of uniform
size and shape.
Material package—Building materials that are
purchased along with the logs for a home.
Mill glaze—A thin coating of sap, sugars or
water that seep to the surface of a log once it’s planed or sawn.
Moisture content—The amount of water present in a
log, measured in terms of the weight of the water in respect to the weight
of the log.
Open-pore coatings—Solutions of oils or waxes in
which color pigments and other ingredients are suspended. Designed to soak
into the wood's fibers and repel water much the same as oil repels water. This
type of wood finish or preservative does not form a film on the wood’s
surface. Similar to the finish that we use.
OSB—Oriented strand board; an engineered wood product
created by laminating shreds of wood into sheets.
Partition wall—A wall that separates spaces in
a home. In log homes, partition walls typically are built using
conventional stud-frame construction, rather than logs.
Passive solar heating—A system that uses certain
building materials (such as masonry) to collect and release energy from
solar radiation.
Percolation (or “perc”) test—Test
performed to measure how porous soil is.
Pier—A type of support used as a foundation, which
consists of vertical poles or columns set on footers.
late—A horizontal member of the frame of a home on which
the rafters rest.
Points—A percentage of the loan amount that lenders charge
for making the loan, typically1 to 5 percent, depending on the term of the
loan and the interest rate offered.
Post—A vertical member of a supporting frame.
Post and beam—Type of construction characterized
by exposed timbers that form a structural frame. The timbers may be joined
by traditional carved wood joinery or by metal hardware.
Preconstruction—Those activities that must be
completed before construction of a home can begin, such as site clearing
and installation of temporary utilities.
Pre-cut—Extent to which the logs contained in a package are
notched and cut to specific lengths at the log producer’s manufacturing
facility before being shipped to the construction site.
Preliminary sketches—First sets of drawings submitted
to a home owner by a professional designer.
Pressure treating—A process in which wood is
saturated with a preservative under pressure, allowing the preservative to
be absorbed deep into the wood’s fibers.
Purlin—A roof support beam that runs parallel to the ridge
beam and the long sides of a home.
R-value—A measure of resistance to the flow of heat. Higher
R-values indicate a material’s greater ability to insulate. The energy
efficiency of log homes is not measured in R-value.
Saddle-notch corner—Also called saddle cope, hole
saw or round notch corners, this corner style is used with round logs. A
semicircular notch is cut in the bottom of each log so that it fits over,
or saddles the rounded top of the log it intersects. At the corner
intersection of these walls, the log courses overlap rather than butt into
one another.
Saltbox—Type of home style in which one side of the roof pitches
steeply, while the other has a shallower pitch, allowing for a half-story
or loft in the home’s second floor.
Sealants—Material used to ensure a weathertight seal between
the logs stacked in a wall.
Section—Type of architectural drawing that shows a
cross-section view of a particular element of a home, such as a wall.
Setbacks—Minimum distance required by local zoning
ordinances between a property line and the edge of a building.
Settlement—Movement of walls that occurs
over time and with the shrinkage of logs as they lose their moisture.
Typically in our homes, we see no shrinkage since we use on Eastern White
Pine and they are properly dried.
Shed roof—A roof style with a single,
typically shallow, pitch.
Shrinkage—The decreasing in size of a log
as it loses some of its moisture content over time. Typically in
our homes, we see no shrinkage since we use on Eastern White Pine and they
are properly dried.
Sill—A horizontal member of a home’s frame that forms
the base of a window or door.
Snow load—A measurement of the weight of
the heaviest snow load likely to occur in a two-month period in a certain
region. Most roof systems are designed to carry a dead load of 20
pounds per square foot. In localized areas of some snow-belt regions, snow
loads of 150 pounds per square foot are not uncommon.
Soffit—Boards that cover the underside of a roof overhang.
Softscape—In landscaping, the softscape
comprises trees, plants, ground cover and flowers.
Specifications—Description, in writing, of the
materials, fixtures, finishes and methods to be used in building a home.
Specific heat—A measurement of a material's
capacity to store thermal energy.
Standing dead—Used to describe standing trees
that have been killed by fire, insects or some other cause. Wood in these
trees is generally not affected by whatever killed them. We never use
standing dead wood for home construction. They can be a big problem.
Subcontractor—Tradesperson who performs a
specific task in a construction job, such as installing plumbing, laying
carpet or painting, under the supervision of a home owner or general
contractor.
Super-insulated walls—Log building system that calls
for conventional stud-framed and insulated walls, which are then sided
with half-logs on the exterior and some form of finish material on the
interior. We only built real log homes. Insulated wall homes are more
expensive but appropriate when Eastern White Pine or cedar is not used for
the logs.
System built—Home built using a package of
manufactured components.
Swedish cope—Log building method in which a
half-moon shaped groove is chiseled out of the length of a log, allowing
it to straddle the rounded surface of the log beneath it in a wall.
Thermal mass—A property of wood that slows
the transfer of heat through a log wall due to the high heat retention
capacity of the wall mass.
Through-bolts—Threaded metal fasteners, 1/2-
to 3/4-inch thick and either 2, 4 or 8 feet long. A length of through bolt
is often connected to anchor bolts embedded in the foundation. When the
desired length is reached, a washer and nut are added and tightened to
pull the wall together. The system we use on dovetail style homes.
Timber frame—Type of traditional construction
characterized by exposed timbers that form a structural frame. The timbers
are joined by traditional carved wood joinery. We only build log homes.
This is a different kind of construction from full log.
Tongue-and-groove—System of joining elements in
which a protrusion, or tongue, on one element fits into a groove on the
other. Typically found on cathedral ceilings and above open beams as an
option to drywall. A very popular option for log homes.
Trim—Woodwork, often detailed, that finishes off certain
elements in a home, such as windows, doors, stairs and cabinetry.
Truss—Triangular-shaped construction element that
supports a home’s ceiling or roof, and allows for an open space below,
unimpeded by posts.
Turn-key—Construction service that allows home owners to
purchase a completely finished home, one that does not require any further
work by the home owners.
UV blocker—Chemical agent added to wood
preservative or finish to inhibit the sun’s graying affect on wood.
Vapor barrier—A waterproof material or film
placed between a heated area of the home and an area that is not heated to
prevent moisture from seeping between the two areas.
Vent-free—A hearth product, such as a
free-standing stove or fireplace, that operates without an exterior
venting system.
Vertical loads—Loads on a home that consist of
the weight of the roof system, snow loads and upper floors.
Visible surfaces—The vertical surfaces of the log
profile that remain visible, inside the house and out, when the logs are
stacked horizontally into log walls.
Wood foundation—A type of foundation featuring
walls built of pressure-treated studs and plywood that is impervious to
rot, decay and insect and fungus attack. The interior of these walls is
similar to a conventional stud wall, allowing the basement to be insulated
and finished with drywall or paneling.
Wood preservative—Specialized finish formulated to protect wood
from the deteriorating effects of wind, rain and sunlight, and attacks by
fungus, mold, mildew and insects.
Work triangle—Pattern of traffic in a kitchen
made up of the steps between the three major work areas: the sink, the
refrigerator and the oven or cooktop.
Workers compensation—Guarantees compensation for any
worker, contractor or layperson working on a home project who might be
injured while working on site.
Zero-clearance—Self-contained fireplace unit that
can be placed in close proximity to other combustible building materials.
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