HAND-CRAFTED LOG HOME
"Created from the most beautiful trees"

HAND CRAFTED log homes are a true work of art. By leaving the tree in its natural state, every wall becomes something very special and provokes a different emotion from every person who experiences them. To some they represent the romance of the past, to others the "BIG LOGS". No matter what, these log homes are a true expression of natural beauty.

"Let's talk about the wood we make our logs from"
The most popular log desired and the SIERRA STANDARD is a log made from a seasoned green Douglas Fir tree that averages 12" at the small end and around 15" at the big end. Our demands are for very beautiful wood full of character and colorso your home will make that statement of absolute natural beauty.

These logs are absolutely beautiful with unmatched character. The colors of the wood are breathtakingnatural brown, red and grey streaking through the log. Each log carries its own uniqueness and excitementthis is what makes every log home so awesome!

Cedarlet's talk about Cedar. Cedar is not a standard for us but we do make it available and it does cost more. If your desire is Cedar, please call us so we can understand your needs better and discuss the pro's and con's.

"It's time to explain how we make our HAND-CRAFTED log homes"
A Sierra HAND-CRAFTED home is built the old fashioned way, one log at a time by a seasoned log crafter. Once the tree is logged from the forest they are chosen from a sort yard for its straightness and character.

The log is then hand peeled and brought out to the stack yard ready for the crafters to start building. The logs are then notched, grooved and erected at our yard. The log home is fully built to the roof line.

Once the log home is complete, it is fully groomed. All the tails are cut and sanded, the arches are cut, the windows and doors are cut, electrical outlets can be cut in (optional), and all the holes are drilled into the logs for the treaded rod and drift pins.

The log home is fully numbered and labeled making it ready for tear down. The log home is then torn down log by log and placed on the delivery truck and sent to the job site.

Once at the job site, it is re-erected at a speed of about 1-2 days per truck with 4-6 workers (one of them being a Sierra Crafter that follows the home to the site).

"Choose between the "Full Scribe" or "Chinker Style" methods"
We give you a choice of how the logs are joined together. There are NO exposed butt joints in either method of our Hand-Crafting.

METHOD 1 ­ "CHINKER STYLE or MODIFIED FULL SCRIBE" ­ the Sierra method is very different from the normal chinker log approach. Each log is roughly "V" grooved (or rough scribed) to the log below making it a rough or imperfect connection with virtually NO air gaps (the normal method is to barely flatten the logs with big air gaps). The difference between the Sierra style and all the rest is stabilityour logs are fully sitting on the log below with No visible air, while the other company's logs are barely touching one another making them shaky. The logs are then stacked with no insulation between the logs. Chinking (latex caulking with a grit in it) is used to seal up the home. This caulk like material is floated in between the logs both in & out for its final beautiful and finished looksealing the home for life. This method is the most preferred due to its lower cost and the fact that most full scribe homes are ultimately caulked or chinked 3-5 years later anyway.

METHOD 2 ­ "FULL SCRIBE" ­ each log is precisely "V" grooved (or scribed) to the log below it making it a perfect connection. The logs are then stacked with insulation stuffed into the groove. Theoretically the wall becomes air tight and there is no need for caulking or chinking the home (however most homes or chinked or caulked within 3-5 years). This is the most expensive process due to the intense amount of labor.

HAND-CRAFTED SERIES SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIES	DOUGLAS FIR (Sierra standard) SPRUCE/PINE (OPTIONAL) CEDAR (OPTIONAL)
MOISTURE CONTENT	DOUGLAS FIR ­ green SPRUCE/PINE - green CEDAR ­ green
STRUCTURAL GRADE (TPI graded and stamped)	WALL LOG 40 & BETTER ­ (Sierra standard) for walls & posts PREMIUM ­ for structural beams
LAMINATING GLUE	red glue (Phenolic resin)
SIZE (WIDTH) SIZE (LENGTH)	from 10" to 16" up to 53' long
SHAPES	all natural trees
SURFACE TEXTURE	HAND-PEELED ­ (Sierra standard)
LOG JOINERY	"Chinker Style" and/or "Full Scribe"
LOG CORNERS	"CHINKER STYLE ­ 2" to 4" per 9' of wall "FULL SCRIBE ­ 3" to 5" per 9' of wall
SETTLING (or wall shrinking)	NONE (different formats carry different package prices)
LOG PACKAGING	RANDOM 16 ­ logs have pre-cut notches and are bundled in lengths from 8' to 16' long all the log homes are pre-built, numbered and ready to re-erect at job site. All hardware is included, rods, drift pins and settling jacks (truss hardware is typically optional).

Stacking Handcrafted Logs