SOLID WOOD - MILLED UNIFORM LOGS
Created from the most beautiful and NATURALLY DRIED wood

Log homes are something special, they bring out something different in every person who experiences them. To some they represent the romance of the past, to others the warmth and charm. The feeling that is most common is that they are so very unique in both style and feelthe perfect recipe for your log home dream.

Let's talk about the wood from which we make our logs
The most popular log desired and the SIERRA STANDARD is a log made from solid Spruce and Pine wood. Our demands are for very dry wood so your home will stay very stable and shrink or settle very slightly. Thus we make our logs from trees that have naturally died in the forest and have been drying for over 2-3 years.

These logs are absolutely beautiful with unmatched character. The colors of the wood are breathtaking. Natural white pine background with wisps of tans, browns, reds and greys streaking through the log. Each log carries its own uniqueness and excitement - this is what makes every log home so awesome!

Cedar - let's talk about Cedar. Cedar is not a standard for us but we do make it available in certain sizes and it does cost more. The cedar tree is always harvested green and air dried for about 2-3 months before it is shaped. If your desire is Cedar, please call us so we can understand your needs better and discuss the pro's and con's.

How we make our logs
Not to confuse you again but, we mill these uniform logs using 2 different methods:

Method 1 ­ CRAFTSMAN SERIES ­ We use a big shaper machine that profiles the log into any shape or size (up to 13" wide and 60' long)

Method 2 ­ PROFESSIONAL SERIES ­ We use a big lathe that spins the raw tree into a round log (up to 24" wide and 30' long)

The following are detailed descriptions of each method of solid log production.

Method 1 - SHAPING A LOG

Sierra "CRAFTSMAN" SERIES
Beautiful with highly accurate log dimensions - easy to build with and absolutely breathtaking to look at!

Precise log dimensions are the most important feature of a wall log
This is the SIERRA STANDARD shaping a log is the most precise or accurate way to create a uniform log. We make logs that range in sizes from 6" to 13" in width and up to 60' long in many different profiles (see below).

Log walls are built by stacking logs on top of one another. The more perfect the log, the better and tighter your log wall will become as you stack the logs. Precise logs means easy building - this is why the CRAFTSMAN SERIES LOG is the BUILDER'S CHOICE.

Longer logs makes for fewer butt joints...the more beautiful it becomes
Sierra stands out as one of the few log home companies to be able to do a NOMINAL or NO BUTT JOINT log wall (the fewer butt joints the more pure or more beautiful the log wall becomes). Butt joints are when 2 logs come together forming a log course. Short logs make allot of butt joints (very busy), longer logs make fewer to NO butt joints (very clean & very desired).

When your builder is finished stacking these logs, your log walls are tight with few to no butt joints and absolutely gorgeoussomething for the builder to be proud of and something for YOU to be impressed with!

Elegant with a smooth finish or more naturally
beautiful with a hand-peel
Whatever your taste demands, you can have with a Sierra log home. If your desire is for the more contemporary look, then you will desire the standard smooth finish - very elegant.

However, if you desire a more rustic or natural appearance, you may opt for our hand-peeled or hand hewn finish. A choice that will dramatically alter the look of a uniform log home to a more natural state, especially when you incorporate natural logs into your log home. Something to consider when you are desiring a more personal expression of rustic elegance!

Understand the process and you will know why this is the Best log to buy
We put allot of effort into making the most beautiful log we can. The Sierra log shaping machine and choosing beautiful wood enables us to achieve these high standards.

The raw tree is put onto a saw mill and cut into a "log blank" with 4 flat sides and then structurally graded. This sawing process removes a lot of the unwanted aspects of the outer wood and leaves the more beautiful solid characteristics of the inner wood that makes this log so beautiful.

The final log profile is produced by using big cutters that carve the wood into the desired shape as the "log blank" travels through the machine. By using a fixed, high speed cutting process, our logs come out with the most beautiful smooth finish and always the same size - this is very important for accuracy and beauty.

The result is our CRAFTSMAN SERIES LOG, beautiful with highly accurate log dimensions easy to build with and absolutely breathtaking to look at!

Method 2 ­ TURNING A LOG ON A LATHE

Sierra "PROFFESSIONAL" SERIES
Big diameter logs, economical and very beautiful, but in a more rustic way!

Large diameter logs is a lathes primary function
This is the SIERRA STANDARDwhen making large diameter logs. When your log home is demanding big log beams the Sierra PROFFESSIONAL SERIES log comes into play. With the ability to turn a log from 4" to 24" in diameter and up to 30' long, a lathed log becomes the most versatile method to produce a log for all kind of various parts in a log home.

A builder's choice when an inexpensive wall log is needed
Our PROFFESSIONAL SERIES is a more economically priced log for building log homes. Because a lathed log needs a smaller diameter tree to begin with and it does not need to be sawn first, it is less expensive to make. This log is a BUILDER'S CHOICE when a low cost log package is needed - still beautiful but a bit more rustic.

The down side of a lathed log is that it can have a variance in it's dimensions of up to an 1/8". This is fine for beams and posts but creates a tougher stacking condition when using them in a log wall. These log walls are usually caulked or chinked to fill any gaps that occur during the log stack.

Understanding how a lathed log is made
We take the raw tree and skip the saw mill and go directly to the lathe. The lathe spins the log and a power head floats over the top creating a uniform column of wood. Once the log is finished, we can carve a cope down the center of the log creating a Swedish cope. The surface of a lathed log is less smooth and a bit more rustic with more natural character features, such as "cat faces" and "knot indentations".

The result is our PROFFESIONAL SERIES LOG - big, rustic and very economical!