Wood Species Used in Stacked Log Homes

Log Building Styles

Log Home Plans

Photo Galleries

Our Projects

Q & A

Testimonials

TLC Monthly

Select Your Style

Post and Beam Log Homes

Post&Beam Log Homes Four Square Method What's Included Log Species Delivery & Setup Construction Details Sample Plans -- Go to Plans

Stacked Log Homes

Stacked Log Homes What's Included Drying & Settling Overscribing Notches and Tails Log Species Delivery & Setup Construction Details Construction Videos Sample Plans -- Go to Plans

Timber Frame Homes

Timber Frame Homes Traditional Timber Frame What's Included Log Species Construction Details -- Go to Plans

Log Species for
Stacked Log Homes

Our location in the interior of British Columbia, Canada provides a selection of home building logs unsurpassed worldwide. Only premium quality logs are hand selected from trees growing at high elevations. These trees experience slower growth rates, resulting in a higher structural value due to tighter annual growth rings. In addition to strength, each log is hand selected based on straightness of grain and consistency of size.

Our most requested species for log walls is Engelmann Spruce due to its bright color, large diameter, and minimal taper. With an exterior sealant, all log species will provide exceptional long term durability for generations to enjoy.

Slices of logs..clockwise: cedar, fir, and spruce

	Douglas Fir Douglas Fir is a very strong wood with a rich reddish heartwood. Generally tight growth rings, straight grain, medium heavy with good resistance to mildew and fungus. Due to its high strength, Fir is a perfect choice for both wall logs and beams and joists. Its weight may make transportation costs slightly higher. More info on Douglas Fir...
	Engelmann Spruce Spruce displays a nearly white heartwood with a slight tinge of red. It has generally straight grain and has moderately small shrinkage. Spruce logs have a high thermal value and low maintenance requirements; plus they are light in weight which keeps transportation costs lower. Generally, we only recommend spruce for wall logs, and we recommend Douglas Fir for roof and upper floor beams due to its superior structural strength. These two species complement each other in appearance when used in this combination. More info on Engelmann Spruce...
	Western Red Cedar Western Red Cedar has a reddish to dull brown heartwood. It is very resistant to decay, and features enerally straight grains with uniform texture. Other advantages are low shrinkage and light weight. However cedar is moderately soft, and provides low strength when used as beams. Generally, we recommend Douglas Fir for roof and upper floor beams due to its superior structural strength. In practice, the two species complement each other especially when finished similarly. More info on Western Red Cedar...

WOOD SPECIES: Douglas Fir

pseudotsuga menziesii
Also known as Coast Douglas-fir, Oregon Pine, Oregon Douglas-fir, Douglas Tree, Interior Douglas-fir this is not a fir at all but 'Pseudotsuga' or "False Hemlock"
Named after the Scottish botanist, David Douglas, who introduced many of BC's native conifers to Europe.

UNIQUE FEATURES:

distinctive three-forked bracts between the scales on the cones
light yellow with orange tints to exterior of peeled logs
tight grain, redish brown interior heart wood

LOCATION:

British Columbia southern mainland coast, Vancouver Island
an interior variety is found throughout southern and central BC

SIZE:

can reach up to 85 meters in height on the coast and 42 meters in the interior

WOOD CHARACTERISTICS:

dense, hard, stiff, durable, strong

USES:

modern - heavy duty construction such as log homes, trestles, bridge parts and commercial buildings
traditional - wood: fuel, fishing hooks, handles, snowshoes, fishtraps; boughs: floor coverings; seeds: eaten; twigs/needles: can exude a sugar like substance which was prized

CONES:

5 to 11 cm long
green when young, turning to brown as they age
papery scales, with three pronged bracts (resembling mouse hind legs and tail) in between them
have winged seeds
seeds are eaten by birds and small animals

NEEDLES:

flat with pointed tips
bright yellowish-green with single groove on upper surface
paler colour on lower surface
spirally arranged so appear to stand out around the twig

BARK:

smooth, grey-brown, blistered when young
furrowed, thick, dark reddish-brown ridges as the tree ages
bears scrape off the bark to eat the sap layer beneath

QUICK/EASY ID (identification) for DOUGLAS FIR:

cones: forked
needles: flat, fragrant, friendly (the boughs are soft to the touch when you run your hand up and down)
bark: furrowed

Return to Log Species

WOOD SPECIES: Engelmann Spruce

picea engelmanni
...named after the botanist George Engelmann. 'Picea' is derived from the Latin word for pitch.

UNIQUE FEATURES:

a straight, spire-like tree
near the ground the branches tend to droop
interbreeds with white spruce in certain areas

LOCATION:

grows throughout the Interior and many southern areas of British Columbia
found at high elevations
this spruce prefers deep, rich soils with sufficient moisture

SIZE:

can grow to 50 metres in height and 1 metre in diameter

WOOD CHARACTERISTICS:

not very strong

USES:

modern - log houses (walls only), plywood, violins, pianos, aircraft parts
traditional - roots: sew seams of baskets, make baskets; bark : cooking baskets, canoes, roofing, baby carriers; pitch: wound dressings; needles: chewed for cough control

CONES:

seed cones - yellow or purplish-brown; hang from upper branches; scales are papery with jagged edges
pollen cones - yellow

NEEDLES:

four sided and sharp but not too stiff
bluish-green with white lines on upper and lower surfaces
they are arranged in all directions along the twig
strong odor

BARK:

reddish-brown
scaly

Return to Log Species

WOOD SPECIES: Western Red Cedar

thuja plicata
Other common names: Giant Arbor-Vitae, Canoe-cedar, Pacific Red-cedar, Shinglewood.
The western red cedar is British Columbia's official tree.

UNIQUE FEATURES:

drooping branches that turn up at tip
trunk spreading out at the base
has large number of cones bent backward along the branches

LOCATION:

low to mid elevations
coast and wet belt of the Interior
in cool, mild, moist locations
can grow in shaded areas with lots of nutrients

SIZE:

up to 60 meters tall (197 feet)

WOOD CHARACTERISTICS:

resistant to decay and insect damage
aromatic fragrance that lasts for years
wood can remain sound for over 100 years

USES:

modern - house siding, log home shell packages, interior paneling, outdoor furniture, decking, fencing, roof shakes
traditional - wood: canoes, totem poles, longhouses, household boxes, tools, paddles; pounded fibers: mats, clothing, baskets, nets, fishing lines; medicines, religious masks

CONES:

seed cones: egg shaped
1 cm long with several pairs of scales
pollen cones: small, reddish

NEEDLES/LEAVES:

are scale-like
lie in pairs
overlapping like shingles
very strong aroma

BARK:

grey
stringy - tearing off in long strips

Return to Log Species

Delivery & Setup...

Information Collection, Use, and Sharing

Information you provide to The Log Connection will be used to respond to you regarding the reason you contacted us. We will not sell or rent this information to anyone. We will not share your information with any third party outside of our organization, other than as necessary to fulfill your request, e.g. to ship blueprints or plan books.

Unless you ask us not to, we may contact you via email or telephone in the future to follow up on your request or tell you about new developments. At any time, by contacting us via the email address or phone number given on the Contact page you may opt out of such future contacts from us or request we change or delete any data we have on you.

Security

We take precautions to protect your information. When you submit sensitive information via the website, your information is protected both online and offline. Wherever we collect information such as credit card data, that information is encrypted and transmitted to us in a secure way. You can verify this by looking for a closed lock icon at the bottom of your web browser, or looking for "https:" at the beginning of the address of the web page.

While we use encryption to protect sensitive information transmitted online, we also protect your information offline. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (for example, billing or customer service) are granted access to personally identifiable information. The computers/servers in which we store personally identifiable information are kept in a secure environment.

If you have any questions or feel that we are not abiding by this privacy policy, please contact us via telephone or email.

Type of message / inquiry:	General price / sales inquiry Construction inquiry Design inquiry Animation / computer rendering inquiry
* E-Mail Address
* Name
Subject:
Message:

* E-Mail Address
* First Name
* Last Name
What style interests you?:	Post and Beam Timber Frame Stacked Log Walls