Convert Your Conventional Frame Home Into a Log Home With Log Siding
Take a look at this home.
It looks like a beautiful log home. If you were to visit it, it would even feel like a log home. But it’s not … at least not in the traditional sense. Instead, this is a conventional frame home that was converted to a log home with log siding. If you want the look of a log home but want to avoid the unique challenges of stacked log walls, then a hybrid remodel may be the answer for you.
How to Convert a Home with Log Siding
In traditional log home construction, large logs are stacked to create interior and exterior walls. When you convert your existing home to a log home using log siding, end-matched half-logs are installed on exterior walls to create the illusion of stacked log walls. Choosing a hand hewn finish adds to the authentic log home look.
The Benefits of Log Siding
- You won’t have to uproot. There are probably things you love about your existing home — perhaps the land, the location or the layout. Opting for log siding allows you to stay put while giving your home a dramatic transformation. Not to mention you’ll avoid moving-related stress and spending.
- You’ll save time and money. Building a new home can take months — even years in some cases. Installing log siding is a considerably faster process. It’s also less expensive since it requires around 75 percent less wood and less labor, and there isn’t the need to rent heavy equipment such as cranes.
- It’s a smart investment. If you’re considering building or buying a log home, keep in mind that it can be difficult to secure a mortgage for a stacked log home, and some insurance companies won’t even offer coverage. This could be a problem if you plan to finance your home or if you ever decide to sell.
- You’ll get the look of a log home without the quirks. Stacked log homes come with a unique set of challenges. Logs can shrink and settle, and the wood can check and crack. Chinking between the logs can deteriorate, allowing moisture and air to seep indoors. With log siding, you achieve the style of a log home without all of these issues. Click here to learn more about engineered versus stacked log construction.
- It’s energy efficient. Alone, Cedar log siding is already a great insulator. When you combine its natural qualities with extra insulation in the walls and ceiling of your conventional frame home, you’ll stay cozy and comfortable year-round and cut down your heating and cooling bills. Log siding also offers tighter construction than stacked logs, lending to even more energy savings.
- It’s environmentally friendly. Log siding requires considerably less wood than building a log home from the ground up, so you’ll help save trees. If you choose a Cedar siding product you’ll add to your home’s Earth-friendly appeal. Cedar requires little processing and treatment compared to other building and siding products.
- You’ll enjoy more design flexibility. If you really want to create an authentic log home look, you can add decorative elements indoors and out, from corner pieces to trusses and purlins. You also can mix log siding with other materials to add to your home’s rustic aesthetic. Outside, consider pairing log siding with a natural material such as stone. Inside, finish your walls with drywall, tile or beadboard. You can even install log siding on interior walls to mimic the look of a stacked log home.
Heartwood Mills offers a variety of Northern White Cedar and Pine log siding. Speak with one of our log siding experts to walk through the options available and decide which is the right choice for transforming your conventional frame home into the log home of your dreams.
