THE PROCESS

We buy full length Red and White pine logs that come from Northern Michigan. They mostly come from the Upper Pennsula of Michigan and were logs that were planted in the l940's with C.C. Camps. Most of the logs that we buy will be 45 feet long, with a few over 50 feet. And the diameter of our logs run 16 to 18 inches on the butt end and around 10 inches on the tip end. This makes for an average diameter of 12 inches for a mid span diameter. At times we are able to buy larger logs, up to 36 inches on the butt, and we of course can always buy smaller logs.

The larger logs are hard to work with and contain much more board feet of wood, hence they are more expensive. The smaller logs are more work because when we finish a log and put it on the wall we only increase our wall height by maybe 10 inches, hence more rounds of logs. We can purchase any logs that you may want, we have built log homes out of Western Red Cedar and have had them trucked in from the Northwest. This is very expensive wood and very expensive trucking.

We have built log homes out of Northern White Cedar, but again the wood is very expensive and the problem with Northern White Cedar is that it is not very long. A Northern White Cedar may be 16 inches on the butt and 10 inches on the tip but only be 24 feet long. So when building a log home with Northern White Cedar we have to be very creative with the log house plan so that we don't have any logs that butt togeather in the walls.

After buying the logs, we truck them into our Pickford Log Yard and put them through a Cambio Ring Debarker. This takes all the outter bark off the logs. This allows them to dry and keeps the wood borers out of them. After we debark them we criss cross stack them so that they can air dry. They are normally stacked this way for 2 months to 2 years. Two months in warm weather will get most of the sap to the surface so that we don't have any sap problems when we build or deliver your log home.

North Arrow Log Homes is proud to offer Kiln dried logs.  We can now purchase kiln dried logs for our clients.  The heat of the kiln takes out most of the moisture from the logs and ensures minimal settling after construction. 

After air drying is complete, we peel the logs with a Spar Log Peeler. There are only six Spar Log Peelers in the world and this process is a very time saving process for us. (we can pass the savings on to you) The logs come out very beautiful, the knots are exceptionally pretty.

We scribe and fit each log together. We do an over scribe method where we scribe the lateral groove in the log greater than the notch. What this does is makes a very tight corner notch as the log settles down on the latteral grove. In our log yard we cut and fit all the logs, including all the floor joist, truss' and purlins. We may or may not cut the window openings in at this time, sometimes it is easier for us to do it when the log home is reconstructed. The logs are all numbered, the log home taken apart, put on trucks, shipped and reconstructed on your foundation. The same crew that builds the log home comes to reconstruct the log home on your foundation. This is something we do not want other crews to do. We take pride in the masterpiece that we have built for you and don't want it messed up by someone that doesn't understand the process.

Just a note about our commitment...  No matter what the weather is, we are always working everyday on your log home. You of course are welcome to come at any time to see the progress, and take pictures. Or if you want, we can take pictures and e-mail them to you.

Thank you for reading!