The Characteristics of a Handcrafted Log Home

After decades designing and building log homes, PrecisionCraft knows, for some, nothing but an authentic handcrafted log home will suffice. Indeed, very little compares to the detail and artistry of a genuinely handcrafted log home. There are a myriad of reasons why this is true, but the processes of carefully selecting, hand cutting, and intricately placing each log certainly makes individual log elements part of the larger work of art that is a handcrafted log home.

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The distinctive look of handcrafted log homes conjures images of the rustic lodges and rugged landscapes of eras long gone. Purposefully designed to look and feel centuries old, PrecisionCraft handcrafted log homes leave a lasting impression. Continue reading below to discover if the uncommon, authentic beauty of a handcrafted log home is the style for you.

Characteristics of Handcrafted Log Homes

Visible chinking adds distinctive flair to this handcrafted log home’s breakfast bar

Specific characteristics of handcrafted log homes include hand-peeled logs, tapered logs, large character log posts, hand-hewn textures, and visible chinking.

The visible craftsmanship that goes into a handcrafted log home is the most striking characteristic of this style. If, for example, you visit an authentic handcrafted log home, you will see every drawknife cut, and each carved notch. These textures display tangible reminders that experienced craftsman created every individual log and connection within the home. Subsequently, owners of handcrafted log homes own more than a luxury residence; they own authentically handcrafted works of art.

Building a Handcrafted Log Home

A handcrafted log home undergoes pre-fitting in the PrecisionCraft Idaho yard

Though a few of the tools have changed, handcrafted log homes are cut and built in much the same manner as that of hundreds of years ago. For example, individual logs are still hand-peeled with a drawknife and hand-cut with an axe, chisel, or chainsaw. Painstakingly stacked, log-by-log, chinking seals gaps between the logs, just as it did in yesteryear.

The craftsmanship required during the creation of your handcrafted home takes longer than that of milled log, log post and beam, or timber frame home. For example, the stringent processes and detailed work of producing a handcrafted log home, (including meticulous pre-assembly to ensure a proper fit of each log), takes several months.

Upon achieving a perfect fit, disassembly occurs. Your home is then loaded onto trucks for transport. Finally, the same PrecisionCraft crew that earlier pre-assembled your home in our Idaho yard, travels to your build site. There, your team installs the log structure. Combined, it is easy to understand why our handcrafted log homes offer such a rustic look, and a higher cost.

Individual logs used in this custom truss were hand-peeled using a drawknife

Beyond aesthetics, modern engineering methods enable our building professionals to create amazing handcrafted structures that also meet the most rigorous building codes. For example, PrecisionCraft employs the Houseal™ Non-Settling System, a patented steel pin-and-pipe method that prevents your logs from settling. As a result, our experienced team successfully builds complex handcrafted homes in locations with strict building codes.

Combining the craftsmanship of yesterday with the modern advances of today results in handcrafted log homes that are beautiful, functional, authentic, and energy efficient.

Structural Envelope of a Handcrafted Log Home

PrecisionCraft handcrafted log homes use only the highest quality and most energy efficient building materials and methods. Their use ensures your home provides a comfortable, healthy, interior environment along with outstanding energy efficiency. Our products and building solutions include Insulated Concrete Forms (ICFs) for your basement, the previously mentioned handcrafted log walls with chinking, and Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) for your roof. When combined together, these materials create a tight energy envelope for your home without compromising its beauty.

Handcrafted Log Home Styles & Architectural Design Concepts

Tapered logs tower over a Wyoming handcrafted log home’s rear entry

PrecisionCraft’s in-house firm, M-T-N Design, works with clients designing custom floor plans and the necessary log structures for their handcrafted log homes. This award-winning team keeps a client’s ideas and requirements top-of-mind while drawing on its specialization in log home design. This is why M-T-N Design consistently creates some of the world’s finest luxury log and timber homes.

Thus, whether you envision a great room enhanced by a wall of windows trimmed in massive log posts, like that of the Stoneridge, or dream of log walls and the dramatic custom truss like those found in the Cumberland, an astonishing first impression and a lasting dramatic statement are certain to follow. Please browse our architectural designs and remember: every M-T-N Design concept is just that, a concept. Each is intended to inspire you, and each can be redrawn as a handcrafted log home.

The Heritage of Authentic Handcrafted Log Homes

Authentic handcrafted log homes are synonymous with beauty and artistry. From the large, tapered, hand-peeled logs to their meticulous stacking, the intricate workmanship of skilled craftsmen brings out the natural beauty of the wood. This rustic authenticity beckons the viewer to recall a past when craftsmanship was a part of everyday life.

Aside from some of the tools, and a few modern engineering methods and materials, handcrafted log homes are cut and assembled the same way they were a hundred years ago. Each log is meticulously hand-cut and hand-hewn for a specific location within the structure. And, chinking is still in use to seal the gaps between the log courses. As a result, handcrafted log homes have a rustic feel.

Visible Craftsmanship

Visit an authentic handcrafted log home, you will see each horizontal cut from the drawknife and every carefully carved notch. This texture is a visible reminder of the craftsmanship that goes into every individual log and connection in the home. In addition, large-diameter logs combine with soaring cedar flared character posts to create an impressive statement. Owning a handcrafted log home means you own a handcrafted work of art.

Handcrafted Log Homes Meet Today’s Lifestyles

Our lifestyles have changed dramatically since the days of single-room cabins. Today’s handcrafted log homes are some of the most impressive mountain-style homes ever built. They go well beyond the functionality of the single-room log cabins of old.

Bold log posts support entryways and porticos that welcome friends and family to gather and share memories. Once inside, flared character logs make an impressive statement in the great room. Vaulted ceilings, giant log trusses, and walls of glass enhance the home’s interior.

Modern kitchens are open to the rest of the home and mix stainless steel, stone, and other textures with chinked log walls to create the perfect spots for relaxing and entertaining.

Finally, at the end of the day, owners escape to luxurious master suites. These rooms often include jetted tubs, private outdoor spaces, and the anticipation of waking up to priceless vistas framed in the warm hues of wood.

Modern Engineering Ties Everything Together

Modern engineering methods enable builders to create amazing handcrafted structures that meet the most rigorous building codes.

PrecisionCraft employs the Houseal™ Non-Settling System. Using this patented steel pin-and-pipe method, they can build complex handcrafted homes in locations with strict building codes, such as California.

When you combine the craftsmanship of yesterday with the modern advances of today, the resulting handcrafted log homes are beautiful, functional, and authentic.

A Final Note

Authentic handcrafted log homes are synonymous with beauty and artistry. From the large, tapered, hand-peeled logs to the meticulous stacking, the intricate workmanship of skilled craftsmen brings out the natural beauty of the wood. If this rustic authenticity beckons you unlike any other style of architecture, own a log home like none other by insisting on a handcrafted log home from PrecisionCraft.

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Read Handcrafted Log Homes Offer Authentic Heritage.

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