Rapid Log Home Building in the UK

A dealer in the UK, Ron Taylor, recently recalled a great story about one of the first True North log homes he and his team built for a customer on a tight schedule.

The project started when this customer Jim came up to me at an exhibition in London about eight years ago with a sketch he'd drawn and asked "Can you build this?".  "Of course we can!" was my reply and that started us on the road to building one of the first True North log homes in the UK.

At the time, Jim and his wife Jackie, had a home on a narrow strip of land beside the River Thames near Marlow in Buckinghamshire, England which had been made from the shell of an old Thames pleasure craft.  However, the river was prone to flooding and Jim decided the time had come to do something about it after he got up one morning and stepped into several inches of river water.  Government planners would only allow a replacement building on the site, so the old building would have to go and during consultations a sailing club complained he would be 'stealing their wind...".  However, apart from a few restrictions, like making a map of the layout of all his plants so they could be replaced,  a planning license was granted.  Then the Environment Agency stepped in to exercise its muscles.  "You have to build it at least 5 feet above ground" was the gist of their comments. They also had a bizarre restriction stating he couldn't build the proposed decking as they said it would interfere with the flow of the flood water.  The fact that the old building presented a much greater resistance didn't hold water (no pun intended).....so no front decking was allowed.

Once approved, True North got the log home plans for the new structure under way.

Jim had wanted a workroom upstairs, but due to council height restrictions and the Environment Agency's 5 foot rule, there was only room for storage in the attic.  Jim got busy organising the foundations and the piling, which was necessary for his location.  He intended to do a lot of the build work himself, but took our offer of four guys from True North to erect the shell package.

A couple of months later, two large 40 foot containers arrived.  Jim's site was about 150 yards along a narrow track from where we could unload the containers.  The team had started laying the sill plates and first logs within hours of the arrival of the trucks.  Eleven days later, the last of the windows and doors went in and the shell was watertight.

Just a few doors away down the lane, a similar-sized conventional, brick building was also just getting watertight......but that home had taken over six months to build!

Jim continued the with interior on his own, learning trades as he went and fitting it in when he could, while still doing his day job.

Today, Jim and Jackie have a beautiful home they can be proud of and which is keeping their feet nice and dry.

If you're interested in seeing a full gallery of the log home building process, visit the True North Log Homes Facebook page to see the story of Jim's home from start to finish. Or you can also check out a full range of log home designs on the True North website.

Impressive True North Log Lodge Built Across the Pond

One of our dealers/builders in the UK took the time to put together a great time-lapse video of the construction of a custom log home which will act as a children's training and education centre in Derby, England.




The massive lodge is approximately 11,000 square feet (including the basement), boasts 17 bedrooms and required the use of an awful lot of scaffolding. It is truly an impressive structure based on our Alaskan model, which was aptly named after a similar True North log home was used for a home in Alaska some time ago. Started in January, windows are currently being installed and the lodge expects to house its first guests in October or November.  This project was made possible by the hard work and fundraising of a committed group of volunteers led by Jem Hudson. Further log buildings are planned for the site which also includes Jem's own 3,000 square foot log home, which you can catch a glimpse of to the left of the lodge and was also raised with the help of Jem's friends.

A True North Thermo-Groove Six Seal Log Wall Installation

Doug Mason, of Log Project Management and a True North Log Home's technical assistant, demonstrates the use of our Thermo-Groove Six Seal log wall joinery system being used by one of our dealers, Joe Pattison and his crew of Lakeside Custom Carpentry to build a large 30-wall log home in northern Ontario.  Note how careful attention is paid to removing even the smallest wood chip to ensure an air-tight seal is created between the logs and to prevent any air infiltration issues. We believe it is this attention to detail which sets us and our log home builders in the UK, US and Canada apart from all others.

True North Log Homes Featured in The Premier Issue of Dockside: The Best of Muskoka

Michael McLay recently purchased a True North Log Home.

True North Log Homes was recently profiled in the premiere edition of Dockside: The Best of Muskoka - Available now.

While on business in Colorado, Michael McLay attended a log home trade show and was impressed with one exhibitor in particular. “I asked them if they ever built in Ontario, and I couldn’t believe my luck when it turned out that they were from Muskoka,” recalls Michael.  

After researching log home builders, Michael and his wife Brenda eventually purchased a True North Log Home, the same exhibitor that impressed Michael months before. Michael and Brenda selected True North Log Homes based on the firm’s quality, reputation, service and style.

The circular staircase in the McLay home

The McLays customized their home with the help of the True North staff, including a specifically engineered circular staircase.  The personal service and technical support continued throughout the building process. The couple is thrilled with the unique king post system, exclusive to True North Log Homes, which provides a focal point that is both structurally and aesthetically pleasing.  “Our home is a natural extension of the elements that drew us to this area: its water, rocks and tress,” explains Brenda.

No longer just a simple cabin or cottage, a log home can be as contemporary – or as rustic – as its owner desires. As Michael insists, “Log homes are not a thing of the past: they belong to the future!”

To read the rest of the McLays’ experience building their first log home, pick up the current edition of Dockside: The Best of Muskoka or download it from the True North Log Homes Web site.

What types of corner systems are available in log homes?

There are 4 different corner systems used by log home builders:

Dovetail
This system has unique water shed capabilities, as all angles lead out of the corner, also the interlocking logs make the corner stronger.




Saddlenotch
This system allows for the traditional log cabin corner look, by incorporating the interlocking logs to strengthen the corner.




True North's Penta-Post Corner
Post Corner- This exclusive True North system allows for post-to-log interlocking assembly of irregular angles with no compromises to wall integrity.

Butt and Pass-*NOT USED BY TRUE NORTH LOG HOMES*
This system is prone to separation over time because of its lack of interlocking capabilities. This corner is widely used in the industry as it is easier to produce than the other three corner systems. Many log home builders utilize the Butt & Pass system because the Dovetail and Saddlenotch corner systems require a major capital commitment to buy or build sophisticated high tech equipment to make the complex composite angle saw cuts.

Warranty on Log Homes

Most log home builders offer a warranty on the quality of materials they offer. Generally speaking, log home warranties say 'our materials are good when we deliver them, and they will stay good'. The customer deserves a materials warranty. Nobody should build a home out of sub-standard, bug infested lumber. True North goes beyond that warranty in a way nobody else does.




True North Log Homes offers the only 25-Year "Zero" Air Infiltration Warranty In The Industry. You will not have to apply caulking or chinking to a True North Log Home for a minimum of 25 years.

This type of warranty is far more valuable than a materials-only type warranty, as it covers the function of the log walls, not just the wood. A log wall system could be completely fine for quality of materials but be joined in such a way as to leak air and moisture, which can cause excessive long term costs to the owner as they apply caulking and chinking to seal the leaky gaps. The True North system is so good, we can offer you a virtually maintenance free log home compared to all the other log companies.

For more information on the True North Log Homes Warranty, visit True North Log Homes.

Log Home Technology To Keep You Warm and Dry

Log home builders and owners have traditionally struggled with the effects time and weather can have on timber.  The natural shrinking of logs and the levelling of a log structure over time can cause significant gaps between the logs letting costly warm air out and uncomfortable cold air in.  Typically inferior joinery systems are difficult to install and simply don't tend to stand up to this test of time. Homeowners are invariably forced to spend more time and money caulking and chinking their log walls to keep mother nature outside where she belongs.

To combat these troublesome issues, True North Log Homes, recently developed a unique log lock compression system engineered to actually seal homes tighter with time by allowing the log lock to only go in one direction, DOWN, on specially designed threaded rods.  Another advantage of this patent-pending technology is its ease of installation - only a couple of hours vs. a couple of days with most competitive log joinery solutions.

True North Log Homes Patent-Pending Log Log Compression System

True North Log homes is proud of its commitment to continual improvement in log home technology as it maintains U.S. and Canadian patents for several other innovative solutions.  Our new log lock system has garnered some attention including a recent mention on a reputable sustainable architecture blog.