By Lynn Gastineau
President of Gastineau Log Homes, Inc.

Welcome Family to the February 2013 issue of The Oak Leaf! For new readers, this is a monthly newsletter that is sent by e-mail to those that have expressed an interest in Gastineau Log Homes. We use this as a way of communicating technical, design and industry information. For more information, check out our web site at www.oakloghome.com.

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Somewhere under the rainbow.... This home in southeastern Iowa was built completely by the homeowner. He recently emailed me: "I loved working with your people as I worked thru our project. Stan Buchta and Ron Hanger were GREAT to work with and very helpful. I never had a problem getting help or answers out of any of your staff. It was a great experience for a first time builder of a log home."

The balcony on the front of this house adds some dramatic curb appeal! This is a Caroline modified by adding a 3 car garage with living space above. The prow is placed to the "rear" of the house.

Trivia Question: When did we start building with composite (not wood or tile) roofing? (See the answer below.) And don't miss the extra photos at the end of the Oak Leaf!

Worlds Oldest Wooden Water Wells Made from Oak Logs: Researchers have discovered four wooden water wells in Germany that were built using a total of 151 Oak timbers. The experts were able to date the timbers between 5206 and 5098 B.C. They are believed to be the oldest known timber construction in the world. For more detailed information, click here.

If you have more than one level of home, your stairs are usually stacked on top of each other and you can't use this great idea!

Making the most of Space Under Your Stairs" Unless you've got a Boy Wizard bunking under your stairs, chances are you're not putting the space to very good use. In this case, the kitchen designer made the neglected area a stylish focal point where the homeowners could store and display their favorite wines. Glass decanters and stemware are concealed within the stained-pine cabinetry, and paraphernalia like corkscrews and coasters live in the drawers. The triangular treatment looks difficult to design and install, but the majority of the space is occupied by standard rectangular cabinets and drawers. Only the top cabinet and bottle rack required special cuts and assembly.

This is a modified Lakeview plan. It has a blue roof and custom color blue windows. This home is in southeastern PA. Give us a call if you would like to go see it!

Tactical-Walls-Large-Container-with-Concealment-Cover-1

This shows a 40" tall insert but they have inserts that will fit behind photos, bulletin boards, etc for handguns, lights, or any other small item you want to store.

For new or existing homes where you want a secret storage area. These would be hard to put into a solid log wall, but most our homes have enough "frame" walls that you could find a spot that would work! There are all sizes and shapes available from a company called Tactical Walls that appear to be easy to install. I saw this recently and thought some of you may have an interest. Looks like a good way to keep anything conveniently close but locked up. Or it would just be fun to show the neighbors!

Back in the 90's, a customer in PA built a BTB#3. Last year, it was hit by lightning. The customer purchased the same BTB and rebuilt the home. Here you can see it on the "old" foundation, the "old" fireplace, the "old" deck and landscaping. He did some modification to the BTB plan; he "bumped out" the living room area onto the porch space.

Why do some log home packages cost more than others? In construction, there is "more than one way" to build everything. It is always a juggling act between the "best" way and the "cheapest" way. Something can be built in a way that is acceptable, but not "preferred." These differences in construction methods usually translate into a different price. At GLH, we do some things differently than most of the other log home companies. IF our price is higher than XYZ Log Homes (which can happen), it is not because our Oak logs cost more (they don't) or because we are artificially inflating our prices (we aren't.) It is because of the building standards and methods that we have chosen for our homes and the quality of the materials we provide. Recently I saw a feature story in a log home magazine that demonstrated several of these "less expensive" methods. Below I show and describe them so you can see and understand what I mean. Can we build a home with these "less expensive" methods and save you some money? Yes we can, if these details are not important to you or if you must lower your construction cost. Our standard method is more energy efficient, looks better and provides engineering improvements but it does cost a little more. Give us a call to discuss any of these in detail and more; I can only explain so much in the Oak Leaf!

Our log rows go around the second story beams. The photo above shows the beams sitting on top of the log wall (less log rows) and a trim board between the beams. (Look close and you can see the difference.) Also, the beams are 4" X 6" which means they have to be very close together for the span. Our method is better because it eliminates the air infiltration that is typical with the method shown here. Our 6" X 8" beams allow us to space our beams out further for a nicer appearance. See the photo below which is a close up picture of our method.

This is a close up or our beams which are inside of the log wall to maintain an insulated wall around the second story floor system. This also allows for the roof rafters to sit on top of the second story floor which gives more room on the second floor. Note the larger beams and the wider spacing.

The girder beam here is placed below the second story floor beams. This saves on having to supply either hangers for the beams or notch the beams into the girder. The problem is that this makes the girder so low, that the top of the cabinets actually had to be notched for the girder. And again, notice how close the beams are to each other because of their smaller dimension and wood species. Look at the photo below to see how we raise up the girder and provide beam hangers in the package.

This shows the headroom given by the location of the girder. It does not fall down into the cabinetry.

This photo shows that the logs are stacked on top of the subfloor (fewer logs=less $) and siding is used to cover the outside of the subfloor. Note how there are no dovetailed corners for the bottom 2 rows of "logs." That is because it is siding. We have log rows that go around your subfloor. This insulates around your subfloor which eliminates a LOT of air infiltration plus it allows us to bolt the first row of logs directly to the foundation. This improves the ability of the home to withstand tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods. And as you can see if you click on the photo, it looks much better! See the picture below to see an example of our homes where the log corners go all the way down to the bottom of the log walls.

This shows the saddlenotch corner logs which go around the subfloor and do not require any siding. This is the model home of I-80 Oak Log Homes at Anita, Iowa on I80.

Construction Seminar Schedule for 2013:

Here is our new schedule for 2013!

Feb 23rd
April 6th
June 1st
August 3rd
Sept 28th

The one day construction seminars are held at our model home center on I70 on the southwest outer road of Exit 144 in Central Missouri. Call or email to register as class size is limited!

Home Show Schedule for 2013:
Feb 15 - 17 - Home Show of Central MO: Jefferson City (this is not exclusively a log home show)

March 1 & 2 - Branson, MO: The Log and Timber Home Show at the Branson Convention Center

March 22 - 24 - Indianapolis, IN: The Log and Timber Home Show at the IN State Fairgrounds.

March 22 - 24 - Kansas City MO: Homebuilders Show at Bartle Hall

Answer to the Trivia Question: Man has utilized various natural resources, technological methods & ways of applications throughout history to create the environmentally safe, effective roofing of today. From wood, mud and straw, to tiling, shingles and beyond, the one thing most of us take for granted has been a necessity a properly function roof for survival since the dawn of time. Although most of the growth within the roofing industry has been within the last 200 years, the complete history of roofing starts much earlier than that. The Greeks and Romans were the first to experiment with differing roofing styles. The Romans introduced slating and tiling to Great Britain as early as 100 BC. Thatch roofs were introduced and implemented around the year 735 AD and it wouldn’t be for another 300 years until wooden shingles were first implemented as well.

The first composite roofing was used in New England in the 1840s. These roofs were usually made of a felted or woven fabric that was covered with a tar-like substance like pine tar and sand. Later improvements included saturating the fabric with asphalt and a mixture of materials like talc, sand, or powdered gravel or limestone. The first true composition roofing was credited to the S.M and C.M Warren Company.

The idea of shaping asphalt roofing into individual shingles is credited to Henry M. Reynolds of Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1903. A roofing contractor and manufacturer, he started cutting stone-surfaced roofing into 8 by 16 inch shingles by hand, with a knife. Adding crushed granules of slate—a 1914 idea from F.C Overby of the Flintkote Company—helped weight such shingles down to the roof. From here a new industry seems to have sprung.

The greatest innovation in the asphalt shingle industry was the introduction of the multitab strip shingle. Bird and Son introduced the Neposet twin, which was a 12 ½ by 20 inch shingle with a slot tab that divided the piece to look like two shingles. Larger pieces made the price of installation decrease while the tab pieces imitated wood shingles.

The Ruberoid Company was the first manufacturer to offer asphalt shingles with a rolled wood-grain texture. At the end of the 1950s, 12-by-36 inch, multitab, blue shingles were the most popular roofing material.

In the 1970s, a glass fiber-reinforced felt was introduced. This material had increased tensile strength and was thinner and more light-weight. Several layers of these felts were laminated together to give a dramatic shading effect.

Quote of the Month: "The road to success is always under construction." - Lily Tomlin

Notice how the television set is to the left of the fireplace but still has rock behind the tv, which creates an integrated appearance. This can be preferable to putting the tv above the fireplace as the heat from the fireplace can sometimes damage the television. Just another idea!

This is the garage end of the house shown above in PA with the blue roof and windows. Who says a garage door has to be brown?! This is also a good photo of our saddlenotched corners. Another thing we do different from other companies. Our log rows line up. Most companies start with a half log. This allows them to saddlenotch by only notching the bottom of the log. We notch both the top AND the bottom so that the rows align. Not such a big deal on the outside but it looks a LOT better inside as the horizontal seams meet.

The Oak Leaf - February 2013

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