How much will a log house settle?

Possum Creek · August 23, 2013, 11:00:04 PM

Hello to everyone, I have a cedar log house with 6" D shaped logs, stacked 17 high, held together with 8" log screws. The roof is just a simple gable metal roof with 2"X6" trusses. It made a pretty good house for us so far but someday I would like to add on each end. I was just wondering how much settlement I could expect if I used 2"X4" framing for the additions. I understand logs will settle gradually over many years but I am sure they have to stop sometime. Any advise on how to successfully join these types of building together would be appreciated. PC

beenthere · August 23, 2013, 11:11:06 PM

Welcome to the Forestry Forum.

How much settlement have you had in your logs so far?

Possum Creek · August 23, 2013, 11:27:08 PM

The house is 4 years old and I can't see any noticeable changes.

Furu · August 24, 2013, 12:46:09 AM

Some of the D shaped logs are kiln dried and thus have little to no shrinking.
Who was the supplier of the original logs? From that you can determine if they were kiln dried.
If after 4 years there is no significant settling then likely they were kiln dried.

Axe Handle Hound · August 24, 2013, 06:53:19 AM

From what I've seen the settling factor is less on "D" log homes than on full round logs. I think my grandfather allowed 6" between his headers and the doors/windows back in 1986 on his D log lome and there's still a good 4" space in some of those locations.

pineywoods · August 24, 2013, 10:31:11 AM

I built a cabin out of fresh sawn (not dried in any way) pine logs. Never thought about shrinkage. After things dried I had to remove the door and window headers and cut off about an inch...

jander3 · August 24, 2013, 11:51:27 AM

Fresh cut round logs put right on the building settle about 3/4" per foot of wall height. In this case you need keyways to account for shrinkage. Almost all settling is done after about 3 years.

Mark the wall and measure it. Check it in a couple of months. That will tell you if have any settling going on.

Possum Creek · August 24, 2013, 08:59:57 PM

These logs were very dry when I got them and by the time I get around to building settlement will probably not be an issue. Thanks for your comments. PC