Drying time for white pine to use in log cabin

[crsides]

My builder told me at our first meeting that he only used dried graded white pine logs 12"x 6"  (i think).  He have found a supplier of green logs must cheaper that he wants us to buy now in Jan to be used in Apl - may time frame.  Is this enough time for the logs to properly dry?

Charlie

[beenthere]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum.
Can only speculate what your builder meant by "dried graded". And as well, can only believe that if green logs purchased now to be used in April, there will be no drying to speak of.

I suspect what you are asking is "should you go with the cheaper logs".  That is hard to answer.
Your builder would need to answer if he will replace logs that don't stay straight once they dry in-place. As I suspect his selling point at your first meeting was his "dried graded white pine" was better because the bad actors would show themselves before putting them in-place.

Charlie
Where are you located?

[crsides]

i'm in SC but building in Va.  I didn't see much drying time either.  The builder is in NC and they have to use grade stamped logs, which are checked for voids etc in the wood.  As I understand it, there are no varying grades, it either meets the grade or not.

Charlie

[beenthere]

Ask lots of questions of your builder and if me, I'd be looking at the logs now that are "cheaper" to see what you might be getting. Are the logs from VA? 

[Ianab]

Drying whole logs takes time, usually in a kiln. Hence the extra cost of the dried ones. A few months just isn't going to do it.

Thing is, you expect the builder to stand behind his work don't you? Building with green logs is possible, but different precautions need to be taken to allow for the drying and shrinkage that WILL occur. If his plans and methods involve dry logs, and he uses your green ones, chances are there will be issues. He's going to point out the logs where green, and say "your problem".

Only  way I would go with this is to find a builder (and plans) that are set up for using green logs. Then letting them dry in place, and dealing with the issues as they happen over time.

Ian

[beenthere]

Ian raises a question that I missed in the OP.

He have found a supplier of green logs must cheaper that he wants us to buy now in Jan to be used in Apl - may time frame.

A typo in this sentence that affects what you are saying.  Should it read "He has found..." or should it read "We have found...." ??      Did the builder find cheaper logs or did you find the cheaper logs? 

[crsides]

"He" has found the cheaper green logs.  I don't know what the savings are, but doesn't seem worth the risk to me. 

thanks for the help.

[red oaks lumber]

i've dried alot of eastern white pine logs, from now till april you wont see much "drying" even kiln drying them you wont see alot of drying by april. cracking yes thru drying  no.
had a eye opener a few yrs back , building my sons house we used a solid stair step 71/2" thick x 14" wide w. pine with a natural face. anyway we sawed them months before using, getting about 3 months of air dry on them, at that time i ran them thru a kiln cycle. put them in one of my dry sheds to "rest" for 3 weeks, at that time did another cycle. repeated this 5 times.
we started cutting the threads to lenght and to my amazement the centers were still green like day one green.i was speechless! as to how wet they still were.

[reswire]

My brother built his log cabin with "dry" logs and still had an incredible amount of shrinkage.  I know his builder that contracted his home very well, and he told me that a log home should be "closed in", and heated/air conditioned for one year, before any sheetrock is installed.  I understood why he felt this way when I saw the way the exterior walls shrunk.  If you think about it,,, if each log shrinks 1/16 of an inch, using 16 logs on a vertical wall, that could be one full inch on the first floor alone!!  I know it sounds crazy, but I've wired quite a few, and have seen it too many times.  Each wall will shrink differently, and it can be a mess.  Go with dry logs, and use leveling screws and plates if you want a level home.  If you can, find someone who can show you a few log homes that he has already built.  Be sure and talk with the owners as well.  It will be worth the trouble.

[clww]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum, Charlie.
Where are you going to be building at in VA?

[Tom L]

wouldn't you want to kiln dry and set the pitch in the white pine before building
I would think that your green pine logs will get a lot of sap running out of the wood during the summer months.
I would hate to think what a mess that would make to a structure after it was complete

[Magicman]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum, crsides.