Handcrafted and Milled Logs – A Definition
by Donna L. Gagnon

When you start visiting log builders, one of the first things you learn is that some call themselves “handcrafted” builders and others sell “manufactured” packages. What’s the difference?

A company that builds handcrafted homes uses logs in the rough. These can be Douglas fir, pine, spruce, cedar, hemlock, oak, cyprus, juniper . . . They are usually green, which means they are fashioned into house logs within days or weeks after being hauled out of the forest. Handcrafted log homes then dry naturally (air dried) or, in rare instances, the logs are kiln dried. Kiln drying large logs can be an expensive proposition.

Handcrafted log homes can be built using a number of styles. Piece-on-piece (see “Piece-on-piece” article on the log-world.com home page) is a traditional log style, using log panels for the house walls. Dovetail construction entails carving notches at the log ends, leaving gaps between the logs which is then filled with backer material and chinking. Scribe fit homes use round logs with each log being scribed exactly to fit the one beneath it. This style uses a saddle notch, shrink fit corner. 

Manufactured home packages are also available. These use milled logs which have been processed through a saw mill, lathe or a planer/shaper and are then cut into a specific shape (or ‘profile’). These logs are normally of a uniform size and shape.

Milled logs can have a variety of top and bottom surfaces, as they can be sanded smooth, tongue & grooved or rounded. The log sides can also be smoothed or hand-hewn to give them a rustic look. One advantage of milled logs is that they are more easily and affordably put through a kiln to dry them to a lower moisture content.