Wednesday, 2 November 2011

Log Homes for the Down-to-Earth

By Jim Smith


Log cabins are small villas made from logs of wood. The wood used is usually not hewn. Log cabins were the first generation houses built with a primary advantage of quick erection.It is usually impermanent and one and a half storey at the the most.

The construction of a log cabin involves placing the blocks of wood above each other, overlapping at ends. To make the building stronger, people made notches on both ends of the logs. To keep the cabin weather proof the crevices were filled with dry grass.

Though the joints are becoming increasingly complex to make the structure more weather tight, the structure is still based on round logs of wood. Modern building allows nailing the logs together which leads to a weak structure. The most crucial aspect of log home construction is selection of the ground.

The length of one side is usually the length of a log, although this is not a limitation for the builders. The roof, interestingly, is made of a rafter structure. The world's biggest log cabin was built in Canada in 1930. Log homes are usually used as home offices. Log homes also have a certain political history. Former president Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin. Not only that, William Harrison used log cabins during his presidential campaign to prove that he wasn't above living like the common man.

Log homes have been of various designs but it was very competent solution to meet the desires of every man from his house. Log homes were built initially to provide warmth and a living quarters made from unprocessed timber.It soon became,a good alternative to conventional houses. And today, even after so many decades although many other architectures have sprung up nothing has been able to replace those old log cabins built almost 50 years ago. No matter how modern the skyscrapers we see are it will never will be able to replace the essence of the log houses. The log cabins even if only one storied, still stand tall and speak of the times of our forebears.




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