3 Reasons to Use Kiln-Dried Logs to Build Your Cabin
If you're building a log cabin or a larger home, then you have to choose which types of logs to use. As you look at different types of wood, it's worth considering kiln-dried products. These logs have spent time in a high-temperature kiln before they are ready to use. What are the benefits of using these logs?
1. Get Size Stability
If you use logs that haven't been kiln-dried, then your wood may retain some of its natural moisture. This moisture can affect the way the logs work after your build. For example, they may lose some of their original shape and size if they shrink, warp, or settle during an in-place drying process.
If you dry your logs in a specialist kiln before you start building, then they can retain their final shape and size. During this process, logs lose most of their natural moisture and water content; they become much drier in this heat treatment.
Once your logs come out of the kiln, they have increased stability. It's a lot easier to grade logs and to discard lower quality wood at this stage. The size they are during the build should be the size they stay for years afterward.
2. Get Useful Treatments
Kiln-dried wood isn't only drier and more stable. This kind of heat treatment also adds some protective benefits to the wood. For example, kiln drying tends to kill growths that can make wood decay over time. Your logs should be free from fungi and mold once they come out of the kiln. Exposing the logs to high heat also eradicates any insect life that is currently in the wood.
While you may also need to treat the logs before you build your cabin or home to ward off future problems, you at least know that you're working with healthy and uninfected wood to start with. You can also move more quickly here — you can treat and finish logs as soon as they finish the kiln treatment so you're good to go a lot sooner.
3. Keep Your Logs Looking Good
Your cabin or home may look great to start with; however, your logs may start to look different as they age. Sometimes, the natural pitch in wood will move out to the surface. This leaves you with a sticky and unattractive finish. This is less likely to happen if your logs spend time in a kiln. The heat that dries the logs also hardens any pitch in the wood. It is less likely to leak out.
For more advice, contact local log home materials suppliers.