Log Home Roof Overhangs
One thing when building and planning a log home that you should consider is roof overhangs. They can mean the difference in thousands of dollars in maintenance over the life of the house. One of the biggest mistakes I see in the log home restoration and construction industry, are short roof overhangs, sometimes combined with tall log walls and no breaks or eyebrow roofs. This almost always creates a long term maintenance problem. Without proper overhangs your logs are left vulnerable and exposed to water, especially in driving rain. When the rain drips off a short overhang it puts the drip line in close proximity to the base logs. These are usually the first areas to fail. Then the tall gable areas and around the windows will follow as trouble spots.
I try to encourage people to use building products that allow them to maximize the roof overhangs without jeopardizing overhang sag. Wrap around porches are one of my favorite design options to protect log walls. Shed roofs are good barriers also. Parties will not always agree when architectural aesthetic driven ideas conflict with using these design options. These features usually save the owner thousands of dollars over years of ownership. The perfect scenario is finding that balance to aesthetic requirements and maintenance practicality. LvL and engineered roof products make good additions to log structures that require long sag proof over hangs.
No matter whether you are building a custom log home or a getaway cabin, long overhangs are a detail that is imperative when planing your build. Subscribe to my blog post for the upcoming blog on foundations and what steps you should take in planning your foundation for your log home . Guild log and Timber also offers detailed consulting for General Contractors, Real estate agencies, Architects, homeowners and do-it-your-selfers. We can help give some insight on a broad range of in depth issues with existing log home construction problems and the planning of new log homes. Let our two generations, of log home hard knock experience, be an advantage to you. Contact me for pricing and availability.
