Discover the Many Benefits of Log Houses
1. Airtight and weatherproof
Airtight and weatherproof
Tightness is very important not only for the living comfort of your house, but also in terms of durability, energy consumption and fire safety of your house.
Excellent tightness means:
- Minimized heat loss and smaller energy bill
- Balanced thermal comfort all year round
- Improved living comfort via preventing draft
- Protecting your house against moisture and damage caused by mould or other fungi
- Controlled ventilation and improved indoor air quality
- Improved sound insulation
- Improved fire safety
Comfort and energy efficiency
When the building shell is made perfectly airtight, there are no uncontrollable air leaks or heat loss. Living comfort is also greatly improved by the absence of draft. This usually means that the inside temperature can actually be lowered by a degree or two. All this results in a smaller energy bill.
Weatherproof and durable
Breathing wall structures are moisture-safe, which is an important factor in durability. Wood-based single-material wall structures are breathing and can dry from both sides – there are no cold bridges or surfaces where moisture can collect.
Tightness also protects your house from water damage. The quality of the wood and the drying and preparation processes it goes through are very important: every beam and log has to be shaped and adjusted to ensure perfect water-resistance.
The most exposed parts of a building are protected from extreme weather conditions by the eaves. Regular protection treatment of the exteriors of the building will protect the wood from the effects of weathering, excessive exposure to UV rays, etc.
There are many log buildings in Europe that are 200 to 300 years old: churches, mansions and private houses. This is irrefutable proof of their durability. Building a solid wood home is a long-term investment: it will be there for your children and for further generations down the line.
2. Wellness and Stress Relief
The scientists have discovered that buildings with wooden structures lower blood pressure and heart rate. Solid wood also has excellent acoustic properties, absorbing sounds and creating a calming and cozy atmosphere.
researchers consistently prove that the use of wood promotes people’s physical and mental health and wellbeing. Wood has a similar stress-reducing effect as exposure to nature.
3. Earthquake resistance
Scientists have discovered that buildings with wooden structures lower blood pressure and heart rate. Solid wood also has excellent acoustic properties, absorbing sounds and creating a calming and cozy atmosphere.
researchers consistently prove that the use of wood promotes people’s physical and mental health and wellbeing. Wood has a similar stress-reducing effect as exposure to nature.
4. Fire safety
Massive wood is a surprisingly fireproof material that can endure fire even better than concrete or steel pillars. Wood contains about 15% of water. Therefore, before wood can catch fire, all water has to evaporate. In a fire, a massive wood house will char, but it will not collapse in the same way as light- or steel-structured houses.
Surface charring also protects wooden structures. The charcoal generated in the combustion process has a much lower thermal conductibility than the wood itself and forms a natural insulating layer during a fire. This protects the wood from becoming even hotter, while the load-bearing capacity is retained practically unimpaired.
In contrast, steel loses most of its load-bearing capacity at temperatures as low as 500°C and has to be encased in other construction materials to achieve fire safety characteristics similar to those of wood.
Many companies have conducted fire resistance tests for wood. The tests results are surprisingly good. In practice, this means that a log house made of massive wood gives its inhabitants more time to escape a fire as its load-bearing structures can withstand the heat for a long time without collapsing.
Fire resistance of log walls can be up to 2 hours
The tightness of the walls can protect from the toxic smoke gassed up to 1,5 hours
5. Healthy and organic living
Log buildings naturally promote good health. Solid wood has the unique ability to absorb moisture and release it back into the air as the room dries. This balances the indoor air humidity to a level between 30 – 50 % which is optimal for the health of the people living inside.
6. With respect for nature
100 % renewable and recyclable raw material
Living in a log house, you can be sure that for each tree felled to build the house, a new sapling was planted, and in time these saplings will grow into a new forest. When purchasing wood, factories are committed to sustainable forestry where ecological values and wood production are in balance.
We use renewable wood as raw material for our logs.
Building with wood minimizes CO2 emissions
Trees are important in the fight against climate change. When a tree grows, it binds a significant amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and cleans the air we breathe. 1 m³ of wood is able to bind up to 1 ton of carbon dioxide!
In a wooden building, the carbon is kept out of the atmosphere for the lifetime of the structure – which can be hundreds of years in the case of log homes. At the same time, new forests grow, using the power of the sun and even more carbon dioxide is bound into the new trees, which again slows down climate change.
When wood products are manufactured, low energy consumption results in much lower greenhouse gas emissions than when alternative materials are produced.
A massive wood house which is constructed and maintained correctly can last decades or even centuries, as the numerous old log churches prove. Massive wood can also be recycled 100%.
It can be said that in general, the more wood is used in the building, the more sustainable the project is ecologically.
A naturally energy-efficient log home
When combined with an ecological and modern heating system, a log home is a high-quality and naturally low-energy concept that allows you to reach any given energy class both today and in the future.
A log wall is a natural insulator with a large thermal mass. Unlike timber frame walls, a log wall is capable of storing heat. This capability means lower energy consumption in the household.