HOME ON THE LINKS

Five months into the project, the Double Eagle is a log shell topped off with a roof system. It is ready for shingles which, along with windows and doors, will make the house weathertight.

Over the next few weeks, crews will work hard through cold Wisconsin weather to install the windows and doors, shingle the roof, insulate the basement and roof, and begin forming the interior partitions. After several months of planning and site work that produced little tangible progress, it feels like the project is finally moving along.

The construction of your log home should progress in a similar fashion, depending on weather and other variables out of your control. Remember one thing, however: most people are still planning at the 5-month mark. To accurately compare the Double Eagle experience to what you can expect building your own log home, separate the planning stage from the construction stage. We spent little time planning compared to most homeowners, but our construction timeline, to date anyway, is holding true to the typical project.

THE ROOF

A local contractor, Dunn-Right Roofing, installed the forest green laminated fiberglass shingles from IKO Roofing Products. The 30-year Cambridge shingles have a shake-look appearance and feature double layer construction and a modified sealant to resist tears and high winds.

The Double Eagle’s roof pitch posed a challenge, especially over the great room, where a steep slope forced the roofing crew to maneuver with extra care.The extreme slope also meant an asphalt felt underlayment was necessary to meet Class A fire resistance ratings.

Forest green, one of 10 colors in IKO’s color-blended Nature’s Accents series, complements the home’s wooded setting.The color selection also met Lake Arrowhead covenants, which require natural-toned color schemes on all homes built in the development. Matching green soffit and fascia would be installed later.

WINDOWS AND PATIO DOORS

Work at the Double Eagle was entering one of its busiest phases.While roofing crews were laying felt and nailing shingles in place, Golden Eagle’s crew was installing half logs on the home’s upper reaches and putting windows and doors in place.

Crestline Windows & Doors supplied all of the windows and patio doors used at the Double Eagle. Like the shingles, the windows and doors have a dark green finish to complement the home’s natural surroundings.

From Crestline’s CrestClad series, the windows and doors feature select wood treated for weather protection and are fully weatherstripped. Aluminum-clad exteriors have a baked-on finish making them virtually maintenance-free. Insulated glass is enhanced by simulated divided lites.

The great room features a three-wide sliding door while the dining room and master bedroom have standard two-wide units. Most of the windows in the Double Eagle are double-hung, providing easy tilt-in cleaning and maintenance. Round-top specialty windows float above windows in the dormers and above the great room sliding door.

ENTRY DOORS

Three insulated doors were installed in addition to the patio doors. Therma-Tru’s ClassicCraft door with an attractive sidelight and stained glass- style detail welcomes visitors at the front door. It has a green exterior to match the others.

At the garage and rear/deck entrys, steel insulated doors also from Therma-Tru keep the elements at bay. A door just outside the utility room features a large glass window that brings light into the rear hall; the door at the garage entry is a standard 6-panel design.

INSULATION

We chose a fairly new spray-in foam product to insulate the Double Eagle’s upper floor, roof and basement.

The Icynene insulation system has been available for 15 years but has gained popularity of late. It is a soft foam that is sprayed into walls, floors and ceilings by licensed dealers.The foam is liquid as it is applied but expands in seconds, creating a solid foam core that effortlessly seals every electrical box, duct and exterior opening. Icynene adheres to any surface, so it can be used on homes built with wood, metal, even concrete.

Icynene forms such a tight seal that it creates an environment almost entirely free of drafts and condensation. It effectively blocks noise and does not emit gases or odors and offers no support to bacteria or fungus.

One of the foam system’s biggest benefits is its ability to seal out dust, allergens, odors and pollutants.That makes it an ideal choice for those suffering from allergies, respiratory problems and chemical sensitivities.

Icynene can also be considered an environmentally-friendly product. It is free of formaldehyde, volatile organic compounds, CFCs and other harmful chemicals, and testing has proven that it produces no harmful emissions and no emissions of any kind after 30 days.

	A The roof has been prepared and is ready to receive the foam insulation, which will be sprayed directly onto the pink foam panels lining the underside of the roof structure.
	B A licensed applicator sprays the liquid foam into the cavity; the foam thickens and expands almost immediately.
	C Foam is sprayed directly onto the plywood sheathing.
	D After the foam has fully expanded and dried, a technician uses a simple hand saw to remove the bubbled edges protruding beyond the 2-by-6 framing.
	E The trimmed areas are flat and ready to be covered with any wallcovering.
	F Before half-logs, drywall or tongue and groove can be installed, the foam is covered with plastic.
	G The Double Eagle’s basement is designed to be fully-finished, so we chose to frame and insulate the poured concrete walls.
	H A handful of interior walls that had no backing (they were simply 2x4 framed partitions) were insulated the old-fashioned way, with traditional fiberglass insulation.

INTERIOR PARTITIONS AND DRYWALL

The Double Eagle has very few stick-framed walls.The walls that do feature 2x4 framing are spread lightly throughout the main and upper floors and are used just often enough to break up the wood found in the log walls, tongue and groove ceilings and hickory flooring.

The bulk of the drywall-finished walls are in the basement.The entire perimeter of the poured concrete basement was framed and insulated, then paneled with Sheetrock gypsum panels from USG Corporation. Destotell Drywall installed and finished the gypsum walls throughout the house.

This article previously appeared in Log Home Design Ideas magazine.