A log cabin may look so simple yet so serene, peaceful and beautiful.  No wonder more and more people are choosing to have one built not only as a place to spend holidays but even as a permanent residence.  However, having a log cabin constructed may not be so easy. It involves many processes and requirements as well as many aspects to take into consideration before you can finally decide to have one built.  Thanks to modern technology, particularly the Internet, log cabin construction has now become less cumbersome, even easy.  If you will look at the Internet now, you will be able to access plenty of websites that cater to people whose intention is to have a log home erected.  These websites have become aware of the growing demand for log homes and have become fast to answer to these demands.  You will now be able to see various floor plans, log home designs, log home choices and a lot of other log cabin construction services that are ideal to those who want to have one built.

One of the things that should be known to the log home owner is the type of log cabin construction method he would want employed on his log home.  Actually, there are several types.  These types will be enumerated and explained hereunder and it will be up to you which one you best think will answer to your requirement.  These methods are usually differentiated with the way the log ends are joined together.

The first type is the “Chinkless” method, otherwise called the Scandinavian Full Scribe.  With this method, the logs are naturally shaped and peeled smoothly with a draw-knife and are custom-fitted and scribed to one another.  They are notched in a manner that the corners of the log are overlapping.  Another method is called the flat-on-flat where logs are stacked after being flattened on the top and the bottom with the corners in a butt-and-pass style.  Next is the tongue and groove system that not only aligns a log to another but also creates a sealing system for all the elements.  Many milled log homes make use of this method.  Another method is the butt-and-pass tight-pinned method where the logs are milled or notched in any way.  The logs in vertical pairs are fastened with load-bearing and very tight steel pins while the logs in the single course are not overlapping.  These four are the more popular methods of log home construction. 

There are still other methods that can be used although not as often as the aforementioned ones.  These other methods include the “half-log” method where the home being built is just like the conventional building, but a half-log siding in the interior and exterior wall is applied to give it the look of a full-log construction.  Some of these half-log sidings may make use of the butt-and-pass, a saddle notch or a dovetail corner to make the appearance quite log-home like. 

The next style is the so-called Palisade method where the logs are placed standing on end and are either bolted or pinned together.  Next methods are the piece-en-piece style that makes use of short logs and piece-en-piece that makes use of vertical large corner posts.  The former has the logs horizontally lying in between upright logs that resemble the beam and post construction.  The latter also makes use of the vertical component which is often 3” x 6” to be situated on the sides of each door and window.

Aside from the abovementioned methods of log cabin construction, it is also important to know the most common methods employed by builders for the corner styles of the logs.  There are five more commonly used corner styles. 

The first style is called the “interlocking saddle notch,” which can usually be seen on the Full Round Profiles or the “D” Profile, wherein the notch will be cut at the top of one of the logs and another at the bottom.  The two logs will then be interlocked allowing for a corner that is tightly sealed.  This style is very popular with the handcrafted log homes that are also full-scribed.

The second style is the “Dovetail,” which is seen on hewn, chink or square style logs.  A so-called “special dovetail” has a cut on the log’s end where it would then rest in the corner, one at the left and one at the right.  This results into a very tight interlocking corner.  Handcrafted log homes that make use of dovetails can have a full dovetail or a half dovetail.  Full dovetail has the notch surface simultaneously sloping in two directions.  The half dovetail has the notch sloping in only one direction.

The third style is the Butt-and –Pass style where milled or unscribed logs butt up with one another without having to notch.

The fourth corner style is the Saddle Notch, which is commonly used when 2 rounded logs overlaps one another at he corners.  This style is usually used with the profile Swedish cope.

The last corner type typically used by builders is the “vertical corner post,” which is commonly bigger than the wall logs, which in turn would be toe-nailed onto the corner post.

Once the logs are fabricated and assembled into a shell log home in the builder’s site, it will then be dismantled to be delivered or shipped as the log home kit to the final construction site of the log home owner.  This method allows for the fast construction of the log cabin on the building site since it will just be like putting the pieces in place just like a jigsaw puzzle.  Although it is best for any person who intend to have a log cabin constructed to know the basic about these methods, he need not know the exact details if he intends to get a builder to do it for him.  The Internet can easily provide him with various companies that specialize on everything about log cabins and its construction.  You will just have to decide what you need exactly and all you have to do is search the Internet for these needs.  You will find it there for certain.