Looking for information on what to look for & beware of, when inspecting a Log Home that was built sometime in the 1930's.

I'm concerned about integrity of the logs, proper chinking, etc. I know how to build a stick framed house, but do not have any log home experience.

Thank you
~JM~

electrical and plumbing. The basics. THEN you will probably need to replace chinking, there are some MUCH better products than wood and mud out there now. I would look at the windows as well. Not just for insulation but for damage from logs settling.

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Sincerely,

Hobie

Thanks. Home was built slab on grade. Has fairly new asphalt type shingles on roof.

I'm over 1K miles away from the property & trying to learn as much as I'm able through pictures & a previous inspection report. Report states some evidence of Powder Bore Beatles in some interior logs. I'm waiting for a call from the pest inspector. Chinking looks like it might be concrete? Don't know for sure. I do know that concrete & wood should not meet.

Electrical is two-prong on the outlets. Plumbing is a mix of galvanized, copper & plastic.

House looks nice in the pictures, but they usually do, until you arrive in person...

~JM~

I used to treat (early 1960s) a log home of that vintage yearly with an insecticide in oil base... I believe it was called Penta.

Years later I was involved with some friends who went to court over their log homes (1960s/70s vintage) which were treated similarly with pentachlorophenol (PCP).

As far as I know they suffered no ill effects but had high levels of PCP in their blood samples and had a big court fight.

PCP may no longer be available but it probably was used to treat the house you are considering.

On the bright side the log home is still standing... near the KY River and is being refurbished for occupancy.

Structure: As others have said.... making sure the foundation is sound is critical.

Once that is established ... the chinking of 30s vintage cabins was usually masonry (Portland cement/sand etc) and tended to separate from the logs. It was periodically "tuckpointed" for lack of a better term.

It would help to know the type of logs used... some are better than others.

A close up, walk around inspection with a sharp knife point (or icepick) to check for soft wood especially on the weather side of the house would be nice.

Otherwise... inspection would be like any conventional dwelling.

Good luck.

6

I have "rehabbed" a couple of older homes through the years and by the time I was done one thing became obvious.

I would have been time, money, chalk and marbles ahead to have just knocked them down in the beginning and built a new one instead of trying to fix up the old one. Every time.

Given the incredible advances in new home building technology I wouldn't touch an old house with a ten foot pole. If you want a log home check out the new prefab ones.

Almost surly you could buy and build a beautiful new high efficiency prefab log home for less that it would cost to fix up an old one unless the the old one had been very carefully maintained or if you just weren't very picky.

Your blood pressure, your banker and your wife will thank you.

Byron

material for a while, depending on location. Not so good. Lots of good modern product out there.

I live in a house with knob and tube and it isn't my first such but I'd not buy another.

Plumbing, yeah we have a mix here as well. Can be an ongoing issue.

The insects, I'd be interesting in knowing how much damage. I gather this is a pine or spruce log building, not oak or poplar?

--
Sincerely,

Hobie

.

--
Sincerely,

Hobie

are the first things. an ice pick/wood puncher is good.l A big strong light is good. Some kind of extension poker/scraper/gouger is handy, Old clothes and GOOD dust mask can let you get a bit more into hard-to-see places.

I guess the guys have covered most of it, but the 'surprises' and variables are the stuff that really sinks the money line. Also, septic field, plumbing, and well water/locally can all have some expensive solutions.

Personal note...started doing re-hab labor in St Paul, Minn Ramsey Hill District -- around late 70's It was a nice relief from management and Corps. Later I took those skills and parlayed them into antique restoration, and then conservation. You pick up a lot of insight into what people want to do, what they think they need, and the hard realities of stretching both ends against the middle to make them work.

Romantic and cool is just fine, if you are prepared to almost totally spend as much or more than "NEW" -- good sound new, with maintainable structure. ----- than to "This Old House" it. Most of those shows don't really go far off camera, or into the accountants office, for a Public reality Report. Some do, and if it's a positive, it's about 100% guess, that they chose verrrry carefully: The Project.

Just adding this in here, because I currently own two building dating well before the
civil War.....one is timber-cut-2" plank. It's nailed and pegged to a hewn log timber frame. On a river rock foundation. The other one, is what was once a country store from c. 1840's As the town grew out, around 1945 it was switched [same original family], to a succession of doin's, and structurally had growed just like Topsy -- over the decades. It was a variety store/millinery/tailor shop/hairdresser/rental/bookstore....and then we bit...needing business space. A 20" X 30" main room with ten-foot ceiling s does look big, when it's empty. ;~`)

Anyway...moral of the story -- "Beware..you just might get, more than you were looking for. Fortunately, we are in sight of the major structural stuff being done, finally, and the finishes within a year or two -- just in time for someone else To Romance The Auld, and welcome to it.

As much as the property looks appealing, I think I would be better off with something newer. The price is at the top of my range & doesn't leave much in reserve.

I'm so anxious to leave the Blue State that I reside in & return to the Red State that I'm familiar with. Unfortunately many others are wanting to move to the same area that I'm interested in & the housing inventory is limited.

Thank you
~JM~