Updated Mar 19, 2017
“Dow and Duggan Log Homes have created a new process of constructing logs to be used in the building of new log houses” and are seeing “robust and growing revenues.” View Local log home manufacturer shipping closer to home amid EU turbulence (CH, Mar 13, 2017)
“They’re pretty good,” Pure Nature Developments’ president said in an interview Monday. “They’re laminated beams, glued together, so they don’t twist and turn . . . and they’re kiln-dried.” In its manufacturing facility on Prospect Road, Dow & Duggan’s crew of 10 workers combines parts of six logs, using glue and pressure to create each log or beam of 10 inches in diameter. “In Eastern Canada, nobody else does a 10-inch log and you have to have minimum of a 10-inch log to meet the new standards,” said Dow.
From www.dowandduggan.ca:
Log homes that last for generations
…We select only the finest seasoned eastern white pine, white cedar and western red cedar logs for our timber log homes, precision cutting each one with our proven triple tongue and groove system. The result, when used with continuous gasket, is a weather-tight system that is more structurally sound and delivers more comfort to you.
Our state-of-the-art kiln-dried laminated log, SUPER LOG, is unique when compared to timber log construction. We are one of the very few log home manufacturers in the world that produce this type of log system, which has less settling and cracking and is easier to maintain. That means you spend more time enjoying your home, just as you always dreamed of.…With a little care, they [D&D log homes] will withstand any environment, looking just as attractive 100 years from now as they do today.
View American institute of timber construction :Laminated timber architecture for more about laminated timber. (The Dow and Duggan process may not involve the described technology precisely, but the principles are likely the same.) From that document:
Of the structural building materials, it has the lowest energy requirements for its manufacture, significantly reducing the use of fossil fuels and environmental pollution compared to other materials. As part of a structure, wood’s natural insulating properties (many times higher than steel or concrete) reduce the energy required to heat and cool the structure for its lifetime. Wood is reusable, easily recycled, and 100% biodegradable, and unlike the resources for other structural materials, the resource for wood volume has been increasing in U.S. net reserves since 1952, with growth exceeding harvest in the U.S. by more than 30%. Just like its parent material, glulam enjoys all of these natural benefits.
In addition to the great environmental benefits associated with wood, glulam timbers extend the available wood resource by using high-grade material only where it is needed in the lay-up. Glulam technology uses small dimension lumber to make large structural timbers, utilizing logs from second and third growth forests and timber plantations.
Also view: From molecules and cells to trees, forests, and tall buildings made of wood
(Post on this website, Dec 22, 2016)
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Great story. I’m hoping Nova Scotia forests are still able to supply some of the high-grade material!
Tip of the hat to MP for forwarding the CH story