Log Homes Glossary

• Anchor Bolt: A steel bolt, which is embedded in the concrete foundation of a structure and used to anchor the sill plate.
• Angle Brace: Any timber bracing a corner at an angle across that corner. Also called a knee brace.
• Angle Iron: An L shaped length of steel frequently used to support masonry over a window or door opening.
• Base Course: The first or bottom course of masonry blocks, or logs in a wall (sill logs).
• Beam: A main horizontal member used to support vertical loads.
• Bearing Wall: A wall supporting a vertical load.
• Bird's Mouth (Cut): A V shaped notch cut into the base of a rafter that allows the rafter to sit flat on the wall or the plate.
• Blue Stain: A blue or grey discoloration in sapwood caused by mildew infection.
• Buck: A vertical board fastened to the ends of log sections at the window or door openings to secure them in place and to which the window or doorjamb is fastened.
• Butt Joint: A joint made by fastening two logs together without overlap. The two members are square cut and joined at the flat surface.
• Cambium Layer: A formation of cellular tissue, which lies between the wood and the bark of a tree. When this is left intact and the bark is removed, it will dry to a shiny dark finish.
• Cantilever: A structural member supported on one end but extending beyond its support on the other end.
• Cat Face: An indentation on the surface of a tree, usually caused by injury at some earlier date.
• Caulking: Material used to seal the joints between logs or between windows and walls, doors and walls, etc.
• Checking: A surface crack in a log caused by drying.
• Chinked Structure: A building designed to use chinking material between the lateral lengths of the log work.
• Chinking: Either the material or the process by which gaps between logs are filled.
• Collar Tie/Collar Beam: A horizontal timber, which ties two opposite pairs of rafters together near the middle to reduce sagging or spreading.
• Cope: A notch in a log that is cut and rounded to fit over another log.
• Corbel: A short horizontal timber supporting a girder.
• Corner Styles: Method of joining two log walls at a corner. Some examples are Butt & Pass, Butt & Pass False Corner, Square Notch, Swedish Cope False Corner, and the ever popular Swedish Cope Saddle Notch.
• Countersink: To cause the head of a bolt or spike to be below the surface of the wood into which it is embedded.
• Course of Logs: One layer of logs around the house perimeter.
• Cove: A shallow, round shaped groove cut into the underside of a log.
• Crown Post: A central vertical post that connects the collar tie to the bent plate.
• Dead Load: Weight that a structural member is supporting by the weight of the structure. Does not include snow, wind, furniture, people, cars etc.
• Dead Standing: logs that die naturally (bug or fire kill) that are lower in moisture content (14-17%) than traditionally harvested green timbers (50-100%) due to the natural drying process having already taken place. Widely known to have minimal movement, shrinking, and checking. This results in a superior finished product in your new log home project.
• Diagonal: Reaching from corner to opposite corner at an angle.
• Dormer: A window or a smaller roofed area protruding from a sloping roof.
• Dowel: Wooden peg used to hold two pieces of wood together.
• Eave: The lower or bottom edge of a roof that projects beyond the face of the walls.
• Eave Soffit: The underside of the eave.
• Expansion Joint: A joint, which permits expansion without doing damage to the structure.
• Fascia: The trim board that usually covers the exposed ends of rafters or overhang.
• Flashing: Weatherproof stripping used to seal joints between masonry and wood framing or log work, and masonry and roofing.
• Floor Joists: The heavy beams that support the flooring.
• Framing: The network of lumber in a building that will be covered by finish material.
• Gable: The triangular portion at the top of a wall enclosed by the roof at the ends of the house.
• Gable End: The wall in a house that has a gable roof.
• Gable Roof: A sloping roof that forms an 'A' shape.
• Gambrel Roof: A roof with one slope steeper than the other.
• Girder: A horizontal structural member that supports joists.
• Girt: A major horizontal timber that connects posts.
• Grain: Direction of cellular arrangement in wood.
• Half-Lap: A type of joint in which two timbers are lapped or let into one another.
• Header: Horizontal members between vertical posts which add support.
• Heart Wood: The wood in a tree, which extends from the middle of the trunk outward towards the sapwood.
• Hip: The sloping ridge of a roof formed by two intersecting roof slopes.
• Hip-Rafter: The rafter that forms the hip of a roof.
• I-Beam: A steel beam with a cross section that makes it resemble the letter I.
• Jack Rafter: A short rafter that extends from the roof ridge to a valley rafter or from the wall plate to a hip rafter.
• Joinery: Connecting timbers by means of woodworking joints.
• Joint: Any place where two or more timbers meet.
• Joists: Horizontal, parallel timbers used to support the floor, ceiling, or roof.
• Joist Hanger: A metal support for the ends of joists.
• Kerf: The groove left in a piece of wood by a saw cut.
• King Post: A vertical support that transfers weight from the ridge beam to the end walls or the joists.
• Knee Brace: A small timber that is framed diagonally between a post and beam.
• Lag Screw: A heavy screw for wood with a bolt head.
• Lateral Groove: A longitudinal groove cut into the underside of a log enabling that log to fit over the top of another log.
• Load Bearing: Carrying the weight of a structure.
• Loft: The second floor in a home where the roof forms both its ceiling and walls usually associated with houses possessing a cathedral ceiling.
• Log Profile: Side view of a milled log. Some examples are Swedish Cope, D Log, Square log, Double D log, Log Siding, and Double Round.
• Log Siding: A 1/2" log profile applied to a non log wall (made of dimensional lumber or SIP) that is cut to have the appearance of a full log wall.
• Log Screw: A long screw (usually 10"-14") used to keep wall logs from shifting.
• Mortise: A square or rectangular slot cut into a log, timber, or board into which another member, usually called a tenon, will fit.
• Mortise and Tenon Joint: A joint in which a projection (tenon) of one timber is inserted into a slot (mortise) of another timber.
• Moisture Content: Percentage by weight of water in wood.
• Newel: The bottom post to which a stair railing is attached. Also post supporting sections of railings.
• Notch: A recess cut into a log to accept another log intersecting it at an angle.
  • Blind Notch: A notch that does not extend completely through a log.
  • Boxed Lapped Notch: A notch cut squarely into part of each timber
  • Dovetail Notch: Log ends cut into a fan appearance resembling a dove's spread tail.
  • Half Dovetail Notch: Log end where one side only is sloped.
  • Mitered Lapped Notch: Notch that has a 45-degree slope on the sides of the square notch.
  • Round Notch: A notch in which the profile of the log exhibits the shape of a partial circle on the underside.
  • Round Sheep's Head Notch: Same as a Sheep's Head Notch except that the outer cuts retain a round shape.
  • Saddle Notch: Notch that is triangular in profile.
  • Sheep's Head Notch: A notch with sloped sides partially cut out of each log.
  • Square Notch: Has the appearance of a round notch on the exterior but inside has a square interlocking lap.
• Notching: The art of cutting a notch into logs.
• Outrigger Beam: A log which sites atop a cantilevered logs on the eave walls and is parallel to and extends out beyond the plate logs. It is to this beam that the roof framing is attached.
• Overhang: That part of the roof that extends beyond the outside wall.
• Peg: A wooden dowel of oak, locust or other woods.
• Piece-en-Piece: A style of building in which vertical support posts form the main structure of a home with short lengths of logs forming the wall panels in sections between the posts.
• Pitch: The slope or angle of a roof. Also, the hardened sap of a coniferous tree.
• Plate-Log: The log at the top of the wall that supports the roof.
• Post and Beam: A style of building that uses vertical posts supporting horizontal members and beams.
• Purlins: A roof support log reaching from end to end of the structure and placed in line between plate log and the ridgepole. Usually, it is used to support rafters.
• Rafter: A structural member, usually dimensional lumber that supports a roof.
• Rafter Truss: A triangle of two rafters and a horizontal brace. Several of these make up a roof sub-structure.
• Ridge Beam: A horizontal timber at the peak of the roof to which rafters are attached. Also called a ridge board, ridge piece, or ridgepole.
• Roof Pitch: Inches of rise per 12" of roof run.
• Roof Truss: A network of structural members that form a rigid support for the roof.
• Round of Logs: One layer of logs around the entire perimeter of the house.
• Saddle: The lower cut in a notch and saddle joint. The log is cut on an angle on each side so that the surface almost comes to a point at the top of the log.
• Sapwood: The outer layer of wood in a tree that is nearest to the bark.
• Scarfed: A cut at a long angle in the direction of the timber.
• Scribe: The process of cutting one log to match the contours of another for a tight log-to-log fit.
• Scribe-Fit: A building featuring tight log-to-log joinery.
• Screw Jack: A device that may be adjusted to allow for the settlement in log walls.
• Settling: Loss of wall height by shrinkage and compression.
• Shed Roof: A sloping roof of a single plane.
• Sill Log: The base log that sits upon the foundation.
• Sills: Horizontal members that form the base of window and door openings.
• Soffit: the underside of the roof overhang.
• Splice: A joint of two logs end to end.
• Spline: A narrow wooden strip placed into grooves cut into two adjoining surfaces of a log wall.
• Taper: The amount of change in the diameter of a log from the butt end to the top end.
• Thermal Mass: any mass that absorbs and holds heat when heat is abundant (day time) and releases it when the air temperature is cooler (night time).
• Truss: Structural members assembled into a rigid frame.
• Through-Bolting: Threaded rod of various length used as a tensioning device in log walls, post and beam joinery and some timber frames.