Gentlemen:
First of all, I’m amazed that after reading all the questions, concerns & dialogue about a non-settling system that we are still involved in a discussion about a non-settling system that was patented (US #’s 6,266,934, 6,543,193 & Canada # 2,304,344) in the last Century and known as the “Houseal Non-Settling System”. That being said, I will take all the blame for this which fully demonstrates my inept marketing & advertising related to the system.
Gentlemen, the system is alive, well, existing & has spectacular proven results for over a decade now! Please check results with Caribou Log Homes, Sierra Log Homes, Oregon Log Homes, Sitka Log Homes, Precision Craft Log Homes, etc.
FACTS: My own personally designed, engineered & built log residence exists in Telluride, CO. It consists of 13,700 SF of massive logs, supports over 200 tons of stone, rises 6 stories in certain locations, has a free spanning 40’ high great room and weighs over one million pounds to the foundation. It is the heaviest log structure I have ever designed in over 40 years of structural engineering. The faith in the system was first implemented in this home. There exist no screw jacks, no structural steel columns, no structural steel moment frames and no structural steel anywhere, and, needless to say, no window or door false cavity headers to guess at and contain settlement.The logs at erection contained 19% moisture content and are now at Telluride’s extreme low humidity ambient environment at 7%. The log species is Douglas Fir, which has the highest level of radial (4.80%) & tangential (7.50%) shrinkage of all species. This normally equates to a planed 14” log shrinking approximately ¼” per log. Certain wall stacks are in excess of 22’, which normally would shrink in excess of 5”. Upon construction completion, and now for 10 plus years, I have continued to monitor, via laser level, the actual settlement of the structure. I am pleased to submit that the entire structure in that entire time-frame, has settled between 1/8” – 3/16” !!!!!!!
Please visit our BLH, Inc. website @ to view pictures of the structure and a description of the non-settling system and its elements. The system supports each log course with a small diameter galvanized pipe column with an inserted pin containing a welded bridge washer. The pipe columns extend from the top plate log all the way down and supported by the concrete stem wall, hence each log course is forever fixed in its initial location despite natural log shrinkage over time.