Red cedar log homes are the creme de la creme of the log home world. Offered in both milled log style and handcrafted log home style, red cedar can help a homeowner attain a look and also a quality that cannot be replicated by any other wood species. Yes, it is the most expensive wood from which we build our log cabin homes, but for good reason. So let’s see how red red can be when cut in various ways.

Western Red Cedar Logs

To be very specific, our red logs are Western Red Cedar logs. These logs are harvested from old growth. The logs are extremely stable, meaning. They have awesome thermal mass, and possess the natural cedar oils. All log homes begin with the raw logs. How they are processed after being felled determines if they become a handcraft log home, milled log home, cedar log siding, etc.

Western Red Cedar Log Homes

Here we see a raw log shortly after arrival in the yard. The rich red center is visible.  When hand peeled the red cedar has a lighter outer and a darker inner.

Looking at our next photo we see the heart wood and outer wood. When a handcrafted log home is built, the logs are hand peeled to strip away just the bark. Just under the surface the western red cedar has a lighter outer. If you look at the very end of the logs you see the darker centers.

Handcrafted Red Cedar Log Homes

The hand peeled logs pictured above are prepared for use in a handcrafted log home. With hand craft log cabins the red shows through on the corners, log archways, and log ends. Some homeowners are afraid that the cedar will make the home too dark on the interior. But that isn’t the case, as the lighter outer wood is preserved.

Milled Red Cedar Log Homes

Thinking of our title, How Red is Red– the milled cedar log homes is what comes to mind. To form the milled logs the outer wood is milled away, revealing the darker inner wood. The deep red hues of this home are not caused by the log home stain. Instead this deep red is the logs themselves. Notice the contrast between the walls and the logs that support the entryway. There is a color contrast.

Cedar Log Siding

Western Red Cedar also has more uses such as cedar log siding, red cedar shakes, and 1×10 bevel siding, just to name a few. Below is a specialty Red Cedar log siding. It is a 3×12 with a hand peeled finish. The stack is a ship lap style with a curvature at the back of the siding. This cedar log siding provides a coverage of about 10 1/2 inches per row and can be used on gable ends of log homes, exterior of dormers, or to cover entire wall surfaces.

Red Cedar Shakes

This is the exterior of a post and beam home covered with red cedar shakes. One thing to note about shakes is the owners must take careful care to ensure the exterior sealant is kept up to date, or the shakes can have the color weathered away.

Of all of these features we did not even touch on the natural cedar oil properties that red cedar log homes possess. The bugs, insects, carpenter ants, carpenter bees, termites, rot, mold, mildew, etc. all avoid red cedar. Log homes with this wood species have a second layer of defense, beyond whatever your stain may offer, to repel these little destroyers. So carefully consider investing in a red cedar log home if you love the color, desire the protection of the cedar oils, and just have to have a western red cedar log home.

Cowboy Log Homes