Project Team

Builder: Ken LaCoy, LaCoy Construction
Market: Hayward, Wis.

Project Profile
Description: Build log-cabin home in Wisconsin woods.
Style: New home, log cabin.
Location: Hayward, Wis.

Narrative
Key considerations: All houses settle, but when logs 12 inches to 16 inches in diameter begin to dry and shrink, the impact is tremendous. Even standing dead pine logs still have enough moisture in them to cause 2 inches or more of settling on an 8-foot wall. And that can spell trouble for a feature window — especially a bay window that protrudes beyond the exterior wall.

Result: LaCoy made the most of his client’s beautifully wooded Wisconsin site.

Testimonials: "I’ve seen windows shatter when log homes settle. I don’t worry about that here." -- Ken LaCoy

Execution: Installation was a breeze, says LaCoy. "The 2-by-4 jamb goes around the log opening, you put the window in, nail the fins and you’re done," he says.

Solution: Slip joints allow the logs to "come down" on their own time. And over the window, LaCoy installed a special type of slip-joint with a counter-flashing. "We flash into the logs and over the top of the window," says LaCoy. "You can’t really see it, but it does the job."

Design Solution

Settling for Less
A lot of settling doesn’t have to mean a lot of damage. Ken LaCoy made sure this cabin would "settle for less" by using special slip joints all around the feature window.

Upper and lower trim pieces are not attached to each other. Instead, each piece of trim is nailed to blocking, which is in turn nailed to either the log above or the plywood attached to the window below. This way the logs can settle while the window stays in place. Eventually, after extensive settling, upper and lower trim may overlap completely.

On the sides of the window is essentially a "floating" rough opening. It allows the logs to settle without crushing the window. The window is attached (by the nailing flange) to a "ripped" (cut) 2-by-6. That 2-by-6 is in turn attached to a perpendicular 2-by-4. That 2-by-4 fits into a vertical slot cut into the log wall. The 2-by-4 is attached to the logs only loosely, through nails that can move up and down in their own vertical slots. That way, the 2-by-4 "floats" in the log opening, so that the logs can shift without affecting the window.

Featured Andersen Products
This simple feature window is a casement 45-degree angle bay.