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Moisture content matters. Wood is unstable when it is green, meaning that it will shrink, bow, and twist as it dries. The purpose of kiln drying is to eliminate shrinkage and stabilize the wood. However, in the log home industry, the term "kiln dried" means only that the wood was put in a kiln. It does not specify the moisture content to which the wood is dried.Some log home manufacturers sell "kiln dried logs" with as much as a 50-80% average moisture content and measure it from no deeper than 1-1/4" into the log. Since wood dries from the outside to the inside, the moisture content can still be 50% or higher at the core of the log. This can result in excessive shrinkage and warping as your home dries!
Moisture content should be measured as an average from the center to the outside of the wood. At Turman Log Homes, we measure moisture content by cutting a 1" wafer section through the log, bake it for 24 hours in our wood drying oven, and then use it to calculate the true moisture content from the core to the shell. Our logs and timbers are dried to 18% to 21% average moisture content from core to shell. If the moisture measures any higher, you don't have a Turman log home.
At Turman Log Homes, we have three sawmills with kilns. We dry 50 million board feet of hardwoods and pine annually and sell it worldwide. We are one of the largest and most experienced kiln operations in the United States.