Phone: 1-250-378-6244
WHY P GASKET?
There are quite a few log home tape gaskets used in insulating log home laterals, some with very good compression and compression recovery - but the problem we encountered with open cell tape type gasket was unless it was installed in ideal weather conditions, it expanded prior to positioning in laterals when exposed to heat, had ineffective adhesion when installing in damp conditions, and it's open cell attributes meant it sponged water when uncompressed.
Regular closed cell backer rod addressed the problem of water wicking, but was is insuffiently compressable and the closed cell core collapsed under pressure and had no recovery.
We were already using an open cell/closed cell backer rod in our laterals - stapling carefully along the edges of the gasket so as not to compormise the effectiveness of the vapour barrier.
While on a log shell reset in North Carolina, John noticed a similar gasket product on a mobile home - but this gasket had a P shaped profile. "Eureka!", says John, "a stapling flange!" and the search was on to discover the source of " P Gasket". To make a long story short, we began selling P Gasket to fellow log builders who shared our commitment to building quality scribed log homes.
Since then, we have managed to reduce our prices for the product in half, which given the performance record of P Gasket, makes it a very cost effective option.
WHY DO LOG HOMES REQUIRE GASKET?
Logs are organic and will shrink and settle as the walls compress with their own weight and that of the roof; all of which in a well-built log home is anticipated. Never the less, logs may turn and twist and should that occur, gasket acts as a secondary vapour barrier keeping out moisture and air.
By cutting an effective lateral groove and installing a compressible gasket on both sides of the laterals and around the notches, we add an additional measure to ensure an airtight log home. The gasket also contributes as a sound barrier and adds to the “insulative” rating of log walls as defined in the new building codes.
There are several effective gasketing/insulating products available to log builders (bearing in mind that batt insulation is not one of them!) We've experimented and used several products over including the log home tape type of gasket, however we have switched completely to P Gasket our log lateral and notches because it is more effective and easier to install under controlled conditions. We and many of our colleagues build better log homes due to the benefits of P Gasket. Asking the candidates you are considering to build your log home if they use P Gasket as a standard building procedure will help you narrow your choices to log builders who are committed to delivering the best of quality to their customers.
WHICH WOULD YOU CHOOSE?
Log Homes are not all created equal....One log home may look very much like another to the untrained eye - particularly when looking at an assembled log wall) - but not all log work is the same on the inside - which is where it really matters. You can see for yourself - Photo number 1 is an image of a shallow lateral cove. Ledges have been milled to recieve the gasket and photo number 2 shows a very different approach to log building.
Photo number 1 is an image showing the work of Mark Deagle Log Homes. The work is elegant and precise. Photo number 2 shows a very different approach to log building - comments are written on the photo. We will not name the log building company whose work this is.
Click for a gallery showing the work of log builders who are using P Gasket.
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