Checking is not a banking term, as opposed to savings. It describes a crack in lumber caused by the outer part of the lumber drying faster and shrinking more than the inside of the lumber. Those small cracks are often referred to as "seasoning checks" and are a natural occurrence in lumber and cannot be stopped completely. There is no such thing as a log home that does not have checks. I repeat.....NO SUCH THING....... If small cracks in the logs bother you, then I would suggest you go with brick or vinyl siding. They don't check. Of course a brick home is not a log home. (Durst thou grasp the logic of that last statement?)

Cypress tends to check less than the pines, but check it does. Of course most all of the cypress companies, us included, buy center cut timbers and any check will only go to the center and no further. As well, spending extra money on logs that have been dried will enable you to see how many and somewhat how bad checking is BEFORE bolting them into your wall. Air stacking and slow drying also reduce the size and scope of seasoning checks. At any rate, we have never seen checks in cypress logs be a problem with wind and water leaks. That is not to say that you could not have a leak through a check, just that I haven't seen it. 

We do NOT hold out cypress as a material that will not check. It will check. We make no warranties WHATSOEVER about the natural process of checking, and/or subsequent wind or water leaks occurring from checks. Neither do we warrant any cypress log from the cosmetics of checking. Be sure you look at some houses that are old enough and determine if checking will be something that bothers you. If it is........ can you say

"B..................R.....................I...............C................K"?

"F..................R.....................A...............M................E"?

"V..................I.....................N...............Y................L"?

"S...........C..............U..............B..............E................E..............D............O.........O"?

"Discombobulate"?

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