Of course, a careful log dry-in process helps, especially if done by someone who understands the job of the finishing carpenter down the line. Just to say, "Oh, that will be taken care of by the finishing carpenters" is not enough – what the dry-in guy does can make or break the finishing work that follows.

The more problems posed by a shoddy dry-in process adds days and weeks of delay to the entire turn-key process, so beware. Watch the dry-in process carefully and ask questions all along the way. We did just that and STILL we were unable to prevent some big problems that took big efforts later to remedy. Ahhhh, like log walls that are not plumb, duh. And windows that have to be removed and reinstalled because they were also not done properly during the dry-in. At this stage of the game you cannot remedy crooked beams or interior walls that were not plumb to start with...things that are not obvious during the dry-in phase, as least to the homeowner.

All of this points out the need to select carefully in your search for a dry-in team. Barna wasn't a bit of help with this and, in fact, referred our dry-in guy to us without really knowing first-hand the quality of his work. And that was after we had already interviewed several contractors who definitely did not measure up!

The dry-in guy is unfortunately only as good as the team he assembles. And much of that has to do with the unskilled crew that some to put together. Minimally educated guys in their twenties or early thirties with a poor work ethic do not care that a wall is plumb or not. Or that a beam is crooked or not. Or even substantial enough or not. Their eye is mostly on the clock and quitting time and, on Fridays, getting to the bank in time to cash their weekly paycheck.

Dr. Ellen says that this is one of the g-a-p-i-n-g holes in the entire log home construction industry. Barna sells a wonderful product, and the logs are beautiful – but we discovered problems with some of its architectural strategies in our house plans and also with the company's total lack of followup as far as expert dry-in team referrals are concerned. Other log packages are probably similarly afflicted.

What is the homeowner to do? You buy an expensive log package and suddenly it becomes a cat and dog fight to find the right person to assemble it. You can't always count on referrals, either. Too often people refer to you folks whose work they have never personally observed or experienced. THIS IS NOT AN ADEQUATE REFERRAL. They need to have experience with the person being referred or it is an exercise in futility for the homeowner.

It is also hugely problematic for a general contractor to rely too much on a neighborhood pool of subcontractors to draw from. And if they don't have good hiring skills to start with, well, we can only warn you.

We will eventually compile a WHAT WE LEARNED list of such issues for homeowners to monitor during their own building process.

In the meanwhile, go pick up your room, kid!