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Logs are hand-picked for each home project

Summit Log and Timber Homes employs more than a dozen people at Errington yard
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Summit Log and Timber Homes manager Dave Jardine at their Errington property where houses are built then disassembled for transportation to their final location.

Houses built in Errington are going up all over the world.

Summit Log and Timber Homes, based in Boise, Idaho, constructs beautiful log homes there and here in Errington through a subsidiary, that are then shipped in pieces across Canada, the U.S. and even to Europe.

The company started the operation on Springhill Road near Parksville a number of years ago but shut it down after the 2008 recession and it sat vacant for almost eight years, explained co-owner Tim Miller from Boise.

Sensing the time was right for the economy and seeing the opportunity of the site on the booming semi-industrial road just outside Parksville, Summit found a local partner and they sprung back to life early this year.

They have already delivered some homes constructed on site to distant locations, with the latest post and beam project (pictured) going to Emmet, Idaho.

“We do a very specialized late wood finish with high pressure water, they have to be handled very carefully,” Miller said of their logs which are hand picked for each specific project and moved carefully so they are not damaged by usual log sorting yard machinery.

The Emmet house was done with western red cedar, their main wood of choice along with Douglas fir, as chosen by the client for each custom-built home.

Local manager Dave Jardine said they already have 13-14 employees in Errington and are growing quickly.

Miller said they were happy to bring back a number of skilled craftsmen to the operation, explaining they only do the log work.

Each house takes several months, with the design work being done elsewhere. They are then constructed here, disassembled and shipped to their chosen location where one of their staff travels to supervise a local general contractor who assembles the house and completes the framing, electrical, plumbing and finishing details.

Miller said the Emmet house was three truckloads worth of finished logs.

Their logs come from a number of locations depending on the type of wood requested and availability, including Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii.

They do both traditional log, and post and beam-style projects and are already working on project number five in Errington, Miller said.

They currently specialize in homes, but have done other projects like pavilions, barns and carriage houses, he said.

For more information visit www.summithandcrafted.com