having been in the log home building business for many years, I can tell you what we have done that worked will with the settling issues. We cover the logs where the cabinets go with plywood and then attach the cabinets to that. You then are left with a flat area between that you can do your tile backsplash on. If you have any further detail questions, feel free to send an email.

here is a photo without the upper cabinets which had not yet arrived (I know you are supposed to mount the uppers first, but we had a 2 week delay and needed to get these out of harm's way)

dixielogs...

I have a question...the plywood alone will not support upper cabinets...when installing cabinets in normal builds you make sure you screw them into the framing/studs for support...so when installing cabinets over plywood, you're still going to be securing those cabs to the log walls won't you? It seems to me the plywood only serves to provide even backdrop for backsplash, but nothing for cab support.

I'm very curious as we may be buiding a small cabin in the future and would love to learn how this is done.

Thanks!

Those logs are so beautiful...I'd feel terrible covering them with plywood! I am only putting upper cabinets on the stove wall and maybe around that corner to the sink so I have an entire log of wall from the window coming to the breakfast bar. My house is set up like the picture except that there is no island. The wall that opposes the window is all tall cabinets w/ separate built-in refrigerator and freezer. Through the doorway is a mud porch/pantry.

The thing is, by the time all is said and done, the plywood is completely covered, anyway.

I have a log house and did a kitchen remodel a little over a year ago - the sink wall is an exterior wall w/ full logs on that wall - the previous owner had put 2x4's up in the locations to screw the wall cabinets into ... and then used wood for a backsplash ... it was a very dark kitchen.

My installers built a wall and scribed the 2x4's to the logs so that the wall took up as little space as possible - they then drywalled - and installed my cabinets ... and I put in a slate backsplash on both walls of the kitchen. My refrigerator is on the exterior wall - and they stopped the wall prior to the fridge - so I've got the look of a cabinet depth fridge - but have a full sized refrigerator!

Here is a link that might be useful: photos of my kitchen

I nearly did full log, went with frame construction and log siding for insulation.

Love logs, but in a log home you see so much of them that doing a different backsplash option makes a lot of sense to me.

You don't really screw the cabs into the ply, you screw through the ply into the logs behind. No worry about hitting the studs.

Love the kitchen in Bill's pictures!

That was not a "kit" home, and it was very definitely a full log home. The owner is one of the biggest loggers in the area. He cut every piece of wood used in the construction of his home himself, including milling the lumber that needed to be milled. :-) As for the plans, they were custom plans drawn up by an architect friend of his specifically for his home.

here are a couple more pics, OTHER than tile:

And this, I GOTTA show you. Talk about the perfect touch to a powder room for a rustic log home!!