Log homes are beautiful, but they can present nightmares for wiring and mounting lighting switches or control touchpads. Cabling runs must be planned carefully, and often with wiring channels cut before the logs are put into place. If not, you’ve got some work to do. Here’s how the crew at Complete Home Electronics in Fraser, Colo. put control panels and light switches on logs in this Rocky Mountain log home, which was also a Bronze winner in our 2011 Home of Year, Master Suite category:

“Use floor boxes when possible to avoid log mounts,” says John Oliver at Complete Home Electronics. But if you must, use “long drill bits, creative wire runs—the ##### lines between the logs can be your friend with small wires. Use Carlon orange backless adjustable boxes. Remove the metal bracket and use the remaining screw to mount inside the hole you drilled or chiseled out of the log. (This was much easier than trimming down standard boxes and screwing them in from the sides.)”

Steven Castle - Contributing Writer

Steven Castle is Electronic House's managing editor. he has been writing about consumer electronics, homes and energy efficiency topics for two decades. He is also the co-founder of GreenTech Advocates.