Folks from Alaska

[flyfishscook]

My wife, son and I are making the move to the last frontier in May 2013. We are going to be in the next LHBA class. I have been looking for people to connect with in Alaska. My wife's uncles run a log home building business up there. They utilize the butt and pass method however, they mill their logs to a d shape and cut them down to about five foot lengths for ease of transport. I don't want to ruffle any feathers because I don't subscribe to their methods. If there is anyone out there who is in Alaska that I could get in contact with for advice and knowledge I would be extremely grateful.

Also, there are a few articles on LHBA's home page that talk about turning this method of building into a business and/or a good source of income. How reasonable is it to think a guy with little experience in construction could gain the knowledge necessary to earn some money doing this? Are there any members out there that are actually doing it? How about in Alaska? I have searched log home builders in the area we plan on living (Palmer/Wasilla). There are only a couple. One is my wife's family, and the other uses the Scandinavian notching and on their website they talk about how "all log homes settle" it seems like the area is ripe for the picking. I am 26 with lots of ambition. I am going to run a fly fishing lodge some day. This is just the first step. Anyway, THANKS AGAIN!

[patrickandbianca]

One of our members has proven that with a telehandler and a skilled laborer, these homes can go up fast.
Selling them when done might be tougher than it used to be, but you wouldn't have to build and sell too many of them and you could buy your own flyfishing lodge.

If you build at the pace a lot of us build, you could go broke pretty quickly!

Patrick

[corax50]

Spencer
We live in Ninilchik, AK on the kenai Peninsula. Took Skip's course FEB 1984. It was an excellent class- took over 40 pages of notes. Although I have yet to build using Skip's methods I've helped others over the years. And next month I'm retiring from my current job and planning on building small Trapper style spec cabins to sell along our highway frontage & relocate them. Loking foreward to it. If we can be of any assistance please let us know.....James Knox

[Pokey]

Spent many years up in your area in earlier life and you right - nary more than a handful of builders to be found. I imagine it is dependent on the specific area and all but suspect , unless things have drastically changed , costs and pricing will still be an issue. Again - it will be market specific for sure.
If you are like me - you'll starve and someone will find your corpse in the spring still standing with a chainsaw still in your hand. But you are 26 - and energetic so its a different level of ambition you have.
James above has maybe a niche market idea and probably more turnkey and possibly profitable. Below I have a link (hope it's okay) to a couple I have gotten to know somewhat thru some business dealings and they may offer up some ideas too that may be of benefit. They built a different style cabin in nowhere land and a timberframe also - they pretty in touch with market(s) in state due to their professions also and maybe can offer up some thing. Won't hurt to drop them an email anyway.
Good luck. That is one truly beautiful state

http://www.alaskaantlerworks.com/Alaska_cabin.htm

[loghousenut]

If I was 26 and short-sighted I'd hold off awhile before I took the class and just kinda drift around waiting for someone to come along and kickstart my life.

If I was 26, ambitious, far-sighted, and knew half of what I now know (at 58), I'd fight my way into the next class and hitch a ride up north so I could get to building. So many opportunities... So little time.



I don't regret more than a few minutes of it all, but I had three opportunities to have someone else pay my way to Alaska, with a job waiting, and somehow I missed all three. I know God was trying to tell me something... I just wonder if He wasn't saying that I shouldn't go to Alaska.

YOU should go.

[flyfishscook]

There is no question in our minds loghousenut. We are going. I have an ambitious spirit, Alaska has a funny way of making you humble though. My wife's grandfather moved his family of 6 to Alaska in the 70's with nothing but the clothes on their backs a few key possessions and a old grey school bus that they lived in for three years. Summer and winter! My wife's uncles are true Alaskans! We are excited about being with them and learning how they have made it.

James, I will definitely be getting in touch with you. I would love to help you with your home too!

[AkChas]

TWO subjects that are near and very dear to my heart......Log Home Building & ALASKA!
Spencer, I envy you and wish you and family Godspeed, on your adventure to the Great Land.
For sure, RUN (don't walk), to the next available LHBA class!!! I believe one has recently been announced. Get signed/payed-up, quick as you can because they ALWAYS sell out.
I Wish I had come across LHBA earlier than I did (2008), but glad I did, at least.
As for turning the Log Home building thing into a business, some have done that too. Ronnie for one (rckclmbr), is hard at it, as I write this. He's based in Virginia. See wileyloghomes.com
I wonder if your wife's kin is Friesen? They have FriesensCustomCabins, based in Palmer, but they do mostly stick-frame "cabins".
There's another fella that has a massive model along Turnagain Arm (20 minutes south of Anchorage), that builds very nice homes with BIG logs. Greg Anderson of AlaskaLogStructures might be someone worth contacting about the market there. He (and most others), builds "scribe fit" homes. You don't see a whole lot of B&P homes up there, but they are around.

For fly-fishing, or fishing of any kind, the Kenai Peninsula is the mecca, but Alaska is a VERY BIG place, with unlimited possibilities. A lady-friend of mine owns Sunrise Inn, in Cooper Landing (also on the Kenai Peninsula), 90 minutes south of Anchorage. She could point you to area fishing guides to chat with. Then-again, there are many guys and gals that live in that area that work summers as fishing guides on the Kenai, Ninilchik, Russian and other area rivers there. You could just hang out at the restaurant (or more likely, the bar), and have a steady stream of guides to chat with, at the end of the "day".

Dude, you have the spirit that it takes to THRIVE in Alaska. Grab yourself a couple of Jack London books and a couple of books of poet Robert Service and let your mind wander (Spell of the Yukon, Law of the Yukon, The Cremation of Sam McGee), man, I could go on forever :) But I will spare you (and others here), any more of my ramblings and leave you to what is sure to be an epoch journey for you and family!

I get up there 3 or more times a year, so keep in touch and maybe we can swap stories over a coffee. Actually, I'm just about due to move back "permanently" again, so the opportunity to chat may just be that much more do-able.

Keep in touch and Keep us posted!

Chas

[flyfishscook]

Hey Chas,

Sounds like you are very passionate about AK. We are excited to get ourselves into the next LHBA class. I looked at all of the websites you referred to. I think the biggest reason to go to Alaska is the people. We have been lucky enough to go a couple of times in the past few years. We love the do-it-yourself attitude most people have, I am all about self reliance. In answer to your question "I wonder if your wife's kin is Friesen?". My wife's family runs Timberline Sawmill and Cabin Company their name is Owens. They do an awesome job with their log homes, they even use the B&P method. The only thing is that they mill all of their logs to make it easy to transport them and build with them. We will definitely call on their expertise when we build our home. I am wanting to use the techniques taught by LHBA to build a few homes and give myself a backup source of income while I get the fly fishing business going.

Thanks for responding with all the info. I am an avid reader and will definitely pick up those books. By all means if you have more info feel free to send me an email. I would love to stay in contact with you. THANKS

SPENCER COOK

[rocklock]

" they even use the B&P method."
I looked at their homes. Just because a little bit of "Log" sticks out does not even come close to what we do...

They use D "logs" in 5 foot lengths so they can build a house fast... I mean really fast... There is a YouTube video of folks using d shaped logs, screws and a kind of sealing fabric. I swear that the cabin could be built with a roof in less than a week and everything could be put in a 40 foot container - easy.

My home is a tightly pinned B&P home that doesn't shrink... It has chinking and insulation. It is very tight. and the roof is not on jack screws... I don't lower my roof to keep it from leaking... And none of my logs would fit into a 40 foot container...

[hammerhead 67]

Take the class.
Build a "test" building aka the 14x14 shed from plans.

Keep a detailed account of ALL costs and time to build. Then decide if you want to do it as a business.

On the plus side, quality building logs seem to be EVERYWHERE up there. On the minus side, you have DEEP frostlines, short building seasons, and high transportation costs.

I think the LHBA method is perfect for small cabins that would go very well with the flyfishing lodge idea. A trip to Alaska is actually what put us on the path to finding LHBA.

[Pokey]

[QUOTE=rocklock;81793
They use D "logs" in 5 foot lengths so they can build a house fast... I mean really fast... There is a YouTube video of folks using d shaped logs, screws and a kind of sealing fabric. I swear that the cabin could be built with a roof in less than a week and everything could be put in a 40 foot container - easy.QUOTE]

Indeed you are dead on correct and all.
That said I know there are similar build styles in Wisconsin and Minnesota that have survived better than a hundred years and we get some of the nastiest winters around.
The BnP is my choice of build as I dig the look and what I hope is ease of using available logs.
I know now many whom have also built using various other means and suspect their places will also stand the test of time also.

Maybe the beauty of these container types might be in the ease and speed of the build?
Older I get the more I realize that in all things in life its the manner and effort and pride that one puts into something that makes it shine in the end. It seems those active here on the forum do strive to do their best and their pictures reflect that. No doubt there have been some builds that may have have less neat results too for whatever reason(s).

No doubt that holds true for the other methods also.

Winter is coming at us hard right now around here ... hope ya'll got things buttoned up until the snow goes bye-bye in 5 months.

[Coho]

Hi All!

Wanted to join the Alaska Folks discussion. I moved to Ketchikan, AK (Southeast Alaska) in 2010 and took the November 2011 LHBA class. I purchased a "home" that sits on 1+ acre. I say "home" because its basically 2 connected large metal buildings (pole barn construction) with a small, but nice finished 1BR/1BA apartment above. Like the folks from whom I purchased my place, my hopes are to build a log home one day on the 1/2 acre or so of woods behind the house. I would live in my log home and rent out the garage apartment to tourists who come here to fish in the summer.

There are a few obstacles to doing this, though; climate, soils and source of house logs. It rains here. Because Ketchikan is in a temperate rainforest (Tongass National Forest), we get on average of 153 inches (~13 feet) of rain, so this makes working outdoors very challenging. The soil types here (Muskeg) require a great deal of site prep before you can construct a your foundation. As I understand it, I would have to hire a local contractor to do this (remove the trees and their stumps, dig down to bedrock, and fill with shot rock and D2). It's pretty expensive! As for the house logs, the trees on the property aren't the best (small diameter); however, I live adjacent to the Tongass National Forest and the forest does have a program for free use permits to Alaskan residents (up to 10 thousand board feet/year). Because Southeast Alaska is an archipelago (chain of islands) with few roads, transportation costs (i.e., barging the wood) could also be expensive if the source of house logs is located far from the construction site.

Like my fellow Alaskans, I still have dreams of building a log home, though. Thanks for letting me share - SUE

[AKDon]

Flyfishscook, I did not take the class, but I feel like we have a lot in common. I moved up to Alaska in 2006. In June of 2011, my girlfriend and I (23 & 27 years old), began construction on our 24 x 32 cabin. We didn't have any building experience or know-how, but I read books, talked to builders, read more, talked more... We worked the entire summer, some 18 hour days, some days where I couldn't move and would sit with a box of wine in the hammock. In August we moved in. By October she was my fiance--- quite the bonding experience! We did every part of it by ourselves or with the help of a friend when needed (she wasn't a fan of being up high and I wasn't a fan of putting up 18 x 3' pieces of metal roofing alone). We cut and hauled out each tree (~120 trees for the entire build ) and used a logosol M7 to mill the wood into a nice 3 sided, easily stacked log(milled our joists as well). There are a few tricks to adding extra insulation and warmth with the three sided, but our area doesn't get too cold- 5 to 10 (F) below at the coldest. Our first winter was chilly, but we managed. After chinking the small spots I am proud to say we have been mostly sweating so far this winter, using only our woodstove. We are off the grid and off the road, which is nice and rewarding. I'm not going to romanticize Alaska or the building process. They're both tough as hell, but worth it. Send me a PM if you would like. I am on the Kenai Peninsula and would be happy to help with resources, planning, or maybe even a little building...