Wife's calling in the straight jacket men!!!

[slipps]

Hi y'all
Slipps from PERTH, Western Australia here, first can I commend you all on all your wonderful contributions on this side of the forum I've been scouring it for some time now and its awesome!!
Now let me tell you about myself and my dream so you can either concur with my wife and have me shipped off to the funny farm or take my side and vindicate my hair-brained idea!!

I'm a 39 year old fit married man no kids and been in the building game for 22 years and counting so well qualified to take on any building task, where I fall down is when I get so excited about a new project like this one I tend to minimise the time, effort and cost involved (enter wife!!)

I'm planning on taking the class in March 2013-- sometime after this, not necessarily the same year buy a cheap little parcel of land in Pagosa Springs Colorado bout 0.21 acre for bout 9K and build a cosy 3 bed 2 bath BnP house as a short term rental and use it myself for your fantastic snowy winters (I'm a snowboard nut) BTW Aussie can own land and homes in the US but can only stay max 12 weeks per visit unless I get a green card which is easier getting to the moon and back!
After looking thru some of the student log homes it SEEMS possible to build one of these for around 50k to 60k NOW I know you cant give a definite answer if this is possible or not because of all the "variables" (believe me I've read all the post about people asking) BUT I want to ask those who "have built" would YOU personally be able to do it, for said budget and in say in 3-6 months finished if working on it full time and around the clock?

SLIPPS

[sdart]

G'day Slipps,
I think all of us on the forum have a tendency to get excited and minimize the time and effort put in... The cost depends on too many other factors, but it does tend to cost more the faster you want it done, so that is something to think about. Completely finished in 3-6 months including electricity, plumbing and all interior space sounds unlikely to me-- are you thinking of two 12-week sessions during the non-snowboarding time of year (you're surely not going to do this in winter?), so two years in total time? Would you be working alone or hiring some help?

As for whether or not you're ready for the straight jacket... I think I'd defer to your wife, who knows you better than we do :) Will she be helping? If you're not both on the same page and she is not part of the process, the build could be very stressful and would significantly increase your chances of working too many long hours under pressure and having an accident. I'm a woman and I operate the crane for our build, although I never did anything like it in my life before. It is FUN!! But part of why it is fun is that we are taking it slow and not pushing ourselves. What's the rush? You're only 39...

Do take the class before you buy the land, though. The acreage you are talking about is awfully small for building a house like this. You need room to store the logs as well as the room for the actual building and room to maneuver around the build site without having to worry about banging logs into everything right and left.

[rreidnauer]

I kind of sum it up like this:
You can have it fast if you spend a lot of money, or you can get it done cheap with a lot of time, but you can't have it cheap and fast.

The universal mathematical equation is:
<time = >money ;)

With your limited timeframe, I'd suggest talking with Rockclimber. He's got a gifted way of getting scat done in a hurry.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy using TapaTalk 2

[AkChas]

Hi-Ya Slipps (AKA "SBN", or, SnowBoardNut : )

I noticed your post and -- although it doesn't directly address the question you pose -- I thought I would mention.......
Many of our members those who HAVE built, offer many words-of-wisdom. One such common theme is, to allow PLENTY of room on your property for a log home building project. That means lots of room for storing, stacking and sorting logs; and for maneuvering logs and equipment around, before and during the actual build process. If you'll be purchasing 0.21 acre, you may want to check on the ability to "spill over" onto adjacent land, or at least consider on-site logistics and maneuverability for your project (or, consider a larger lot?). Just a quick "food for thought" item for ya.

ENJOY the class. Take LOTS of notes!!! We'll see you on "the other side" : )

Cheers Mate!

[blane]

I am not finished yet with mine but I have been at it for almost three years now with no breaks. My son, wife and myself working almost every evening and 12 to 14 hours every Saturday. However, I don't have the experience you do in construction. I have three and a half acres of mountain land, not enough. My wife is and was 100% committed to do this no matter how long it takes, if she were not I can only imagine the stress this would be on a marriage. I have spent more than double what you have in mind and we have been thrifty.

All that said, I love the idea of rental property and plan to do the same thing, but my whole family is crazy including my wife. If you want sort of a play by play on the adventure, read through my blog and it will give you a good feel for the massive labour intensive project we are almost done with. I am thinking late spring.

[StressMan79]

bring your wife to the class. more than a few log home projects have ended in divorce. When you are in the states, drop by on my build. I am going on 4 years (although very part time) and nearly done. The wife did not take the class with me and we are on completely different pages w/r/t the log home...

-Peter

P.S. my place is 24 x 24, and perfect for a husband/wife. I have 20 acres, but only about 1 that is cleared and usable.

[loghousenut]

Don't read this post Slipps. If you were to look at the schedule of my build you'd drop off the face of the LHBA world.

If you want to build your log home with your own hands, you are in the right spot. If you want to come to the States for one or two twelve week periods each year, and ski, then that's what you oughta do... Ski.

You'll want more land probably, and you'll need more time probably. It'll be work and sweat and toil and work and more sweat. If you're worrying about getting too much done before you head back south for the summer/winter, it'll make the work seam like work.

If you really want that cabin in the States, build small, build LHBA, and last but not least, only do it if the Wife forces you to do it. You won't like what happens if you try to drag her behind your dream. She needs to take the class and it needs to be her idea.

If I was you, I'd do it in a heartbeat. But then I'm just some ole guy who's old enough to be your Dad and building his own log home with his own hands... And I don't ski.



PS... Not a bad plan you got there but I was wondering what's wrong with building one in Australia also. Some of those Eucalyptus trees you got down there are as straight as drill pipe. LHBA system could make them into a log home.

[rocklock]

I'm planning on taking the class in March 2013-- sometime after this, not necessarily the same year buy a cheap little parcel of land in Pagosa Springs Colorado bout 0.21 acre for bout 9K
SLIPPS
I believe that .21 acres is a little small for a log home. I believe this is about 8800 sqft. or about 88 ft wide and 100 feet long... I built on about 40 by 130 and it sucks even though I have 2 1/2 acres.
Have you been to Pagosa Springs? I hope you like chilies... It is really rural. I could post several pictures...
I believe you can do something like this, but the general rule is that two people can build in one year but one person will take two. For three people or more it might never get done... So it might take several trips or more...

[slipps]

Thanks all for your responses so far!!!

Yes I'll definitely have the better half on board(and at the class), your right on there Stress man, I've seen too many clients work too hard all their lives, only to lose most of their wealth in divorce cause they both have drifted onto different paths over the years!! :(

The issue with enough land has had the rusty cogs upstairs grinding somewhat, altho most neighbours around this property Haven't built yet so possible could use their land hence another reason to get it up quick smart!! (altho this is still only bout an acre in total)