Shasta County, CA Log Homes

[mannix_sarah]

Hi! My husband and I have just discovered this site and are really excited about the possibility of building our own log home. We will be signing up for the class in August. However, I was hoping to get in touch with people who have built or are building in Shasta County, CA. I would like to get any tips/advice or find out about any hurdles you had to overcome such as getting plans approved, permits, financing, wells dug, etc. I would really appreciate any help you can offer.

[StressMan79]

IDK, but there are those on this forum that will recommend staying free of CA entirely. I understand the work thing. Just a lot of regulation...

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[Sasquatch]

I am currently in the permitting process in Shasta County. You can do worse than here, as far as California goes, but I was surprised by how onerous the fees and building regs are here compared to other NorCal counties. In hindsight, maybe commute from Siskiyou county wasn't so bad after all...

The biggest hurdle so far has been finding a CA licensed engineer that did work up here and didn't want to completely reinvent the way we build. On guy who bid on my plans wanted almost $10K and would require rebar every 8".

[phlnrth]

Everyone seems fairly negative about building in CA. We just moved from Phoenix to Plumas County. I have an engineer who isn't excited about our lateral loads on walls, he's a bit of a pessimist thought. I have an old timer logger who will get me logs and a general contractor who can help with equipment. All this just from Church!!! Land is super discounted and we're looking at good lots anywhere from $10K for 2.5 acres up to $150K for 40 acres. All with trees perfect for building. I'm so tempted just to give it a go to prove that it can be done! Then again what do I know? I haven't done anything yet...

Take the class it's stinking awesome!

[mannix_sarah]

Everyone seems fairly negative about building in CA. We just moved from Phoenix to Plumas County. I have an engineer who isn't excited about our lateral loads on walls, he's a bit of a pessimist thought. I have an old timer logger who will get me logs and a general contractor who can help with equipment. All this just from Church!!! Land is super discounted and we're looking at good lots anywhere from $10K for 2.5 acres up to $150K for 40 acres. All with trees perfect for building. I'm so tempted just to give it a go to prove that it can be done! Then again what do I know? I haven't done anything yet...

Take the class it's stinking awesome!

The consensus so far seems to be that its difficult finding an engineer to approve of the plans you have. My husband is signed up for the class this August and we are looking at land. But please let me know if you find an engineer that is willing to work with you without completely re-inventing the wheel so to speak.

[Sasquatch]

Sarah,

Shoot me a pm and I'll give you my engineer's contact info. I'm not sure if he's willing to take on more residential projects, but his specs are FAR more reasonable than my last few bids.