UK and European Members

[Ken]

Dear LHBA I have been trawling the internet and dreaming of escaping to a log cabin for a year or two now, but more recently have taken a greater interest. I am at the very early stages of working towards my dream and know nothing more than I can learn from the various internet site promoting building your on log home. From the very start the LHBA and the butt and pass method has been more interesting to me than other methods, although with no real building experience or expertise it is difficult for me to put my finger on any rational reason why I might favour this method. I would like to find out more about this system and see first hand what the results are, but I am a little way off coming from the UK to Las Vegas to complete the course, although it is my intention, just not yet. I am interested to find out if there are many UK based members and what their experiences have been. I get the sense Planning Permission is somewhat more challenging in the UK as the people who make the decisions also have no experience of this building method.

I am keen to see first hand the end results of the system and I have even been trying to find a holiday log cabin to stay in. However in the UK I cant find one built using butt and pass. The are mostly kit form and not at all natural looking. I have found one proper log home http://www.eaglebrae.co.uk/ which is still not butt and pass, and a little out of my price range. Are there any LHBA members in the UK that have successfully built a log home in the UK. I am beginning to wonder if its possible in the UK, we dont seem to have the same attitude or access to the wilderness as other countries. Are there any LHBA members in Europe that would be willing to share their experiences. I want what I suspect every LHBA member wants, to escape to the woods and enjoy life, rather than get swept up on some tidal wave you cant get off. I am keen at some point to do the course but at the moment I am not convinced it is a good investment of the money it will cost to come from the UK to attend a course which will teach me how to build a log home I will never be able to achieve. I am really keen to find out the experiences of LHBA members from the UK and Europe. I have spoken to one UK based LHBA member who loved the course is a great supporter of butt and pass, but as yet not managed to build the dream. Looking forward to hearing from any who can offer advice, guidance. Cheers Ken

[sdart]

Wow. Those are beautiful cabins at Eagle Brae, but, as you said, very, very pricey! Can't have been cheap to build, since the Western Red Cedar logs were brought over from British Columbia...

I know there are some members in the UK and remember specifically someone in Scotland wanting to build a resort with log cabins-- I never heard that it was finished, but I don't this is the same person, since it says on the site that they hired a log home building company in B.C. to do the work. Now I understand even more why they are so expensive to rent! They must have a huge debt to pay off, unless they started out very wealthy!

We are in France during the winter, but our log house build is in north Idaho, so that doesn't help you see a butt and pass house in person, nor does it help with UK building code knowledge. I hope someone who is better informed will come along shortly.

In the meantime, welcome!

Sarah

[rreidnauer]

Might not have been as expensive to ship those logs as you might think. Just as rail transport is cheaper than truck transport, I'd suspect ocean transport would be even less. (more material moved for a given amount of fuel/manpower) Never rule out your options on a guess.

[Ken]

Wow. Those are beautiful cabins at Eagle Brae, but, as you said, very, very pricey! Can't have been cheap to build, since the Western Red Cedar logs were brought over from British Columbia...

I know there are some members in the UK and remember specifically someone in Scotland wanting to build a resort with log cabins-- I never heard that it was finished, but I don't this is the same person, since it says on the site that they hired a log home building company in B.C. to do the work. Now I understand even more why they are so expensive to rent! They must have a huge debt to pay off, unless they started out very wealthy!

We are in France during the winter, but our log house build is in north Idaho, so that doesn't help you see a butt and pass house in person, nor does it help with UK building code knowledge. I hope someone who is better informed will come along shortly.

In the meantime, welcome!

Sarah

Thanks Sarah
Winters in France sounds interesting, I can't help wondering if they are any dryer than the winter we are having in Devon.
Hopefully some one on the forum knows of. UK based member who has built something in the UK.
Cheers Ken

[sdart]

Hello Ken,

Thanks Sarah
Winters in France sounds interesting, I can't help wondering if they are any dryer than the winter we are having in Devon.

It depends on where you are in France (and where you are in Devon!) I would say that where we are is about 10 times drier than Dartmoor :) Too dry, actually-- our spring is going to stop soon if we don't get some rain. Will you be building in Devon? One of my favorite places in the world.

[Nicolas]

Just my 2 cent here as a french man, be aware that house insurance are mandatory for any build (at least in France). And because pro lock the market and have agreement with insurance company, they are really, really hard to obtain with DYI build, so it's mean that it's almost impossible to sell it, and you are not covered in case of any problem.
That's the main reason in my opinion why they are so few own builder in France, because otherwise the weather is really fine so not too much need of insolation, you have only blueprint inspection before starting to build (not during/after the build) and the mats. are cheap, specially the wood that you can have from mountain (Alpes/Pyrenean).

[Ken]

I am not sure where I want to built yet, it all depends on what I build. I love Scotland's west coast in particular the area around Mallaig and Knoydart,but that is so far from home and difficult to spend any time there. Locally around Cornwall would be easier to access weekends etc but land will be at a premium. Even more locally around South Devon I could explore building something much smaller, possibly as an opportunity to learn more about the process. I like the idea of remote, near off grid, which will be more,difficult to achieve in the south west of England. The mountains and lochs of Scotland have a strong pull on me.

[rocklock]

Ken;
I was recently in Ireland. They are growing Douglas Fir in farms there...It takes about 40 years to grow an eighty foot tree. Doug Fir is the strongest soft wood. On Camano Island, where I have built my log home, sailors from all over the world came here because our trees grow especially straight, to get their spars... Anyway, I would bet a small amount that some one is growing Douglas Fir or Western Red Cedar in the UK.