New here, where to start?

[etd66ss]

Is there any documentation I can read about the LHBA log home building system before I plunk down $1000's to sign up for the class and travel plans from the east coast? I'm definitely interested in building my own log home. I own 60+ acres of wooded land in New York State and it seems to make sense financially etc.

I've been reading about LHBA all morning here, and I am getting an uneasy feeling of secrecy about the whole deal... I'll do more reading on the forums before I make any final decisions, but I have a lot of general questions I need answered before I can make a decision to sign up.

I am a mechanical engineer by day, and a decent handyman, but I am no home builder. I have been lamenting on what to build at my land for over 10 years, and am turned off by the standard method of builder + mortgage, it's just too expensive for me.

I guess some basic questions I have that maybe can be answered here:

1) Can I have a basement with a butt & pass log home?

a) Can I have a poured foundation?
b) Can I use pre-cast basement walls?

2) What kind of logs can I use? Must they be a certain species of evergreen?

3) Is really one treatment of borax going to stop carpenter bees the life of the home? They are a real issue here.

4) I'm not understanding how the floor joists systems are integrated.

5) Finally, if anyone can point me in the direction (links or even books) of the basics of log home building, it would be much appreciated.

As a send off, I have a picture collage of the land I own, and the work I have done on it since 2004 to show that I do have some capabilities that may be required to build my own home.

http://imgur.com/a/FHSJw

[panderson03]

Is there any documentation I can read about the LHBA log home building system before I plunk down $1000's to sign up for the class and travel plans from the east coast? I'm definitely interested in building my own log home. I own 60+ acres of wooded land in New York State and it seems to make sense financially etc. we felt the same way when we stumbled upon LHBA:)

I've been reading about LHBA all morning here, and I am getting an uneasy feeling of secrecy about the whole deal... I'll do more reading on the forums before I make any final decisions, but I have a lot of general questions I need answered before I can make a decision to sign up. we did too, but found the members of this forum very open and willing to help. that eased our fears tremendously!

I am a mechanical engineer by day, and a decent handyman, but I am no home builder. here you're one up on us:) I have been lamenting on what to build at my land for over 10 years, and am turned off by the standard method of builder + mortgage, it's just too expensive for me. us too!! there's no way we could retire in 10 years (15 back when we took the class!) and build a kit home. we'd have too much debt to be comfortable. so we wanted to be able to build our own and pay as we go, which is the road we're on now. when we're finished building we'll own our place free and clear which delights me to no end!

I guess some basic questions I have that maybe can be answered here:

1) Can I have a basement with a butt & pass log home? yup. we're building ours with a 9'8" basement. used ICF to do it ourselves. did hire a cement contractor to advise us to be sure we didn't make any fatal errors. worked out well for us:)

a) Can I have a poured foundation? yes. our footings and basement walls are poured concrete (footings are 2'x1' continuous footings. basement walls are 8" core of cement inside the ICF forms)
b) Can I use pre-cast basement walls? sorry, but I don't even know what that is... :) but I'm sure others here will!

2) What kind of logs can I use? Must they be a certain species of evergreen? no they do not have to be evergreen. some use oak others use hemlock; it goes on and on. our fearless leader's motto was always 'use what you have' :)

3) Is really one treatment of borax going to stop carpenter bees the life of the home? They are a real issue here. we borated after we peeled the logs, and one more time after we stacked the log walls. we do not have any trouble with carpenter bees but others may be able to speak about their experiences

4) I'm not understanding how the floor joists systems are integrated. we oriented floor joists perpendicular to the girders ( which themselves are perpendicular to the ridgepole). for the first floor we wet set the ledgerboards into the basement cement walls. our loft floor ledger boards will be (this summer if we're lucky) lag bolted to the 10th course of wall logs. is that what you're looking for? do you want info on the girders as well?

5) Finally, if anyone can point me in the direction (links or even books) of the basics of log home building, it would be much appreciated. I do not believe there are any books written on the way we build (tightly pinned butt and pass method). sorry about that. before we took the class we wasted a lot of money on log building books. they were worthless after we took the LHBA class but its your choice. it sure did help us pass the tiime while we waited for class dates to finally arrive!!

more questions? ask away!! :) welcome. glad you're here.

As a send off, I have a picture collage of the land I own, and the work I have done on it since 2004 to show that I do have some capabilities that may be required to build my own home. lovely place you have there! beautifully wooded and secluded:)

http://imgur.com/a/FHSJw

[rckclmbr428]

I'm sitting in a butt and pass home, on a poured wall basement, that I built myself. I personally don't care for precast walls, but they could be used. I've built dozens of these style homes with everything from white pine, white oak, yellow poplar, Douglas fir, lodgepole pine, red pine, and Cypress. And probably some others I've forgotten about. Borates are not a successful deterrent to Carpenter bees. There are other methods of dealing with them that are. The floor system can be integrated in a number of ways, pick your favorite. I built a home up near Rochester a few years ago. It's still doing just fine

[rreidnauer]

I would not use precast foundations (i.e. - Superior Walls) for the weight of an LHBA built home.

The rest, take a leap of faith. Your questions are answered in the class.

Side thought: So, how many threads are there now on this forum asking if the class is real, then ending with the OP taking the class and stating it was the best decision they ever made?

[etd66ss]

I'm sitting in a butt and pass home, on a poured wall basement, that I built myself. I personally don't care for precast walls, but they could be used. I've built dozens of these style homes with everything from white pine, white oak, yellow poplar, Douglas fir, lodgepole pine, red pine, and Cypress. And probably some others I've forgotten about. Borates are not a successful deterrent to Carpenter bees. There are other methods of dealing with them that are. The floor system can be integrated in a number of ways, pick your favorite. I built a home up near Rochester a few years ago. It's still doing just fine

When building a butt and pass on a poured wall foundation, how soon can you backfill the foundation?

Another concern I have is, the forest on my wooded lot is only about 60-80 years old, I'm not sure if I have enough trees that are large enough to build a log home. Is there a minimum diameter on the small end a log must be for use in the log home? I have dealt with 100's of spruce logs at my land from tress that were blown over due to my previous clearing efforts. Generally a ~35 ft log is only 10-12 inches in diameter on the small end.

[rreidnauer]

Depending on wall thickness, probably as fast as you can get the forms stripped off and drain tile in. Better to wait the 30 days it takes concrete to mostly cure. Crawlspace foundations need even less time, as lateral loading is even less.

There is no set minimum tip diameter. Generally though, people shoot for around 12". I wouldn't hesitate using those 10~12" logs you have. I have seen places with some 8" tops, and they work just fine.

[loghousenut]

If you want to build your own log home with your own hands, you are in the right spot. Every response you will get here is from folks who have taken the class. None of us have a stake in the Association and none of us make a dime off of any of it. We are just a bunch of clowns (present company accepted) who have, are, or will build our own place. I am currently working 40 hours per week as I build the home I will die in... if I can hurry up the build a bit.

The system works. Those Spruce trees will do just fine. You can do it and you can do it without a 30 year mortgage if you want to. Your property looks like a dream come true but lacks that home that you so desperately want to build.


This is not "log house magazine" stuff. This is real, and you can do it, and you don't have to sink $3,000,000 dollars in the place to get it done.



http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t55/loghousenut/P1020622_zps41a5dfcc.jpg (http://s157.photobucket.com/user/loghousenut/media/P1020622_zps41a5dfcc.jpg.html)

[LowKey]

Take the class.
It's a mantra that drove me nuts while I was waiting for my class date to roll around.
Do it even if you think you can puzzle it out on your own....it's a good thing to have this forum to brainstorm with and network. The "free tool rental" program here is almost worth the class price all by itself.

BTW, if you think travel expenses are bad from the east coast to Las Vegas, I tell you what...I'll buy you your plane tickets if you'll reimburse me for mine! ;)

[rocklock]

Is there any documentation I can read about the LHBA log home building system
I am a mechanical engineer by day, and a decent handyman,
1) Can I have a basement with a butt & pass log home?
a) Can I have a poured foundation?
b) Can I use pre-cast basement walls?
2) What kind of logs can I use? Must they be a certain species of evergreen?
3) Is really one treatment of borax going to stop carpenter bees the life of the home? They are a real issue here.
4) I'm not understanding how the floor joists systems are integrated.
5) Finally, if anyone can point me in the direction (links or even books) of the basics of log home building, it would be much appreciated.

The basic system is logs held together with steel. The log are stacked in a butt and pass arrangement... No joints, no fitting, no skill required. Just drill a hole through the top log then pound a re-bar into the lower log. I have over 900 pieces a 23 inch steel in my log home, so much that most must go outside to use their cell phone... But of course the class goes into the process in much greater detail.

Since the log walls are load bearing, you can move stuff around if you like. I recommend using ICF's to get a foundation and basement that will be able to hold the 150,000 lbs. of wet logs that you stack.

See previous two answers on. type of logs and bees.

Floor joists are hung at least two different ways. My longest I joist for the first floor was 14 feet. I also used 4 by 10 for the second floor joist.

There is only one book that I know of that explains the tightly pinned B&P system. I bought it. However they got key parts wrong, hence I do not recommend the book. I have about 400 pictures of my build and two videos. I have overbuilt some stuff but I am very happy with the result.

I have gained a great deal of knowledge from this forum. I feel that I owe a debt so I try help other when I can. Besides the class has a money back guarantee.

Finally, my home has never had debt. I have been working on it for 10 years (part time). We (my son and I) have lived in it for the last 5 years (year around)... I also have a home in Hawaii, where I go when it get cold... I started this when I was 63 and now I'm 72. I am one of these weird people that likes to make things and I work hard. So, I would like to encourage you to look further into this forum...

[ncaress]

I'm taking a leap of faith and figure I'm just crazy enough to pull off building my own log home. My airfare is cheaper than yours, but at least you have trees. Gotta find me some logs :)

[panderson03]

Mr/Ms ncaress, if we can do this you can:) and class will give you tips on how to find logs. the member's side of these forums will give you access to logger's other members have used:)

[2Determined2Quit]

Me and my husband just took the course 3 weeks ago. Rest assured that it is well worth it. With the Canadian dollar so low right now it cost us approx $4000 CAD and we both still think it was a bargain. You get two LONG intense days of instruction, a thick manual with course content and a lot of extra info, and access to the member side of this forum which we think is invaluable. We also had the opportunity to see a recently completed log home shortly after we completed the course....this completely cemented the deal for us and can't wait to get started on ours!!

I say just go for it!

[etd66ss]

I did a walkthrough of my land today surveying the trees, I think I'd definitely have to source the logs from somewhere else. It's too bad, I lost so many spruce trees to the wind, I would have had enough to build two log homes, but those logs are long gone :(

The only trees that I have in quantity that are large enough would be cottonwood, which seems to have crap rot resistance.

[thoner7]

Where are you in NY? I'm in Rochester, my wife and I just closed on land near honeoye.

Are the fallen trees still on the property? How long have they been down? You could maybe still use them!

[etd66ss]

Where are you in NY? I'm in Rochester, my wife and I just closed on land near honeoye.

Are the fallen trees still on the property? How long have they been down? You could maybe still use them!

I am located in Newfane NY. Here is a link to an album that shows some of the wind damage, as well as some of the logs I have had over the years. http://imgur.com/a/U5QKV

The wind damage did not occur as a singular event, it seems every spring when the ground is wet, the deciduous tress have no leaves, we get wind storms. This topples over many spruce trees each year. The trees were used to having wind protection, but when I logged the ~8 acres to dig my ponds, I removed their wind protection, they just don't have root systems that can hold on. Also, many of the trees had snapped in half from the wind, which made them useless for a log home pretty much. So between 2010 and to this day, I lose some trees every spring. If you look at the album, you'll see one of the pictures is of my brothers sawmill. I gave all the logs to him so they could be used for lumber, one of his friends built a cabin, my bother used some for siding. Unfortunately, a lot of the logs sat too long and rotted very fast, they were turned into firewood for an outdoor wood furnace.

As I mentioned before, I think my forest is not mature enough to be able to harvest for a log home, the majority of the trees are still to small. I guess after WWII the 4H came through in the late 1940's and planted all the spruce, red pine and scotch pine. Some of the ~65 year old trees are big enough, but they are far and few between, most of the trees are probably only 30-40 years old. The scotch pine were in pretty good shape when I bought the property 12 years ago, however since them, many of them have broken in half and died, there is a section of my property that looks like a bomb went off.

In any event, I think if I want to actually build a log home, I'll have to source nicer logs than what I have at my property...