Log screws vs rebar

[Dayita]

Can I use log screws instead of rebar? Advantages vs disadvantages. Will be building a B and P cabin this next summer, 24 x 24 with a 6' wrap around porch.

[rreidnauer]

Depending on the features of the screws, you might end up with settling issues.

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[mudflap]

Do you mean 'lag' screws? If you mean for pinning the logs, you would've needed 25"+ long lag screws for my house. And that would be insanely expensive. I paid $700 for all the rebar to build a 2 story 3200 sq ft house, and I still have enough left over for a garage. No. use rebar. much cheaper. much stronger.

update: I found "log screws" on ebay- but they are like $1 each, and only 10" long. for a 40' long wall, you'd need 20 per log, and twice as many logs to get to height. so that would be 64*2 logs in my house, that would be 20x64*2 = $2560.

....And what Rod said.


Have you taken the class? If so, welcome. If not, I admire the spunk, but taking the class will cost you about $1000. It's about to be online. I almost said "it is online" because I'm testing it right now, but I guess it's for members only at this point. It will be online soon for the public. It's not a scam. I took the class a few years ago in Vegas. That $800 back then has paid for itself over and over again. If you forced me to come up with a number, I'd say I've saved $50k on my build so far. I promise you will waste more than $1k by NOT taking the class. :)

Check out my build (in my signature). I'm not a builder. I don't get paid for this. :) Biggest project I took on before this was probably a chicken coop. My wife and I did everything except put the ridge pole and rafters up. I hired a crane because it was cheaper than the stronger chain and lifting equipment I would have had to buy at that point. But everything else we did ourselves with ropes and pulleys. Obviously, machinery makes the build go faster.

But there are A LOT of us - owner builders - all over the country. Best of luck to you- a well-built log home is the best kind of home to build in terms of value, beauty, longevity, etc., and a LHBA Butt & Pass log home is the best kind of log home.

[loghousenut]

All the rebar for my foundation and the rest of the build was free. Lag screws are fine for several parts of the build. I have about 50 in mine.

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[allen84]

Cheapest place around here to buy nuts, bolts and screws is TSC. Rebar is also really cheap, or free.

[rocklock]

Can I use log screws instead of rebar? Advantages vs disadvantages. Will be building a B and P cabin this next summer, 24 x 24 with a 6' wrap around porch.

Clearly you have not taken the class...
1. lag screws that are long enough will be very expensive.
2. use big logs because they have better insulation values.
3. rebar will hold the logs in-place just as well or better than ANY screw.
4. rebar is much faster and easier to install than amy screw.
You need to take the class... all of this suff is covered.

[Dayita]

Thank you.

[Dayita]

Thank you for the tips and advice. Like the videos too.

[Dayita]

How I hope to find the golden egg that has free rebar. ;) Thank you for the info.

[mudflap]

How I hope to find the golden egg that has free rebar. ;) Thank you for the info.

yeah. me too. construction sites, craigslist, etc. but not the big box stores. But mine wasn't that much. I paid $700 for my rebar- probably about $0.21 / ft. I ended up with about a half mile of rebar, and I think I have enough left over to build the garage. can you imagine the cost of a half mile of screws?

where are you building, if you don't mind?

[Dayita]

We are building in Marion, Montana. First time building , we have lots of pros on our side as well as a few cons. Pros: We own our trees and no permits required as far as we can tell the biggest con is that we have a pretty short time frame to get things accomplished. We have snow till May, the ground doesn't really dry out till June, and we close up shop the end of Sept. So just a few months to get a whole lot done. Learning so much from this class and reading everyone's questions and answers.

[Dayita]

Gosh Mudflap I have been off in the distance it seems so sorry for such a late reply.
We are building in western Montana. 12 miles north of a wee little town called Marion. We currently still have about an average of 2 ft of snow left but it is melting fast. When I figure out how to post a picture I will.

[loghousenut]

www.imgur.com

Works every time for me.

[allen84]

What is this thing you guys call feet of snow? We had some 35-40 degree snowflakes yesterday.

[Dayita]

4187 Last week shoveling a path to the shed and the Tollbooth "outhouse" I'll get it figured somehow. We are headed up to the ranch on Tuesday I have high hopes that there is less than a foot of snow average.

[Dayita]

418841894190 Found the fire pit under 3 ft of snow, Flag in honor of Marks dad and our 4 season pop up camper.

[loghousenut]

That's a pretty beautiful place to wait for spring.

Here in sunny southern Oregon, we are already worried about summer wildfires. Fire season starts in 4 days. One month earlier than ever before.

[rreidnauer]

We've had more days with snow, here in Pennsylvania this month, than we did with both January and February combined. Fortunately, it doesn't pile up.

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[AZDefender]

Have you taken the class? If so, welcome. If not, I admire the spunk, but taking the class will cost you about $1000. It's about to be online. I almost said "it is online" because I'm testing it right now, but I guess it's for members only at this point. It will be online soon for the public. It's not a scam. I took the class a few years ago in Vegas. That $800 back then has paid for itself over and over again. If you forced me to come up with a number, I'd say I've saved $50k on my build so far. I promise you will waste more than $1k by NOT taking the class. :)


Mudflap, just went through your blog. very amazing stuff. You said that the online class is soon to be released to the public, do you have a timeline for that? I signed up for the email notification about in person classes but i just wanted to do the first one available, either online or in person.

Thanks again for all the inspiration

David

[mudflap]

Mudflap, just went through your blog. very amazing stuff. You said that the online class is soon to be released to the public, do you have a timeline for that? I signed up for the email notification about in person classes but i just wanted to do the first one available, either online or in person.

Thanks again for all the inspiration

David

Lol, you're welcome. I'm actually just inspired by everyone who went ahead of me, so.....As for how to do the online class- folks keep asking me that- I just keep sending messages I get onto to Steve White (admin), to let him know, and he contacts them. If you're on facebook, there's an open group where you can send a message to Steve: https://www.facebook.com/loghomeassociation/

Best of luck out there!

[mudflap]

418841894190 Found the fire pit under 3 ft of snow, Flag in honor of Marks dad and our 4 season pop up camper.

you guys are hard core!

I wanted to live on my land while building, but we're within city limits, and they won't let us. I'm not sure how strict they would be, but folks across and down the street were living in their trailer/RV after their house got condemned and were trying to rebuild, and the city came and made them move out.

[AZDefender]

you guys are hard core!

I wanted to live on my land while building, but we're within city limits, and they won't let us. I'm not sure how strict they would be, but folks across and down the street were living in their trailer/RV after their house got condemned and were trying to rebuild, and the city came and made them move out.

You have been building your cabin since 2017? How long total do you believe it will be before you can move in from first purchasing the land?

[mudflap]

You have been building your cabin since 2017? How long total do you believe it will be before you can move in from first purchasing the land?

I've been telling folks "at least another year".

I have a lot going against me:
1. doing it myself
2. in my free time after working my full-time job
3. building a 40x40 2-story home (I think if I was building a 25x25 with a half loft, I would be currently playing my ukulele on the front porch barefoot). 40x40 isn't just a few feet bigger, it's much more of a hassle - logs are heavier, more materials, more time, more expense. Of course, they warned us about this in class but did I listen? no. I did not. too bullheaded. ok, 'adventurous'.
4. I'm also my own car mechanic. and for my kids apparently. replacing/rebuilding engines seems to be something I do a lot of.
5. no telehandler. I'll let LHN chime in, but ropes and pulleys gets you a special badge here on the forum. only a few of us have reached that pinnacle of insanity.
6. weather. rain, rain, rain. It's the south, after all, but still - more than normal.

[loghousenut]

Unlike mudflap, I had a telehandler, tons of money, a supportive family, land that was debt free, and a manly animal magnetism that mesmerized the ladies. Our build took 10 years.


Did I mention that I am lazy and there seemed to be no real hurry at the time.


If anyone out there is wondering how long it takes to build the home of your dreams, the answer is YES! And it is worth every minute if you do it right.

[mudflap]

Unlike mudflap, I had a telehandler, tons of money, a supportive family, land that was debt free, and a manly animal magnetism that mesmerized the ladies. Our build took 10 years.


Did I mention that I am lazy and there seemed to be no real hurry at the time.


If anyone out there is wondering how long it takes to build the home of your dreams, the answer is YES! And it is worth every minute if you do it right.

lol. well at least we have the "animal" part in common. :)

I think 5 years for a 3200 sq ft home is a good goal.

If you don't have to cut trees and invent roads and ways to move them, then 3-4 years is a good goal.

If you hire ronnie rckclmbr, then 10 days for him to get it dried in, and then 2 years for you to finish it.

cheap, fast, or good......pick two.

[Dayita]

you guys are hard core!

I wanted to live on my land while building, but we're within city limits, and they won't let us. I'm not sure how strict they would be, but folks across and down the street were living in their trailer/RV after their house got condemned and were trying to rebuild, and the city came and made them move out.

This is the first May that we have been at the property and what an eye opener it has been. A more than average wet spring has made everything super spongy and basically water logged. We had a less than average winter with about half the amount of snow we should have had, with that we still had the creek right up to the tops of the banks.
We made the hard decision to relocate the cabin site to an area that is about 30.ft above the creek. There are so many more things that we need to do to prepare the site, clear the area(s) for the cabin, a new road, log decks, sawmill and lumber from that and more new road. We both feel that we will be chewing on that bite of more than we could chew for quite some time but we are having SO MUCH FUN!!! What we thought of starting this year has been moved to next year and another 6 month summer in the pop up trailer.
Found a pretty little view from the East looking NW at the ranch.

[mudflap]

sounds like work. wow. in one of the building off grid books I have, they say to live on the land for at least a year before building on it so you can get a feel for the weather and how things flow in different seasons. I think cutting trees every night after work for a year+ was my qualifier.

so...do you drive into town for internet?

[rreidnauer]

you guys are hard core!

I wanted to live on my land while building, but we're within city limits, and they won't let us. I'm not sure how strict they would be, but folks across and down the street were living in their trailer/RV after their house got condemned and were trying to rebuild, and the city came and made them move out.On the bright side, at least one can still take a poop on the sidewalk in San Diego.

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[Dayita]

It is a pretty 24 mile drive if we go to town or a 14 mile drive if we go to the boat launch and when they open up the Forest Service gates then we only have about a 4 mile. These are all round trip totals. Yes we are learning to be patient when it comes to figuring out the details and what with where we want to build and put things. It will happen hopefully sooner than later. Our hope is to have cleared and readied the area for the cabin and the space for the log decks. We always leave the offer to anyone who wants to come up that when the gate is open the coffee is on.:D. It really is such a pretty place, the Mom in Law says that the air is softer and the blue is bluer and what would ya know shes right.