Ellsworth
03-19-2025, 07:38 PM
This post is not related to the recent news of the Makah Tribe moving closer to hunting a whale (https://cheknews.ca/we-are-optimistic-makah-first-nation-may-receive-permit-to-hunt-grey-whales-of-their-coast-soon-1244619/).
(While it's a complex issue, I'm on their side for what it's worth. When the Makah are wealthy enough to join the G7, and/or start using modern whaling ships, then I'd be against them whaling. I can't reassess until the ecosystem bounces back from past whaling. It's a simple-complex issue.)
This post is all about how I see student builds and what the LHBA is all about. Every DIY / owner-builder log home project is like a whale on the beach. That whale belongs to the owner of the property, it's a tribe of one (or a tribe the size of a family).
The local subcontractors are all from other tribes, and they all want to take some meat off your whale of a log home build. It's part of their job... inherent in their job... is the desire to cut off the largest and choicest piece of meat possible (aka, they want to take as much CASH from your pocketbook as they can). Your job as the owner-builder is to find every way legally and morally possible to retain the most meat for yourself, and your family if you have one. Keep that CASH in your wallet.
The relationship between owner-builder and subcontractors can be friendly or not. But at the core is a tension: conflicting desires of cash and services.
So traditionally the LHBA has dispensed the best money saving advice we can. Advice applicable to a log home project or a stick frame home project. From finding inexpensive materials to minimizing labor cost via intelligent action, there are lots of ways to save money on a build. I recently met a couple who was living in an apartment when I was buying something that they had posted on a sales forum. The couple lived in a nice apartment with a built in kitchen island, and they were the right age to be thinking of buying a home. So I pointed at the kitchen island and mentioned, "a built in kitchen island like that increases your tax assessment. If it was not built in, if it was movable, then it wold save you money every year on taxes... when you buy your home." They understood the point.
Every log home project ends up like a giant dead bear in the woods, ready for everyone to try and take some meat off the carcass. Maybe bear is a better metaphor than whale? If both metaphors squick you out, then think of your log home project as your wallet full of cash laying in the dirt. Every subcontractor has access, and part of your job is 'retaining bills as you pay the bills." I'm sticking with a butt and pass home is like a dead whale on a beach, your job is to keep the most meat for yourself (morally and ethically of course).
And remember, the subcontractors, while highly motivated to get into your wallet, are also part of the community in which you are building. So how you handle the cash dance can be critical to your future lived reality.
(While it's a complex issue, I'm on their side for what it's worth. When the Makah are wealthy enough to join the G7, and/or start using modern whaling ships, then I'd be against them whaling. I can't reassess until the ecosystem bounces back from past whaling. It's a simple-complex issue.)
This post is all about how I see student builds and what the LHBA is all about. Every DIY / owner-builder log home project is like a whale on the beach. That whale belongs to the owner of the property, it's a tribe of one (or a tribe the size of a family).
The local subcontractors are all from other tribes, and they all want to take some meat off your whale of a log home build. It's part of their job... inherent in their job... is the desire to cut off the largest and choicest piece of meat possible (aka, they want to take as much CASH from your pocketbook as they can). Your job as the owner-builder is to find every way legally and morally possible to retain the most meat for yourself, and your family if you have one. Keep that CASH in your wallet.
The relationship between owner-builder and subcontractors can be friendly or not. But at the core is a tension: conflicting desires of cash and services.
So traditionally the LHBA has dispensed the best money saving advice we can. Advice applicable to a log home project or a stick frame home project. From finding inexpensive materials to minimizing labor cost via intelligent action, there are lots of ways to save money on a build. I recently met a couple who was living in an apartment when I was buying something that they had posted on a sales forum. The couple lived in a nice apartment with a built in kitchen island, and they were the right age to be thinking of buying a home. So I pointed at the kitchen island and mentioned, "a built in kitchen island like that increases your tax assessment. If it was not built in, if it was movable, then it wold save you money every year on taxes... when you buy your home." They understood the point.
Every log home project ends up like a giant dead bear in the woods, ready for everyone to try and take some meat off the carcass. Maybe bear is a better metaphor than whale? If both metaphors squick you out, then think of your log home project as your wallet full of cash laying in the dirt. Every subcontractor has access, and part of your job is 'retaining bills as you pay the bills." I'm sticking with a butt and pass home is like a dead whale on a beach, your job is to keep the most meat for yourself (morally and ethically of course).
And remember, the subcontractors, while highly motivated to get into your wallet, are also part of the community in which you are building. So how you handle the cash dance can be critical to your future lived reality.