Jan 19 & 20th class

[coastal1]

Hey guys my girlfriend and I attended the 19 & 20th class. It was well worth the wait and Ellsworth and Steve were great instructors. The class was held professionally as well as an open forum. I'm glad I took my girlfriend also...it seems to help when they can touch and see what you are trying to accomplish. The morning and especially evening trips up and down the "driveway" will always be her most memorable parts of the trip...lol.

[Shark]

Glad you enjoyed it! Yep I love that driveway haha.
I forgot a flashlight, it was interesting....

Make sure to get into the members area & start reading!

[pinecone pam]

I got into your pics! Wow, it's really coming along. The windows look great. It's gonna be a house!!!!!!!!!!!

[kala]

Hey coastal1
So do you recommend this class for beginners? My husband and I are seriously considering it, but we have ZERO building experience.

[JD]

Kala,
Absolutely! The class is for everyone, regardless of their construction background. In fact, if you've never built anything, then you have no preconceived notions about the "right way" to build a log home.
Trust me, this is not rocket science and it won't be over your head.
JD

[coastal1]

Hey Kala, I assure you you will feel like you can succeed after the class. My girlfriend wasn't sure of her ability either. When we got to look at Skip's house and see the design first hand she started understranding the processes a little better. As you are taking the class you get to look around and see whats being talked about that very second. It's well worth your time and energy to join. Ellsworth and Steve deliver the information very professionally and answer all questions no matter how trivial. The only mistake my girlfriend made on the trip was wearing a dress shoe...lol.

"It will get you back in long after you wish you weren't out there" - Old timers commenting on the seaworthiness
of the Simmons Sea Skiff.

[Klapton]

I have no construction experience (minor home repairs only), and was able to understand everything being taught in the class. Now, you should understand that if you intend to do ALL the work yourself, the class is only the BEGINNING of your education. There are LOTS of things that aren't exhaustively taught in the class, but rather how those things are done in a butt and pass log home are covered. I'll give an example:

Wiring

The class does NOT teach you everything you need to know about wiring to wire your own home. You (and me too!) will need to get books on wiring an study up to do it ourselves. But those are readily available. What they DO teach are things that are DIFFERENT about wiring a log home. Things like how to run the wires in log walls rather than framed, how to hide wires in a vaulted TnG cieling, etc.

The core of the course is on building the log structure itself -- something you CAN'T readily get anywhere else with the same thoroughness and quality. There's a zillion books out there on conventional construction, and you will likely need to read some of those to do the REST of your log home. But those are everywhere.

I hope this all makes sense? lol

[ChainsawGrandpa]

When I took the class I came from a construction background, and I did have a problem!
I over-thought everything!! Skip was right...better to work with a clean slate.

I was trained from the foundation all the way through to the mill & casework. This is
construction simplified, and when you "know" how it is supposed to work, you will have
problems until you (like me) finally settle down and realize that this is, just like Skip said,
"stacking logs".

Once I got past my training my brain was able to take a rest.

Also, I too recommend taking your wife.

I came back ready to build, and my wife said, "Great! Let's just remodel this one we're in first
and then build the log home." The rest is history. The "remodeled" home will hopefully be going
back on the market in a few weeks, and when the ground thaws I hope to be stacking logs.

-Rick

[Vern Street]

Most definitely!!!

We were!

Sara