Log home failure

[Irmobaseball]

Hello,

Has anyone that has completed the course ended up having a log home that became a disaster? Also, living in Texas we rarely get rain but the sun is hell, do I need to do any extra maintenance? My biggest worry is that I will screw it up. Welcome any advice, thanks

[Shark]

Depends what you mean by disaster....I'm sure there have been many marriages broke up by building....
As in the structure failing, none that I've heard of. The instructors really make the info easy to learn & are very thorough. If you follow the methods they teach, you will have a very strong home.

As far as protection from the sun, make sure to have large enough overhangs, maybe even a wrap-around covered porch.

[rreidnauer]

About the only log home disaster of someone's own building (I don't recall if it was butt & pass or not) was a total loss from fire due to a pile of linseed oil soaked rags which spontaneously combusted. No one has ever reported a structural problem that I know of, and that includes the earlier designs which were built even less solid than current design. (to meet the increasing more rigorous building codes, not because there was a deficiency in design)

Build to LHBA specs, and you'd be hard pressed to go wrong.

[Yuhjn]

That's actually a pretty good question. I'll try to answer the best I can:

First realize that 99% of the homes in America are being built right now are done by "professionals" who may know what they are doing more than you, but they also dont care much about the work. They are building to make a buck and they will cut any corner they can to increase profits. You, on the other hand, building your own log home from scratch, will put your own blood sweat tears and love into the thing. Because of that you are much more like to do things "the right way". This will dramatically improve the quality of your home.

Next, an LHBA home is EXTREMELY simple. That's probably the most fundamental design criteria that this style of contruction is based on. One of the quotes from Skip you'll hear most often is "dont get delusions of grandure". In other words, you can make an LHBA home extremely complex if you want, but if you have never built one before, DONT! Keep it as simple as possible and you minimize the risks of making mistakes. They way the LHBA teaches to build is the simplist way possible, designed to be done by those with no contruction experience at all.

Finally you WILL make mistakes, nearly everyone does. But most mistakes are either cosmetic or correctable. There are only a few things that are really critical to your home not becomming a "disaster". All the important bits are clearly explained in the class, and afterward you have lifetime support from the LHBA staff and also the wealth of knowledge contained in the members.

You are wise to be wary, but you can do this, and if you devote yourself to it mind body and soul you will end up with a beautiful BnP log home and disaster wont ever enter the picture.

Final thought: The real danger in building an LHBA home is not messing up the house, it's personal injury. Has anyone ever built an LHBA house that fell down because they screwed it up? As far as I know, no. Has anyone ever been seriously injured building one? Again as far as I know, no. However there have been many minor injuries and it is absolutely imperitive that you follow all saftey procedures and do everything in your power to keep saftey first and formost on the job site. Hopefully this last bit doesnt scare you, because it's certainly possible to be very safe building your own home. But it doesnt happen on it's own. You must be EXTREMELY dilligent about saftey. If something ever feels "wrong", stop and think about it. Always keep your site clean and tidy. Always wear all the saftey gear. Think before you act. Be patient. And when it's late and you are tired, resist the urge to continue to work. Instead rest. Most accidents happen when you are tired at the end of a long day.

So in summary, this is absolutly possible! You really can make this happen for yourself. The hardest part is getting started. Fortunatley the class does wonders for your confidence by laying everything out for you. It becomes clear just how possible it is when you take the class.

Many LHBA members say the class as one of the most important and life-changing experiences in their life.

[Irmobaseball]

Thanks for setting my mind at ease. Those logs are certainly big and safety is certainly an issue, but its nice to know that the injuries have been minimal to this point, thanks Yuhjn.

[Yuhjn]

One other thought I had is that everyone's situation is different. You'll learn in class about one woman who took the class years ago, who made millions of dollars building several small LHBA cottages on some land she owned. She did it without sawing a single board, driving a single nail, or even pull-starting a chainsaw. She found a really great way to get very cheap labor and simply told them exactly what to do every step of the way. The details of her story are way too cool for me to recite here; much better that you learn about them while sitting in a massive LHBA log home learning how to do it yourself when you take the class.

[LeighG]

I've been assiduously searching the web for pictures of LHBA folks building their houses and everything is looking good - but looking at this one house - I'd say probably things didn't go exactly to plan.

http://s151.photobucket.com/albums/s146/fredcasey/?start=120

You might not notice, but as I watched the log stacking progress through the pictures I was thinking "Why is the second course of logs so much BIGGER than the first course?"

It finally occurred to me that possibly the builder hadn't actually gotten his logs before he completed the foundation piers. My guess: Not knowing that some of his logs were going to be huge, he didn't leave the rebar extended far enough from the piers to penetrate the huge logs. Normally, it seems that folks stack the largest logs (those that aren't RPSLs or the ridge pole) on the bottom course. I think that makes sense esthetically and strength-wise. You can see that, in this case, the smaller logs had to go first, probably because the rebar wasn't long enough to penetrate the larger logs

In some of the later pictures, it looks like the smaller first course logs is damaged by the weight of the upper logs - and is sistered with some lumber.

I'm just speculating, mind you. I'm scheduled to take the class this weekend. If it were my place - I think I would put in a deck on the front high enough to hide the first/second course transition. As long as the sistering is good and well-bolted and supported: no harm, no foul, and nobody will ever know.

[rreidnauer]

While I suspect you may be correct about the rebar not being long enough for those giant second course logs, I do not believe there is any damage to the first course logs. I'm willing to gamble that you are seeing a ledger board for his deck. Would have been nice to save those logs used in the second course for ridgepoles and cap logs, unless they simply weren't long enough.

[adubar]

I could be taking a big guess, but it looks to me that the builder may have been trying to solve for taper on the larger logs. On some of the pictures, it almost looks like the taper on the larger logs would have created a more sever situation to solve for if they were on the first course. It looks like logs with taper that complimeneted the larger logs were placed on the bottom so that the top of the large logs would be fairer (essentially, "splitting" the differenece between the first and third course). I believe if they had tried to compensate with the smaller logs on the second course, it would have been more difficult.

-A

[JeffandSara]

Hi, Irmobaseball--

Count us among the folks Yuhjn mentioned felt that LHBA was a life-changing experience, as well as among those that (despite strict adherence to safety practices) did have one moderate injury due to a freak accident. Logs are fairly unforgiving of miscalculations that involve humans in their way, and any sort of construction has inherent dangers from roofwork, ladders, power tools, etc. It's not a project to be taken lightly. However, having built our own home using LHBA principles, we unwaveringly support the techniques taught in the class and feel that, if they are understood and followed, along with sound general design and building practices, a fine-quality, structurally- stable, enduring home will result.

Certainly, there are stories around about people who took the course and had problems with their homes. We've heard a few, though we've never heard of what I think you're referring to when you say "failure" or "disaster", and frankly, we've not personally seen evidence of the stories, so who knows their veracity. It would be unreasonable and unrealistic to assume that every single person who ever took the class from Skip, Ellsworth and/or Steve did everything right. I don't think it's an insult to anyone to say that perhaps some people aren't "up" to building their own home by themselves... due to temperament, skills, resources, or whatever. But if you feel that you have what it takes to take on this sort of project successfully, the LHBA methods will give you a superior result, in our opinion.

I do think, however, that some discretion needs to be used in the discussion when critiquing individual homes, especially during construction, like the home Leigh mentioned. Natural logs present their own special characteristics and challenges, and each builder is bringing (as Yuhjn also mentioned) their own set of circumstances, as well as their own interpretation/understanding of the methods, to their project.

When working with imperfect resources, a tight budget, a unique aesthetic sense, an unusual design or any number of factors, in a project of this type, it's often quite necessary to "improvise, adapt and overcome" as the Marines would say. Things going "according to plan" is a nice goal, but not always an achievable one; and there's no reason to assume that a glitch, miscalculation, materials problem, or seat-of-the-pants solution is necessarily a mistake... or even a drawback. One of the beauties of these homes is the individuality of each home, which is a combination of the builder's sense of design and aesthetics, their available materials and circumstances, their implementation of the LHBA principles, and more.

We've known dozens of LHBA members and although many of them have done things in their construction process that we would not have probably chosen to do, they've all ended up with (or are working their way toward) fine homes we know they'll enjoy and be proud of. My point is, it's difficult (if not impossible) to objectively discuss a construction project if you have no knowledge of the builder's specific situation/circumstances. It's impossible to know if things went according to plan or not, if you don't know what the plan was in the first place.

If photos of our home were available on-line, I'm sure many would wonder why the heck we did some of the things we did... and I'd frankly hate to be under that microscope with people who did not know our story. However, we made the decisions we made based on our specific needs, wants, resources and circumstances (DEFINITELY having to improvise, adapt and overcome along the way!), and we couldn't be happier with the results. We owe that all to Skip and the LHBA techniques. : )

Good luck to all!

Jeff and Sara

[freeloader]

I got the idea that I would use logs on my first course of logs that would be the same height of my floor. All the first course logs will be under the floor and not visible after the floor is finished. The big log in front will be right on top of the porch floor. This house will have a 10 ft. porch all the way around it. There has been no damage to the first course of logs. I admit that the front log doesn't match the rest of its layer, but I couldn't resist using it, so I had to improvise with a smaller log above it.

After having done it, I wouldn't use so small of logs on the first course because it makes it hard to set the next layer on it if they are really large.

[pinecone pam]

You'll make a few mistakes. You'll learn a ton from them. You'll have a great house. And you'll go on to help others. It's called a leap of calculated faith!

[2 cents]

This comment has been moved <a href="http://www.loghomebuilders.org/node/6358">here</a>.

[LeighG]

OK - now the smaller logs on the first row makes sense. I can see why you did it - especially with all the following logs being so HUGE.

Just wondering how your progress this summer has been. The last picture you posted showed you WAY high up in the air on a scaffold tower working on one of your RPSLs. I don't think I've seen any other members with RPSLs so tall.

Your progress so far has been heartening (especially for folks like me who don't even have a place to build yet.) I keep haunting your photobucket page - but no updates for a while. Hope everything is going OK.

Leigh

Fred - just wondering

[mountains for me]

Hello fellow Texan! As far as screwing it up, I think each of us have thought about that. The best advice I can give is take the class, and get the reassurance that this is very possible. Almost all of our ancestors, built their homes, and they didn't even have near the resources that we do. Just this forum alone, should give reassurance that people are doing this every day. There are many LHBA members right in your area who have recently taken the class, and are going forward with their dreams. If being mortgage debt free is something that interests you, this is one of the best ways I have seen out there yet. As far as dealing with the sun, I am planning on a walkout basement down here in Texas.