Question about

[m2244]

Hello,
I have not taken the class yet. Before I do I want to do a little more research. First, the main reasons I want to build my own log home are;
1. Lower mortgage, a dream I have had most of my life.
2. The satisfaction.
3. My wife and I have always loved log homes.
But some of the struggles I am having in making the decision are;
1. I would need help finishing. I do have some construction experience but not a lot. Most times that I have started a home project, the final touches were what killed me. I am not great at finish carpentry. And the chinking seems like it would be something I would need help with in order to get it right.
2. This one probably relates to the first. Are there any people on the east coast, New England, who are building their own log homes? Possible labor trade.
3. Could I easily get the home weather tight in one summer?
4. Are there any horror stories out there of people not being able to finish for some reason.

Any advice would be appreciated. Any books on the subject, etc.
Thanks in advance.
Mark

[Basil]

well, finished is a relative term. i've been in my home for almost 2 years, and i'm still not "finished" so, it's normal. There are people all over the country building log homes after taking this class, so i'm sure there are some in new england. I know for certain that there are a lot of east-coasters building or willing to help build. There are very good reasons for members to help each other, the main reason being that you actually get your hands dirty and really get the experience needed to decide if you want to do this.

Can you easily get weather tight in one summer? well, there's a lot of variables, how much help will you have, will you hire people, how big you building, how many days a week/hours per day are you working, etc. For most, starting in the spring and working through the summer isn't enough time. It took me three years to build mine, but i'm at the top end of the scale for people that worked non-stop. I had over 3000 square feet of porches to build to protect my logs before i even started "sewing her up". Took me two years just to get a roof on this thing, i have almost 7000 square feet of roof...

I don't know any "horror stories" but i do know of people getting hurt. This isn't a hobby-it's a commitment. Construction has inherent dangers, you will work at heights, with heavy logs sometimes wighing several tons. with chainsaws. The word "easy" doesn't really apply. The question is, what's easier-working your butt off for three years to do this, or work for thirty years to have a morgage and do what everyone else does? That is your call to make.

Having built my dream home, i'd do things different but i would still build the house. Start small, not big like i did, learn, then build bigger if you can and still want to. Anything can become a horror story without commitment. People ask me all the time "how did you build this?" and the simple answer is that i was more stubborn than the logs. I was in over my head, but determined to get it done and i did and now, looking back, it was the smartest work i have done in my life

[JayK]

Mark, I think Basil answered your questions nicely. I think you need to ask a question of yourself. Can you make that dream come true? I can't answer that for you. I'll share my own answer with you.
Did I want a log house? No. Do I like mortgage payments? No. It's also my wife's dream that we not have a huge monthly payment to a bank. I'm no carpenter, finish or otherwise, but I can swing a hammer and work a tape measure. Bet you can, too. I know how to do basic wiring, and plumbing. I quit eating out lunch everyday and started to brown bag it. I iron my own shirts rather than use a dry cleaning service. I wash my car by hand and not run it through a car wash. I don't have cable. I don't watch TV. I work, either my full-time job (some 55-60 hour/week) and work on my home when I'm not at the office. Will my home be a multi-million dollar looking place? Not sure. It won't compare with those in Isleworth. Nope. Don't really care. Will it outlast me? yes, and probably my great grand-children. Will it keep me warm and dry? Dry for sure as I'm working under a nice roof (2400 s.f.) in mega down poors. I'll soon be chinking, and then we'll see if it'll keep me warm this winter. I've taken less than 10 days off since January 1, 2009. I'm tired. I've totaled my truck and been told I should be dead from the accident. I recently stepped on a small board and fell through the floor joists, taking it under each arm, and falling on through seven feet down landing on top of a broadcast spreader. I kept working both times. I want this house....bad. I want to say I built this. I don't want a loan from a bank. I don't want to wonder how I'm going to make the next payment. I've researched and shopped, and shopped and shopped looking for the best of this or that. I've peeled logs in single digit temperatures, in snow, sleet, rain, as well as blistering sun. And you know what? Take a look at some of the pictures in my photobucket. I'm proud of what I've done. I'm going to finish, and in a few months I'm going be living there. I told myself I'd complete this by the time I turn 50. I turn 50 next week. I won't make that goal. A minor setback. I've lost 60 pounds since I decided to move forward with this. I'm in the best health I've probably been in years and I feel great. I hate sitting at my office desk.
I left a great job making very good money to move to where I have land, and I've found another job.....not as satisfying, nor making the same amount of money....but it's enough. I can do it. You can, too! If you want it. It won't be easy. It won't happen overnight. You'll have to give up most your vices and other things you probably can't imagine living without. But you can do it. And with your experience, and I'm guessing you have "friends" in the business that own a telehandler, etc., you might just find out that you'll have an army of help and can meet or beat your deadlines. There's worse things you could do with your time....figure out how you're going to make enough to pay next month's mortgage. Is this all scary? VERY MUCH SO. Have all the LHBAer's taken a huge leap of faith? You better believe it. But if doing something or nothing without any risk is it worth doing? And this forum and the class don't set you up to fail.
Confidence. Common sense. That's what we're talking about. Can you drive a nail? Can you cut a board? Can you deal with a building inspector? Can you work a computer and get on the internet? You have to answer those. Do it the old fashion way. Get a sheet of paper and fold vertically. On the left, write the reasons why you can and should, and on the right half, put down the reasons why you can't. "There is no try, only do." I worked at Home Depot for seven months and it was during this time I took the class. Remember their motto, "you can do it, we can help."? Well, in the store I would joke with fellow workers there was a second half to that motto: "....but most of you shouldn't even be trying. Call in a pro." Are you the person who walks up to a Walt Disney World cast member while on vacation and asks, "What time is the three o'clock parade?". (Happens more than you can imagine). Well, if you are, maybe you should work on that mortgage payment. But if you're not, sign up and take the class. I worked HD 5:30a-2:30p on Tuesday. Caught a 4:50p flight to Seattle from Orlando, landing, getting a rental, driving to Monroe, crawling in to bed around 1am. Up and to class before 0800. Long days, short nights, twice, then caught an early flight back to Orlando and straight to work at HD to close at 11:30p. It's all been so very worth it.
Thanks Skip, for start'n it; Thanks LHBA for continuing; Thanks Jenny for sending me.

[edkemper]

With the exception of loosing a family member during the build, I can't remember her name but a member built her home and then it burned down to the ground.
That's about the worst.

[hemlock77]

Hello,
I have not taken the class yet. Before I do I want to do a little more research. First, the main reasons I want to build my own log home are;
1. Lower mortgage, a dream I have had most of my life.
2. The satisfaction.
3. My wife and I have always loved log homes.
But some of the struggles I am having in making the decision are;
1. I would need help finishing. I do have some construction experience but not a lot. Most times that I have started a home project, the final touches were what killed me. I am not great at finish carpentry. And the chinking seems like it would be something I would need help with in order to get it right.
2. This one probably relates to the first. Are there any people on the east coast, New England, who are building their own log homes? Possible labor trade.
3. Could I easily get the home weather tight in one summer?
4. Are there any horror stories out there of people not being able to finish for some reason.

Any advice would be appreciated. Any books on the subject, etc.
Thanks in advance.
Mark

For me there has always been the log home dream. The class just gave me the mental tools to make it a reality. I have only three questions for you.
1. Do you want a log home?
2. Are you willing to put in the hard work?
3. Do you have the drive to follow through on this endeavor?
Your first step is to take the class, this will negate any back tracking in your plans. I am building in Connecticut, so I might be a useful resource. My project is going slow, only because my choice is to not go into debt.
As far as books goes, since you mentioned that finish work is your weak area. I would recommend books on finish carpentry, plumbing, electrical, flooring etc..
Stu
<a href="http://s165.photobucket.com/albums/u64/hemlock77/">http://s165.photobucket.com/albums/u64/hemlock77/</a>

[loghousenut]

We are all so different and yet we seem to be so "the same". I am 56 years old. My 18 year-old Son and I are building the home that my Son will inherit. My Son and I were always close but we have grown closer during this build. My wife (the boss) wants a time schedule in the worst way, and yet she is somehow satisfied knowing that I don't care when this house is finished. We broke ground on the foundation in March of 2009 and we hope to have the roof on by this winter. Ours will be one of the coolest houses in Josephine County, Oregon and it will probably have the largest ridgepole in the county. We enjoy each and every day that we work on the house. When completed we will still owe a dime to nobody. It would not have happened if we had not taken "the class" from Skip Ellsworth some 19 years ago. We are forever indebted to Skip for getting us headed in the right direction. If we had built a kit log home from the local kit log place (a big one that sells to far off lands) we would be paying for this house until we were 86 years old.
If what you see on this website does NOT turn you on... RUN, don't walk to the nearest exit. On the other hand, if you are even a little bit turned on by what you see here, you should take the class. It is a bit of cash that will go toward getting your head screwed on straight. When it's all said and done you will be ready to go out and start doing what you really want to with your life... build a house with your own hands... pay for it with your own sweat... Live free. No matter how it gets done, you can finish your families home. It will be work. You will be tired of it. You will get it done. It will get chinked (even if you have to do it yourself). You should probably take the class.
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t55/loghousenut/Our%20Home/The%20ridgepole/P1000696-1.jpg
<img src="file:///C:/DOCUME~1/Home/LOCALS~1/Temp/moz-screenshot.png" alt="" />

[rreidnauer]

With the exception of loosing a family member during the build, I can't remember her name but a member built her home and then it burned down to the ground.
That's about the worst.
That was Dorothy Ainsworth in 1995, and was due to a single linseed oil soaked rag self combusting. Horrible story, but in the end she rebuilt with support of her boyfriend, help from the local community, and donations from internet web forum communities.
http://www.dorothyainsworth.com/outof/ashes.html

[Cbear429]

Hi Mark,
Most all of us have weaknesses in one area or another. A decision on my end, when it involves the lives of others takes serious thought. What I am about to make, I feel will benefit my wife and I. You see, after going to the class, and I not just saying to just take it, what you will find is that the first day you arrive and see like minded people, in the same room, with the same thoughts, the same dreams, that you are not alone. I too have no experiences in building a home for my wife and myself. But after the class, which by the way is a two day thought intensive process; you will see that some decisions will come very easy to you. (Get the books suggested). As mentioned, help is out there, across the U.S... I posted questions I felt were dumb and the responses I received only reinforced my decision to move forward.
My wife and I had the same dream for many years. It was only after finding and reading the LHBA website, saving for the class, (Boston 05/2010) (a couple of years), thinking about our dream and then finally taking the class that we have made the ultimate decision. Here it is, sell our underwater stick home, rent, save some money, visit the LHBA website as often as possible, take more notes, following the progress and learning from others, (in the members section) that we found ourselves with a light at the end of the tunnel. The corners we are backed into we are now clawing our way out.
Now, make no mistake, this is our way of beating the system. And although others use varying methods, we intend to get a construction to perm loan, (because we can) it will be a loan that we can afford, pay off in a short period of time and live in something that costs half of what we are paying for now, has not only a monetary value but a value in a sense of pride and comfort. Knowing that help from a community of people who truly care and at a drop of a hat, if scheduling permits, say they will be there, they will, to assist you. I am visiting a LHBA member who built a log home in VA this weekend, about five hours away.
About family, and friends; we are going to be building in Maryland and doing whatever it take to achieve the dream. Our sons don?t know about our decisions yet but I think, as loghousenut stated, we will become closer. Friends we told about our project say they would love to come by when we begin and even mentioned thoughts of building a log home themselves. We asked them ?not one in those magazines I hope?, they said ?why not?? We have plenty of time to inform them otherwise. Even with my disability I was encouraged to attend the class after seeing and read about a member, not sure who it was, in a mobility chair assisting in building his home. So you see, no matter what may be holding someone back from having peace of mind, just answer Stu?s questions, with a positive answer of course, you?ll love it.
Just something to share, after making the decision my wife asked if she should start getting boxes, I said yes get a couple to start. She brought home 30 and wants to get more of them. LOL? I love saying that, because having a help mate along side of you has its advantages, but it also means she is the boss.
Peace,
Cecil