Talking About Log Houses Homes Too Much?

[John W]

Scene: Road Trip - coming home from New Orleans to San Antonio

What wife hears, "blah blah blah butt and pass blah blah blah ten foot overhang blah blah blah mortgage free blah blah blah mortar chinking perma-chink blah blah blah ridge poles blah blah blah non-weight bearing blah blah blah garage with a loft blah blah blah...."

Wife says, "Well, you better go to this class and build our log house or we're all going to kill you pretty soon."

Gotta admit, it's all they've heard out of my mouth for a few months now. But maybe it's a little revenge for listening to cake decorating, drapes, chocolate houses, the worlds best salsa recipe, new couches and proof reading her papers!

[JeffandSara]

John,

Be sure to take her along for the class, so she can join into the conversation! :)

Sara

[rocklock]

John W
I am amazed that you actually listen, and retain anything... I stopped 42 years ago...

[Jane Doe]

Speaking of talking about log homes too much, can someone answer a question I just can't visualize the answer to...

On a 35x35 footprint, if I wanted to utilize as much living space as possible on the second floor for four master bedrooms, would it be a near guestimate to say that each room could be 300 square feet each? Nothing on the second floor except the stair case.

I was having a conversation last night and for some reason I woke up this morning very confused.

Feedback?

[donjuedo]

That's the ballpark I got. Four MBR's would be unusual.

[StressMan79]

"IT DEPENDS"

are you doing a full second floor? so each bedroom is roughly 17x17? that is 289. most builders want a 1/4 open for a great room. Then I don't know how you get 4 bedrooms in there...

Also, I don't want to stumble downstairs to pee in the middle of the night... You want at least one bath on the dorm floor...

Maybe go 35x35, a 3/4 loft with 3 br + 1 (1/2 or 3/4) Bath, and stick the other on the ground floor...

I don't know what your family situation is... but maybe go with a daylight basement AND loft, and keep the boys away from the girls, and put your own MBR on the ground floor...

-Peter

[Jane Doe]

StressMan,

Thanks for the response!

The conversation went something like this: "I'd like a private bathroom in the room and obscenely large windows everywhere, and I'm willing to bet that everyone else would appreciate the same." Lol. My family situation is that it's just me but that there would always be guests in the house. Think Bed & Breakfast on a much more personal level. Total social butterfly. And having asked my life's network for their input the general idea was that each couple would like to visit in a house where there is a private bathroom within the bedroom. And it turns out that I really, REALLY, like this idea.

Now that I've signed up for the JAN class I've actually permitted myself to really start dreaming and scheming and I've just realized that, though I've been wanting this idea for a long time, I've never actually thought about the interior of the home. Since I'm going to be designing this nonsense I wondered if it was possible to create four rooms at 300 square feet each and delegate 100 of that square footage to a private bathroom (in each of the four rooms). I would forgo the 1/4 open space for the great room (GASP, I know) to gain the space for the bedrooms. A full second floor, yes. Basically the stairs from the ground floor would go up to meet bedroom doors.

Thanks again for the response. I knew full well when I asked that it was definitely one of those IT DEPENDS questions. Dreaming and scheming is a lot of hard work, it turns out!

[JeffandSara]

Jane Doe--

Anything's theoretically possible, but I would say, since we live in a 36x36 log house, that you'd be pushing it to get four bedrooms with en suite baths on a single floor. Stairs take up a fair amount of space, as do walls and halls or landings to get you to the bedrooms. Also, you will probably have at least one upright log in the middle of the floor plan, which you'll need to design (and perhaps walk/furnish the rooms) around.

Also, keep in mind, a bedroom/bath is more than just a hunk of square footage. It has to end up in a configuration that allows for reasonable furnishings, traffic patterns, etc.

It'll be easier to visualize some of these things out once you have taken the class, but a 35x35 square will only hold so much, and can only be split in so many ways. Start making drawings, and see if you think you can fit acceptable rooms in that space. You'll probably evolve the design a lot before you actually build. Most people do.

Best-- Sara :)

[Jane Doe]

Sara, you're right. I just doodled it on paper and four rooms at max size really is pushing it. What a brilliant idea! Gonna be doodling for a while now. Thanks!

[JeffandSara]

Have fun! ;)

Sara

[Mosseyme]

Sara is right. Buy a grafting pad they are pretty cheap in the office supply of whatever store.
The stairs are what kills me. I will probably add an extra support pole to get the girders out of the way of the stairs. I don't think you can do traditional stairs for less than40 square feet plus maybe 16 sf for the landing top and bottom. So 70-100sf min. That is a
good chunk.

[jacktone]

JeffandSara,

Yours is 36 x 36? Did you use LHBA stock plans and modify them?

[JeffandSara]

Hi, Jacktone--

LHBA stock plans are a relatively new phenomenon. :)

When we built we drew our own plans from scratch, and from stacks and stacks of preliminary ideas, 36x36 was the best size for us to fit in the rooms and living areas we needed/wanted for our home. It was also a relatively reasonable size for the log lengths we thought we were likely to find.

Sara :)

[edkemper]

We're on the opposite sides on this subject. I want nothing to do with overnight guests in my home.

We're building a 30x30 one bedroom one bath. Then we'll build additional smaller places for guests and family. Additional 1+1s.

[buck_cooper]

Everyone, I have seen a few pics on the web of log homes with spiral stair cases. Would that not save a lot of room?
Buck

[panderson03]

yup. I love the look of spiral staircases and they sure would save a lot of room but I'm not sure how I'd get bedroom furnature up them, and pretty sure I wouldn't want to be going down them in the middle of the night. too, some places have building codes that are too strict to allow for them:( is that a problem where you'll be building?

[drummer boy]

yup. I love the look of spiral staircases and they sure would save a lot of room but I'm not sure how I'd get bedroom furnature up them, and pretty sure I wouldn't want to be going down them in the middle of the night. too, some places have building codes that are too strict to allow for them:( is that a problem where you'll be building?

I thought about this part as well....Think about this. To build the house we probably used block and tackle. Why not use those same pulleys, now decoration at the point of putting in furniture, to lift our furniture to the top floor. AND when we grow old we can get one of those lifts like Mr. Fredrickson has in the cartoon "up". :o
I think the other impractical thing is that they become a little dangerous when carting down laundry in a basket or taking down boxes or anything that is a little wide while carrying. I have bad knees so I will probably deal with a regular stair case and live downstairs.

We have a friend that has a lama farm. The barn is down stairs and his home is in the loft. He has an elevator. He said that they are fairly cheap.

[panderson03]

tell me more about the fairly cheep elevator! we've researched them and have only found them to be terribly expensive!! any ideas would help. thanks!

[greenthumb]

I personally wouldn't use spiral stairs to access main living quarters(kid's loft/game area, sure) due to the aggravation of moving things up them. Monk stairs are another space saving option. We decided on 4' wide staircase on our plans to make moving things easier. Yeah it eats up space, but not a lot.

If you're set on a lot of bedrooms, check out Wallace Falls Lodge. I wish I'd written down the rough dimensions when I was there, but if I recall correctly it has 10 bedrooms, each has its own bath. The bedrooms aren't huge, but definitely big enough.

[rreidnauer]

tell me more about the fairly cheep elevator! we've researched them and have only found them to be terribly expensive!! any ideas would help. thanks!
Totally useless, but it came right to mind: http://www.veoh.com/watch/v20608116YNyD9prx and starts at 5 minutes.

[panderson03]

Tee Hee :) Not sure our well is up for it,but I wonder where I can get my hands on a phone booth..... sure is worth a try :) SO FUNNY Rod!!

[PeeCee]

I agree with the advice about a separate place for guests.

You could build several small log bungalows. I have guests all the time. So, I'm building two. One for me, and one for guests. I need to have my own space.

Besides. Small places are much much easier to build than big ones. And you can start using them as soon as you finish the first one.

I'm building my own place last. I'll have worked out all the kinks and figured out all the cool building tricks by then.

[greenthumb]

I agree with the advice about a separate place for guests.

You could build several small log bungalows. I have guests all the time. So, I'm building two. One for me, and one for guests. I need to have my own space.

Besides. Small places are much much easier to build than big ones. And you can start using them as soon as you finish the first one.

I'm building my own place last. I'll have worked out all the kinks and figured out all the cool building tricks by then.

One other benefit of having a small house and several guest houses is that you don't have to heat and cool a huge space all the time, just what you need and only condition the guest houses when needed. You could end up having more materials involved in several small houses, but on the other hand, smaller, short logs are much easier to come by than the huge logs Skip used on his place(50x50).

[edkemper]

Keep in mind I have trees on my property which is more than a few acres. But not sure how many I have that are big enough. So, I've always planned on buying 50 logs for the main house with nothing less than 14 inch tops. We only want a single story with maybe some loft type storage above a bedroom (only) ceiling. I'm figuring on only 12 courses. That's 48 logs for 14' walls. I believe I have a few trees on my place that I'll use for the ridgepole and supports. The tree I most want to cut for my ridgepole is so big I'm not sure I want to cut it down. It's a big'n. I'll probably build one or more 20x20s for guests or permanent residents. We hope we can make it into a working ranch.