Why are all the student homes built 5 years ago?... and a few other questions.

[fabincabin]

Hi everyone,
Is anyone able to tell me why all of the pictures of student homes are all from 5 years ago? Aren't there any more recent student builds? I'm very interested in taking the class but it strikes me as very odd that there are no current or very recent examples.. Also, it's not very clear, at least to me.

Thanks

[sdart]

Hi fabincabin and welcome to the forum. There could be many reasons for the lack of recent builds on the public part of the site. One is probably just logistics, getting Steve and Ellsworth out to wherever the homes are to take the photos, then putting them up on the site. But I would suggest another reason, that certainly holds true in my case and I'm sure in the case of others. Many of us choose to live out in the woods because we're not all that keen on being surrounded by other people. I, for one, definitely don't want my home posted in public view-- we value our privacy. Once you get over to the member's side of the forum there are many, many photos of houses in various stages of being built and every year a certain number of them get finished and the members tend to visit the forum less often and get on with their lives.

The desire for privacy also is behind the fact that many of the houses you can see on the public part of the site either are, or have been, for sale. So the original builders are no longer living there and don't care so much if the photos are up in public view.

Just my two cents,
Sarah

[rckclmbr428]

Heres some homes I have built in the past 5 years, and one that is currently going up
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk122/rckclmbr428/IMAG0462.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk122/rckclmbr428/IMG_7337.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk122/rckclmbr428/20x15/IMAG0374.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk122/rckclmbr428/North%20Carolina%20Home/IMAG1039.jpg

[fabincabin]

Hi fabincabin and welcome to the forum. There could be many reasons for the lack of recent builds on the public part of the site. One is probably just logistics, getting Steve and Ellsworth out to wherever the homes are to take the photos, then putting them up on the site. But I would suggest another reason, that certainly holds true in my case and I'm sure in the case of others. Many of us choose to live out in the woods because we're not all that keen on being surrounded by other people. I, for one, definitely don't want my home posted in public view-- we value our privacy. Once you get over to the member's side of the forum there are many, many photos of houses in various stages of being built and every year a certain number of them get finished and the members tend to visit the forum less often and get on with their lives.

The desire for privacy also is behind the fact that many of the houses you can see on the public part of the site either are, or have been, for sale. So the original builders are no longer living there and don't care so much if the photos are up in public view.

Just my two cents,
Sarah


Thanks for the reply Sarah. I did not know of a special members forum.

[fabincabin]

rckclmbr428

Beautiful work.. I visited your website. What is the s/f of the cabin you have for sale? I'm trying to figure out a rough s/f estimate for a 3 bedroom cabin.. I don't mean a cost estimate I mean I eventually want to build a 3 bedroom but keep it as small as I can.

[fabincabin]

BTW, The last sentence in my thread topic was part of a thought that I never finished.. I did'nt mean to include it and I can't find a way to edit it.

[loghousenut]

fabincabin,

There's privacy but there's also the time issue for the guys who moderate the forum and put together the website. I have never done it but I'm thinking there is a tendency to get thing good enough and then sit back and relax for a while. We have just received word that they are reworking the website and updating it into this century and that it will include a reworking of the gallery. What snippets they've shown us look really knock your socks off cool.

There's certainly no lack of photoable LHBA students homes. There is a ton of students currently building (I'm one) and thousands of completed homes in several countries. We are a tight knit group and most of us have done this simply to be able to build our own log homes with our own hands.

Once you are a member and have access to the members side of the forum you find folks posting more photos, with addresses, and open invitations. It's a different world for us when we know are speaking only to folks who are in the club.




So now down to the REAL question... Are you willing to share drawings of the cabin you'll be fabin? I'll show mine if you'll show yours.

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t55/loghousenut/Wow/Rafters9-2010465.jpg

[edkemper]

fabincabin,

Not being a huge commercial organization, there are mainly 2 individuals that manage about everything. They live in another country. They come here to teach the classes. They manage this extremely active website and update the operation of this site as fast as they can. They moderate the site. The research things we ask for on the other side. Did I mention the owners families have been multiplying lately?

There may even be more updated photos of newer homes, but in the middle of an extensive upgrade to the site is not really the time to post more photos. Most of the pictures are on the "Members Only Side" of the website, we members normally post our own pictures, sometimes daily, sometimes video of our progress.

It's like any family. There is far more going on in the background than it appears on the surface.

Read more of the posts on here that you have access to. I think you'll get a better idea of how busy and how many new homes are being built every year.

[sdart]

BTW, The last sentence in my thread topic was part of a thought that I never finished.. I did'nt mean to include it and I can't find a way to edit it.

Any post that you have made yourself should have a little "edit post" at the bottom of it if you are logged on. Just click on it and do the editing and submit it again.

[fabincabin]

Any post that you have made yourself should have a little "edit post" at the bottom of it if you are logged on. Just click on it and do the editing and submit it again.
Like any other forum right? But I can't find the darn edit option. I see "reply with quote" and that's all there is. Perhaps non members can't edit? I don't know.

[fabincabin]

[QUOTE=loghousenut;71264]fabincabin,

So now down to the REAL question... Are you willing to share drawings of the cabin you'll be fabin? I'll show mine if you'll show yours.

Wow, LHnut, That's impressive. It gets my blood circulating.. like I'm wasting time not building right now!!. The truth of the matter is I have some investments that have been doing well but I'm not ready to liquidate anything because the potential over the next year or two is so great... it might be the difference between having just enough to buy some land and build right now or waiting a bit longer and be in a position where I could take a full year off to build the cabin.. If i tried to do it while I'm working a full time job and with two children to look after while the wife is working, I just don't think I'm giving it the effort it deserves.

I don't have any drawings yet. It's all in my mind at this point. I was hoping to make the march classes but it's not feasible right now... I'm hoping to make the next one.. whenever that is. I'm in NE Pa, I plan on moving to Colorado at some point over the next year.. my brother is a realtor out there and with his assistance I hope to find a nice piece of land. After I secure the land I want to take the class and start accommodating supplies.. That's the initial plan anyway. Thanks for the pic. looks really sweet. BTW, How big is your cabin?

[fabincabin]

Once again, I screwed up the above reply and can't find an edit bottom to click.

[fabincabin]

loghousenut.

BTW, looking at your cabin reminds me that I'm afraid of heights... As the house goes higher I have a feeling so will my expenses due to hiring some subs..... that or confront my fears and try to overcome...

[loghousenut]

Fraid of heights is no excuse! If my Son were not comfy up on top I woulda hired it out? Don't worry too much about it. We sissies can still build our own LHBA home. It's just a matter of finding a primate who is trainable.

You'll do fine.

[Mosseyme]

fabin
As everyone on here will tell you the sooner you take the class the better. Like before you buy land or any major decision like that. There is a class in May.

[fabincabin]

It's just a matter of finding a primate who is trainable.

You'll do fine.:D.. That's funny!

[Ellsworth]

Everyone above is fairly right on, except for one thing.

We actually do feature a many homes that were built more recently than 5 years ago. For instance:
http://www.loghomebuilders.org/image-galleries/studentloghomes/california-log-cabin
http://www.loghomebuilders.org/image-galleries/studentloghomes/cheney-log-home
http://www.loghomebuilders.org/image-galleries/student-log-homes/john-koenig-fishing-lodge
http://www.loghomebuilders.org/image-galleries/student-log-homes/la-pine-log-home
http://www.loghomebuilders.org/image-galleries/student-log-homes/mosier-log-home
http://www.loghomebuilders.org/image-galleries/lhba/oregon-home
http://www.loghomebuilders.org/image-galleries/student-log-homes/snohomish-log-home
http://www.loghomebuilders.org/image-galleries/studentloghomes/hilltop-lodge
http://www.loghomebuilders.org/image-galleries/student-log-homes/southern-wa-home
Et Cetera.

We feature a lot of homes built decades ago too, and imho those are just as cool as the homes being built today. I always love going to get pictures of older Skip style butt and pass log homes, especially if the original builder is still living in it.

I admit that we do feature a lot of WA and west coast homes, although we have homes from many other areas too. The skewed ratio is simply because it's easier for me to shoot local homes. We've tried to go get pictures in other states. Back in 2008 I was all set to go do a picture tour in Michigan, but Skip passed away and I had to cancel that trip. Since then 2 of the homes have sold, which makes getting photos more problematic. I do regret that missed trip. I also had hoped for quick stop in Texas to grab pictures of a really gorgeous home on my return from the last class. A large 2 story with a wrap around porch, and an accompanying log garage. Very well built, tastefully decorated, and nicely landscaped. Unfortunately that had sold too. The builder emailed in some pictures, and I'll see if we can get those up on the new website. These would have all been very new construction.

Hmmm, maybe if you guys quit selling them so dang quick I'll get more pictures. Or at least give me some warning before your deals close ;)

Anyways, lately we've really been focused on the new website. It will include a new gallery. Rather than go take pictures to post on the current site, which we'd then have to migrate over to the new site, we stepped back on shooting new homes. Once the new site is up and running we'll make it a point to get more homes. I have a mental list of local homes I'd love to see soon for pics (the two Daves, Sparky, both Pauls, John, and many more). So in time we'll surely be doing full photo shoots of more local homes and getting them into the gallery.

At any given time there are literally hundreds of Association members actively building homes, hundreds. I actually lost count around 400 (and my count was climbing fast. These were verified via email, calls, or posts. Off the top of my head I know of well over a dozen currently building in WA alone. Think about that for a second, if there were just 12 members building in each state, then there's 600 active builds (and imho that may be conservative). I wish we could feature a larger percentage, but it's just not feasible. A couple years ago we had a plan for adding more current builds (http://www.loghomebuilders.org/image-galleries/studentloghomes/recent-projects-20002010) to the gallery. The project got mired down in the minor details so nothing came of it. We have a plan that should make it a lot easier for us to add homes from other states via a user submitted form. It's a project associated with the new site, and I think it will work out very well.

On top of all that, we're paranoid privacy nuts. I mean we're the guys who created these signs (http://mechanicaltransfer.com/accessories/no-trespassing-signs-pair.html) and do things like keep census workers off our land (and building inspectors). We respect our member's privacy. So we try not to stalk our members for pictures. Most are happy to volunteer (and we greatly appreciate that), but some desire privacy. No big deal, no mystery.

[fabincabin]

fabin
As everyone on here will tell you the sooner you take the class the better. Like before you buy land or any major decision like that. There is a class in May. I meant to say May in my reply, not March. I can't get the time off in May..
HOw often are the classes available? A few times a year?

[fabincabin]

Thanks for the reply.. I feel more comfortable with everything now! I'm on the email list so I hope I get notice of the next class after May.. Do you ever come to the east coast?

[panderson03]

...I admit that we do feature a lot of WA and west coast homes, although we have homes from many other states too. The skewed ratio is simply because it's easier for me to shoot local homes. We've tried to go get pictures in other states. Dear Ellsworth. We think we'll have the garage finished this year, with plans to finish the cabin by snow fall 2014. could you put us on your calandar for sometime 2015?? Would LOVE for you to come see what we're working on! :)
of course you're welcome anytime before that too ( .. or after, for that matter:)

[Steve]

Not being a huge commercial organization, there are mainly 2 individuals that manage about everything. They live in another country.

Just for the record, I live overseas, Ellsworth lives in the US. But the rest of your post is spot-on. We have lots of homes in our gallery and we add more as they become (easily) available. There are probably more homes under construction posted on these forums now than there are in our gallery. But they are all over the country, hard to get to, and some folks are more privacy-oriented than others (although we are happy to anonymize the owner and location if requested by the owner).

Someone else recently asked a similar question and got a bunch of helpful responses here (http://community.loghomebuilders.org/showthread.php?9623-Put-Some-New-Pictures-in-the-Student-Gallery) with pointers to more recent photos. You might want to take a peek at those....

[rocklock]

I have been negligent about my video production. My wife did a smile box that reviews last years construction and all the friends that stopped by...
So... I have a video from 2009 and about 400 pictures... Enjoy... I hope this works..

http://secure.smilebox.com/ecom/openTheBox?sendevent=4d7a41324f546b324e44513d0d0a&blogview=true&campaign=blog_playback_link

[rreidnauer]

Hey E!

Maybe you could put me on the payroll, and I'll fly all over the country to do the photo shoots for you. I think my model cabin photos speak well enough of my skills. ;)

[loghousenut]

Hey E!

Maybe you could put me on the payroll, and I'll fly all over the country to do the photo shoots for you. I think my model cabin photos speak well enough of my skills. ;)

Don't waste all that talent, Ellsworth. Rod oughta be paid to be your model making consultant. I could be trained to work a shutter button and fly all over taking photos and I have no talent worth wasting to waste.

To top it off, Rod is just about ready for a trial run on that wood splitter. You wouldn't want a one-handed photographer, but a model consultant needs nothing but brains and talent.


Here's a shot of a log home I took while riding my motorcycle upside down in Canada
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t55/loghousenut/Prettiest%20bike%20in%20the%20world/LastphotosoftheValk054-1.jpg
ha

[John W]

It would be crazy to waste members' time flying them around taking pictures. This is the non-member side, you need a non-member perspective. I won't even charge you anything...except expenses. The only thing I request is to let me set the priority order of the visits. It might coincidentally be in order of lakes/rivers to fish and golf courses to play.

And I think there might be a new club forming, of which I'd be a proud member, the TPA. That would be the Trainable Primate Association. :D

[Ellsworth]

LHBA forum: home of the best peanut gallery on the WWW. ;)

Hmmm... LHN taking pictures while driving on his motorcycle... Rod building a spinning wheel of axe head death... Maybe everyone should just start praying for both their safety on a nightly basis. :P

[BoFuller]

Fraid of heights is no excuse! If my Son were not comfy up on top I woulda hired it out? Don't worry too much about it. We sissies can still build our own LHBA home. It's just a matter of finding a primate who is trainable. You'll do fine.

When LHN and I use to fight (in our younger years), I would just run up the stairs and be safe. By the time he got to the 4th stair step he would be crying.

[loghousenut]

When LHN and I use to fight (in our younger years), I would just run up the stairs and be safe. By the time he got to the 4th stair step he would be crying.

To be completely fair to me, they seemed like very tall steps!

Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using Tapatalk

[John W]

"When LHN and I use to fight (in our younger years), I would just run up the stairs and be safe. By the time he got to the 4th stair step he would be crying."


(Doing my best Larry the Cable guy impression)
Bo, that right there's funny, I don't care who you are.

[fabincabin]

I have been negligent about my video production. My wife did a smile box that reviews last years construction and all the friends that stopped by...
So... I have a video from 2009 and about 400 pictures... Enjoy... I hope this works..

http://secure.smilebox.com/ecom/openTheBox?sendevent=4d7a41324f546b324e44513d0d0a&blogview=true&campaign=blog_playback_link Thanks for the reply rocklock.. the video is loading as we speak.

[fabincabin]

rocklock,
Beautiful music and beautiful pictures. I'm only at #44 and I'm ready to take the class! Thanks for the inspiration.

[Brook]

Thanks Rocklock for sharing the beautiful video! Very, very well done and inspirational. I just wish it wasn't the only link that actually works on this not even very old thread.

[sdart]

Hi Brook,
I think the links got broken with the website overhaul a few months ago. You can still see the student log homes mentioned though, if you go to the main page.