Question on cabins classes, and howdy.

[Aaron Baron]

Two of my uncles have log homes and I always loved the look and feel of them, more then other houses good memories don???t hurt ether. I am a business/art student at Boston University, odd mix I know. I am going to be graduating this year or next and one have always dreamed of building my own house and I want to play the renting game for as little time as possible. I want land and a house as soon as I can manage. I read your Website and it was very exciting, and inspiring, I???m very interested in the class but have some questions. One where are they taught and two, this may sound stupid but because it???s a two-day thing do you have to rent a motel or something or what? If you become a lifetime member, can you do the 2-day class thing more then once? As I said before id like a house as soon as I could have one but id eventually like to have a decent sized living space how easy is it to make a smallish house then do your own expansions? And lastly the cabin part sound like I think I could do it no problem, hard work but no problem, but I really want a basement, how hard is that to make from scratch and do you guys cover it?

Aaron Baron

[rreidnauer]

Hello Aaron, Welcome to the LHBA message board. You've come to a place where many people have the same thoughts as you. The classes are held at Skip Ellsworth's incredible 7000 square foot log home, just a few miles South of Monroe, Washington. You will need to find some accommodations for the two day course.



You can go on-th-cheap, as I did, and stay at the Monroe Motel. Very basic, but clean and adequate. Or you could go a little more ritzy, and plan your stay at the Wallace Falls Lodge http://www.loghomebuilders.org/image-galleries/student-log-homes/wallace-falls-lodge/, a beatiful Skip style lodge built by a member of LHBA. Your membership includes the attendance to one 2 day class. I was thinking it would be nice if they made it available to current members, the ability to reattend if there would be any open spots, but rarely are their any openings left. BUT, there are meetings scheduled throughout the year for members only. I strongly recommend that if you plan to attend a class, that you also take the days before and after the class off too. I seen people in my class leaving about half way through the second day, because they had to be back at work the next day, and lost out on a lot of valuable information.



Full basements are not really covered in the class, but are discussed. (lots of Q&A) It's likely you would have a basement contracted out anyhow, considering all the excavating, form setting, and concrete pouring that would have to be done. I'm still on the rope which way I'll go, but the determining factor will ultimately be how much it costs. If you wish, you could rent a machine and dig and pour your footers and lay your own block. (again, something I'm considering) There is also companies who manufacture precast walls for basements that you may consider. Hope some of this helps. :D