Budget - Time - May Class - Here is the deal

[LivingTheDream]

Ok we really need some advise from some past builders. As I posted earlier we were almost totally sold on a kit for our future log home and then I found this website and we are now intrigued.

Should we go to May class? Or would it be better to wait for a fall class and do a spring 2013 build?

Here is our deal....

We own our land
We are clearing it now. (Underbrush and deadfalls)
We will be ready for the basement in a month.
My husband works full time
He will be able to devote about 10 hrs a week to the building, myself much more.

Finances

We have 20,000 in savings
We will be able to put an additional 500.00 a week into the house
In December we have an investment that we are cashing for 90,000

What would you do?

Mr & Mrs LivingTheDream

[panderson03]

Mr and Mrs Dream, if it were me (knowing what I know now, having taken the class) I'd take the class sooner rather than later. many things about your build will change after you go to class and learn whats there to be learned. if you excavate and pour before class, there are some costly things you might regret. investing the $$ for my husband and I to go to class really was the best investment we ever made. we've saved that investment over and over again. if you wanted to, you could build with HALF the $$ you speak of above (if you follow the principles in class) or you could spend the whole thing (if you decided to hire out most of the work) its entirely up to you and the choices you make. we're not rich, but we've never regretted taking the class. welcome and best of luck to you!

[spiralsands]

I thought the only way to have a log home would be to build a kit till I went to a log home show and saw all the ridiculousness. Then I took the class and saw that these homes are REAL log homes and not the fake log-look homes you see at log home shows. Take the class. You'll be sold.

[Blondie]

Dear Dreamers,

You have "lucked" into a group of folks who have looked, some very deeply into kits, myself included. You are very fortunate to have found us when you did. My humble suggestion is that before proceeding any further into building your cabin you BOTH need to take the class. This method is artfully simple and very straightforward but it is very different from 'stick' building and having both of you on the same page will save many a long explaination.

"We" are just folks like you. We laugh and cheer each other on. On rare occasions we offer supportive shoulders. WELCOME!!

Blondie

[Mosseyme]

Agreed with everything said, if you are intrigued by what you are reading here and you can swing the May class you should jump on it while there is room, if there is room. They usually fill up and it is sometimes months before the next. Be prepared though to totally rethink your plans and see all things from a new perspective. If you don't want to be changed in your whole building thought process don't go. But do go if you want to learn a new way of thinking and saving money. If you want the very real feeling that "hey we did this". Really check out the student home gallery, if this looks like something you can see yourself living in then come on and join us, you'll never see a kit home the same. We took a few days to sight see in Washing ton right after the class. We drove through the mountains for 2 days viewing all the wonderful scenery and homes, log homes. On the last day we were driving along looking at all the log homes, kit cabin, kit cabin, kit cabin, then suddenly out of nowhere we both said OH LOOK theres one. We instantly recognized the beautiful LHBA home, the others just don't hold a candle in my humble opinion.

[blane]

Do it now! everything you assume about a foundation and grading will be affected by what you learn in class. You have a good amount of money to get started and with your investment coming in december, you can do it. But with 10 hours per week to invest it will take a while. So sooner rather than later is my advice. Even if you don't start your build this year you will learn how to prepare for when you are ready.

[rreidnauer]

http://www.loghomebuilders.org/our-promise-and-money-back-guarantee (http://www.loghomebuilders.org/our-promise-and-money-back-guarantee)

What do you have to loose?

[loghousenut]

http://www.loghomebuilders.org/our-promise-and-money-back-guarantee (http://www.loghomebuilders.org/our-promise-and-money-back-guarantee)

What do you have to loose?

The answer is, you have everything to lose. There is an industry out there that is solely dedicated to repairing kit log homes. It is common for a 20 year old kit home to require replacement of rotted log. I've done it. I have seen a ton of old LHBA student built homes, most of them in the NW Washington drizzle forest. I have never heard of one of them with rotting logs.

In class you'll learn how to avoid most of those rot problems in a kit home and you'll learn how to completely avoid them in a home that you can build yourself with your own hands. Rreidenauer's suggestion (http://www.loghomebuilders.org/our-promise-and-money-back-guarantee) demonstrates a risk free way to see for yourself. You'll fit right in.

[LivingTheDream]

Thanks for all the replies.
I have still not convinced my husband to take the class. He looks at the photos and does not care for the interiors of the student homes. He prefers the flat interior wall from the kits. Will this option be discussed in the class?

I suggested we take the class and come back and build a small guest cabin on the lot for ourselves (something we wanted eventually) Live in it over the winter and start our home next Spring. Can a small cabin be built for 20,000 ? We would not need a basement.

Any ideas when the next class is? I really dislike the rush of trying to make this one. We live in the Northeast so airfare is also a huge factor.

I know lots of questions.... :rolleyes:

[loghousenut]

Thanks for all the replies.
I have still not convinced my husband to take the class. He looks at the photos and does not care for the interiors of the student homes. He prefers the flat interior wall from the kits. Will this option be discussed in the class?

I suggested we take the class and come back and build a small guest cabin on the lot for ourselves (something we wanted eventually) Live in it over the winter and start our home next Spring. Can a small cabin be built for 20,000 ? We would not need a basement.

Any ideas when the next class is? I really dislike the rush of trying to make this one. We live in the Northeast so airfare is also a huge factor.

I know lots of questions.... :rolleyes:


What is he NUTS???

What I really mean is "to each his own". I'm certain that he is totally sane and has good taste in spouses, houses, and etc. You folks are looking a kit homes so you're probably fairly classy and not too shiftless.

The method that this site is dedicated to is definitely different from the flat interior walled houses, and it would be counterproductive to flatten the inside of an LHBA home. Heck, some of us like bumpy, curvy, irregular, knotty, rustic, and just plain ugly log walls, but I know it ain't for everyone. The top of each log can be a magnate for dust and hanging pictures is a challenge but, then again, who needs pictures on a log wall? That said, I sure can't fault a fellow/gal for wanting something normal. I like to think my house is the one that is different.

If your Husband jumps that "bumpy wall hurdle" and you guys decide to wade into LHBA water, it will either grab you both completely or turn you wherever you go with knowledge and a different view of the world.

Can you build a small LHBA cabin for next to nothing? Search through the postings of the last three months and you'll see that this subject has been done to death. I've done little log buildings for pocket change (the price of floor/roof lumber and mortar). It all depends on permit fees, foundation requirements, size, free logs, laziness, etc., etc., etc. I only know for sure that my family is building our LHBA style log home without a mortgage and it'll be MUCH nicer (in our humble view) than any comparably sized kit home that I've ever seen.

Hug Him for me.

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t55/loghousenut/Our%20Home/The%20ridgepole/P1000691.jpg

[jrdavis]

So he likes walls like this:
http://www.loghomebuilders.org/student-log-home/harbor-home#
or this home...
http://www.loghomebuilders.org/student-log-home/suburban-styling

You can do what ever you like INSIDE your home :)
Don't ask, Don't tell.... just kiddin -- too much time with military people.

even "kit homes" will allow you to do drywall, wood paneling or round log.
take you pick, but with LHBA -- you can save 10's of thousands of $$$$

JD

[Basil]

I think what the op is referring to here is flat logs on the inside. Sort of like the D log look, with the logs all flat on the inside but otherwise unprocessed.

This style of building is very adaptable. You could hire a portable sawmill or buy a woodmizer to get the look you want. I've had a friend who didn't take the class but had his logs slabbed into large timbers, then stacked the timbers and did dovetail notches using almost the same style of building. There are reasons not to do this, which are covered in the class, but if it's what you want to do more power to you. The stacked timber house i was referring to has been there well over 10 years now and still looks just fine. It's solid and strong. There are many that take the class and never build a thing, but even they believe it was worth the price. YMMV

[spiralsands]

At that log home show I went to many years ago there was a vendor building "Appalacian style" log homes. His "logs" were square like railroad ties and the look was heavy chinking. That would give you flat walls too. But big deal. Looks aren't everything as I learned from my sister's kit built D-log home with the flat interior walls. She also had loads of rotten wood in that d-log house that she had to get someone in to fix. She ended up cutting in a huge window in the front of the house to use the wood to fix rotten spots in other places.

I think the intact tree with the harder outer rings is pretty important if you don't want to be fighting bugs and water rot forever. But if you can afford the alternative, it's up to you.

[Pokey]

I was in a 160 year old log cabin near Redwood Falls,MN this weekend - cool and still in use, albeit as a private center vs home today. Think it was roughly 18x22.
One of the hewn squared off types - and all original logs even today. They had maybe 28-30" overhang on it and imagine that was the secret to its longevity and zero rot.
If we looked at all the home/cabins out there today the common thing I imagine to success if that water deflection in every case.....away away away from the wood.Minnesota really gets snow and you could see some old water marks on a side where it had piled up year after year against the wall but musta melted away nicely in spring. A water mark but wood knock knock hard.
Nice to see - and yep, that chinking in spots I bet was 5-6". I can't imagine the stories that place must hold - it made it thru the Lower Sioux Uprising. No small feat right there