An exciting part of the log home project is when you actually begin stacking the logs. Following are a few of the tricks we used for log stacking, some of which are standard practice, and some are not. First if you look at the log profile, they are built so that only the front and back lips are resting on the log below. The center part of the log is cut about 1/8” deeper than the edges, so that you will have a bit of air space between the logs. That's a good feature except in the case of the very bottom log which rests on the floor and not on another log. The front and back edges aren't much more than 1/2” in width, and if you think of all the thousands of pounds that will be stacked on top of the log before you're done, that isn't much surface area for it all to be riding on. In order to better distribute the weight pressure on the bottom row of logs, we made 1/8” shims the width of the gap between the grooves, and tacked these in place with finishing nails. That was a simple fix that worked well.
Once a log is in place, we attached it to the surface or log below with 10” TimberLok FastenMaster screws. To keep these straight, we drilled a pilot hole first, (see portaline photo), which seems like an extra step, but I think it saves time in the long run, because it makes it so easy to get the screw to go straight in exactly how you want it (even for me). These were spaced every couple feet or so along the logs. We learned to make a light pencil mark on the back of the log indicating where the screws were, so when the log above was installed, we wouldn't inadvertently place a screw directly over the one below and run into it; it's so irritating when that happens. In the photo of the Bessey clamps, you'll notice we used simple 2x4 jigs which were very effective for holding the log faces even while the logs were screwed together.
Before one log is stacked on another, self-adhesive foam strips are run along the length of the tongues on the lower log, which will create an insulation barrier to prevent air movement through the logs from outside to inside. Where two logs meet together end to end, first the back edges were routered to create a 45 degree bevel, which makes the joints look very nice (see photo). Because we were cutting off the waxed ends of the logs, we generously coated the log ends with Sikkens, the product we used to protect and waterproof the logs. This helps slow down drying and shrinkage. We've found that the more slowly wood dries, the less prone it will be to warping and twisting. Once logs are in place, it was often my job to use the hammer drill with a one inch corkscrew drill bit to drill a hole centered between the two logs where the ends met together. I used a jig so I could drill straight, and so I wouldn't drill too deep. We heard stories of people sending the bit out the side of the log when drilling “free hand”. Next I'd vacuum out the wood chips and fill the hole with “Log Builder” log putty. The last step is to shove a peg (cut to fit in a one inch hole and the same height as the log) into the putty. This forces the putty into any gaps between the logs and creates an air seal so wind can't find its way between the logs. It also kind of glues the logs together as you will find if you ever have to take it apart later. Let's hope you won't.
I'll address joints and corners in another entry, but I will mention here that another advantage of the minimally shrinking laminated logs is that absolutely no chinking was required on the house. Although, it probably wasn't necessary, we have used log putty to fill any gaps (usually less than 1/16”) that sometimes occur between the logs, but it is nothing that would be visible to anyone else. We've heard lots of comments from people who say they don't like log homes because of the air gaps, dust and spiders that they accommodate, but those aren't an issue at all with this system (at least no more so than any ordinary house).
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
The Log Package
There are many different log home kits or products available to choose from, and I'm not going to recommend which kind you should choose. I can only tell you about what we chose and some of the pros and cons that went along with that choice. As I've mentioned before, my husband likes things to be plumb and square. A lot of log builders would laugh at this, but it's not an impossible goal, and it makes so many steps down the road easier. So with that in mind, we definitely weren't going to go for the rustic natural log style. We wanted logs that would be rounded on the outside for the log home look, but flat on the inside for ease of attaching interior walls, hanging pictures, etc. One thing I'll say up front is that if you don't care about the thermal value of a log home and simply like the log home look, it would be a lot easier to frame the home and apply log siding, both inside and out if you'd like.
In searching for a log home product, we found a company that produced laminated logs. Basically, they are constructed by having five 2x10's laminated together (or 4 laminations in the case of the garage logs), kiln dried, and later planed into the shape of a log with a tongue and groove interlocking system. Although, the system wasn't without flaws, I don't think we would ever choose any other type of log than the laminated logs. For one, it minimized shrinkage. I believe in a typical log home you need to allow for roughly 3” of shrinkage in an 8' wall, leading to all sorts of complications with installing windows, hanging cabinets, and adding stairways or 2nd levels. I don't think our laminated logs shrunk more than 1/16” a piece, which comes to about 0.8” for the whole wall. This made installing windows and cabinets very easy.
Our package did not come as a kit. We submitted our house plan to the distributer who calculated linear feet of logs that we would need, which we cut to fit as needed. They didn't subtract for windows, so there would a be little extra in case it was needed, and it certainly was. There were a few surprises along the way, many of which may have been avoided if we had inspected the material at the mill before it was ever shipped. One surprise was that we had done our calculations expecting 7.5” tall logs and received logs that were 7.25” tall (before shrinking). That put the ceiling height at a little less than 8'. This turned out not to be as bad as we expected, since we have a gabled ceiling over the great room and a loft sitting on beams over the bedrooms/bath, so it is really only the beams that are under 8' high. Another surprise was that the house logs we were shipped came out to be about 100' short of what we paid for. Unfortunately, I didn't take inventory until some time after we began the project, so I had no way to prove it, but the linear feet of garage logs were right on the mark, so I think my measurements were accurate.
Besides sizing, one of the first problems we discovered with the logs is that they had not been kept level when coming out of the planer, so the tongues and grooves deviated at the end of all the logs, making it so all manner of pushing, pulling, pounding, and clamping couldn't make the grooves on the upper log lock into the tongues on the lower log. Rather than log wrestling, we found it much better to cut the last 6-8” off the end of every log. This created a lot of waste material, but made log stacking a lot easier. Later, after we began stacking logs, we found that by the time you got over 4-5 logs high, the walls would consistently be out of level. My husband finally figured out that nearly all of the logs were just slightly taller along the front lip than on the back. On a single log, this is barely perceptible, but the error accumulates with every row, and by the time you stack up a whole wall, there's a huge gap between the wall and the level. This resulted in tearing down walls after they were part way up, and running a router along the front lip of almost every log until they stacked up level, probably adding a good month's worth of work to the project.
Between the initial material shortage and subsequent wastage of cutting off log ends, we had to order some additional material. We were asked to cut off a sample and mail it to the company, so they could match it. Unfortunately the small piece shrunk significantly, and the new material was smaller than the rest adding one more challenge to the project. It would have been better to draw a pattern or make it out of cardboard that wouldn't shrink. The good news is that we had decided to frame the gable ends, so we only had to keep the logs straight for 13 logs high instead of going up another 20 rows to the peak of the gable. As I mentioned, we liked the results we got with using laminated logs, but we recommend clearly communicating your expectations to the log company at the outset, and inspecting the material on-site before the expense of shipping has been made, to make sure you are getting what you ordered and paid for. We don't think it's unreasonable to expect the logs to be held level as they come off the planer or to set the planer blades so the upper log surface is level. We just didn't know that wouldn't be standard practice, and we should have made a special request up front. Communicating expectations is one important lesson we have learned on our journey.
In searching for a log home product, we found a company that produced laminated logs. Basically, they are constructed by having five 2x10's laminated together (or 4 laminations in the case of the garage logs), kiln dried, and later planed into the shape of a log with a tongue and groove interlocking system. Although, the system wasn't without flaws, I don't think we would ever choose any other type of log than the laminated logs. For one, it minimized shrinkage. I believe in a typical log home you need to allow for roughly 3” of shrinkage in an 8' wall, leading to all sorts of complications with installing windows, hanging cabinets, and adding stairways or 2nd levels. I don't think our laminated logs shrunk more than 1/16” a piece, which comes to about 0.8” for the whole wall. This made installing windows and cabinets very easy.
Our package did not come as a kit. We submitted our house plan to the distributer who calculated linear feet of logs that we would need, which we cut to fit as needed. They didn't subtract for windows, so there would a be little extra in case it was needed, and it certainly was. There were a few surprises along the way, many of which may have been avoided if we had inspected the material at the mill before it was ever shipped. One surprise was that we had done our calculations expecting 7.5” tall logs and received logs that were 7.25” tall (before shrinking). That put the ceiling height at a little less than 8'. This turned out not to be as bad as we expected, since we have a gabled ceiling over the great room and a loft sitting on beams over the bedrooms/bath, so it is really only the beams that are under 8' high. Another surprise was that the house logs we were shipped came out to be about 100' short of what we paid for. Unfortunately, I didn't take inventory until some time after we began the project, so I had no way to prove it, but the linear feet of garage logs were right on the mark, so I think my measurements were accurate.
Besides sizing, one of the first problems we discovered with the logs is that they had not been kept level when coming out of the planer, so the tongues and grooves deviated at the end of all the logs, making it so all manner of pushing, pulling, pounding, and clamping couldn't make the grooves on the upper log lock into the tongues on the lower log. Rather than log wrestling, we found it much better to cut the last 6-8” off the end of every log. This created a lot of waste material, but made log stacking a lot easier. Later, after we began stacking logs, we found that by the time you got over 4-5 logs high, the walls would consistently be out of level. My husband finally figured out that nearly all of the logs were just slightly taller along the front lip than on the back. On a single log, this is barely perceptible, but the error accumulates with every row, and by the time you stack up a whole wall, there's a huge gap between the wall and the level. This resulted in tearing down walls after they were part way up, and running a router along the front lip of almost every log until they stacked up level, probably adding a good month's worth of work to the project.
Between the initial material shortage and subsequent wastage of cutting off log ends, we had to order some additional material. We were asked to cut off a sample and mail it to the company, so they could match it. Unfortunately the small piece shrunk significantly, and the new material was smaller than the rest adding one more challenge to the project. It would have been better to draw a pattern or make it out of cardboard that wouldn't shrink. The good news is that we had decided to frame the gable ends, so we only had to keep the logs straight for 13 logs high instead of going up another 20 rows to the peak of the gable. As I mentioned, we liked the results we got with using laminated logs, but we recommend clearly communicating your expectations to the log company at the outset, and inspecting the material on-site before the expense of shipping has been made, to make sure you are getting what you ordered and paid for. We don't think it's unreasonable to expect the logs to be held level as they come off the planer or to set the planer blades so the upper log surface is level. We just didn't know that wouldn't be standard practice, and we should have made a special request up front. Communicating expectations is one important lesson we have learned on our journey.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Toolage
We're almost ready to start stacking logs, but before we start, the next important consideration is gathering the right tools for the job. Happy is the husband who gets to build a log home, because there are so many tools that are really essential for making the job easier and more efficient that he is bound to accumulate a good collection of tools before the project is done. In fact, we were so involved with tools for awhile that a number of them acquired their own names. The hammer drill was called “Hammer-head” as opposed to the pilot drill known as “Needle-nose”; the shop-vac answered to R2-D2, and there was “John Henry” the mini-sledge hammer, and the “Big Bessey” clamp twins, and so on.
One big challenge with log home building is finding large capacity tools that can handle lumber greater than 6” in width. You certainly don't want to purchase the weekend warrior grade tools for log home building. All your tools will be getting LOTS of use, and you'll want them to last. I can't begin to make an exhaustive list of all the tools that might be needed on the job, but I'll mention some of our favorites in no particular order.
One big challenge with log home building is finding large capacity tools that can handle lumber greater than 6” in width. You certainly don't want to purchase the weekend warrior grade tools for log home building. All your tools will be getting LOTS of use, and you'll want them to last. I can't begin to make an exhaustive list of all the tools that might be needed on the job, but I'll mention some of our favorites in no particular order.
- Prazi Beam Cutter Saw. This is a chain-saw type blade that attaches to a worm-drive circular saw. It is great for cutting larger pieces of lumber. We used this for cutting the log ends that would be exposed at the butt and pass corners and for cutting various beams. While it cuts vastly straighter than a chain-saw, it still leaves a rough cut surface, which looks beautiful on the exposed ends, but didn't make a tight seal when stacking logs end to end within the wall.
- Radial Arm Saw. My husband found a 10” Black & Decker radial arm saw at a pawn shop for $135, and still considers it one of his best purchases for the job. He built a new blade guard for it using a piece of aircraft aluminum he picked up at the steel recycling yard, and installed a 12” blade on it. We used this for making the cuts for the unexposed log ends. The logs were 7 1/4” tall, so it still took 2 cuts to get through the logs, but when angled ever so slightly toward the center, they sealed together very nicely. The radial arm saw was also used for many an angle cut, such as cutting BCI's for the roof, and has been well used throughout the project.
- Porter-Cable Chop Saw. This is kind of like the wrench of the project. It gets used almost daily for too many uses to name. It cuts most of the dimensional lumber, and does some of the angle cuts. When cutting many pieces the same size, you can set up a stop so you can do multiple cuts without measuring each time. Even I can use it with no trouble.
- Grizzly Band Saw. This came along a little later in the project. It is great for splitting beams or siding and resizing excess material for alternative uses.
- Scaffolding. This is another thing we waited far too long in the project to purchase. Badger Ladder makes great quality scaffolding with very affordable shipping rates. For the cost of renting scaffolding, it is well worth it to buy your own.
- Cordless Drills. We have used 12 or 14 volt drills throughout the project. They are like wrenches too. Our favorite is a Bosch, because we like the quality and their service (very quick to honor their warranty). We've also gone through a few DeWalt's and have an old Black & Decker that just keeps going. Personally, I think the older DeWalt's were better quality, but their standards have deteriorated on the newer drills.
- Clamps. A wood worker can never have too many clamps it seems. You'll need some with the deepest bite you can find. Bessey makes some deep biting clamps that we used extensively.
- Routers. We have a heavy-duty Porter-Cable router and a Craftsman router (or two), which all got lots of use, some of which we'll explain in more detail in another entry.
- Gorilla Ladder or Little Giant Ladder. The kind that you can fold or unfold or extend into several different heights. Gets used all the time. Get two if your budget allows.
- Planer. We just replaced our Craftsman planer that must have planed many miles of lumber with a Grizzly planer. In our household, this gets used almost daily.
- Table saw. My husband's son got us a Ridgid table saw to replace our old one. It's nice for cutting plywood and other large or long pieces.
The list could go on almost endlessly, but I'll stop here. I'll mention a few others in future entries. Meanwhile, if you're thinking of building your own log home, be prepared to invest in good quality tools for the job.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
The Ultimate Big Blue Tarp
Once the foundation slab was poured, the septic drainage system and well installed, the driveway contoured and backfill in place around the foundation walls, it was our job to finish the remaining work. We began with framing the daylight basement wall (provides better insulation than an exposed concrete wall) and the basement bearing wall and installing a supporting beam over the family room where there would be no bearing wall. We did preplan a pocket in the foundation wall to support the beam. We had help from my husband's oldest son for this work. We used treated lumber for the mudsill and a strip of thin blue foam called “sill-seal” between the concrete and the mudsill. Any large bumps in the concrete were smoothed off with a hand grinder (a job easy enough for me to do). It was tricky to get the mudsill squared off so that we would have a square foundation to support the logs.
We made the decision to hang joists below the mudsill rather than put them on top of the mudsill. For that reason, we had a 9 foot wall on the foundation instead of 8'. If we were to do it again, we would probably use the raised joists. The lowest 2-3 rows of logs take the greatest beating on your house as they get a lot of splash in the rainy season. It would probably be better to have rock work or (easily replaceable) log siding over the joist area and keep the logs a little higher off the ground. We used BCI joists and a laminated support beam which worked well. We used OSB for the flooring, much to my husband's regret. Next time he would use marine decking without hesitation. We were able to protect the flooring from getting ruined, but it was stressful anytime it got wet.
This brings us to the story of the Ultimate Incredible Big Blue Tarp. By the time the flooring was in place and it was time to start putting up logs, fall was upon us along with unpredictable weather. We knew it would be awhile before we could get a roof on, so we devised a way to protect the flooring as well as the logs while they were going up. That way was to find about the biggest tarp we could get our hands on and rig up a very simple framing structure to place it over. Let me tell you something about tarps. They have two great desires in life, as a friend of mine once put it. They alternate between wanting to be a sail or a swimming pool. So as time went on, we were continually beefing up the structure: adding ropes (with weights) over the top to subdue its sailing tendency; adding additional peaks and ropes underneath to reduce its capacity to become a swimming pool. When winter came, we found the 6' level came in particular handy for tapping snow off the tarp from underneath. One time it held as much as 5 inches of snow without collapsing. We developed this love-hate relationship with the thing. We hated all the work in maintaining it, but we loved its ability to protect our building materials and even to shelter us from wind and cold. With a propane heater running, we could create tolerable working conditions all winter long.
Our nearest disaster was a night when we were sleeping in our travel trailer on the site, and my step-son was sleeping in the basement. He came out to report to us that water was pouring into the basement from above. A strong wind had pulled the tarp part way off at the same time as a high intensity, short duration rainfall. We got the tarp back on, pulling against the wind. Then we ran the shop-vac until about 2:00am until most of the water was off the OSB flooring. This explains the preference for marine decking now even if it costs a little more.
We made the decision to hang joists below the mudsill rather than put them on top of the mudsill. For that reason, we had a 9 foot wall on the foundation instead of 8'. If we were to do it again, we would probably use the raised joists. The lowest 2-3 rows of logs take the greatest beating on your house as they get a lot of splash in the rainy season. It would probably be better to have rock work or (easily replaceable) log siding over the joist area and keep the logs a little higher off the ground. We used BCI joists and a laminated support beam which worked well. We used OSB for the flooring, much to my husband's regret. Next time he would use marine decking without hesitation. We were able to protect the flooring from getting ruined, but it was stressful anytime it got wet.
This brings us to the story of the Ultimate Incredible Big Blue Tarp. By the time the flooring was in place and it was time to start putting up logs, fall was upon us along with unpredictable weather. We knew it would be awhile before we could get a roof on, so we devised a way to protect the flooring as well as the logs while they were going up. That way was to find about the biggest tarp we could get our hands on and rig up a very simple framing structure to place it over. Let me tell you something about tarps. They have two great desires in life, as a friend of mine once put it. They alternate between wanting to be a sail or a swimming pool. So as time went on, we were continually beefing up the structure: adding ropes (with weights) over the top to subdue its sailing tendency; adding additional peaks and ropes underneath to reduce its capacity to become a swimming pool. When winter came, we found the 6' level came in particular handy for tapping snow off the tarp from underneath. One time it held as much as 5 inches of snow without collapsing. We developed this love-hate relationship with the thing. We hated all the work in maintaining it, but we loved its ability to protect our building materials and even to shelter us from wind and cold. With a propane heater running, we could create tolerable working conditions all winter long.
Our nearest disaster was a night when we were sleeping in our travel trailer on the site, and my step-son was sleeping in the basement. He came out to report to us that water was pouring into the basement from above. A strong wind had pulled the tarp part way off at the same time as a high intensity, short duration rainfall. We got the tarp back on, pulling against the wind. Then we ran the shop-vac until about 2:00am until most of the water was off the OSB flooring. This explains the preference for marine decking now even if it costs a little more.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Plumbing in Pea Gravel
I think I've been stalling on telling the tale of where we began putting in our own sweat equity on the project. Meanwhile, I've managed to scan in and add some photos from early in the process, as we didn't go digital until midway through the project. One of the first things we did was frame up a temporary “pony wall” to attach the outside electrical box, so the power company could bring power into the site. Cordless tools don't last that long without a nearby charger, and while we did run extension cords from the neighbor's house for a couple of days, that's not exactly ideal. So getting power onto the site as soon as possible is a good thing.
Our first task was installing the plumbing that would go under the basement slab, after the foundation walls were poured. We needed to install drainage for washer, utility sink, shower, toilet, and sink, main drainage to the septic tank and allow for venting. A floor drain is also recommended in a basement. The drainage pipes have to be installed at an appropriate angle to assist with gravity flow out of the house. At the same time we also installed an H of perforated PVC pipe to allow for passive radon venting that would eventually be vented through the roof of the house. It's lots easier to assume radon is likely to be an issue and install radon venting at the project outset than to try to engineer a system with fans and such later on, usually an expensive prospect. We also installed the connections where the water line from the well comes into the house and extended the line to where it would come into the pressure tank (in the stairwell). It seems my husband spent a long time kneeling in the pea gravel under the summer sun working out the pipe layout. Although plumbing inspection was not required outside city limits, we requested a review from the local plumbing inspector who was happy to look over our initial work before we glued everything in place.
Once the plumbing drainage was done, the next step was to install our radiant heating tubing. First we laid 2” blue foam board across the entire floor, except where the bearing wall footing was to go. Next, the concrete guys installed the grid of rebar that would go in the slab. Then it was our turn again. We purchased are radiant heating system through Radiantec, a company in Vermont, who provided lots of instruction with the materials. It is important to plan out the tubing layout so rows of outgoing water are alternated with rows of incoming water to keep heat more even across the floor. I did most of the weaving of the web in laying out the tubing with the help of my step-son. We then tied the tubing to the rebar with plastic tie-wraps. In retrospect, I wish I would have put the first row of tubing closer to the outside wall edges, as the floor is cold for the outside foot. We also wish we'd put insulation outside the footing along the daylight basement wall to help hold in more heat. I purposely left another area blank where we planned to install a food storage closet, so that could be kept cooler.
We use a propane heated Polaris high efficiency hot water heater for both domestic water and radiant heating. Maybe it is the rising fuel costs these days, but I have been disappointed with cost of heating. However, it's gotten better as we've gotten further along in the project and better insulated. Fast forwarding, I'll say we do love the radiant heating. It is delightful to have a warm basement floor in the winter, and it keeps the room evenly heated at a comfortable temperature. On the other hand, in the summer, the basement is delightfully cool, so we enjoy year-round comfort. We've also been happy with the insulating value of the log walls, but that is jumping ahead in the story.
Our first task was installing the plumbing that would go under the basement slab, after the foundation walls were poured. We needed to install drainage for washer, utility sink, shower, toilet, and sink, main drainage to the septic tank and allow for venting. A floor drain is also recommended in a basement. The drainage pipes have to be installed at an appropriate angle to assist with gravity flow out of the house. At the same time we also installed an H of perforated PVC pipe to allow for passive radon venting that would eventually be vented through the roof of the house. It's lots easier to assume radon is likely to be an issue and install radon venting at the project outset than to try to engineer a system with fans and such later on, usually an expensive prospect. We also installed the connections where the water line from the well comes into the house and extended the line to where it would come into the pressure tank (in the stairwell). It seems my husband spent a long time kneeling in the pea gravel under the summer sun working out the pipe layout. Although plumbing inspection was not required outside city limits, we requested a review from the local plumbing inspector who was happy to look over our initial work before we glued everything in place.
Once the plumbing drainage was done, the next step was to install our radiant heating tubing. First we laid 2” blue foam board across the entire floor, except where the bearing wall footing was to go. Next, the concrete guys installed the grid of rebar that would go in the slab. Then it was our turn again. We purchased are radiant heating system through Radiantec, a company in Vermont, who provided lots of instruction with the materials. It is important to plan out the tubing layout so rows of outgoing water are alternated with rows of incoming water to keep heat more even across the floor. I did most of the weaving of the web in laying out the tubing with the help of my step-son. We then tied the tubing to the rebar with plastic tie-wraps. In retrospect, I wish I would have put the first row of tubing closer to the outside wall edges, as the floor is cold for the outside foot. We also wish we'd put insulation outside the footing along the daylight basement wall to help hold in more heat. I purposely left another area blank where we planned to install a food storage closet, so that could be kept cooler.
We use a propane heated Polaris high efficiency hot water heater for both domestic water and radiant heating. Maybe it is the rising fuel costs these days, but I have been disappointed with cost of heating. However, it's gotten better as we've gotten further along in the project and better insulated. Fast forwarding, I'll say we do love the radiant heating. It is delightful to have a warm basement floor in the winter, and it keeps the room evenly heated at a comfortable temperature. On the other hand, in the summer, the basement is delightfully cool, so we enjoy year-round comfort. We've also been happy with the insulating value of the log walls, but that is jumping ahead in the story.
Monday, January 7, 2008
The Trouble-Shooting King
I am convinced my husband could solve almost any problem we could encounter. He comes from an intelligent family and attended a private high school where he was trained by old generation craftsman who taught that any job worth doing was worth doing well. Then they taught him how do the job well, even working with sheet metal, welding, automotive, drafting, and electronics. As a child he spent a lot of time building things, building models, planes, and as he grew older, he tinkered in mechanics. He joined the air force and became a fighter plane mechanic and later worked in radar. Since the military he's worked in test engineering, run his own business, has a patent on an energy-saving train device, and taught himself how to build and repair computers. Computers are his real trade in life outside of building our home. For fun he plays guitar, composes his own songs and models the Great Northern Railroad.
While construction has not been my husband's trade, he had experience wiring his parents' weekend cabin and performing small plumbing jobs. He had also worked in a cabinet shop, so was familiar with working with wood, and understood basic framing. Even so, this was the first (and I hope last) house he ever built and he had a lot to learn along the way. I had NO prior construction experience (unless you count pounding nails in my uncle's house when I was 5), so I had everything to learn.
One of my husband's great skills is in being able to research information that he doesn't already know. He'll go on the internet or pick up books on topics he needs to learn more about. With that basic background, he'll talk to experts in the field, and because he's done the background reading, he can ask intelligent questions, and has handles to hang the new information on. He certainly doesn't have all the answers right now. But as situations come up, it seems he can always come up with a good solution. I hardly worry when problems come up, because I know he'll eventually solve them.
I will also make the confession that my husband is a perfectionist. Now he will insist that's not so and point out several things he's let go that are less than perfect, which I say only serves to prove my point. The true perfectionist never truly meets their own expectations. However, he is not a perfectionist in everything (like say tool organization), and I have my own perfectionist tendencies so I am not finger-pointing here. The point I am making is that my husband likes to have things plumb, square, and level. This can be a challenge when working with a log home project initially, but it makes later stages like attaching framed walls or putting up sheetrock infinitely easier. He's a great believer in doing things well from the outset to prevent compounding problems later on. He also greatly believes in protecting the investment, doing a little extra work now to make sure we don't end up with mold inside our framed walls and that sort of thing. That's not a bad thing. So as we describe our log home building journey, it will not be a description of the easiest way to do the job, but of ways to do the job well. And maybe as we share this experience with you, you won't have to struggle quite as hard to figure all of these things out.
While construction has not been my husband's trade, he had experience wiring his parents' weekend cabin and performing small plumbing jobs. He had also worked in a cabinet shop, so was familiar with working with wood, and understood basic framing. Even so, this was the first (and I hope last) house he ever built and he had a lot to learn along the way. I had NO prior construction experience (unless you count pounding nails in my uncle's house when I was 5), so I had everything to learn.
One of my husband's great skills is in being able to research information that he doesn't already know. He'll go on the internet or pick up books on topics he needs to learn more about. With that basic background, he'll talk to experts in the field, and because he's done the background reading, he can ask intelligent questions, and has handles to hang the new information on. He certainly doesn't have all the answers right now. But as situations come up, it seems he can always come up with a good solution. I hardly worry when problems come up, because I know he'll eventually solve them.
I will also make the confession that my husband is a perfectionist. Now he will insist that's not so and point out several things he's let go that are less than perfect, which I say only serves to prove my point. The true perfectionist never truly meets their own expectations. However, he is not a perfectionist in everything (like say tool organization), and I have my own perfectionist tendencies so I am not finger-pointing here. The point I am making is that my husband likes to have things plumb, square, and level. This can be a challenge when working with a log home project initially, but it makes later stages like attaching framed walls or putting up sheetrock infinitely easier. He's a great believer in doing things well from the outset to prevent compounding problems later on. He also greatly believes in protecting the investment, doing a little extra work now to make sure we don't end up with mold inside our framed walls and that sort of thing. That's not a bad thing. So as we describe our log home building journey, it will not be a description of the easiest way to do the job, but of ways to do the job well. And maybe as we share this experience with you, you won't have to struggle quite as hard to figure all of these things out.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Babysit your Subs
Even with a self-build project, there may be certain tasks you will want to subcontract to others. In our case, we signed on with a general contractor which helped make it possible to get a construction loan. The general contractor helped us in planning the site design and preparing bid estimates for the entire project. He also did the site preparation work: clearing trees from the septic field, excavating the hole for the foundation, trenches for utility lines and contouring the driveway. He also lined up subcontractors to install our septic system, dig and install our well, install our propane tank and line, and pour our foundation, footings, and slab. Most of these tasks went fairly smoothly. There was a gap in time between pouring the foundation and pouring the basement slab, while we worked out the plumbing that would go inside the basement slab. I'll talk more about plumbing in another entry. With some minor exceptions we won't go into here, we were generally pretty happy with the subcontractors selected by our general.
We did have one near miss though. As I mentioned, my husband installed the plumbing prior to having the slab poured. He arrived on site while the subcontractors were at work and found that they had almost buried the toilet flange. He pointed out that it was not yet glued in and only needed to be raised a couple inches to prevent it from being buried in the concrete. Had he not arrived when he did, it would have required HOURS of work to chop through the concrete to access the toilet flange. You really want to be on site as often as possible while your subs are working to make sure they clearly understand how you want the job done.
We hired various other contractors or carpentry assistants during the project, and sometimes made the mistake of either trusting them beyond their skill level or not explaining our expectations clearly enough. My husband let loose a hired assistant who claimed to have wiring experience in our basement, and later after my husband studied the electrical code more himself, ended up having to undo and redo much work that wasn't up to code.
I won't be going into much further detail on the major tasks we subcontracted, as that clearly is not where our expertise from experience arises. We have seen several other people use the Styrofoam stacking block systems to install the forms for their own foundation which has an advantage of providing Styrofoam insulation around your concrete wall. That's something we would have considered if we were to do this again. But for the record, I will put in writing, that while I LOVE this house, I don't plan to self-build again. Once in a lifetime is enough.
We did have one near miss though. As I mentioned, my husband installed the plumbing prior to having the slab poured. He arrived on site while the subcontractors were at work and found that they had almost buried the toilet flange. He pointed out that it was not yet glued in and only needed to be raised a couple inches to prevent it from being buried in the concrete. Had he not arrived when he did, it would have required HOURS of work to chop through the concrete to access the toilet flange. You really want to be on site as often as possible while your subs are working to make sure they clearly understand how you want the job done.
We hired various other contractors or carpentry assistants during the project, and sometimes made the mistake of either trusting them beyond their skill level or not explaining our expectations clearly enough. My husband let loose a hired assistant who claimed to have wiring experience in our basement, and later after my husband studied the electrical code more himself, ended up having to undo and redo much work that wasn't up to code.
I won't be going into much further detail on the major tasks we subcontracted, as that clearly is not where our expertise from experience arises. We have seen several other people use the Styrofoam stacking block systems to install the forms for their own foundation which has an advantage of providing Styrofoam insulation around your concrete wall. That's something we would have considered if we were to do this again. But for the record, I will put in writing, that while I LOVE this house, I don't plan to self-build again. Once in a lifetime is enough.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Uh-Oh, Late Thinking!
Something you'll want to avoid is what we call “late thinking”. That is thinking out the details of a feature after certain steps in the project have begun, requiring the job to be a lot harder than it would have been had you figured out your plans at an earlier stage. One example of “late thinking” we ran into had to do with electrical wiring. We had lined out where the electric and phone lines would come into the house, keeping them well separated in the trench and even installed conduit, so new wiring could easily be pulled at some future date if needed. That was all good. We also had all of our permits in place, including the building, septic, and electrical permits. It is important to check with your county as to what permits and inspections will be required in your area. Requirements can vary between states and counties and whether or not you are within city limits. What we forgot to think out in detail was exactly where to bring the wiring from the outside electrical panel to the inside electrical panel until after the foundation was in place. After some thought we determined, it would be most efficient to bring it under the garage slab and into the basement, (as opposed to digging a new trench around the back of the garage to the back of the house). Luckily the garage slab had not yet been poured, and we were able to install conduit in the pea gravel under the slab. The challenging part was renting a concrete drill to drill a hole through 8” of concrete as well as a pesky piece of rebar. It would have saved hours of work and a pretty good bruise (from drill kick-back) if we had planned this out before the foundation was poured.
This is not the only time the electrical panel location gave us trouble. My husband consulted me on a preferred location. I didn't really want the panel in the middle of the family room, so I thought inside the bathroom would be a reasonable location. And so we hired a professional electrician to bring the wiring from the outside to the inside panel and install the panel in the bathroom as we had suggested. At some point the electrical inspector and his boss made an impromptu visit to check on our progress, pointed out a couple small items, but made no comment on the location of the electrical box. As my husband was involved in doing the majority of the wiring himself, he got a copy of the National Electrical Code and began to study. As he says, during some 'recreational' perusing of the code one day, he noticed that it dictated that electrical panels are not allowed in bathrooms. He called the electrical inspector who confirmed this was true. So one Saturday in February, we had to turn the power off, excepting for a few lights on extension cords from the outside power box and spent ¾ of a day turning the electrical box around and repulling various wiring back into place. We're grateful that not all of the wiring was in place at the time. The moral of the story is that it is the responsibility of the home-owner to make sure your house is built to all necessary codes. You can't always count on the professionals to watch out for you.
Another thing we planned originally that didn't work out was our plan to install our woodstove in the basement and pop the chimney out through the back wall. As we learned more about chimneys and backdrafting, we learned a chimney should really be located near the peak of the roof, and you don't want a long run of cold chimney outside relative to a short run inside. Right angle turns aren't recommended either. There are websites that can provide a lot more information on chimney details. But now we are faced with cutting a hole in our roof, so we can install our woodstove on the main level. I'm not including an exhaustive list of our mistakes in this entry. We'll talk about others as we cover various aspects of the building process. I suspect no project will be without its occasional bouts of 'late thinking', but we advise planning ahead as best you can to avoid complicated do-overs whenever possible.
This is not the only time the electrical panel location gave us trouble. My husband consulted me on a preferred location. I didn't really want the panel in the middle of the family room, so I thought inside the bathroom would be a reasonable location. And so we hired a professional electrician to bring the wiring from the outside to the inside panel and install the panel in the bathroom as we had suggested. At some point the electrical inspector and his boss made an impromptu visit to check on our progress, pointed out a couple small items, but made no comment on the location of the electrical box. As my husband was involved in doing the majority of the wiring himself, he got a copy of the National Electrical Code and began to study. As he says, during some 'recreational' perusing of the code one day, he noticed that it dictated that electrical panels are not allowed in bathrooms. He called the electrical inspector who confirmed this was true. So one Saturday in February, we had to turn the power off, excepting for a few lights on extension cords from the outside power box and spent ¾ of a day turning the electrical box around and repulling various wiring back into place. We're grateful that not all of the wiring was in place at the time. The moral of the story is that it is the responsibility of the home-owner to make sure your house is built to all necessary codes. You can't always count on the professionals to watch out for you.
Another thing we planned originally that didn't work out was our plan to install our woodstove in the basement and pop the chimney out through the back wall. As we learned more about chimneys and backdrafting, we learned a chimney should really be located near the peak of the roof, and you don't want a long run of cold chimney outside relative to a short run inside. Right angle turns aren't recommended either. There are websites that can provide a lot more information on chimney details. But now we are faced with cutting a hole in our roof, so we can install our woodstove on the main level. I'm not including an exhaustive list of our mistakes in this entry. We'll talk about others as we cover various aspects of the building process. I suspect no project will be without its occasional bouts of 'late thinking', but we advise planning ahead as best you can to avoid complicated do-overs whenever possible.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Plans in Hand
Even before you find your property, you will want to be designing your house plans, so you will be ready to hit the ground running once your construction loan clock starts ticking. As I mentioned earlier, some adjustments may be required to fit the house plan and the site together. On the sale notice, our property advertised that “some easy site preparation may be necessary.” See my Jan. 1 entry for a definition of “easy” which applies here. There are lots of factors to consider when planning your site design. First the septic field has to be at least 100 feet from any well or surface water (such as the lake adjoining our property). As is typical, our neighbors had installed their well a short distance from our property line, so the only thing we could do was put our well adjacent to theirs on our side of the line. There was just space to fit in our septic drainfield at the opposite end of the property from the well while keeping within our boundaries. We also had to figure out just where to site the house, taking in the view of the lake, while trying to minimize the number of trees that would have to be cleared and leaving room for a driveway. We decided to set the garage back from the front of the house, which was a good choice, as it makes it easier to turn a vehicle around in front of the garage and makes the house look less like a box in its design.
We created our own house plans right on our computer using Turbo FloorPlan 3D software by IMSI. There are many different software programs available to use, and I think they all require some level of a learning curve to work with them well. It is a pretty simple matter to drop in walls, windows, doors etc. Selecting your roof design and pitch and other details can be a little more complicated, but if you can figure out the program, you can add about any feature you can imagine. A nice feature of the 3D programs is that once you have laid out your floor plan, you can pop it up into 3D mode, 'walk' through the house or look at it from the outside. We spent some time making sure windows and doors were not only functional for the inside of the house, but also looked balanced from the outside of the house.
While designing your home, you'll find yourself noticing architecture like never before, like the lovely old houses built downtown in the 40s, or some atrocious boxes with miniature windows randomly located here and there. We were looking to build a relatively modest home with a small footprint, so we began with looking at mobile home floorplans that are very space efficient and minimize hall space. We started with a 24' x 30' dimension, which gradually expanded as we worked to make things fit in like stairways and a decent sized kitchen/dining area, and we finally settled on 28' x 40' with a full basement and half loft, which gives us close to 2400sf of living space. It is recommended that your dimensions be a multiple of 4, as most building materials, like plywood and sheetrock are in 4' widths.
At one point, we staked the dimensions of the main level out in the backyard (in the snow) to visualize what size we were really representing on our computer screen or printed plans. That helped us decide to allow a little more space for the kitchen/dining area. Another great thought we had was planning the stairway to the basement to fall immediately below the stairway to the loft, which added efficiency to our use of space. We also put the majority of our plumbing in one wall (between kitchen and bath on the main level and between bath and laundry immediately below in the basement). We made that an 8” thick wall which helped with fitting all that plumbing in (and also allowed a built in cabinet in the main level bath). Because both of us were involved in the design, I got to make sure it included features like linen, coat and utility closets that not all men would think of adding. (I say this because I once dated a contractor who built his house shortly after his divorce and included none of those features. There wasn't even a door into the attached garage from inside the house.) Because radon is relatively common in our area, we also planned to install a passive venting system to let radon escape from below the basement out through the roof. Those are some examples of things we did really well to plan out from the beginning.
We created our own house plans right on our computer using Turbo FloorPlan 3D software by IMSI. There are many different software programs available to use, and I think they all require some level of a learning curve to work with them well. It is a pretty simple matter to drop in walls, windows, doors etc. Selecting your roof design and pitch and other details can be a little more complicated, but if you can figure out the program, you can add about any feature you can imagine. A nice feature of the 3D programs is that once you have laid out your floor plan, you can pop it up into 3D mode, 'walk' through the house or look at it from the outside. We spent some time making sure windows and doors were not only functional for the inside of the house, but also looked balanced from the outside of the house.
While designing your home, you'll find yourself noticing architecture like never before, like the lovely old houses built downtown in the 40s, or some atrocious boxes with miniature windows randomly located here and there. We were looking to build a relatively modest home with a small footprint, so we began with looking at mobile home floorplans that are very space efficient and minimize hall space. We started with a 24' x 30' dimension, which gradually expanded as we worked to make things fit in like stairways and a decent sized kitchen/dining area, and we finally settled on 28' x 40' with a full basement and half loft, which gives us close to 2400sf of living space. It is recommended that your dimensions be a multiple of 4, as most building materials, like plywood and sheetrock are in 4' widths.
At one point, we staked the dimensions of the main level out in the backyard (in the snow) to visualize what size we were really representing on our computer screen or printed plans. That helped us decide to allow a little more space for the kitchen/dining area. Another great thought we had was planning the stairway to the basement to fall immediately below the stairway to the loft, which added efficiency to our use of space. We also put the majority of our plumbing in one wall (between kitchen and bath on the main level and between bath and laundry immediately below in the basement). We made that an 8” thick wall which helped with fitting all that plumbing in (and also allowed a built in cabinet in the main level bath). Because both of us were involved in the design, I got to make sure it included features like linen, coat and utility closets that not all men would think of adding. (I say this because I once dated a contractor who built his house shortly after his divorce and included none of those features. There wasn't even a door into the attached garage from inside the house.) Because radon is relatively common in our area, we also planned to install a passive venting system to let radon escape from below the basement out through the roof. Those are some examples of things we did really well to plan out from the beginning.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Dollars and $ense
Once you find the property you want, unless you happen to have a couple/few hundred thousand saved up, you'll need financing to purchase the property and build your home. You can also “pay as you go” which avoids a lot of debt, but from what we've seen can take at least 15 years to complete. We talked to folks at several different mortgage companies who were all very friendly until they heard the phrase “self-build”, at which point they would quickly refer us to someone else. After having been through the process, we can understand why banks are nervous about loaning to self-builders. It does take a tremendous amount of commitment to stick with the project, stay within your budget, and ultimately complete the home, which not everyone will do.
We finally ended up partnering with a general contractor, because there were certain aspects of the project we weren't prepared to do completely on our own. We consulted with the general contractor on site design and preparing estimates for building costs, so we could determine the size of loan we needed. (The rule of thumb that it is always going to take longer and cost more than you think is absolutely true.) The general contractor performed the site preparation and lined up subcontractors to pour the foundation and dig and install our well. With a general contractor signed on with our project, we found the mortgage companies much more willing to extend us a loan. (Note that the general adds a percentage on top of the subcontractors' charges, so in most cases you are better off lining up as many of your own subs as you can.)
One thing we were not entirely prepared for was on the day of creating the loan, the mortgage company handed us over to a bank (not of our choosing) for the temporary construction loan phase of the project. The bank fully expected us to complete the home in 6 months with no more than two 60 day extensions. While a team of contractors can throw up a stick frame house in 6 months, that is not very realistic for a self-build log home. We advise getting the longest time-frame you can find for your building loan, and you should also be involved in selecting the bank you will work with during construction.
Once our two extensions were up, our loan officer directed that we should do whatever it took at whatever cost to complete the home in 30 days, and agreed to hold our interest rate to the construction loan rate during that 30 days (as it threatens to skyrocket when the extension is up). Our log walls were still in process at the time, and there was no way possible to meet the bank's demands (and our demands for a quality-built home). This is where a friend helped us think outside the box and suggested we look for a new bank.
We made some calls and found our credit union was willing to buy out the loan from the other bank. We had called the credit union initially, but they didn't do loans on raw land without a well already installed. Well by this time, the well was in place, the home well begun, and I was able to show a spreadsheet showing exactly where the money had already been spent and exactly how much was still available for the remaining tasks. When our loan officer asked about our progress on completing the house in 30 days, we were able to report that we would be paying the loan off by the end of the month. She had to be satisfied with that. Prior to the transition the bank did skyrocket the interest rate erroneously, and after initially being told, “the computer never makes a mistake”, I was able to work with our loan officer's assistant to change the interest fees back to what we had been promised. It is worth your while to watch the fees that you are being charged. It also helps to find the right person to talk to who is willing to work with you as well.
Everyone has been a lot happier ever since once our loan was transferred to our credit union. While our progress was slow, they could see it was steady, and that all the receipts I turned in were directly for labor and materials on the house. Even before the home was 100% complete, our loan officer closed the construction loan and rolled us into a regular mortgage when they could see we had pretty much all the materials on site to complete the house and were making steady progress in that direction. That was a happy day. We love knowing the credit union will never sell our loan to another bank.
We finally ended up partnering with a general contractor, because there were certain aspects of the project we weren't prepared to do completely on our own. We consulted with the general contractor on site design and preparing estimates for building costs, so we could determine the size of loan we needed. (The rule of thumb that it is always going to take longer and cost more than you think is absolutely true.) The general contractor performed the site preparation and lined up subcontractors to pour the foundation and dig and install our well. With a general contractor signed on with our project, we found the mortgage companies much more willing to extend us a loan. (Note that the general adds a percentage on top of the subcontractors' charges, so in most cases you are better off lining up as many of your own subs as you can.)
One thing we were not entirely prepared for was on the day of creating the loan, the mortgage company handed us over to a bank (not of our choosing) for the temporary construction loan phase of the project. The bank fully expected us to complete the home in 6 months with no more than two 60 day extensions. While a team of contractors can throw up a stick frame house in 6 months, that is not very realistic for a self-build log home. We advise getting the longest time-frame you can find for your building loan, and you should also be involved in selecting the bank you will work with during construction.
Once our two extensions were up, our loan officer directed that we should do whatever it took at whatever cost to complete the home in 30 days, and agreed to hold our interest rate to the construction loan rate during that 30 days (as it threatens to skyrocket when the extension is up). Our log walls were still in process at the time, and there was no way possible to meet the bank's demands (and our demands for a quality-built home). This is where a friend helped us think outside the box and suggested we look for a new bank.
We made some calls and found our credit union was willing to buy out the loan from the other bank. We had called the credit union initially, but they didn't do loans on raw land without a well already installed. Well by this time, the well was in place, the home well begun, and I was able to show a spreadsheet showing exactly where the money had already been spent and exactly how much was still available for the remaining tasks. When our loan officer asked about our progress on completing the house in 30 days, we were able to report that we would be paying the loan off by the end of the month. She had to be satisfied with that. Prior to the transition the bank did skyrocket the interest rate erroneously, and after initially being told, “the computer never makes a mistake”, I was able to work with our loan officer's assistant to change the interest fees back to what we had been promised. It is worth your while to watch the fees that you are being charged. It also helps to find the right person to talk to who is willing to work with you as well.
Everyone has been a lot happier ever since once our loan was transferred to our credit union. While our progress was slow, they could see it was steady, and that all the receipts I turned in were directly for labor and materials on the house. Even before the home was 100% complete, our loan officer closed the construction loan and rolled us into a regular mortgage when they could see we had pretty much all the materials on site to complete the house and were making steady progress in that direction. That was a happy day. We love knowing the credit union will never sell our loan to another bank.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
Step 1 in building a home is finding the right property to build it on. I won't give advice on specifics to look for as that is largely a matter of individual taste. It is a good idea to have a general idea for the house plan you want before you look for property, although you will need to be flexible, and often you will have to make adjustments once you have your building site. We wanted a daylight basement, so finding property with a slope was a plus. However, we had to give up our original thought of having the garage in the basement, because on the site we eventually chose, it would have required a ridiculously steep driveway, and so we adjusted the garage to the main level.
My husband grew up in the Pacific Northwest, and so trees or a wooded lot was a must. Have you ever noticed that people like to recreate the landscape they are accustomed to wherever they go? So someone from Arizona might be tempted to cut all the trees on the lot and build a big ranch style adobe brick house. We like the idea of blending in with a modest cabin in the woods. Finding the right real estate in Montana took some searching. We searched MLS listings and drove all over the valley looking at property. There were some pluses to searching for property in the winter. You could see right away if it was out on a long, windy dirt road that would be no fun at all to negotiate all winter long. There were lots of rejections: too flat, too small, too open, too far away, too expensive, too deep for a well, too close to neighbors, too close to power lines, too steep to build on, and so on. But finally we were able to find an acre and a half on a wooded lot, fronting a small lake that was in our price range.
Once we found the property, we worked out the details with the seller's real estate agent, who we found to be extremely fair to both parties. Before purchasing, we had to ensure that we had deeded access across a driveway that crossed another lot, and that a septic system could be approved on the lot. We also looked into average depth of nearby wells and had the neighbor's water tested for quality as required by the county. We were lucky to get the property when we did, as the lot value has easily doubled since then. Seems when buying property, we always wish we could have purchased a decade or two sooner when prices were better, and undoubtedly we would have if we had had the means a couple decades ago. But we didn't—that's why we're in the market now.
My husband grew up in the Pacific Northwest, and so trees or a wooded lot was a must. Have you ever noticed that people like to recreate the landscape they are accustomed to wherever they go? So someone from Arizona might be tempted to cut all the trees on the lot and build a big ranch style adobe brick house. We like the idea of blending in with a modest cabin in the woods. Finding the right real estate in Montana took some searching. We searched MLS listings and drove all over the valley looking at property. There were some pluses to searching for property in the winter. You could see right away if it was out on a long, windy dirt road that would be no fun at all to negotiate all winter long. There were lots of rejections: too flat, too small, too open, too far away, too expensive, too deep for a well, too close to neighbors, too close to power lines, too steep to build on, and so on. But finally we were able to find an acre and a half on a wooded lot, fronting a small lake that was in our price range.
Once we found the property, we worked out the details with the seller's real estate agent, who we found to be extremely fair to both parties. Before purchasing, we had to ensure that we had deeded access across a driveway that crossed another lot, and that a septic system could be approved on the lot. We also looked into average depth of nearby wells and had the neighbor's water tested for quality as required by the county. We were lucky to get the property when we did, as the lot value has easily doubled since then. Seems when buying property, we always wish we could have purchased a decade or two sooner when prices were better, and undoubtedly we would have if we had had the means a couple decades ago. But we didn't—that's why we're in the market now.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
The Log Home Builder's Wife
I must begin with a clarification. My husband is not a log home builder by trade, but we embarked on a journey of building our own log home in beautiful Montana about 6 years ago. We have made some mistakes, made some very good choices, and learned a tremendous amount along this path we have taken. I had never considered becoming a 'Blogger', but recently, my sister suggested that there may be someone else out there in the world building their own log home that might be able to benefit from some of the things we have learned, and I agree that may be true. So with that in mind, I'll begin the story of our log home building journey and hope that you will enjoy the ride of hearing our story.
It was 6 years ago this month that my husband and I were engaged, and so we began to make plans for finding a home we could share together. It had long been my husband's dream to build a log home, and he assured me “it would be easy” to build a log home—just a matter of putting in foundation, stacking up a log kit, putting a roof over the top and finishing it off. In my naivety, I agreed to the project (which is just as well, as I don't regret it, but I'm not sure I would have been willing to start the project if I'd known how long it would take). Later I learned what my husband meant by “easy” when he remarked that “If it weren't easy, it wouldn't be possible.” So I will say it is indeed POSSIBLE to self-build a log home, but it may not fit everyone's definition of “easy”.
It was 6 years ago this month that my husband and I were engaged, and so we began to make plans for finding a home we could share together. It had long been my husband's dream to build a log home, and he assured me “it would be easy” to build a log home—just a matter of putting in foundation, stacking up a log kit, putting a roof over the top and finishing it off. In my naivety, I agreed to the project (which is just as well, as I don't regret it, but I'm not sure I would have been willing to start the project if I'd known how long it would take). Later I learned what my husband meant by “easy” when he remarked that “If it weren't easy, it wouldn't be possible.” So I will say it is indeed POSSIBLE to self-build a log home, but it may not fit everyone's definition of “easy”.
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