Log Homes Made Easy: Contracting and Building Your Own Log Home

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WELCOME

WELCOME TO THE second edition of Log Homes Made Easy. When I wrote the first edition, it was from the perspective of a builder-dealer and general contractor of log homes. I wrote what I felt people needed to know to pursue their log home dream within the reality of today’s homebuilding world. From the positive letters, e-mails, and conversations I’ve had, the book hit its mark, helping many people make sense of the log home buying and building process. Since the first edition was published, in 1993, sales have increased each year. In 1998, Internet bookseller Amazon.com ranked Log Homes Made Easy as its best seller in the home planning category.

Why then a second edition? As an old saying goes, If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Actually, this second edition is not about fixing Log Homes Made Easy (although I have corrected a few minor errors). It’s about expanding and updating the information presented in the first edition. In setting out to write a book on buying and building log homes, I tried to stick to my own experience. I’ve found in fifteen years in the log home business that opinions and emotions run high and personal interpretations and specific experiences often masquerade as fact and general principle. What you read in Log Homes Made Easy comes from my own experience. What I write about is what I’ve witnessed. Many of the tips in Log Homes Made Easy were learned the hard way and sometimes at considerable expense.

The second edition continues this philosophy. Since the first edition, however, I’ve had more and varied experiences in log home building to draw upon. I’ve also had a chance to observe the performance of log homes others and I built over the last decade. Observations based on that experience are included in this second edition. I’ve also had the opportunity to see the log home industry from another position, serving as vice president of sales and marketing of a log home company. In that capacity, I managed sales staff and dealers and can help relate the sales process from that perspective. Ten years of writing about log homes in consumer magazines and conducting seminars nationally on the process of buying and building a log home has put me in contact with a much larger group of people: buyers, sellers, and builders. This has given me a broader perspective to share on the industry overall.

Log homes were just taking hold as a fascinating and unique building system when I started building in the late 1980s. Sometime in the mid-1990s the log home dream seemed to surge. Whether it was baby boomers reaching a stage to pursue their log home dream, the general surge in the national economy, or sunspots, something caused interest in log homes to soar. When I started selling log homes there were two magazines devoted exclusively to log homes. Today, there are four. With a couple notable exceptions, the companies that were selling log homes when I started are still around and several have grown considerably. In looking at who has grown and who hasn’t, it’s interesting to note that it doesn’t appear to be associated with a particular building system or wood species, but rather with the quality of service. When people talk to me about being very happy or unhappy with a company, their comments often focus on how they were treated and how smoothly (or roughly) their log home project went. Because I firmly believe that an important part of a successful log home project is having realistic expectations, the second edition of Log Homes Made Easy maintains the tradition of the first in presenting both the positive and the cautions. The primary criticism I’ve heard of the first edition was that it discouraged some people. It certainly wasn’t (and isn’t) my intention to discourage anyone from pursuing his or her log home dream. However, I don’t want to delude anyone either. If a frank discussion of the difficulties of being your own general contractor is discouraging, take that as a warning that it might not be something you are quite ready to take on.

WHAT’S NEW IN THE SECOND EDITION

Within the second edition, the first remains almost intact. I’ve made some significant additions, however. You will find more discussion about handcrafted homes. While my own building experience was in the area of log home packages provided by a manufacturer, I’ve had the opportunity to see several handcrafted projects up close and spend time with the handcrafters and their clients. During my own building career, I also found myself turning to handcrafter’s techniques to resolve specific building issues.

Insulated log homes also receive an expanded treatment. Misunderstood by some as a cheap alternative to solid logs, insulated log systems, I’ve discovered, are much more than frame houses with log siding and offer specific benefits that appeal to many people. I had an opportunity to build an insulated log home and track its performance and my client’s satisfaction over several years, which gave me some insights into this log home style that I share here.

The basic process of building a log home hasn’t changed since the first edition. Budgeting, scheduling, construction management, and basic techniques are the same. New construction materials and techniques, however, have been added to the log homebuilder’s inventory. In some cases the techniques actually aren’t new but are seeing a much wider use since the first edition, a sign that they have found greater favor among homeowners and builders. The growing interest in log homes has led to development of building products specifically for use in log home construction. There is now a wide selection of sealants, preservatives, and fasteners available that have been developed specifically for log homes.

LOG HOMES AND THE INTERNET

One of the biggest changes in the world of log homes actually has nothing to do with log homes themselves. When I wrote the first edition, I used a word processing program on my home computer. Between writing sessions I sometimes launched a program called a web browser and went surfing in the new world of cyberspace. Today, the Internet is a pervasive and growing force in society, changing the way we communicate, shop, and entertain ourselves. It allows users to conduct research quickly and efficiently, locate resources, and even chat with others who either have similar questions or have answers to those questions. When I started building log homes, information exchange was usually limited to a dialog between the prospective log homeowner and company sales representatives. Technical information was usually limited to sales literature, which certainly has the potential for bias. Today, anyone with a web browser can launch themselves on a search for log home information and encounter not only company sales information but also people who are going through or have been through the process and are willing to share their own experiences. Independent websites gather information from many sources and concentrate them to make research and comparison shopping easier. Company websites now contain technical information such as construction methods that make building that much easier. It’s even possible to find and qualify for financing online.

I do have a word of caution about researching log homes on the Internet. In my frequent visits to the bulletin boards, forums, and websites devoted to log homes, I’ve come across a considerable amount of opinion that has no basis in fact. Writers need no qualifications to be published in cyberspace and no one checks credentials. I’ve read advice from people who, after detailed commentary on some aspect of log home construction, acknowledge that they actually have no direct experience in log construction but have obtained their information from others. This can lead to distortion and misinformation. My advice, as someone who has been there, done that, is to be wary of broad generalizations. Log homes are as unique as their owners; wood is an organic product given to wide variation in its behavior, and environmental conditions and home design make each log home and each log home building experience unique. Before believing any claim that you must do something a certain way or use a certain product or wood, look for people with known building experience to back it up.

FIRE FLICKERS IN a stone hearth, sending glimmers of orange and scarlet dancing across walls of solid wood. Overhead shadows play among massive beams. Outside, snow sifts down through bare limbs to blanket the ground, while inside on the sofa, the family cat curls itself tighter. The aroma of home cooking hangs in the halls, mingling with a fragrance of wood and the faint scent of the fireplace.

This is log home living. It is a dream pursued by many. And for many, the dream will remain just that, like learning to play the piano or sailing solo around the world. But each year, more and more people are bringing their log home fantasies to life. Indeed, statistics suggest that more than one out of twenty custom homes built today is built from logs, a doubling from five years ago.

The lure of a home set away from the sprawl of the suburbs, nestled in tranquil woods or perched on a rural hillside, is not hard to fathom. As the twenty-first century begins and people find themselves more and more caught by the rush of technology, their lives surrounded by the products of laboratories and factories, the pull of something natural and peaceful grows stronger.

For many, log homes represent a haven from technology, a reminder of simpler, quieter times, and a link to a rich and rugged heritage. Even though today’s log home is a masterpiece of modern engineering and sophisticated technology, the overwhelming presence of wood makes it seem like a page out of history.

The appearance and feel of a log home are affected greatly by the log and corner style. Here, large diameter Swedish-coped logs are joined at a notched corner with the log overhangs scribe-cut into graceful curves. Finish details such as the custom cedar door contribute to an overall atmosphere of rustic elegance.

But the dream of log home living carries a real price tag. As with anything custom today, costs can be higher. In addition, because of the uniqueness of log homes and the bewildering array of choices, purchasing and completing one involves more research, planning, effort, and determination than purchasing a conventional home. The procedure is further complicated by a second dream that often goes along with owning a log home—the dream of building it yourself.

Once upon a time, log homes were tiny, owner-built cabins in forest clearings. When the owners finished their cabins, their children studied law by firelight and grew up to become presidents. Times have changed. The modern log home industry began as a source for inexpensive second homes—weekend retreats at the lake, in the woods, or in the mountains. Small cabins were (and still are) well within the means of weekend carpenters and amateur builders. But the weekend log retreat led many to decide that it would be fun to live in a log home all year. Somewhere over the last decade, log second homes have given way to log primary residences. Today, the majority of log homes are being built for full-time occupancy.

With the shift from cabin to year-round home, log homes have gotten larger and more sophisticated. What works in the woods on weekends is not what most people want to come home to every night. But the desire for a bigger, more sophisticated residence has not always brought the recognition that building a home is far more complex than building a weekend cabin.

I’m always amazed when someone comes through my door with that do-it-yourselfer glow and unrolls a set of plans that would give pause to a good builder of conventional homes—huge homes with fourteen corners or more, cathedral ceilings everywhere, dormers on top of dormers. This person would never consider attempting such a project using conventional framing, but for some reason the simplicity of stacking logs makes the whole idea seem downright easy. Never mind that logs account only for the exterior walls, leaving a very complicated roof to frame and a substantial amount of interior framing.

On a large house project, do-it-yourselfers face the potential for economic disaster. Not only are the risks of mis-estimating (this means underestimating) enormous, opportunities for structural catastrophe are magnified. Underestimating construction costs by 10 percent on a project expected to cost less than $80,000 is survivable by most people. But a 10 percent error on a $200,000 project can produce gruesome results. A 10 percent margin of error is not uncommon among owner-builders, and twice that is not unrealistic.

Glass-fronted living areas are popular, adding a contemporary counterpoint to the logs. By carefully considering placement of large glass exposures, homeowners can use solar energy to enhance the energy efficiency of log walls.

While I don’t want to discourage owner-builders completely, I do want to sound a strong warning. I’ve heard of too many log home dreams shattered because enthusiasm overpowered common sense. If your building experience is limited, your project is a primary residence comparable in size to most conventional residences in your area, and your principal reason for building yourself is to hold costs down, you have already taken three giant steps toward disaster. If you believe that you can build your log home for less than a tractbuilt conventional home of similar size and design, disaster is almost assured.

Fortunately, the increasing number and sophistication of log homes is causing people to recognize their limitations when it comes to construction. Fewer people have the time, energy, or inclination to go out and set logs themselves. But the desire to be involved in the building process remains strong. So today the owner-builder is giving way to the owner-contractor.

This book is written for the owner-contractor—the individual who has no intention of taking a chain saw or broadaxe into the woods to forge a new life in the wilderness. I write for the individual or the couple who wants the satisfaction of bringing their log home dream to life under their direction. They will probably have to balance their contractor responsibilities with jobs and family. They will be people who recognize that even though they may save money acting as their own contractor, that savings will be on the order of 10–20 percent of the cost of a comparable conventional home. They understand that if you could build a solid wood house for half the cost of the stick house next door, the countryside would be littered with log subdivisions instead of the other way around.

OWNER-CONTRACTING

A professionally built home usually falls into one of two categories. It’s either builder-built or contractor-built. Builders employ their own crews, have their own equipment, and range from four guys and a pickup to sprawling office complexes with armies of workers and fleets of trucks. Most builders in the log home construction business are found toward the smaller end of the spectrum.

Log homes are becoming larger and more sophisticated. Complex rooflines, multiple dormers, and irregular outlines require intricate engineering details and substantial construction skills.

General contractors, on the other hand, usually do not employ workers directly. They rely instead on a variety of subcontractors that specialize in one aspect of home construction. The trades, as they’re called, include excavating, masonry, plumbing, electric, heating and cooling, carpentry, roofing, drywall, painting, landscaping, and many more. The general contractor (GC) orchestrates the trades. In addition, the GC estimates the cost of the house, oversees the budget, hires and fires subcontractors, schedules the work, and sees that everybody gets paid. The owner’s construction contract is with the GC, who is responsible for the outcome of the project.

The distinction between builder and general contractor is important to prospective log home owners. It’s generally less expensive to work with a builder than a professional GC. The builder employs workers directly and owns equipment. The builder prices his work at his cost (overhead) plus a (usually) reasonable profit. The GC subcontracts; subcontractors actually employ workers and own equipment. The subcontractor prices his work to the general contractor, based on his overhead and a reasonable profit. The GC then totals up the subcontract prices, adds his own overhead plus a reasonable profit, and charges the log home buyer accordingly. So employing a GC means paying a markup on top of a markup.

Be forewarned, however. Smaller builders often become general contractors by default. The builder may employ carpenters and roofers but subcontract the rest of the trades. To the home buyer, this means that, even though you’ve employed a builder, you are still paying a general contractor’s markup on much of the project.

A log home buyer who becomes a general contractor saves that GC markup (10–20 percent) of the final house cost. There may be a savings of a portion of the builder-constructed house price, also, because total subcontractor overhead may be less than builder overhead and builder profit is eliminated.

So the plus side of acting as your own GC is a significant savings in construction costs. Another benefit that is harder to measure is having more direct control over the final product. By dealing directly with subcontractors, the home buyer is in a better position to monitor the quality of work being done. Finally, there is the satisfaction of knowing your log home with an intimacy you wouldn’t have if you turned overall responsibility over to a third party. And there are the stories, too. If you choose to act as your own general contractor, I guarantee you some fascinating stories to tell your neighbors (although it may take a while for you to see the amusement in some of them).

What about the down side of general contracting? First, the time commitment is significant. Before construction begins, you will need to spend time organizing the project, finding subcontractors, getting bids, estimating the final project cost, and scheduling work. This is on top of the home buyer’s chore of securing financing. Plan on a month’s worth of weekends and evenings to do justice to the preconstruction phase of your project. There may be a few early mornings thrown in, too; because good subcontractors are on job sites all day, the only way to reach them may be with a 6 A.M. phone call.

A second disadvantage is the amount of responsibility you assume. You will be responsible for the final budget of the house. If you forget a material or labor cost, it’s your problem. If there is disagreement between you and your subcontractor as to whether something should be considered part of a bid, it will be your responsibility either to straighten the sub out or come up with the extra cash to complete the task.

Managing subs is not always an easy task. There are subcontractors in any region whose greatest skill is avoiding doing the work they agreed on for the price they agreed to. It takes a combination of patience, assertiveness, and common sense to manage. Be prepared for some amazing excuses for absences and some incredible explanations for shortcuts (especially during hunting season and fishing season, and when the weather is extremely hot, cold, unusually wet or dry, or exceptionally nice; in other words, almost anytime). This is not to say that there are not excellent, responsible people in the building trades—there are. Unfortunately, there are also some accomplished pretenders.

Sloping lots offer opportunity for walkout basements. The lowest level of this chalet-style house incorporates basement garages as well as living space. Basement bedrooms and family rooms can be made more comfortable with natural light from above-grade windows in exposed foundation walls. If a walkout is on your must-have list, choose your lot and building style carefully. Have your builder or a surveyor examine your lot to determine whether a reasonable slope exists.

The log home dream of many—a pastoral retreat set in quiet countryside. As urban society becomes increasingly complex, more people turn to a dream such as this where walls of solid wood create a haven from the outside world. Achieving the dream, however, requires careful planning, detailed preparation, and true dedication.

Finally, there are always a few tasks—some unpleasant—that fall by default on the general contractor. For example: There’s a sudden turn in the weather over a weekend. It’s Sunday morning, and a beautiful spring week has suddenly become a weekend of snow squalls and sleet. The front came in with strong gusty winds, and the plastic sheeting that covers your building materials is probably in shreds. The weather is expected to be unreasonable for the entire coming week. Somebody has to drive the thirty miles of slick roads to your job site to secure the materials and replace the torn tarping. Don’t hold your breath waiting for volunteers.

THE SECRET TO A SUCCESSFUL LOG HOME PROJECT

In thinking about the people I’ve worked with, visited, and built homes for over the years, I stumbled on what I consider to be the secret of a successful log home project. Actually, I think it’s the secret of a successful home building project of any kind. What is it? I call it the ability to COPE. As you might suspect, COPE is an acronym. It stands for Communication, Organization, Persistence, and Enthusiasm. COPEing is what this book is all about.

First, clear communication is absolutely essential. This begins with clear communication between the parties building the home, spouses, roommates, or business partners. Next comes communicating a clear picture of your goals to your log provider and people from whom you will be obtaining construction bids. Finally, you need to communicate clearly with the subs and workers on the job. Communication begins with understanding what you want. Then you must be able to convey what you want to all of the other people involved in your log home.

A scrapbook is one of the best tools to begin the communication process. If you haven’t begun one already, start today. Clip pictures of the log homes and finish details you like. Use these to support drafts of your design and blueprints. Pictures should include log corner details; log styles; porch and deck styles, including railings and ceilings; interior details such as wall, floor, and