Home Forums Miscellaneous Topics Rural Living Any experience on Log Home/Cabin Kits?

Kicking around the idea buying rural land and putting a log home/cabin kit on it. Visited one site lists logs only 13-15K. What else would drive up the cost? Crane rental? I can do the electrical and plumbing etc myself. Assuming I would have to build a roof myself. Any sources, like books or venders appreciated.

These old USDA publications still have useful knowledge. Specifically for your project look at The use of logs and poles in farm construction., it's about log house construction.

Click on the link, then look on the right click on "All Pages" and navigate by using the arrows to turn the pages.

http://www.todaysplans.net/use-unt-digital-farmstead-books.html#.VtUiW8fMshn

Thanks lots of info at the link.

Thanks. I got the site/forums bookmarked.

Hey, Losthighway, I am a little late to your thread, but have experience with traditional log building and cabin kits and I must say unless you have help and are in good shape, a kit is the way to go. Clarify that further by saying, in my mind a log cabin and log home are different in scope and size.

Whether you build a home or cabin read up on the building techniques before anything else.

My inspiration for a log cabin was from Calvin Rutstrum's book THE WILDERNESS CABIN and I built a simple round log "saddle notched" 10'x12' "trappers cabin". Subsquently, I built two larger "saddle notched" cabins and a "saddle notched" horse barn. Then I built a 3 bedroom home of square logs with dove-tailed corners.

Books that were helpful were:

THE FOXFIRE BOOK edited by Eliot Wigginton

BUILDING A LOG HOUSE IN ALASKA by Cooperative Extension Service, College Alaska

CABINS, LODGES & BUNBGALOWS by Editorial Staff of Popular Science Monthly

IN HARMONY WITH NATURE by Christian Bruyere and Robert Inwood

HEWN LOG HOUSE by Charles McRaven

HAND-HEWN by William C. Leitch

HOW TO BUILD AND FURNISH A LOG CABIN by W. Ben Hunt

CABINS AND COTTAGES by Editors of Time-Life Books

FROM THE GROUND UP by John Cole and Charles Wing

LOW-COST ENERGY-EFFICIENT SHELTER edited by Eugene Eccli

My last log cabin I built is what you would call a semi-kit. I drew up plans and shopped them out to three different log home/cabin builders. All I wanted was full logs, rafters, floor joists and roof sheeting.

I chose a builder/sawmill that supplied the round logs with cut saddle notches, log length to window and door openings and rough sawn lumber. All other materials I purchased through local building centers. Saved a lot of money by building my own window and door bucks.

I hired two semi-trucks to haul the material from the builder/sawmill.


Finished project.

I'll check into those books and kits. I am thinking of building a 2 bedroom/1 bath home around 1000 sq feet. with porches running the length in both front and back.

Cheapest thing you can do is take the class. You will learn why things go wrong with log structures and what to do about it.

I helped a friend build a log house, about 2500 sq.ft., single story , back in the late '90's. He used this company out of Tn.

http://www.battlecreekloghomes.com/log-cabin-home-packages-kits-profiles/

He sent his plans to them and they cut the logs to match his plans. The logs were numbered and you were provided with a building plan, telling where to use each log with that certain number. His were double tongue and groove, spray foam applied on the tongues, and screws alternated from side to side on the logs every 3'. The screws went thru two logs and into the third.

This house was built on a slab and the company sent out a rep to make sure the bottom layer of logs were properly laid. After that, it was like a 'Lincoln log' set. No crane needed (3 people could handle the largest ones).

We did everything, except the brick work for the chimney and the metal roof.

The only tricky thing was running the electrical wires.