Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Log Cabin Kits

Lots of romance, lots of problems.

Hiding wiring, pluming, air ducts can't be done.

I need a new house built out in the sticks 2400 to 2800 ft.². Them timber frame have an advantage over a log cabin?

I need a new house built out in the sticks 2400 to 2800 ft.². Them timber frame have an advantage over a log cabin?

I'm a licensed engineer, including PA and have engineered hundreds of log structures from giant sign towers, to $18million + lodges, to tiny cabins. Log anything is not anymore labor intensive than any other wood structure. I live in a log house so that's coming from personal and professional experience. If you are willing to do a crawl space foundation, you're more than half way there to code compliance. The rest is electrical, plumbing, egress windows and doors, and roof insulation. Conestoga Log Cabins (PA based) has a lot of options and the "logs" are precut on a CNC machine. Super exact. Their logs are actually glu-lam beams shaped like logs so much stronger and no settling issues. If you want more traditional logs, I have contacts for those as well. Feel free to PM or message me.

Lived in a nice custom built log home for almost 16 years. It was very well built ( according to a few inspectors that looked at it and knew a lot more than me) and the builder put log jacks in the inside to accommodate settling. Oversized large logs were used in the construction

I would never own another log home. Insurance got to very expensive and difficult to fin. Especially after the California fires a few years ago. If you live more than 10 miles from a FD, which I did it was even more difficult and expensive to find insurance. Getting a mortgage now on one is difficult. And a lot of extra maintenance. All my neighbors had log homes and had the same sentiment. Looking at possible lower resale values too.

Id definitely do heated floors if you decide to build one.The extra large overhangs on the roof are a good idea especially if you live in a high snow fall area.

Built on a concrete foundation with a four feet crawl space.



You can see the large screw jacks on bottoms of supporting logs for settling









They look nice but personally would not recommend. The novelty was fun the first few years and it was cool to have elk, mule deer feeding under your second story upper bedroom deck, but too much work.

What a gorgeous home in such a beautiful setting!

They are good houses if they are built well, like my house. And if not built right they are bad news. An 8 foot high section of log wall will shrink about 2 inches. This must be compensated for, or your doors and windows will be busted up. Also if you have a bathroom on the second floor, you have to allow for settling for the plumbing pipes.
Run your pipe vertically into the bathroom, and then a horizontal section for several feet if copper or PVC. If you use Pex, no problem in the first place.

Most electricians won't wire a log cabin. So I wired mine by myself and I must say, I enjoy doing wiring in a log cabin. It is a lot of work, though.

Also, you can see massive roof overhangs on my house. Four feet on the gable ends. You need to keep the sunshine and rain off of the logs. Don't grow any bushes near the logs, they will trap moisture and can rot a log out.

I have vast experience in framing and building a custom log cabin like mine is easily twice the work of building frame. Maybe three times the work.

Averaged 150 to 200 inches of snow a year. Not fun in winter!!!


What a gorgeous home in such a beautiful setting!

What a gorgeous home in such a beautiful setting!

Mind is I ask what it cost to heat a pad like that through a good winter?

Those high ceilings had make it a little spendy.

Going up on the roof was a big pucker factor cleaning off any accumulated ice, replacing screws and cleaning chimney . Too much work.

Does anyone have experience with any of the log cabin kit manufacturers? I'm looking for a small cabin to use as a place for my parents and inlaws to stay when they visit. As they get older one or the other is at my place almost all summer. I have a small wooded lot at far side of the farm that has easy access to a road and utilities and I'd like to put up a small cabin that they can stay in. It needs to be code compliant and I plan to put it on a crawlspace foundation. Im looking for something small with a bedroom and small kitchen on the first floor. I also looked at a few of the modular cabins but the cost is ridiculous if you want a code compliant version.