General Discussion & Chat: Permanent residence in a log cabin???, 1 by Weezingreens

Weezingreens wrote:
This house was begun long before my DH & I moved into it. Back in the early 1980's I lived with a man who ran a small sawmill. He cut the logs and began the house. He died in 1990 when his small plane crashed during a Civil Air Patrol checkride.

When I married Dennis, he continued work on the house, and we moved in in 1992. So, you see, it would be difficult to give you figures on this house. We did most of the construction ourselves or had local freelance carpenters help us. I can tell you that it required a crane to place the huge beams once we began the second story/roof.

This house is built with 12" Sitka Spruce logs. I don't know what kind of timber is available in your area, but I don't think you will be able to find logs of this size, at least, not affordable. They are hard to find here in Alaska, as well.

One can have a log house made from the "milled" logs, meaning that each log is run through a mill that sizes them all the same. They are generally 6" logs. I'd check out some websites for log homes. That can give you great ideas. Here's one I found: http://loghomelinks.com/

Of course, here in Alaska, we had to use styrofoam insulation sheets under our metal roofing, and we insulated between the logs, as well, to keep heat from escaping in the winter. The flat sides of the logs are our inside walls, so that eliminated some expense. However, with this type of construction there is no allowance for electrical wiring, plumbing, etc. You have to think a whole different way when you plan things.