Permanent residence in a log cabin???

I was just wondernig what you guys thought of this. I was looking at having a log cabin put up on some land. Its 20x36 with a loft, its myself my husband and my 2 kids. Here is the website with pictures http://www.pacabins.com and then styles or something the top link! and its the one on the bottom 6 room cabin. See what you guys think. I was thinking fo that as a main house and one of the smaller ones as a little guest house.

Katrina

Cool. I love log cabins, and we have many in our area. In fact, I hope to build one for myself if I really decide to sell and move.

Log cabins are great! I always wanted one. Some were built here during the 70's and 80's and they would be more popular if not having to buy the logs nowadays (prices are outrageous here).

I can't believe you're second guessing yourself. My dream home is a log home. I've been told the only challenge is fire insurance...oh, and pest control because of termites. I'm certain since that time they've been "upgraded" for this. Go for it!!! (boy, am I jealous) lol

"T" :)

Well I wasn't second guessing the log home part, was second guessing the size, thats why I included the hyperlink its small only 20x36 and thats kinda small for a family of four dontcha think?

katrina

That's a gorgeous cabin! I would LOVE to live in that! It is kind of small, but if you all have gone camping in a small cabin and got along fine, I think you can do it. :) Two bedrooms on the first level ~ one for each kid, right? The loft for you and your DH? I think it would work, but everyone would have to stay organized and pick up after themselves or you would slowly be driven insane. LOL!

Kenny and I have wrestled with living in small spaces for a year now (30 foot travel trailer while we plan and build the big house). We've both learned that the little things we used to leave laying around add up QUICK in a small space and make it look awful ~ things like leaving our dishes on the end tables after having dinner in the living room, taking our shoes off at the couch instead of by the door, not filing away the day's mail right away. And the kitchen! You REALLY have to stay on top of that or it will look seriously bad in no time flat. We've learned to just put those things away right away and do the dishes immediately and it's not bad at all!

The flip side is that it doesn't take long to clean house! The place looks pretty good after half an hour and we can clean EVERYTHING (including dishes, dusting, mopping, bathtub, toilet, windows, EVERYTHING) in only three hours ~ that's a deep cleaning with both of us doing it. Not bad!

Getting one of those little cabins as a guest house would be a stroke of genius! When you live in a small space there truly is NO ROOM for a guest. Your family will be in their own groove of keeping things in their place and another person who isn't used to that will throw a serious monkey wrench into the works.

I love that staircase coming down from the loft, but it just looks too big for the room. Is there any way you can replace it with a spiral? It would cost more, I'm sure, but you'll cut the floor space it takes up in half. It would probably fit right in the space taken up by that first landing (as you're going up). You can still encase it in the cedar, making walls around it halfway up. Or you could use rollaway stairs ~ they're stairs that have wheels on the end where they hit the floor, brackets on top where the top slides up when not in use and a lever that raises the wheels when in use so it doesn't move when you go up it. You just roll them out at night when you go to bed and roll them back against the wall like a ladder during the day. If you don't have good balance, I'd go for the spiral as the rollaway stairs don't usually have handrails. If you are seriously considering these instead of the spirals, I'll try to get pics of the ones at the local fire hall so you can get the idea.

The kitchen as it shows in the floorplan gives me pause ~ it's AWFUL small for everyday living. Maybe that's why they didn't show a pic of it? I would put a big window right over the sink to help with the smallness of it. And if you go the circular or rollaway stairs route, you could use the rest of the space previously taken up by the stairs to enlarge the kitchen ~ put a counter/bar in there with storage underneath. Add some barstools and you'll have more seating, too. And look up for storage ~ have you seen those gorgeous iron racks with hooks for hanging pans and large untensils? The ones that hang from the ceiling ~ I LOVE those. :) If you enclose the spiral stairs, you can put shallow shelves along the kitchen sides of that enclosure ~ canned goods on the side facing the outside wall and spices facing the "new" counter. You might could even put the stove in that "new" counter so the chef'll feel more like part of the family while they're cooking ~ facing the living room. They make smaller apartment sized appliances you might look at. The smaller refrigerator may not be a thing you can use with a family of four, but an apartment sized stove that's about 2/3 the size of a regular stove would work great! I have one and the only thing I don't like about it I can't bake a 30 lb. turkey in it. But how often do I need to cook something that big? LOL! It would do JUST fine for a family of four everyday, but not for a big gathering at the holidays. You could always wing it by cooking the turkey (or ham) outside on the BBQ pit or deep fry the bird in a turkey fryer. If it'll just be you and your family for Christmas, you can just get a smaller bird to bake! LOL! If you want to use a soup pot and big skillet at the same time, you'll have to put them on burners diagonal from each other, but they'll fit!

I fiddled around with the floorplan pic to try to illustrate some of what I'm talking about ~ it's attached below.

Good luck! I think it's a great idea!

I forgot to tell you something, so this is edited to add that in this first pic, I've put the stove in two places so you can choose which would work better for you. If you'd like it better over by the sink, you may want to move the sink over towards the fridge.

This message was edited Monday, Dec 23rd 3:05 PM

I really like drawing floor plans (shoulda' been an achitect I guess ;), so while I was at it, I thought of what you could do with it when the kids grow up and move out. I've attached that pic, too.

It's basically moving the bathroom and knocking out the wall between the two first level bedrooms to make one large master bedroom. The bathroom could be done a lot different, of course ~ maybe a big garden tub or jacuzzi tub if you like that. The loft could then be a guest room or studio or craft room.

Wingnut, you have hidden talents! Maybe you need to design houses instead of selling cows, or a little of both to cover all bases. I have a friend who owns a construction business, and she "fiddles around" with floor plans for custom built classic Texas homes, has for about 20 years or more. You did the same kind of things she would have done, and your explanation made me think I was reading one of hers.

I lived in a couple of log houses as a child in Louisiana. One was built by my grandparents, with just one big room. Another was built by my uncle on the other side of the family. They were quite primitive, like the real ones of yesteryear. Heck, that was yesteryear.

One more thing ~ I noticed when playing with the floorplan that there are two halls leading to the first level bedrooms. The 2'x6' closets are alongside those halls. Those are about 4'x6' ~ 48 square feet total for both. When you're talking about only 720 square feet on the bottom floor, that's a good little bit of space that could be used in a much better way if the house were designed differently. It looks to be designed as a weekend cabin and for that it works. But in 48 square feet you could fit a lot of everyday living ~ that's the same size as the bathroom. Maybe you might want to either move the bathroom so the two bedroom doors come directly off the living room wall and those hallways are eliminated or go with another company's floorplan?

Here's another idea I've used in one of my drawings of a rental cabin (pic attached). By rotating the bathroom like that and moving the closets, you now have 5 more square feet in each bedroom and 27 square feet of closet space for each one instead of only 12.

Yes, the bedrooms are only 6 1/2 feet wide now, but they're 17'6" long ~ if you put the beds on the end like in the pic I've attached, there'll be about 11 1/2' by 6 1/2' left open at the end of the room ~ plenty of room against one wall for a chest of drawers and a desk for studying after you leave the walkway open. There will only be about 2 1/2 feet in front of the closets, but that won't be too bad. With the original floorplan, you'd only have 3 1/2 feet around the bed ~ not really enough room for any other furniture except a bedside table.

Just a few ideas I had. I wish you luck! I'll bet it would be great!

Beautiful. That is 1080 sq. ft. It sounds big enough to me, it is more than a 14x60 mobile home for instance at 840 sq. ft. Many families with 2 or more children live in them.

Thanks, Aimee! I didn't see your post until now ~ I was off in my own little world moving bathrooms and closets in that last pic! LOLOL!

Thank you for the compliments! It's easy when you have someone else's drawing to cut and paste from. :) I really enjoy playing with little houses ~ Hobbit houses. ;) It makes me feel good to solve the problems of how to fit what where. I'm still working on the re-do of the little 12'x24' cabin Kenny and I will be living in for about a year before we build a bigger house. I've about figured out how to fit a full kitchen in there, a breakfast nook, a stackable washer/dryer AND a nice big fat bathtub! We'll have to add on two little octagonal rooms (probably 5' or 6' in diameter) on each of the front corners, but it ought to be cute and very comfy for quite a while. :)

I would love to have a log cabin home, you are so lucky to have the opportunity to have one.

Wow wing I just might have to ask your permission to show them. I am not sure how much they will modify. The cabin is actually a large hunting cabin. I have been getting more info on actual log homes. I found one really nice one with 1700 +/- sq ft, for like 22,900 but thats not counting putting it up. How hard do you think one of these would be to install ourselves??? Hubby and I are both 24, as for when the kids move out that won't be a while we have a 1 yr old and 3 yr old and maybe will have another in the future! I LOVE the plan with the long bedrooms to make them larger that is wonderful. We are looking into doing this mid year 2003 so if I do decide, I might have to show them these pics!!!!

Katrina

Plantsdirect: My DH & I live in a log house in Alaska. The outdoor measurements are 26' x 36', the inside measurements 24' x 34'. The logs are 3-sided, 12", so our walls are a foot thick. There is a loft that takes up half the length of the house and overlooks the livingroom below. There is a daylight basement, as well. The upper walls and ceiling are timber frame barnstyle, so all the beams and decking are exposed. We have four dormers on the upper story. There are no interior walls, save for the bathrooms and a closet. It is all open construction. We've lived here for the last 11 years, and I love it. When construction began many years ago, our plan was to use the other half of the upstairs for the childrens' bedrooms, but by the time we got that far into our construction, they were grown! Clever, eh?

Weez its really beautiful do you have more pictures you could post or email to me??? I would love to see some. Did you and hubby build it yourself or have someone build it. If you don't mind my asking I would love to know total cost including labor, foundation, materials etc. I am just wondering about that, I mean I see the cost of materials but have no clue as to others :) Thanks for the beautiful pic if nothing else!

Katrina

Sure! Use them however you want (and thank you for the compliment of wanting to. :). E-me and I'll send you the pics without "Davesgarden.com" across it if you want.

Weez's house is gorgeous! And the place where it is ~ Alaska. Ahhhhh ... maybe one day I'll make it up there to see it in person. :)!

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.

Sure, Wingnut, jump in the car and whiz on up. I'll make you a nice eggnog!

Your house looks fabulous Carol! Please post some more photos when you have time.....

Spiked, I'm sure, Weez? You're on! Phil, why don't you join us? ;)

Plants, about putting one up ~ I used to date a guy who worked for Krakashoe Log Homes (pronounced 'Crack-a-show-ee' ~ the main guy was an ex-plumber and had a GREAT sense of humor, all those guys did actually ;). When they had an order, they assembled the cabin on their lot then took it apart numbering the logs as they went. There were four of them and it took anywhere from a day for a small one-room cabin to a week for a larger home to assemble it. They mostly did it without tractors or cranes (used blocks and tackles like they just showed on "Frontier House"), but they were rather large men.

I don't know if you and your DH could do it. Could you get the small guest cabin delivered first and try it? What kind of roof does that one have? If the ceiling/roof will be more "usual", like plywood decking and metal with insulation inside the ceiling covered with another finish, y'all might could handle it. Those big beams and logs in the ceiling and lofts would be a killer for just you two unless you had a tractor with a bucket to help you lift them. Before even attempting it, I'd ask around about the company to make sure their claims of how "easy" it is to build their kit are true.

Now that sounds like a brilliant idea..........:)
And i can smuggle more seeds from the UK for you both ;)

Don't think I'd better just jump in the car though - mine's not amphibious LOL

The company in Pensylvania would probably require quite a bit of money to deliver the house to your location in Fla, and of course this adds to the cost. There must be companies that have similiar products in the southeast part of the country. Look at the library for log home magazines and I bet you will find an ad for something closer to home. Not all of them would be online.

The additional for bringing that one to fla is only 700.00 more, and 500.00 more for the small cabin!

Katrina

Phil, I'm twenty minutes from the "LBJ Boyhood Home" and "Texas White House", where Lyndon Baines Johnson grew up and lived while he was prez of our fair country. And guess what he had that they still have in the garage? One of his toys. Yep, an amphibious car. What say I just swing by over there, borrow it and come pick you up? ;) Weez, we'll see you and Dennis by suppertime if I can figure out how to put wings on that sucker, too!

Plants, that's not a bad delivery fee at ALL!

LOL Wingnut YES PLEASE

And a Happy Christmas to all

Well, we finally got tired of waiting for Phil & Wingnut, so we ate most of the prime rib. Y'all can stop in for French Dips today or stop in for drinks on New Year's Eve. Wingnut, you'd better put some skiis on the LBJ amphibian, since we have a bit of snow up here!

Will do! Oh, French Dips! I haven't had one of those in ages! Just last night Kenny and I were talking about having Prime Rib for next year's Christmas dinner. We've picked out the freezer calf, a nice white bull calf with red spots (we'll get a nice rug out of the deal, too!), that should be ready to butcher come next fall. I'll be hunting up a book that shows the different cuts of meat so we can be sure to get a nice prime rib roast before we cut out the ribeyes and t-bones. YUM!

Wingnut, I'd start calling that calf 'PR' so you keep in mind what he's going to become! I like the idea of prime rib for Christmas, because it's special, but not lots of leftovers to deal with. We're usually ready to get back to healthier fare this time of year, after chips and dips, etc.

Yeah! We've reserved the names "T-Bone" and "Ribeye" for the freezer calves so we don't get attached. ;) Oh, and Pork Chop the pig. LOLOL!

Yep, Prime Rib is special and especially yummy. How did you cook it? I've wanted to try covering it in a rock salt crust.

Dennis cuts small slits on the surface of the roast and inserts garlic cloves, then he sprinkles it with Montreal Steak Seasoning. We bake it slow on about 325 degrees. I'd sure like to try it sometime with the rock salt crust. That sounds wonderful... maybe next year!

I have friends who have a beautiful log cabin house. It has a walk out basement -- you could do that to get more space. Another idea is to furnish a loft in part of the "attic" space. The dimensions you mentioned seem a bit small for a family with 2 children . . . however, I am from a family of 9 and we all lived in a 3 bedroom ranch. I never remember feeling like I had to have more living space -- it would probably bother you more than the kids.

Good idea, Alyssum. Our house has a full basement, and that really stretches the space. You don't need as many closets, etc, or you can use your basement as bedroom space. Of course, basements aren't always optional if the water table is too high. And you are right about attic lofts for sleeping space. Kids rather enjoy that sort of thing. Of course, either one of these options should allow for fire escape, etc.