For a sure genesis , no books defined American life more than Laura Ingalls Wilder ’s Little House serial publication . Girls everywhere thrilled to portraying of the Ingalls kinsfolk – Ma , Pa , Laura , Mary and Carrie – huddled in their set apart one - room log cabin , facing blizzards , starvation , Ursus arctos horribilis bear , malaria and all the other fortune of frontier living . The logarithm cabin was lowly , romantic , the product of Pa ’s own labor .
Wilder might be ball over to see the logarithm cabin of today , with polished hardwood floors , a great room , cathedral ceilings , picture windows , a two - car garage , septic - tank plumbing , solar panels and storey plan of up to 5,000 solid feet ( 464.5 sq m ) [ source : The Original Log Cabin Homes ] . Not only have log cabin become a strikingly individualistic housing alternative , but some of them are n’t even being construct in the United States . And the Pas of today may be getting a minute of help from a logarithm cabin outfit .
Pa Ingalls had to go out into the wood with his tomahawk to fall the trees that would shelter the family . A log cabin kit does all that shape for you . Depending on the kit , the logs may even be pre - assembled into walls . Whereas Pa had to make a day ’s journeying to the nearest town to recollect the valued panes of glass for the cabin ’s undivided windowpane , a kit may include large energy - effective window tailor-make to fit precut frames .
Some thing have n’t change , however . Log cabins are still an strange blend of function and love affair , and they still incarnate a meanness with nature that few other dwelling can match . For today ’s aficionado , log cabins are a direct link to the trailblazer emotional state of yesterday [ source : Log Home Builders Association ] .
In this clause , we ’ll take care at dissimilar kinds of log cabin kits , as well as the reward and disadvantage of this approach to building a home plate .
Choosing a Log Cabin Kit
Before you buy , consider about your goals for the cabin and your attribute . Why do you require a cabin ? Which style of cabin best answer that question ?
Other doubtfulness to regard are :
Take some time to learn about the different method acting of log cabin construction . In virtually every method , logs are notch or shaped so that they fit together with a sound , airtight sealskin for constancy , even weight statistical distribution and insulation .
In a Norse chinkless cabin ( sometimes call Swedish cope ) , each log has a shallow , rounded groove , or make out , running the length of the logarithm . A hybridizing - section of a coped log looks like a biscuit from which someone has taken a small bite . The point of this bite - shaped groove is to create a logarithm usage - suit to the log below it [ source : LHBA , Cedar Knoll ] .
The Canadian chinkless method acting assembles logs in much the same room as the Scandinavian chinkless . But the Canadian method use uniform , V - shaped grooves . A cross - discussion section of the log looks like a pie from which a large patch has been removed . The cinque can precede some structural problems . The logarithm is more prone to splitting at the apex of the V. If it burst , even slightly , it may reconcile into a new place , threaten the integrity of the wall above it . The space between logs are also more vulnerable to termite , mice and other pests [ root : LHBA ] .
By contrast , a tinkle method of construction hold the irregularities in the logs . Rather than fit logs together perfectly for their intact distance , a chinked grammatical construction habituate another material to fill in the gaps between the log [ source : Log Home Directory ] .
Chinked or not , not every logarithm is round . Some are D - style – flatten on one side . Some are edit in the Appalachian straight style . You ’ll also need to peck a street corner style ; options include saddle mountain pass ( familiar to everyone who ever played with Lincoln Logs ) , dovetail and butt - and - pass [ author : Donaldson ] .
On the next pages , we ’ll look at the good , the bad and the ugly of log cabin kits .
Advantages of Building with Log Cabin Kits
concord to the Log Home Builders Association , a log cabin is either " the best ( and least expensive ) home in the world or . . . the bad ( and most expensive ) home in the humanity " [ beginning : LHBA ] . First , let ’s look at what form log cabins so attractive .
One of the chief appeals of building a log cabin is just that – building your own home . In a world of mass output and McMansions , few people ever get to have something that was commonplace only a few generations ago . If you do it decently , the cabin is a legacy .
Working from a kit lets you accomplish that within a manageable model , even if you ’re not a master detergent builder . You ’ll have access to a customer - divine service line in type you make a error . If you have a canonic set of tools – a ladder , a hammer , a power drill – you may already have most of the equipment you need [ germ : Panel Concepts ] .
The absence seizure of lowering equipment entail you may be able to make your cabin with minimal impact to surrounding trees and wildlife . And , on the study of environmental science , it ’s worth cite that log rampart have better heat retention than many other construction materials [ sources : Log Cabin Homes , Lincoln Log Homes ] . Many dealers are immature certified , and some engage in broad reforestation efforts . outfit can include alternative such as Grant Wood stoves , solar panels and composting toilets that help you exist off the storage-battery grid in comfortableness .
Adaptability is a major advantage of logarithm cabin kits . A cabin might be no larger than a spacious studio apartment flat , read up only 500 substantial feet ( 46.5 sq m ) of reason ; it can turn a little or odd - shaped destiny into a dead usable small-arm of earth .
A outfit can also ensure that your structure passes muster with the building code . You ’ll have a go at it that the kit ’s storey architectural plan and engineering are comparatively sound , and its threshold , window and roof will have to meet certain specification .
cost can also be appeal – but this depends very much on the size and floor plan , which materials and method acting you use and how much upkeep the cabin requires . Some kinds of log cabins might be as little as $ 7,500 [ source : LHBA ] . Others be the same as conventional houses . Labor is a major cistron ; if you build the cabin yourself , you do n’t have to pay anyone else to do it [ source : Lincoln Log Homes ] .
A rest home for $ 7,500 ? Why would anyone choose not to habituate a kit ? Read on – then make your own decision .
Disadvantages of Building with Log Cabin Kits
Any product – and any nursing home purchasing decision – carry its plowshare of risk of exposure . Here , we ’ll examine some of the down English of log cabin kit .
Some outfit provider smooth out out the log to uniform size of it by rotating them on a lathe . This method is sometimes called " auto desquamation . " At least one member of theLog Home Builders Associationlaments that the method acting turn logs into " giant dowel . " Although the uniformity may make the logs fit together more easy – or at least more predictably – it may not lead to long - term constancy . dispatch the bark and surface geometrical irregularity divest the logs of their natural defence against rot , which makes the cabin more vulnerable to termite and other problems .
To protect machine - unclothe walls , you may involve to deal the wood every few years with chemical sealer . This can aggravate respiratory job . Or it could remove the ecological appealingness of build a log cabin [ source : LHBA ] .
It also removes a less touchable value : aesthetics . The individuality ( sometimes call " personality " ) of logs rests on their irregularities ; remove the irregularity and you remove the character [ source : LHBA ] . ( To draw an analogy to more conventional abode , cerebrate about the divergence between cinderblocks and actual Freemasonry , or lino and roofing tile . )
Surprisingly enough , cost can also be a disadvantage . When you buy a kit , you ’re buying components bundled together . But that may mean some hidden costs are bundled in as well . After all , the suppliers have to make a profit , and they do that by marking up cost on materials that may be available instantly to consumer . If you trust your ability to purchase construction materials , or if you know you ’re going to want a draw of customization anyway , it may be more cost - effective to buy single components than a outfit [ seed : Wholesale Log Homes ] .
If you ’re concerned about cost , but you still require the backup support of a outfit access , a skillful compromise may be awalls - only organisation . In such a system , sometimes called a " panelized " cabin , you ’re responsible for purchasing , placing , and installing windows and doorway . You receive walls – and nothing but walls – in modular section , unremarkably four feet each . The log have been check together ; their contour is up to you [ source : Octagon Homes ] .
The bottom line ? Thousands of people use kits to make beautiful , unique dwellings . But you must go into it with candid eyes . Do your enquiry . Talk to log place association . mouth to lumber - home owners . store around . When the blizzard winds are howling , and you ’re trusted there ’s a grizzly outdoors , you ’ll need to know you built the best potential cabin .
To learn more , chatter the link on the next page .
