Introduce Yourself!

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Permalink Reply by Peter Lane on June 18, 2009 at 2:12pm

Hi

My name is Peter and I am originally from Wales, but I have lived in France for 18 years , but I work world wide as an engineer.
As from the 29th of this month I will own 396 acres of wilderness in Nova Scotia Canada.

I am really looking forward to it, I have the ideal spot for a cabin, right on the edge of my very own lake, but it is so hard to decide what to build.
I want big spaces but not to cost too much, I want my luxuries but I want a rustic, odd ball individual home.
I want log cabin, but I dont want all wood showing, especially inside, something like a hobbit house would suit me just fine, or maybe a house in the trees, or even a floating house out on the lake.

So many decisions to be made and already my brain hurts. Hopefully this site will give me ideas and more importantly direction.

Thank you.

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Permalink Reply by John E on September 27, 2009 at 6:01am

Hi Peter,

Congratulations on your major acreage, sounds like you have a really wild place up there.
Would love to see some pics someday.

John E

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Permalink Reply by Richard Hannon on June 29, 2009 at 1:27pm

Hey everyone, I am new guy on the block. Western NC mountains. The town is Bryson City and the Smoky mountain railroad still operates steam locomotive from here. Had my log cabin over 10 years and no problems, opted for the tin roof which is a must with the weather changes.
I also have a beautiful tract of land on the Tuckaseegee River of which would be perfect for about 10 custom log home sites, some on River and some with River access. No restrictions.
My email is HannonR@msn.com and my cell # is 561-310-5575.

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Permalink Reply by Michael V harrison on July 6, 2009 at 8:56pm

Hello All, I am new to the forum. I was reading about the problems people were having with Amerlink and it sounded like they got caught up in the bad economy. My wife and I custom designed our house and had them supply the logs and materials. We had no real problem at all. They did fail to deliver the lumber for the box , but we called them and it was there the next morning.

Attachments:

• Snow.jpg, 1.7 MB

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Permalink Reply by John E on September 26, 2009 at 7:02pm

Hi everyone,
I'm John. My family and I live in a machine cut D-log cabin here in Japan. We've recently added a new log siding addition. I'm interested in hobby farming, alternative energy and outdoors. I'm very much new to the hobby farming thing and it has been a limited success so far. Our home is heated entirely by wood now 3 years running. My goal is to get off grid someday, preferably by hydro power. If anyone is interested in these topics please feel free to let me know by message or email , farmerjohn1234@yahoo.com

Thanks,

John

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Permalink Reply by John E on September 27, 2009 at 6:15am

Hi and thanks for the welcome Alan,

We're in Hyogo. I'm not too familiar with Tokyo, but sounds like you were right there near the center. Sounds like your in-laws are spread out a bit, must be good to visit, you get the best of both worlds. Do you miss Tokyo?

I originally wanted to build in Hokkaido but after 2 winters, my wife wasn't digging it anymore, can't blame her though.

I looked at a few old farmhouses here as well, but after renovations figured in , the log home wasn't that much more, not to mention warmer!

Good luck on your home,

John E

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Permalink Reply by Jay on October 2, 2009 at 11:36am

Hi John,
We've been heating our whole house by wood too for the last 4 years. We purchased an outdoor wood burner (Hardy) and my husband hooked it up to heat the domestic water as well as the cast iron raditators. We love it! We havent bought oil to heat since 2005. Of course there is the issue of dealing with the wood. We were fortunate to get the logs for free from our own property, and of course we used gas to power the chain saw to cut the wood, but other than that and the labor of feeding the dragon every 24 hours, it is all 'free'. Well at least we arent sending much money to the Middle East :-/
We have our beautiful log home in the Catskills for sale while we build another one in TN and we took the woodburner with us! Eventually we plan to incorporate solar heat also since the climate is a lot warmer in TN than in NY. We want to be off the grid too.
p.s. Unfortunately, if it were living by myself, I could not deal with the woodburner, I am not able to cut, stack, and load the woodburner. Something to keep in mind if you are weak and/or old like me :-D

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Permalink Reply by John E on October 3, 2009 at 1:17am

Hi Jay,

That's great that you have a wood fired boiler as well, my brother has one on his woodstove in the basement, it's kind of like operating a submarine, all kinds of valves and such. Feeding the dragon...haha. Lucky you only every 24 hrs, we use a lot of softwood and it goes fast, but it is "almost" free, like you said. My wife is the same way with the stove, she feeds it when I'm at work but I do the fun stuff, it is great excercise and thinking time. Our house has no central heating or cooling system, just the woodstove and lots of ceiling fans. But we do have a heat pump for hot water. We did use a kerosene heater the first year to supplement the stove, but now have the air circulation pretty well worked out.
I'm from NJ and used to spend a lot of time hiking,camping, skiing in the Catskill Park, always wanted to live inside the park boundary, especially near Slide Mtn, Peekamoose, Hunter, or Lew Beach. But alas fate put me here, not that I'm complaining. TN is nice, real nice, been there many times. I drove thru 2 years ago on my way to AR to visit family.
Bet you'll be firing up the dragon soon if you haven't yet this year?

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Permalink Reply by John E on October 3, 2009 at 10:07am

Alan, that is so funny 'cause the kerosene heating is what 'drove' me into our log home. After living in a rented house for 4 years (typical Japanese construction, no insulation, no heating) I couldn't take the kerosene fumes anymore. We were doing 4 jugs a week just to keep it tolerable. I asked my landlord if I could install a woodstove and she said yes, I was estatic. The next day she called and said "No, I changed my mind, sorry" ,as in she talked to her husband about it. I started searching for an old farmhouse to buy soon after. After years of searching we luckily found our builder .

In Hokkaido we had a small apartment with a 'monitor type' kero heater that vented to the outside. The building was well insulated and I could wear shorts and a t shirt inside in winter. Here, about 800 miles south and we were freezing our oshiri's off inside.

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Permalink Reply by Kara Rose on November 14, 2009 at 3:50pm

Hello,
My name is Kara, and I've just joined. I'm new to the Mac as well!! So, I'm learning all the different apps, etc...But, I just wanted to introduce myself, and say I hope to be in my Log Home (Kit) by this time next year!! Have a great weekend! ^L^

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Permalink Reply by Sheila Griggs on November 16, 2009 at 7:14pm

Hi! I am Sheila and I live in Southwest Missouri. I have always loved log homes and hope one day to build one. I own 16 acres but because of being unemployed at present, building one will have to wait.

So, I am looking at buying an older log home for now. The home was built in 1981-85 and was still being worked on. The owners have since passed and unfortunately their children don't have much knowledge on the home. I was hoping that some of you could answer some questions they cannot.

My main concern is the logs have shrunk and expanded, interiorly and exteriorly. For those of you who do not know, Missouri is a four-season state and sometimes you can see all four in one day...no joking! Anyhow, my question is, have these logs had time to acclimate to our weather or will this be an ongoing process? How is one to remedy this situation? Secondly, how would one know if these were kiln-dried or not? What other concerns should I have?

Another concern is the basement wall has two big cracks in it which I think were caused by the ground settling toward the walls instead of sloping away and poor drainage resulting in ground water freezing the concrete. I believe these are reparable and hopefully not too costly.

Also, they have a big woodburning furnace sitting in the basement that was never put to use. I have one of these in my home and just love it but what about the log homes, is this too warm a heat?

If you can think of anything else I need to know, send it my way. Any help would be most appreciated.

Thanks,

Sheila

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Permalink Reply by Brenda Scott on January 19, 2010 at 10:30pm

Hello!
Im glad I found this site, as its the first baby-step to my goal of building my dream log home. I grew up with my dad, grandpa & uncles all building so have a grasp of the big picture. I want to learn as much as I can about the process of everything --- now that its 'all about me' ! :)

I have this idea in my head, and hope to get some direction/advice from all you experienced folks! My dads barn was constructed in the early 20's...using lumber from a neighboring abandoned church that was built in 1880. I love how the lumber was recycled! My dads barn has stood empty a few years now...& I have this crazy, insane idea of using some of that lumber/beams incorporated into my home as I love reclaimed lumber!

I have NO idea where to even begin, so would welcome any & all suggestions!

Thank you in advance!
Brenda

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