Question:
I'm looking for log home advice.
-Kit garage to seek out/stay away from
-Having them build as opposed to building yourself (price, quality)
-Other helpful hints
Answer:
If you decide to do this, make *absolutly* certain you have a completion
date in your construction contract, if you hire a contractor. The guy
that my brother hired BS'd him out of it--claiming he didn't know when
the logs would be delivered, and my brother didn't think to specify one
based on log arrival (i.e., 8 weeks after logs arrive on site, or
whatever). As a result, it took about a *year*, and the contractor ended
up walking. I spent every evening and weekend in February and March of
'89 driving up to his place and working on it with him to get it done
(along with my sister and father). I think I installed every interior
doorknob and electrical outlet, along with a bunch of the trim. My
brother and I did the (pine; she insisted, again; another mistake) floors.
Sanded, filled, sanded again, and three coats of polyurethane. I also
wired the garage. Even then, though, he was still finishing things six
months later. Check your builders' references, and *don't* just go by
the kit distributors' recomendation (in this case the distributor and
the builder were beer buddies).
Build it in a temperate climate. They're expensive to heat and cool
in extreme weather; cracked wood doesn't have a very good R value.
Have a large enough place so that there aren't any other houses
close by--they look incongruous right next to a conventional house.
I imagine that there are other things, but this rant is long enough...
Seriously, they can look nice. But they've got several deficiencies
that you should be aware of. Your best bet is to find someone in the
area living in one, and talk to them.
