Looking for a great way to add extra space to your log home, while still staying within your budget? if so, then I would recommend considering a walk-out basement.

Here’s how we decided to add a basement to our log home floor plan...

In my opinion, one of the best showcase items for your log home is the log staircase.  In fact, I think it's a “must have”.

When we went to visit Hiawatha Log Homes in Munising, Michigan, we were struck by the log staircase they had in their model log home.  It was comprised of half logs for steps and fit perfectly into the home's layout.  I fell in love with it and had to have it. 

We set out to get one just like it. So we researched the cost, and compared the various log staircases that were available. Here's what we've learned about log staircases...

One of the hardest decisions Greg and I had to make was whether to build a handcrafted log home or a manufactured log cabin kit. 

If we waited another 3-4 years, we would have the money to build the custom log home -- which is generally more expensive.  But ultimately, our need to have our log home dream now and the discovery of the affordability and flexibility of the log cabin kit sealed our fate.

Finalists for the "Green Log Awards" were recently announced.

The GREEN LOG Home & Lifestyle Awards™ were created in response to the growing demand for green building solutions.

The goal of the awards is to locate and shine a spotlight on those companies and individuals who are enabling healthier homes and lifestyles. -- GREEN LOG Home & Lifestyle Awards

What this means for people like you and me is... a great list of environmentally-friendly log home products and suppliers!

So, if you're trying to make your currently log home more "green" or you'll soon be building your very own green log home, here are some companies that will make your life easier!

I subscribe to a bunch of different log home magazines. And, I'm given quite a few, as well. (Since we are still quite early in the log home building process, magazines are especially helpful at this stage of the game.)

If I hadn't read it for myself, I would have never known that there were so many different types of log homes these days. I mean, I may have heard some of these terms tossed about among those in the industry here & there, but I never really knew what they meant... until now.

I'll talk more about the others soon, but first I'll start with concrete log homes.

My motto has always been: Change Is Good. But never has that seemed more true than now.

You see, it's been about 2 years since we started the process of building our log home. We had the land picked out, the bank picked out, the GC picked out, the builder picked out, the logs picked out, the floorplan designed the way we wanted it, and we even started clearing the land.

Then why isn't our log home done yet? Why haven't we even raised the first log yet?

We've been forced into a slight holding pattern right now due to all the banking & loan issues going on these days. Now is not a good time to get money -- especially large amounts of money.. Especially for home loans.

So, we are simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, I guess. And we have to wait it out a little longer until banks are willing to lend money like normal again.

In Everything Bad, There Is Something Good
Fortunately, this gives us plenty of time to take a step back and reflect on where we are and how we got here -- in terms of planning and building our new log home. And I have to say, I'm honestly quite glad that the process of getting everything in order to build our log home has taken so long this far.

What I mean is...
If we had built right away (back in August of 2006), and gone with our first gut instincts on the details including:

• where to build


• what we want the house to look like


• where we want the windows


• ...etc, etc. etc.

Then we wouldn't have truly ended up with the log home of our dreams! (Which is right around the corner... I'm sure of it.)

The Weatherall company provides a number of log home products, include stain and chinking.

In 1982 the Weatherall Company became the first company to develop an all-acrylic, elastomeric chinking for log homes. This revolutionary new product was known as Weatherall 1010 Chinking. Shortly thereafter Weatherall Company developed a new log finish that was compatible with the chinking. Next a unique backer-rod was engineered to complete the first true Log Home Sealant System-a total system that would provide the ultimate protection against the harsh elements of weather: sunlight, moisture and wind. Source

Now, they're offering a fun (and FREE!) downloadable program that lets you see what your log home would look like with different color schemes.