Designing / BuildingHome & Garden
One of the biggest hang-ups in the process of finding a bank to finance our log home was the 'draw schedule'. The draw schedule is that unique timeline that spells out exactly when the logs themselves will be paid for, when the next installment of payments will be doled out by the bank, etc. It became difficult to get the bank and the log home company to agree on when the actual money would exchange hands. Here's how it went for us.
We qualify for the loans, but there just aren't enough log homes that have been sold recently around here for the banks to use as 'comps' in order to determine a fair appraisal value for our proposed log home. They're coming in way lower than we can build this log home for. And the banks won't budge.
It's hard for me NOT to re-subscribe to the 3 log home magazines I've been subscribing to. I mean, we got so much great info from them during that first year of the subscription. But now, we're craving more than these magazines seem willing to provide. If you're contemplating resubscribing to a log home magazine, I'm here to tell you, you may want to check out This Old House magazine instead. Especially if you're already living in your log home... chances are, the log home magazines won't have much to offer you at all.
We fell in love with the log staircase that Hiawatha had in their model log home. It was comprised of half logs for steps and fit perfectly into the home's layout. It was something that we just 'had to have' in our log cabin. We researched the cost, and then compared the various log staircases that were available. Here's what we've learned about log stairs...
If you're comparing the characteristics between concrete log homes and traditional log homes, it's fair to say that with log homes made of wood, you have to worry about mold, rot, insects, and fire -- over time. But with concrete log homes you do not. Nor do you have to apply stain to the home's exterior every few years. And, since you don't have to chop down any trees for concrete log homes, concrete log homes are also considered to be environmentally-friendly.
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?
Weatherall has a fun -- and FREE -- program you can download to see what your log home would look like with different color schemes. Yep, change the stain color on the logs, the deck, the trim work. Change the color of the chinking -- if any. You can even change the style and color of the roof. Download Weatherall Color Viewer here.
