Log Home vs Traditional Construction

[dingle]

I recently purchased an off grid property (60 acres). It has about 40 acres of mature white oaks. In the next 1-3 years, I would like to build a 300-400 sq ft cabin. Something relatively simple. It’s not a primary home. I’m looking into either a log cabin construction or harvesting some trees and having them milled for a traditional stick build. Either way, I think I’m significantly cost positive with higher quality white oak vs buying inflated crap framing lumber from a store.

For anyone that has done something similar, what are some things I should look consider before choosing a construction method? I’m especially interested in anyone that has used their own timber.

Some notes to consider:
1. Low maintenance is a high priority.
2. This will be off grid. Will have a well drilled, run solar for lights, wood or propane stove for heat, and solar for basic electrical needs (phone charging and other small stuff, and have generator hookup for summer to run AC.
3. Will probably hire out the construction work or most of it due to time/family constraints. I would probably do much of the finishes myself over time once a weatherproof structure is in place.
4. Would want to use onsite timber.

I'd look for a bit more information. Your state and region/approx location?

 

[Dunndm]

I am a contractor and have built both stick frame and log cabin. Log cabin is cool, just cause it’s a hunting log cabin.. I guess more of a stigma thing. I’d go with a raised elevation (couple feet) so you have a small crawl space. Makes it easy to fix plumbing/electrical and you don’t have to worry so much about flooding (if that’s a problem). Along with that, you’ll be able to spray foam the walls, under and attic. You can always get your trees milled for T&G and it’ll make it get that cabin feel.
Lastly, I’d try and bump up to around 800’.. that’s plenty of room for a couple guys or your family and you won’t be on top of each other all the time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[GunsAreFun]

I'd look for a bit more information. Your state and region/approx location?

Dent County Missouri

 

[Silveroddo]

Depending on the quality and size White oak has some demand for whiskey barrels. Many things factor into stumpage value, but that would be something I’d look into.

 

[Werty]

Timber frame, with SIPS panels. Best of both worlds. Just my 2 cents!

 

[Carpenterant]

As a contractor I’d recommend going the stick built route. I think you’ll end up paying more to turn the trees on your property into a building vs just buying regular lumber. Do steel siding and roof if you want low maintenance.

Everyone (several dozen) I’ve met who owned a log home said never again because of the amount of maintenance.

 

[AZGUY]

I am a contractor/home inspector and echo what the previous guys have said. I built two log cabins growing up and it is far easier to go stick built for many reasons (maintenance, labor, cost, etc). Crawl spaces work great but I would ONLY do a crawlspace if you can make it a fully conditioned crawl space with spray foam as @Dunndm suggested. ne

 

[ddd-shooter]

Having built log homes, I’ll never own one. Terrible maintenance, terrible energy efficiency, and I hate staining.
I know you have a romantic notion in your head about using the trees on your land for your cabin, but DON’T.
White oaks will pay dividends for animals (assuming you hunt).
White oaks are a pain to frame with as mentioned, and are better used in other woodworking areas where their value can shine. Pine will be cheaper.

So I’ll say the same things like the others already have:
Stick frame with steel exterior and never worry about it again. It won’t be romantic, but it’ll be practical.

 

[loganwayne]

Let me add from previous.

Animals WILL try and use your cabin, more so if your not there pretty often.

I’ve seen woodpeckers take a liking to logs and make a hell of a mess. Ants, termites, and other wood boring animals will be more attracted to a log cabin then a framed house

 

[Zeke6951]

I will try to attach a picture of our 20 x 30 cabin. My family and I built it about 6 years ago on our farm in West Kentucky. I think it is about what "GunsAreFun" had in mind. The walls are 4x8 cypress timbers. All the lumber in the cabin is rough sawn except the floor joist. The floor is 1" pine, the roof decking is 2" pine. The trusses are sight built from 4x8 cypress. The gables are yellow poplar bark. The corners are half dovetailed.
I am retired from the timber industry. I still do a bit forestry consulting. White Oak prices are very high right now. "GunAreFun" could get a very good price for some of his White Oak veneer, stave logs, and lumber logs. With the sale of his White Oak he could very well buy enough material to build his cabin. White oak timbers would take a very long time to dry enough to use in construction. White Oak is also a hard wood to work with. Cypress works well but may not be available locally, but well dried pine or even yellow poplar would make a beautiful cabin.

 

[Pony Soldier]

I raised my family in a 24x28 log cabin then we added on to 3200 square ft. For Montana at 7000 ft maintenance is minimal. I spray it down with log oil every 5 years. It was made with 8 inch logs and swedish cope ( no chinking) . I would suggest pine, spruce or cedar logs. Better insulation. White oak is a little too dense for insulation. I have 8" log rafters on 4 ft centers. I built a roof out of 2x6 fir t&g covered with 6" core bond and 5/8" osb t&g covered with metal. I have 4ft eves. It's on a 4ft crawl space with about 12 inches above the ground.

I have 6 ft snow load in an environment with 24 inches of precip.

I heat it with 4 cord of fir and open the windows during the summer for a inside temp of around 60F. I have to open the door around 3 to warm it up. My day temps during the summer rarely top 80. Winter can make -50 for a week at a time. Pressur changes on the continental divide Can produce 70 mph winds.

Under my conditions I wouldn't have a stickbuilt. They are too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer.

Your climate may not favor a log house. If you ask the right questions you will likely make the right answer. Do your homework but I would suggest you do a carefull selective logging operation and market the white oak.

 

[Centralcoastca]

I was just talking to a buddy the other day about some land he has and he was telling me he was planning on building a vertical log cabin on it. He said had built one before and said it was faster and easier to build and less issues with settling on the doors and windows, the logs don’t have to be as long so he didn’t have to have tons of long straight logs and he could handle them easier and that it was faster to build. He also mentioned that cracks were vertical so water ran down instead of in. I don’t have any experience with log building but he had some pretty good points. Might be worth looking into as an option…

 

[Pony Soldier]

Horizontal logs have a low center of gravity and are always in compression. Stability and strength usually follow structures in compression. Vertical logs are in tension and have rotational component. They would be very difficult to stabilize especially over time. I would be very carefull with that one. You don't see to many vertical log structures and even fewer old ones. I have seen some verticle log walls from the 20s but they all failed.

 

[Phaseolus]

Timber frame, stucco exterior.

 

[Esq]

Maybe already said, but if not. White oak is beautiful, but not a great building material. I live in Oregon's Willamette Valley and purchase a property with lots of old white oak. I wanted to use some of the wood in my new house, decorative beams, posts, mantle, etc. But was told by many experts that it would take minimum 3-years to properly dry the wood. White oak twists and contorts when dried. That movement is exacerbated the faster you dry. I wanted to build in 12-months and that wasn't nearly enough time to dey the wood. I did sell 4 log truck loads of 30" x 30' straight trunks to pay for the clearing of the home site. It paid about 70% of doug fir.

 

[Yellowknife]

I recently purchased an off grid property (60 acres). It has about 40 acres of mature white oaks. In the next 1-3 years, I would like to build a 300-400 sq ft cabin. Something relatively simple. It’s not a primary home. I’m looking into either a log cabin construction or harvesting some trees and having them milled for a traditional stick build. Either way, I think I’m significantly cost positive with higher quality white oak vs buying inflated crap framing lumber from a store.

For anyone that has done something similar, what are some things I should look consider before choosing a construction method? I’m especially interested in anyone that has used their own timber.

I've done both of the things you are contemplating. I built and lived in a log home for 12 years and currently have a new framed home under construction using local wood that my dad and I milled on a WoodMizer.

The guys mostly covered the log home aspects, so I won't go too deep into that. I loved mine, but maintenance is a thing and energy efficiency isn't. For a seasonal use with a small footprint, I like log just fine.

For local milling of your own timber... recognize that you need to have a minimum of a 1 year lead time to air dry studs to <20% MC. I'm not too familiar with white oak, but for most green lumber you can expect to significant shrinkage, twisting, bowing, and general mayhem during the air drying process.

I cut all of my wood as dead-standing, milled most of them oversize on width, stickered and air dried in an open shed to 18% MC over the summer, then re-cut to final dimension to make them uniform and take the the inevitable bow out. I "saved" money vs purchasing the the peak of the lumber run this summer, but only if I don't account for the labor, logging equipment, tractor, storage space and mill hours associated with the effort. I also paid extra for the framing crew to manually cut every random length stud to length. At todays much reduced stud prices, it would never make monetary sense.

Think about handling the logs on site. A good size tractor or tracked skid steer is usually needed. Mill logs need to stay off the ground to avoid getting dirty, particularly if a a bandsaw is used.

One last point... if the building has inspections required by either local government or the bank, your structural lumber may need to be grade stamped. There is no way for a local mill to do that. Some jurisdictions have exceptions for local wood, but most don't.

If you want to use local lumber, just skip the whole idea of saving money and do it because you want too. It's fun and rewarding if you have the time/money to invest, but recognize it's much more of a lifestyle choice than an value proposition. If you don't have the time to burn, a bunk of kiln dried studs delivered to your yard is going to economically unbeatable, be easier to work with, and structurally 100% as good (maybe better). Certainly your framing crew will like it better.

Yk