Log and Timber Home Living Log & Timber Home Planner 2024

WHETHER YOU’VE BEEN DREAMING about having your own log or timber home for decades or it’s a new-found passion, you’re in the right place. Starting on a journey of this type puts you squarely on the path less traveled, where you’ll encounter the kinds of customizing opportunities that those who buy a cookie-cutter house in a subdivision will never have. True, designing and building a custom log or timber home that reflects your needs and personality will take time, but it’s an incredibly rewarding experience. And once it’s finished, it will likely redefine the meaning of home for you. Our goal with the Log & Timber Home Planner is to provide you with the information you’ll need to make that process easier and transform your log or timber home dream…

At first glance, it’s fair to fuse log and timber homes into a singular style. Both genres comprise stunning wood structures with nostalgic appeal and longevity beyond compare — and both come with their own storied histories. But take a closer look, and you’ll find the two construction methods to be quite distinct. Timber framing (sometimes referred to as post-and-beam) dates back far longer than building with logs, yet today’s buyers often misidentify it as log construction, since both use heavy wood components as the load-bearing framework of their respective structures. If it all feels a little unclear, stress not. We’re about to break down the essential elements of each type — their similarities, differences and the choices available to you as you shop for a log or timber home…

Whether your motivation is to conserve the environment or your budget, log, timber and hybrid homes offer a unique opportunity to do both. Thanks to both the materials and the construction processes that fuse modern innovations with time-tested methods, these homes are on the cutting edge of sustainable construction. As you dig deeper into the topic of log and timber-home energy efficiency, you’ll find buzzwords and acronyms abound. Here are a few to know that you may find in this book and along your dream home journey. SIPS Structural insulated panels (SIPs) are what give timber frame homes their reputation for energy efficiency. The composition varies by manufacturer, but generally, a SIP is a solid core of insulation sandwiched between two layers of oriented strand board (OSB). These enclose the…

Whether you plan to finance your log or timber home or pay cash, it’s important to establish a sound budget and convey it to your design/build team. If you’re unsure about what you can afford, use an online mortgage estimator tool to help calculate a monthly principal and interest. (You’ll find one at loghome.com/mortgage-calculator and timberhomeliving.com/mortgage-calculator.) To prevent surprises or deal with unforeseen overages (they almost always come up), set your working budget slightly less than the maximum calculated, and hold back 15 to 20 percent as a contingency. Then start contacting lenders experienced with financing log and timber homes to start the loan process, beginning with pre-qualification. Later, once you’ve finalized your design, you can work with your builder and lender to obtain your actual loan. HOW MUCH HOME…

One of the best parts of designing your dream log or timber home is the chance to make it truly yours. Even if you start with a stock plan, small tweaks can transform a typical layout into a totally custom design that caters to your life now and in the future. (Chances are, if you’re building a log or timber home, you intend for this to be a forever home.) Here are a few big ideas to keep in mind as you begin shaping the floor plan that will become the log or timber home of your dreams for years to come. 1 FLEX SPACE It’s common practice to identify each room within a floor plan, and while this may help to avoid confusion, it also may restrict how you…

Log Profiles The shape of your logs can have a major impact on your home’s looks. Here are the most common styles: ROUND LOGS SQUARE LOGS RECTANGULAR LOGS D-SHAPED LOGS Interface Styles Log profiles influence how the logs are fitted together horizontally. Here are some common techniques: FLAT ROUND TONGUE-AND-GROOVE TONGUE-AND-GROOVE PROFILE IN DETAIL…