It has been my professional life long dream to build a log cabin. A year ago I retired from 30 years + designing log and timber buildings. This 24’x24’ 576 SF footprint cabin is our retirement home, and we hope to enjoy it for as long as we can stay there.
We started with defining our main goals…
1-To enjoy the lake view from all levels and still being accessible and usable, no matter what life throws at us down the road. We reached 1700 square feet (SF) of living space on three levels instead of the one level rancher which is a popular choice with retirees. A three story house cost less to build than a one story rancher because the foundation and roof areas are 1/3 to 1 ratio. Main floor is fully wheelchair accessible with an ADA bathroom including curb-less shower. If one of us or both become handicapped, we can live on main floor with easy access to deck and carport.
2-The most unforeseen cost facing retirees is house maintenance and upkeep. We both wanted a home that would have no or little maintenance cost for next 20 years at least. The log work is well protected with wrap around covered decks. The exterior gables/shed dormers and extensive soffits are all made of vinyl products. The fascias are metal cladding, to avoid having to paint, stain, or replace wood fascias.
3-And of course at the lowest overall cost (with some luxuries). This cabin will cost under Cnd $500,000. I am the general contractor, as well as the only free laborer, along with my wife. This translates to about $290 per foot of living space for a 2023/24 build. However, it also includes a 400 SF carport and 650 SF of decks. COVID has moved cost per foot for a custom frame home from $200 per foot to $300 per foot in our area. Nowadays, log homes are costing an average of $350 per foot in the Maritimes (Nova Scotia, Canada).
I decided on a paneled piece en piece log construction, a personal choice.
This was cheaper than a full scribe cross corner log shell and it does not settle.
It is a log post and beam structure with horizontal log fillers. I love the look of chinking and rather have large feature corner log posts instead of full scribe cross corners.
I am fully happy with Heartwood log building’s log package and services. Log builder Brandon is so passionate about his work, it is contagious! Visit the log builder’s website to view the simple paneled piece en piece construction process at Brandon’s yard: www.heartwoodlogbuilding.com
The room layout:
I included our three floor plans with this first blog.
The main floor does not have a dining room. We looked at our present lifestyle and realized we only use the island seating bar for all our meals. We use the dining room when we have guests in warm season, so the dining table is on the dry covered deck to view. This decision helped a lot in fitting the basic sitting, kitchen, bath and foyer in such a small footprint.
Second floor has a big bathroom, a master with an alcove seat to take in the view to lake and an art studio or guest bedroom above the carport.
The Basement has a workout area, sauna, massage table and my office desk, with direct access to a dry covered patio to lake view.
I will be writing many weekly log cabin building blogs sharing my building experience with this personal project. I learned so much about material and labor costs / availability and where to save to meet our budget…
In next blog, I will discuss how we passed energy code requirement for a 10” thick log wall and what insulation product we chose.
