Anyone Live In A Log Cabin? (floor, ceilings, room, glass)
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The main con of log homes is their insurance cost. And the insurance cost is due to the reality that if any part of the structure is damaged, from fire, rot, bugs or whatever, you can''t easily repair or replace the damaged part. You have to completely deconstruct it.
I have seen log homes that people couldn't find insurance for at all. One rural log home, the builder needed to install a huge water storage and fire suppression system before it could get coverage.
In the 70's, I bought a small farm in the Ozarks...the home was typical of the old, hand hewn oak log style home at the turn of the last century. It was built in 1905, from logs salvaged from a previously built home. It was basically three seperate structures situated close together, one room for sleeping, one room for living, one for summer cooking. It was referred to as a "dog trot" home, in that the space between the living and sleeping areas became the place for the dogs to loaf. The winter kitchen was in the living area and used as a source of heat from the wood burning cook stove. Too hot to use in the summer, the wood stove was moved to the summer kitchen, so as not to heat up the main living area.
The 5x5 beams holding up the ceiling were said to have been hewn from a single Sassafras tree, which would have made it a huge tree.
Sometime prior to my ownership, the dog trot area was enclosed, joining the two areas into one structure, and a bathroom was added at the rear. The old mud chinking was replaced with mortar, and the rock fireplace was replaced with a south facing sliding glass door. This door probably provided more heat from the sun than the traditiional fireplace, which were notorious for heat loss, not generation. As far as I know, it is still occupied.
Last edited by gemstone1; 07-22-2022 at 04:48 AM..
Anyone here currently living or has lived in the past in an actual real deal log cabin?
Not referring to the modern pre-constructed log homes but actual 75 plus year old log cabin.
What are the Pros and Cons?
Well I lived part time in a log cabin 50 years old for 16 years. It was a a locally harvested (TN) built cabin. "D" logs and well built. No saggy roof, great windows, solid home. The positives were the aesthetics and how well it blended in the surrounding woods. It's was a dream of mine. Combination of a bug out location and living in the woods surrounded by nature.
Cons are many. Maintenance is the biggie. About every 2-3 years had to stain. I only used oil stains. Borer bees were always a problem and then the wood peckers. I had to have many logs replace over the years due to wood peckers. Ants loved the cabin too and bats and squirrels, etc. Had black bears come and mark/scratch the cabin. The roof was a 8:12 pitch and I hated getting on it especially since the cabin was on the side of a mountain on the ridge.
If I had to do over again I'd want to be younger and live there full time.
Well I lived part time in a log cabin 50 years old for 16 years. It was a a locally harvested (TN) built cabin. "D" logs and well built. No saggy roof, great windows, solid home. The positives were the aesthetics and how well it blended in the surrounding woods. It's was a dream of mine. Combination of a bug out location and living in the woods surrounded by nature.
Cons are many. Maintenance is the biggie. About every 2-3 years had to stain. I only used oil stains. Borer bees were always a problem and then the wood peckers. I had to have many logs replace over the years due to wood peckers. Ants loved the cabin too and bats and squirrels, etc. Had black bears come and mark/scratch the cabin. The roof was a 8:12 pitch and I hated getting on it especially since the cabin was on the side of a mountain on the ridge.
If I had to do over again I'd want to be younger and live there full time.
My Grandfathers was painted. I get the idea that originally when built it or sometime before my Grandfather bought it in the 70's it was painted with red lead paint. The wooden boat builders loved the stuff to prevent rot and the metalworkers and metal boat builders loved it to prevent rust and given all that, I can see them saying, "Oh yeah, that'll keep er!"
And to be fair, it did. The logs never had a problem. He had a bunch of work done with the chinking at one point, and at another he had to rebuild the chimney...but I think he'd have had to do that no matter what kind of house.
Painting logs will eventually lead to rot because the logs can't breathe, I was told by everyone. Now is that true? Personally I can't say with certainty because it would take a long time to rot, but that is the consensus. Now, if the area is dry and not very humid, cabin has a substantial over hang, I do not see a problem, but in mountains of TN it can be like a rain forest of sorts. NO ONE ever paints. A painted fence will rot and so will a painted deck. Oil stain will keep the moisture at bay and allow the wood to breathe.
The main con of log homes is their insurance cost. And the insurance cost is due to the reality that if any part of the structure is damaged, from fire, rot, bugs or whatever, you can''t easily repair or replace the damaged part. You have to completely deconstruct it.
I have seen log homes that people couldn't find insurance for at all. One rural log home, the builder needed to install a huge water storage and fire suppression system before it could get coverage.
I didn't have any trouble getting insurance on mine, it's about $600/yr, IIRC.
Anyone here currently living or has lived in the past in an actual real deal log cabin?
Not referring to the modern pre-constructed log homes but actual 75 plus year old log cabin.
What are the Pros and Cons?
Pro- my 8" thick walls tend to keep it cooler in Summer.
Con- In Winter, if you let the heat go down and those 8" thick log walls get cold, it takes a long time to heat all of that thermal mass back up again.
Also- got to re-***** and patch any cracks that might develop...but most houses require some sort of upkeep.
If you enjoy old-style living it's great. If your tastes run more to glass and steel and low-maint, maybe not so much.
I've stayed in a friend's 100 year old stone and log cabin many times. It has been beautifully maintained, and is a joy to visit. The fireplace has pipes running across the back; that used to be how they heated water. It takes about 3 days of non stop fires to warm up all the stone on the first visit in spring (it's at 6000 feet, gets 10+ feet of snow).
Closest I ever got was a summer vacation home my relatives had on an island in a lake. No electricity (kerosene lamps), no running water (hand pump in the kitchen sink), a wood burning stove and fireplace. There was an out house and we bathed in the lake. We kids had a great time.
Painting logs will eventually lead to rot because the logs can't breathe, I was told by everyone. Now is that true? Personally I can't say with certainty because it would take a long time to rot, but that is the consensus. Now, if the area is dry and not very humid, cabin has a substantial over hang, I do not see a problem, but in mountains of TN it can be like a rain forest of sorts. NO ONE ever paints. A painted fence will rot and so will a painted deck. Oil stain will keep the moisture at bay and allow the wood to breathe.
I also put bug juice in my stain.
That's false. If you paint green wood, it's likely to peel faster as the moisture attempts to escape. But painting a deck or a fence absolutely will not accelerate rot, in fact it will do the opposite, and unlike logs they're going to dry quickly (smaller, thinner pieces of wood.)
In fact, specifically with my grandfather's cabin, I suspect that it was originally painted on the outside, and not the inside, and allowed to dry over the winter, as the inside logs had more of a type of stain on them as opposed to the paint on the outside.
And over the years I've seen a lot of painted decks, and fences.
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