The Case Against Log Cabin Kits

Not all log cabins are created equal. Regardless of square feet, or soaring fireplaces, or fantastic views, if your log cabin (less than 1000 square feet) or log home (over 1000 square feet) is not well built, you may be walking into a project that is going to cause more headaches than pleasure. In fact, you should probably run out right now and buy a very funny book called "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House" to get the proper perspective on how much of a headache you could be in for.

Given the risks inherent in building even a small cabin, it is only fair to warn you that some builders have real issues with log cabin kits. Many builders maintain they can build a log home for less than it would cost to buy and assemble a log home kit. They argue that the logs used in kits are not logs, but dowels, because they have been whittled down to fit into standard sized pieces for efficiency. They argue that the adhesives, sealers and other construction materials are using the same toxic materials that go into trailer homes. Many of these concerns and claims are absolutely valid - but they depend on which kit you are talking about, which kit company you are talking about, and what you would ultimately end up with if you went ahead and had a custom cabin built. Builders have been known to go over budget, and there are as many builder horror stories as there are log cabin kit horror stories.

These concerns, and many more, are particularly strong from people who have built their own log homes. If you are like I was about a year ago, when I heard a similar warning from a friend who was a handyman who was just finishing his hand-made 1200 square foot log home that he had been working on for the last two years, I immediately tuned out. "That's fine for you," I thought, "but I am not a handyman. I do not know how to build houses. I do not want to spend every weekend for the next two years screwing up building a cabin and then having to pay twice to have it built because I messed it up in the first place. I'll take the kit."

This assumes, of course, that the only choices are to either buy a kit and hire a builder to assemble it, or to do the whole job yourself. Not my best reasoning, but at least now I see the holes in it. Instead of all (buying the kit and having someone else assemble it) or nothing (me on my own in the woods with a hammer), you could hire one of these clever people who have built their own log home and have them build a home for you. You could even buy a set of log cabin plans that they could work from. You could have a contract like they were a normal builder, complete with smart perks like a 5 to 10% bonus if they completed the job before a certain date. You would of course check their references, and perhaps tour the log home they just built with another log cabin builder, so you could hear the discussion between these two builders before you hired one.

Or you could hire a full-scale log home building company, and have them build your cabin. That way you would be dealing with a whole company rather than an individual. Individual contractors, being one person, are more likely to get sick, get a divorce, or get distracted in any one of a dozen ways, wheras a company of people will hopefully be able to fill in for each other should anything happen to one of them.

This article will not resolve any of the issues about log cabin kits. As mentioned above, it depends on the kit you are considering buying, your situation and what your building options are. But if you do get one takeaway, at least look into having a cabin custom built, or even of building it yourself if you have modest skills. There are some excellent log cabin building courses available.

And ladies, do not for a second think you can not build a log cabin yourself. I met a 54 year old woman last year, a writer, who had just finished her log home. She showed me pictures and talked for over an hour about chinking and fireplaces and the cabinets she built. If I had the money, I would hire her to build a cabin in a second.

How To Build A Log Cabin