10 tips to save money on log home constuction

3/30/2015 How to Build your Dream Log Home - Without the Extra Expense

Take a second and imagine your dream log home. It’s everything you have been wishing for. You can even smell the fresh wood in every nook of your home. Are you hesitant about making your dream a reality because you’re worried about the cost of building your own log home? We have put together a list of ideas so you can design your dream home and keep it within your budget.

1. Reduce your Square Footage Overall, or try an Open Floor Plan Eliminating any unnecessary hallways is very cost-effective. Try designing an open floor plan to allow for more area in the great room where you will be spending most of your time. This will drastically reduce the number of logs you will need for your home, and in return, save you money.
2. Choose a Rectangular or Stock Design Log Home to Minimize Errors Since rectangular and stock designs have previously been built and tested, construction errors are less likely to occur than in a brand new log home design. It keeps the design simple and often requires less money and time. Having more than four corners can get expensive.
3. Add another Material Incorporate other materials such as stone or batten in the construction of your log home. These materials are cheaper than a home built entirely of logs, but look great when incorporated in log homes and you will still receive the same appeal of any other log home.
4. Opt for a Simple Roof System By keeping the roofing simple, you can drastically cut down the cost. Designing lower ceilings by keeping them shorter than 8 foot is ideal and is proven to be very cost-effective. If having a dramatic cathedral ceiling is still part of your dream log home, try keeping other ceilings in the house under 8 feet tall such as in the bedrooms and bathrooms. An added bonus of lowering the ceiling height of your log home is cutting down the heating and cooling bill!
5. Plumbing on Top of Plumbing Whether you have a main level and a basement, or a main level and an upstairs, stack bathrooms and sinks on top of one another. This will cut plumbing costs almost in half because it is more convenient to connect plumbing if they fall on top of one another rather than down the hall or on the opposite corner of your home.
6. Simple Kitchen Keep appliances minimal to start off, you can always bring in more appliances later on. Think about how often you will be using different appliances. Can an oven wait to be purchased if it’s summertime and you are grilling outside? Do you need a dishwasher at first or can that wait, too?
7. Build up, Not out Having a concrete poured basement is often times more expensive than adding a second story. You may want to consider adding dormers within the roof cavity to easily build an upstairs loft, bedroom, or lounge area.
8. Utilize your Basement Still hoping to add another living area later on? Have your contractor install roughed in plumbing and electrical lines so you can add fixtures and appliances later on. This will make it much easier to finish the basement in the future.
9. Solar Tubes instead of Skylights Want natural light in your home? Skylights are great additions, but did you know that installing skylights can set you back upwards of $2,000? Solar Tubes are a great alternative and can give you the same effect for half the price. They are much easier to insert into your home and give you the same natural light that a skylight would.
10. Factory-Made Fireplace A factory-made fireplace is less expensive than a masonry fireplace and can be installed anywhere in your home with the proper ventilation. Bringing in a fireplace rather than building one into the log home will be much easier on your wallet; you can choose from multiple designs at half the price.

If you are in the process of building your log home, give Timeless Wood Care Products a call for any of your building or maintenance supply needs at (231) 798-8580 or visit our store to check out our products.