Introduction

[akemt]

I didn't find an "Introduce yourself" thread, so I'm starting my own.

Catherine, mid-20's, married with three kids ages 4.5, 3, and 5 months.  I'm a stay-at-home mother and soon-to-be homeschooler.  We haven't started anything in earnest yet, but know we'll be doing a mixture of "Thomas Jefferson Education" and "The Well-Trained Mind" methods of Classical education.  We're also decidedly constitutionalist...as my first forum post probably shows quite blatantly.

Our "old" house is currently under contract (we've moved ahead of it) and when it sells, we'll be mortgage-free and have vowed never to go back again.  We know we can't do that where we currently are living (Juneau, Alaska) as the price for land alone is astronomical and you don't get any actual land anyway ($100K for a 1/3 acre).  Then you have to fight the building department, etc.  So, we'll be moving to a more code friendly town/city where you can buy land for a *decent* price.  Now we just have to sell the house, find a job in one of those areas, and we're off!  I'm actually from the city, Ketchikan, across the bay from the Prince of Whales Island dormer house on the main page.  That's where our "old" house is located and we just might move back...

We already built a 20 x 30 addition to the house and remodeled ourselves...everything but the perimeter & post foundation, which I kicked myself for not doing with my husband after I saw how simple it was--and the bill.  Grr.  We know we can do the building.  I had been thinking we could go mortgage-free by building a 20 x 30 open living area with loft bedrooms above.  Now I've found this website and learned how to do a much simpler foundation, etc.  Will likely be buying plans when the house closes. 

Our ultimate building goal is to build a log home without a mortgage, but that'll take us some time.  We live in a massive rainforest, but getting logs here is either uber expensive (retail) or uber difficult (Feds).  It's actually cheaper to barge logs from Washington State! 

We'll see what happens...hopefully it'll start happening soon!  We can't wait to start reclaiming our income and keeping out of slavery.

[Sassy]

Welcome, Catherine!  You'll fit in just fine here     Sounds like you & your husband already have been doing some building so you will probably have some helpful advice & there's plenty of people on this forum who are more than willing to help & they're a pretty knowledgeable bunch.  There's others here on the forum who live in Alaska - it's too late for me to look up their threads but I'm sure you will find them.  I read all the posts but you'll usually find me in "off topics" & I've been known to rant once in awhile...    Glad you're deciding to home school your kids! 

[glenn kangiser]

We're glad you're here and great to see you thinking this way so early.

[wingam00]

  Catherine , good luck on your goal of  building a log home without a mortgage.  You can do it with some planning and a lot of hard work but it will be worth the effort.

Mark

[Redoverfarm]

  Catherine.  I hope you enjoy the site as much as I have since I joined. 

Good luck on your plans.  I hope they materialize as you planned.  I think a kit home would be pretty straight forward.  Are there any manufacturers in your neck of the woods?  I have heard there are good ones and bad ones. In my area Applachain Log Homes are pretty good.  A friend used to work for them and had nothing but good to say about them.

I hope you don't run into any problems erecting it.  Mine was a little different as I had two cabins to incorporate into one.  If you want to check it out and some problems that I experienced they are mentioned in the post.

I also have a album at photobucket which shows every stage of the construction which I will list the link.

Again  aboard.

John


http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=3613.0

https://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd161/redoverfarm/hightop/

[akemt]

Thanks for the welcome everyone!  We're so ready to make the jump to mortgage-free, we just have to figure out where and get the house sale closed.

John, your timbers sure look original!  The house looks great.  So you used Mortar instead of synthetic chinking?  We'd be doing that too.

We will definately not be building a kit home but a full-round, hand-built (I mean everything from peeling logs on down, maybe even felling them), butt & pass style home the LHBA way.  I looked into kits pretty thoroughly before running across the LHBA website.  Took their class and that was the end of that --I'm sold! 

We'll build a cottage first, it appears, then build the log home as we have time to buy more land, supplies, etc.  And having built a 20 x 30 addition last year, we know the costs and time involved in stick-built intimately...but this time we'll be doing it our way.  Countryplans' cold-climate piers, lofts and not trusses, doubled 2x4 walls (we think), not a particle of drywall dust, etc.  It means we'd have to owner finance if we ever thought to leave, but without a loan ourselves that's no biggie.  We don't like "usery" anyway, so I'm sure we could find a buyer easily enough.

I'm chomping at the bit to get started --hope the house closes soon!

[Redoverfarm]

John, your timbers sure look original!  The house looks great.  So you used Mortar instead of synthetic chinking?  We'd be doing that too.

Yes they are original. The smaller is civil war era. Haven't gotten the big one tracked down but probably the same general age.

As for the chinking. When I priced the synthetic that sort of made my mind up on using mortar. Some of my joints are rather large. The bucket stuff I think 2"w X 1/2" thick and 77 feet for $115 for 5 gallon.   I only have about 10 bags of mortar & 1/2 ton of sand on the outside.  Have just as much to do on the inside but it was still the way to go for me.

For those who have never worked on log homes they don't know what they are missing.  Once you bite your hooked. But with mine there is a new hurdle every day and a new solution from my head. 

[jwv]

If you haven't already read it, Rob Roy's Mortgage Free is a great inspirational book http://www.amazon.com/Mortgage-Free-Radical-Strategies-Ownership-Living/dp/0930031989

Welcome!
Judy

[akemt]

Long time no see!  Well, I can't remember where we left off, but we ended up buying a repo that needed foundation work with a renovation loan and now have 50% equity in our home (from the moment we moved in, actually).  We did a lot of interior remodel work because the layout was sucky as all get out (parallel hallways, walk through bedroom-sized bath, etc) changing it from a 3 BR 1 BA to a 3 BR 1 3/4 BA with a large family room, pantry and office.  We planned to get all that work done asap, but per usual life got in the way.  I now have 6 kids, got super-duper sick and ended up having neurosurgery, my husband smashed his knee when a concrete hearth on-end slipped on the deck and fell on him, etc, etc.  Now we're finally getting back in the game and the way is being paved for us to make forward progress.  We're down to reflooring the house, some trim and paint and a little deck extension work.

We bought land in Morgan County, Missouri near Lake of the Ozarks (with cash), and we'll be moving in short order.  I fly over next week to stay with friends, walk the property and get a feel for where I want to plant my orchard, put the house, put the trailer (our landing pad - the professional mover is coming to give input on that), to look at used trailers and hopefully purchase one, set up utility accounts, etc.  EXCITING!  Then we'll drive across mid-late March and move in.  My husband will be flying back to our house here in AK to finish the work on it and get it up for sale while working his crazy-busy tourist season, then he'll join us in the fall.  We'll be getting the trailer set up week 1, my brothers-in-law nearby will be coming to help put up a small barn and some fencing for our Great Pyrenees and goats (we've reserved doelings from a nearby breeder we'll be picking up asap), then the kids and I will start on a small coop for chickens/guineas, and maybe either start on a storage shed or...just maybe...a sonotube foundation and floor, etc for our permanent house.  I don't have a clue how motivated we'll be and how far we'll get, especially since I intend to garden as well, but I'm really looking forward to having the option of being outdoors more often.  We're really looking forward to a real growing season, SO much less rain, and four seasons - my kids are ecstatic for snow and don't know what Summer is!  lol

I've read the thread about best plan choices for work-alone builders.  I won't truly be alone with a young teen and pre-teen and a handful of littles running around (my oldest is stronger than me and about as tall already), but the extent of their building experience is helping us attach drywall corners and mud/taping).  Anyway, I know typical framing is easy, (btdt) but we need a rather large permanent home so I worry about 2nd story work...so I've debated a first floor with a gambrel roof loft w/ homemade trusses.  Not a fan of the aesthetic, but interior space is nice.  Then again, I don't want just end windows in a 40' + length so 2 story may win.  And heck, I probably won't get that far in just one Summer, right? 

[DutchMo]

Congrats on the planned move, Catherine!  Funny how life throws twists and turns at you. 

Kudos for keeping your dreams alive.  I hope all goes well and you like it in Missouri.  It certainly isn't as cold as Alaska, though.  We set a new record high temp for February 19th today - 77 degrees in St. Louis!  Good luck with your move.