Dear Friends,

With great regret and sadness I must inform you that my father, DeWelle 'Skip' Ellsworth Jr. passed away.

He died in his sleep on August 6th 2008, at his resort in Daanbantayan, Cebu Philippines.

Skip was a great man who touched many lives.  He will be deeply missed.

One of our students built the home you see on the right and immediately sold it for $160,000 profit.  He says he could build two of these per year, and that it is so easy that "anyone can do it."

This was the very first log home that he built after taking our class.  It is just a simple, straight forward design.  Easy to build, inexpensive to build, and very strong. 

The person who built this home acted as an 'owner-builder,' and for many reasons that made the process a lot easier and more profitable. 

The feedback we get from our members is that it is almost always easier and more profitable to build for yourself, and then sell the home -- versus building for someone else.

We have a full gallery of photos of this home and you can find additional pictures and information about the home in the gallery.

As you may have noticed, classes are very rare at the moment. First we took almost half the year off, and since then we have only scheduled a couple of classes -- not nearly enough to meet the demand. And our classes are a popular Christmas gift each winter.

Unfortunately there may not be any more classes this year, and we're not sure about the 2009 schedule yet. But today we do have some good news -- our new class announcement e-mail newsletter is finally up and working!

Now you can sign up to be notified whenever we schedule a new class.

One of the biggest problems with "kit" log homes is the price -- most kit log homes are even more expensive than stick-built homes these days. But for just a moment, imagine that you have an unlimited budget and are planning to build or buy a log home. How would you know if it is any good?

Unfortunately most log home buyers wind up buying a log home kit from the salesman who tells the best lies, such as:

"We use a shrink to fit notching system that gets tighter with age"

"The log home you are buying is built in the Scandinavian Chinkless style" (when in fact almost all chinkless kit log homes are built with the vastly inferior Canadian Chinkless style)

"Our logs are peeled with draw knives because it gives them more character"

"Our logs are machine-peeled for better quality control"

"Our logs are run through a lathe to insure they are all the same size and they fit together better, so they will last longer"

So we've put together a couple of pages about how to protect yourself when choosing the log home that is right for you. Take the time to read these articles and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to drop us an e-mail. We're always available to answer log home questions by e-mail. Our e-mail address is on our contact page.

IMPORTANT ARTICLES ABOUT KIT LOG HOMES:

The difference between different styles of chinkless log home construction

The myths and truth about log homes and 'settling' (what the kit industry won't tell you)

Why you shouldn't buy a log home kit

Dick Proenneke is someone that you may not have heard of, but he is becoming an American folk-icon thanks to the documentary "Alone in the Wilderness."  Let's talk a bit about the man, and the film, to give you an idea what he accomplished in his latter life.

THE MAN AND HIS MISSION:
Dick moved to Alaska and built his log home in 1968, when he was 51 years old.  He had a real mission in mind; he wanted to build himself a log home – working completely alone with only hand tools.  He lived there in retirement for 27 years (he passed away in 2003 at age 86).

Many of our Association Members strongly identify with this modern era Alaskan pioneer.  They admire his sense of self-reliance, frugality, dedication to craftsmanship, respect for nature, work ethic, and accomplishments. 

They also admire the fact that Dick went out and lived his life the way he wanted to.  In a world that often tells a man that he can't do something, Dick decided that he could indeed do something, and then proceeded to do it!

The following article about Ken and Diane's 9 week log home originally appeared, some years ago, in our Association's Log Home Builder's Journal:

Ken, His wife Diane and son Kenny in front of their new "9-week" owner built log home.

Ken is an investment advisor. He is trained to advise people in the purchase of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, et cetera. Ken and his family just finished building a new log home. He was one of the many recent builders who attended the last local Association meeting. We asked Ken to tell us briefly how long it took him to build the home, and how much it cost.

A FEW OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE "SO-CALLED" CHINKLESS METHODS

#1. THE SCANDINAVIAN CHINKLESS METHOD (There is much to know about this method of construction).

This method is sometimes mistakenly called the "Full-Scribe" method -- or the Swedish Cope Method. These two terminologies are not accurate for reasons which include, but are not limited to, the following;

• There are several methods that require using a scriber for the full length of the logs -- and therefore the term "full-scribe" is not definitive enough.
• This construction method is not used "only" in Sweden. It is used extensively in all of the Scandinavian countries. In other words, it could just as well be called the Norwegian Cope Method, or the Danish Cope Method, or the Finnish Cope Method, etc., etc. Therefore, it is commonly recognized that the term "Scandinavian-Chinkless" is the most accurate way to describe this method of construction.

THE WRONG WAY TO DRAW IT (and build it) IS SHOWN IN THE ATTACHED DIAGRAM "A":

Many people erroneously believe that log homes are very susceptible to termite infestation and damage. In reality one could argue that log homes are less susceptible to such damage than stick framed homes – especially if preventative measures are taken during the construction of your log home.

Let’s first look at the real reason that termites can cause so much damage to a stick frame home. With a stick frame home they can enter into wall cavities undetected. A termite infestation unseen is a termite infestation untreated. Once in the cavity the termites remain unseen, nibbling, chewing, breeding, and generally ruining your home. Over a 5 to 10 year span you might find many structural supports within an infected home to be significantly damaged and weakened. Often the first sign of such damage is when the homeowner goes to replace a piece of sheet rock during a small remodel – and that small remodel soon turns into a full scale renovation or even a demolition.