Log home books

I made some purchaces today. I bought few general titles that deal with construction, also I got my hands on one special book about various types of wood as a raw material for log homes. I didn't get any books that focus especially on log homes, but I will first get bit more familiar with the academic knowledge before digging into log homes from some other point of view than building them. I expect this to be quite a fascinating ride.

It's been long coming...

...but now it is here. My own domain - Log Homes Cabin is a site for all log home information - sort of a cabin of log home stuff. Originally it was going to be called The Log Homes Info but I grew tired with the name and let it slip away (I did own www.theloghomes.info for a year). Probably too much of a good thing over here.

I am still in the beginning with the newborn and much of that Wordpress stuff is alien to me. I suppose that I'm able to pull it together but I have no idea when...

This site is saying farewell, not totally, but almost. I might still set few posts here, every now and then, but what's the use? Check my new site. You will find that information is much more fresh over there.

Honka log homes grinds on in U.S.

Honka started their U.S. market push with a bang. NFL star Steve Young was used as a PR case to increase the visibility of Honka log homes. This was year 2001, and after that, things have progressed slowly and the visibility of Honka is still rather low in the States.

Honka is the biggest industrial log home manufacturer in the world. Company is about four times bigger than their closest competitor, so for me it is quite baffling that they are still relatively unknown in the States. However, they seem to be making some progress in building their distribution network. Time will tell how they fare against local competition in the U.S.

Log home by the lake

Finnish tradition places log homes by the lake. I visited one this weekend, but the nature stole the leading role and in the end my camera didn’t have too many shots, which would have included the log home. As you can see from the pictures, autumn has come to Finland.

Popular log home story

A story that has been circulating in many news sources tells a tale of family living in Wells, Maine. No wonder this kind of story has gotten more popularity than perhaps it would normally have gotten. It is all because ABC series “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” has taken the family part of their show. This series has good cause as they remodel homes of families that have gone through hardships.

Doug Goodale, his wife and two daughters got this chance because Doug lost his arm while working his fishing boat’s winch. He has been working in the field one-handed, which shows his determination to go forward.

This family didn’t only get remodeling, they got completely new log home that was donated by Katahdin Cedar Log Homes. With publicity Katahdin received, I bet that donation turned out to be pure public relations investment. Although story is widely publicized, I think this article in Boston Globe was most descriptive.

Log-covered caskets and coffins

Two friends started a company that is on a casket making business. Their competitive advantage is that their caskets have log motifs. Now log home lovers can embrace their lifestyle in death. Sounds quite bizarre but then again, to die is part of life so it is only natural to develop services and products for all occasions. The original article was in Chieftain check it here.

Log home decor shop

Mike Steele is a log home old-timer that has been living in a log home for 21 years. During this time he noticed that to get that style of decoration that he wanted was very difficult. He turned his furniture hunting skills into a business and now has a shop that provides everything imaginable for log home and log cabin decorating.

There is one BIG but, he is retiring and wants to sell the shop. Do you think that you might want to take a crack at selling log home related decorating items? Check more at this article.

Alpine Home Builders Inc.

Ray Herrera started Alpine Home Builders Inc. in 2000. He has taken the road of creating unique log homes. He says that his workers are woodworkers and craftsmen. Just recently they finished a 5000 square foot log home in Incline.

I bet that industrial log home companies would not manage to pull through such a demanding job. There are too many variables in this project and therefore all the builders have to be woodworking professionals. As we know, manufactured log homes are process products and workers, while professional, are more industrial workers than craftsmen.

Housing starts

Building in United States continues to show very fast pace. It looks like this year is going to be a record year in housing starts. However the growth has slowed down and seems to have peaked. Furthermore the amount of building permits has dropped, which indicates that in the future the construction sector is not breaking any more records. I wonder what is the share of log homes and log cabins of all those starts? Aftermath of Katrina can show as a spike, but it is difficult to factor it into estimate numbers. More at Bloomberg.

Affordable log homes make comeback in Wales

A Welsh log cabin company, called Log Cabin Living, is trying to promote their products by introducing them as a solution to rural housing problem. Affordable, durable and simple makes log homes excellent dwellings. Company imports cabins from Latvia, Estonia and Finland, all countries that still value the tradition of log home living. Unfortunately for Log Cabin Living it is easier to obtain permission for mobile home than it is for log home. Read the whole article at.