Log Construction Manual: The Ultimate Guide to Building Handcrafted Log Homes

By: Robert Wood Chambers

The Log Construction Manual is packed with information that is available nowhere else, including the Log Selection Rules, Chambers's brilliantly simple method for choosing which log to use next; instructions for building hip and valley log rafters and roof trusses from full-round logs; step-by-step directions for laying out the sill logs for virtually any floor plan, including hexagons, prows, and more; how to cut state-of-the-art compression-fit saddle notches and use underscribing to keep fits tight over time; and loads of practical advice on scribing and cutting long grooves and corner notches like a professional builder.

Chambers provides useful insights on organizing and financing your log home project, and has valuable experience to share on cutting costs and avoiding common pitfalls. Although handcrafted log homes are expensive to buy, they are within the reach for many as owner-managed building projects.

   If you’ve ever dreamt of building your own log cabin, or wondered if or how it could be done, A Home From The Woods has the answers and inspiration.
   Half personal narrative, half how-to, A Home From The Woods is drawn from the experience and insight gained completing four different log cabin projects: Uncovering and Restoring A Standing Cabin; Building A Hand Hewn Cabin; Building with Rounded Logs; and Taking Down and Rebuilding An Original Log Cabin.
   That straightforward advice on methods is balanced with a tinge of humor in first person narratives as the author relates his young family’s experiences and misadventures completing these projects. With little finances and less know-how, but plenty of determination and a little creativity, they proved again and again that if you long for that idyllic cabin of earth and wood, it can be achieved.  And, even if you’ll never set first foot in the forest you’ll be entertained reading what some people will put themselves through for "the simple life" in the country.
 

From the Publisher
You don't have to be Paul Bunyan to build a wilderness home. In fact, you don't even need an ax, and nails are not an absolute necessity. What you'll need is Wilderness Shelters, the definitive guide to building log cabins, camping shelters, blockhouses, and more. Here are illustrated instructions for everything from felling trees to splitting logs, from laying foundations to insulating roofs. The book also shows you how to fashion indoor and outdoor furniture for your rustic retreat, including tables, benches, bookcases, beds, and ice chambers. And it teaches you to obtain food from nature and dine in comfort. With its wealth of ideas, Wilderness Shelters shows that wilderness living can be more efficient than gadget-ridden urban lifestyles. Buy it now!

From the Publisher
A log cabin in the woods is one of America's most cherished icons -- a dream shared around the world. As the stress level of city life rises, more and more of us are imagining our own cottages far away from traffic lights and urban distractions. Cabins in the wilderness have never gone out of style, because the rustic life is a simple, rewarding one rooted in the traditions of the great outdoors. More...
 

From the Publisher
Everyone dreams of having a cabin in the woods -- a wood-hewn structure with all (or, at least, many of) the amenities of home tucked away on a mountaintop with an awe-inspiring view, or nestled on the shore of a trout-filled stream or bass-laden lake. Most people also believe that such a dream house is just that -- the stuff of dreams, not affordable, not buildable without hiring a construction crew. Author J. Wayne Fears is here to tell you that such a dream cabin can be yours -- at a price that won't break the bank. And he knows because he has done it himself. In this, a guidebook to make dreams become reality, Fears covers -- in words, photos, diagrams, and blueprints -- all the important points, from buying the land, to planning your structure, to actually doing it... More...

From the Publisher

From buying land and drawing floor plans to choosing log styles and joinery, every phase of construction is covered in over 800 photos and drawings with complete how-to instructions. From the experts at Popular Science. "Whether you need to know about slab walls or building that first fire in your new home's fireplace, the Guide covers it."—Country Journal. 416 pages, 800 b/w illus., 8 1/2 X 11. Buy it now!

How to Afford a Log Home: Save 25 Percent without Lifting a Log By Carl Heldmann
 

From the Publisher
This completely updated fifth edition tells you everything you need to know to get the log home of your dreams at an affordable price. Learn how to avoid a down payment, lower the amount of your mortgage, or get a larger home for what you budgeted, and save 25 percent off your construction and site-preparation costs. Sixteen pages of full-color photos give you a sampling of today's log home styles and sizes. More...
 

Synopsis
Log Homes Built Better encompasses the entire log home project. Beginning from the very first step of the project, Log Homes Built Better carries you through each step from dealing with the company, right down to the finishing details of the project. Some information includes a listing of the major companies in the United States and Canada. Another area of interest will be the listing of different species of wood available in the Northern Hemisphere. Questions that come up pertaining to the building project are listed and addressed, allowing you to start to form a database of information. Log Homes Built Better will give you this information and more, allowing you to focus completely on the project and do a better job creating your dream. Buy it now!

Vacation Homes and Log Cabins: 16 Complete Plans By US Department of Army
 

From the Publisher

Complete plans for 16 low-cost permanent and vacation homes and cabins. Wood-frame, A-frame, pole-frame, concrete masonry and log cabin ranging from 10' by 14' one-room cabin to two-bedroom tenant house. Sketches, floor plans, hints on construction, materials, location, installments, etc. Buy it Now!

Log Home Project Planner: Your Complete Workbook for Managing a Log Home Construction Project

By Jim Cooper

From the Publisher
The only step-by-step guide to building log cabins and log furniture—Pioneer style

There are other manuals on building cabins, but W. Ben Hunt's is the only one to show you how to build and furnish an authentic pioneer cabin-the easy, natural way, using only hand tools and the woods around you. Our ancestors used logs and hand tools to build durable, dry, windproof, and protective dwellings; and they fashioned chairs, tables, branches, and bushes. In this day of power saws, lumberyards, and high prices, it's good to know that you can build in the same way.

From the Publisher

The author has continued to teach, design and build. His schools have trained thousands of good craftsmen, some of whom formed companies to build internationally, with the result that the world-wide standard for excellence in log building is now a "Mackie" log house. Buy it Now!

From the Critics

From Booknews
Bring along dreams and ingenuity on this tour of log homes across the country as log-home builders share their stories about bringing their dream homes to life. A final section leads readers through practical steps and considerations of designing and building a small log building. A resource guide provides leads for design, building, manufacturing, and decorating needs. Gorgeous color photos will have readers heading for the hills to build their cabins. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Log Homes Made Easy: Contracting and Building Your Own Log Home By Jim Cooper
 

From the Critics

From Library Journal  
As an experienced builder, Cooper is a strong proponent of log homes even while he debunks some of the myths associated with them (e.g., their rusticity makes them inexpensive and easy to build). Instead, as Cooper suggests, they are products of modern engineering and building methods, and their rustic ambience comes at a hefty price. Still, they occupy a solid niche in the home construction market. For enthusiasts and would-be inhabitants of log homes, Cooper provides concise and sensible information on shopping for kit homes, selecting and preparing suitable land, estimating construction costs, securing financing (sometimes tricky with log homes), and overseeing construction. Numerous well-conceived checklists and forms complete this solid guide for the owner/contractor. Recommended for most public libraries.-- Bill Demo, Tompkins Cortland Community Coll., Dryden, N.Y.