It’s no secret that log homes have become one of America’s favorite home styles. You see them in the suburbs, country, mountains, and parks in growing numbers. Recent building statistics show that sales of log and timber frame homes in 2017 clocked in at $940 million. That’s up 56% from 2012 in the U.S. alone where more than 26,000 log homes are built each year. It’s interesting to note that demand for rural and suburban properties is in high demand.

Why Log Homes Are So Popular

There are many why reasons log homes are popular today in America. Here are a few of them:

• Their styles take us back to a simpler and more relaxing time.
• A log home’s natural, stunning wood beauty is incomparable.
• You can think of them as an escape from the ‘rat race’ of our current fast-paced living.
• Studies show that conventional homes require 8.0% more BTUs to heat them.
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• Log homes are very energy efficient with their thick walls and inner insulation.
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• Log homes are structurally sound and stand up to the elements better than many styles of conventional homes.
• They can be customized to be your dream home.
• Homes and cabins built with log siding are affordable compared to full log homes.

Make It Easy On Yourself by Using Log Siding Inside and Out

Building with pine or cedar log siding is a much faster and efficient way of building a log home or cabin. The national average time for start to completion for a traditional house or a log siding house is 7 months. By contrast, the completion time for a full log home is 9 to 22 months. The reasons for a longer building time include these variable factors:

• The weather – too much rain or wind, snow, freezing temperatures
• Experience – building experience of contractor and homeowner
• Manpower – Number of people available to build
• Tools – The right tools and inadequate tools
• Materials – Their availability when you need them
• Home Size – The size and complexity of the home or cabin
• Building codes, zoning laws, and permits are more complex with full log homes

You can speed construction up by reducing the issues in this list and turning them to advantage.

Weather issues can be minimized by giving yourself plenty of time to build. Start in the spring or summer instead of waiting until fall to start construction. This way the walls and roof will be in place and you can complete inside work such as floors, walls, and trim in inclement weather.

Log Siding goes up faster and easier than full logs where you can save a lot of time and effort by doing some of the work yourself or with friends’ help. Your home can be built with fewer workers and less expensive tools compared to erecting a full log structure. High-quality materials such as siding, trim, and corners are generally easy to find from quality online suppliers when you need them. Building with log siding is a key reason log homes are popular.

Building Off the Grid Is Easier with Log Siding

One of the issues contractors experience when building off-the-grid full log homes is hauling logs to the construction site and bringing in a crane to lift them.

This is especially troublesome in winter time’s inclement weather and moving materials on narrow dirt roads that become too muddy. Delivering conventional building materials and log siding is made easier because of their small sizes and weights.

You can speed up the off-grid building process by using log siding on the exterior and either log siding or paneling on the interior of homes. This is a blessing when building in a remote area where electricity is limited and construction time is short.

It Pays to Shop Around for Log Home Building Materials

The Log Home Shoppe is America’s leading online log home material supplier. Whether you are building a simple cabin or a luxurious log home, we can provide the highest quality log siding, corner systems, and trim available at fair prices.

References and Resources:

Rural Properties Are in Demand

Home Completion Time