create your floorplan

Text Box: Additions : a future ad on is now the time to plan, it in, interlocking logs and concrete need to have a way to interlocks so as it does not look as a after thought or mistake.

Creating Your Floor Plan

Designing a personal Floor Plan

Even if you pick a kit you probably what some changes...we can do that

I have had customers say “ we been looking for 10 years for our floor plan, no one was it, lets see what do you have”

I look at them and say ...we bundle up your floor plan in the shape of a bundle of 2 x4’ studs, where you put them don't mater to us. But let us draw a plan close to what you want.

All homes start with a box shape that's the cheapest, most step up to customize ... two boxes or three, then stack them if you feel frisky. Now lets fill them up with bedrooms, baths, hallways, fireplaces, laundry's, closets, ad doors and windows, decks wrap around porches save your time by...

picking a home close to what you like it to look like. if the plan you don't like, reverse it? mirror image it? flip it.. CHANGE IT. Most people cant imagine change, if so then we can help. Get the graft paper out redraw, re figure, until you have what you want. Then get it to us and that’s when we go to work designing the roof bearing points, head clearances, meets codes, work towards your budget, make it structural sound. Basically turn your dream into a code approved, structural engineered, building blueprint for banks, contractors and building permit. This is where it starts......DESING IN THE BUDGET

Starting: with a sketch of the shape, position your rooms, bathrooms, bedrooms ect. If were thinking frugal ... scale out on graft paper 24’ wide home and any length. Now put your needs in that shape. We covered the reason to start with 24’ before go back and read. Now your getting cramped in some areas, turn the bedrooms, bathrooms. Get creative, look at other plans, incorporate there ideas. don't be shy fax –email us your etchings, ask us we will offer budget alternatives.

Arranging : now that you moved closets in bedrooms, moved windows so the bedroom furniture is manageable move to the living room and kitchen, and so on, go slow and steady it will come together. Trust me I have done many starting from nothing but a napkin with some boxes and some magazine clippings.

Fireplaces wood stoves : Gota have’em

Rock Fireplaces are romantic and beautiful but not much heat compared to wood stove. Mobil Home wood stoves work great in small cabins. Big homes can be heated with regular wood Burner. Pellet stoves, hot water heat is nice too.

Try mixing rock work and wood stove area.

Heating : Cabins choices are propane or electricity, Elect. base board is fast inexpensive and thermostat in each room just run a big wire. Propane gas then you have forced air furnace, and someday maybe natural gas will be introduced and wala ! Got to design in the duct work, chases and cold air returns, Wood heat of course and solar ...as long as the sun is out. hot water heat is more pricey but nice, Heated floor ! $ are you designing for a warehouse size furnace ? And heating bill?

Bathrooms : Standard is 5’ X 9’ Usually you share the 6” thick pluming wall with another pluming fixtures to save money, roof vents, sewer pipes, hot water pipes cold water pipes, try to keep the utility's in one area to save, but if not, keep then close as possible. water has to run down hill and hide in the ceilings and floors they have 1/4” per ft drop, so 25’ run the pipe drops 6.5” on a 4” pipe, in a 9 3/4” floor joist...your outa room and outa the floor or ceiling, cant have that in living room!

Remember a small window in Bathrooms 2030.

Kitchens : You know what you want and how you like it, a cabin is just the necessities, a home needs more storage and counter space, custom kitchens only you can design. Crafty Cupboards can make any thing you want, watch your budget. Your can always redesign your kitchen after the home is dried in. Do you really need a restaurant size kitchen ?

Windows & Buck : Bedrooms need be at least one EGRESS window (fire code escape) 4040 or 3050. 5.7 cu. ft, moveable glass. First number 40 means width. If it said 4068 this is a 4’ 0 “ wide x 6’8” tall, our log homes uses a 3x10 Fir rustic rough sawn buck to set the window in. It is a structural wall reinforce as well as attractive way with out all the piddlely alternative trim and labor expense.

Door & Buck : 3068 means standard door, wide (3’) and 6’8” tall. Sliding door of French 5’ and 6’ wide 6068 all doors end with 68 ( 6’8”). Interior door Bathroom 2068, 2068, 2088, bedrooms 2080, and others. You can buy doors in pre-hung condition. Many different prices and jam sizes, the finish carpenter will deal with it. Use 3x10 door Buck. PS . Code wants 2 rows of logs above doors & windows, buck is a log.

Window Wall: pre-built windows ( 3068 sliding door replacement panels are dirt cheap to use) built with logs or beams, see the details for this if need be. I use center 10 x10, up rights 5x10 or 3x10 buck, end a 3 x10. bottom 10” x 3” or 5 x10. horizontal I use 6 x10 of three to 6 rows of logs if a loft floor needs go in. By the way these aren't cheap or east to build. Flat is way easer ..concrete, roof rafters, finish work.

Hallways Walk ways : Watch for walkways you have to travel through, in your home check...door to kitchen, fireplace to bathroom, stairway, dinning area to kitchen to back door, sliding door, glass walls, living room. don't waste valuable heated area for travel. You pay taxes, heating allot a leg work to, clean, maintain, walk, migrate, travel through these large homes and its mostly hallways and walk ways includes stairs. Add it up for fun and see how much it costs to have 5 routes to the same place, wasted areas you cant furnish.

Left this master piece, $ 350,000.00 only get a couch, love seat, small dining table, twin bed, end table. If we ad a wood stove something has gota go. 5 doors, a laundry bigger than dinning room, no room to put furniture in front of the windows, more room in bath room than kitchen ? ..get the point ? SOMETHING TO WATCH FOR...

bearing points : when we design a home for the first time we start at the top, the peak, the roof, because all this has to hold the roof weight and all the beams there in have to span the rooms, hold the live load ( building materials weight) and the snow load. Post and bearing walls in the center allows us more span length and smaller beams which means less money for materials and labor. when these posts and bearing walls art located, you put in the rooms... Then move the posts ...if your designing a custom master piece steal some else proven plan then adjust it. Then let some experience log structure architect and engineer fix it up for you...

Roof Lines : Curb appeal ... The roof is what makes the home, the cheapest roof start. is

· 6/12 pitch, trusses or

· 2x rafter

· TJI manufactured wood “ I” beam

· Sawed beam and 2x6 T&G Decking

· Hand hewed log beam and decking

· Round milled beam and decking

Beam Layout : Remember walls are near 8’

tall beam pockets have to cut down into them 10 “ so a door is 6’8” and your windows need to match as close to that as possible they near touch

Fancy Roofs: The roof makes the home, and the most expensive .

Steep roof is 12/12 pitch, many gables, lots of valleys, ridges. western cut on eves, extra overhang, expensive roofing, insulation and labors. This kind of roof looks great but is large part of budget.

The cost of curb appeal