Log Homes Made Easy: Contracting and Building Your Own Log Home

Rating:
Summary: Discourages the owner builder or owner contractor
Review: I have the dream! To someday (soon) build our home using logs, on the land we've choosen, and relish in the knowledge that we did it - and saved a buck doing it.

There are, in my efforts to locate books to educate myself in this pursuit, three general approaches to accomplishing this task. 1) Have a builder do it all for you 2) Become the owner/general contractor and hire the subcontractors yourself or 3) Become the owner/builder and do as much as possible of the labor yourself

I intend to build as much of the home as I can, only subcontracting out those phases that are either too time consuming, labor intensive, or technical.

This book discourages - over and over again - the owner/builder, and only gives slightly higher recommendation to owner/general contractor. He has justification for his opinions.

I don't think this project will be a piece of cake, and much study will take place before and during the undertaking.

I still intend to strive to owner/build, and encourage all those with the same dream to focus on the "can do" and not be dissuaded by those that "can't". Preparation, opportunity, and a little good weather!! David

Rating:
Summary: jim cooper is a wealth of information on log homes
Review: Jim Cooper is a plain-spoken man who has been both a log home builder and dealer. He lives in a log home that he built. Right off the bat, he knows of which he speaks.

Some people have a dream to build their own log home. Whether you plan to do all, some or none of the actual work, Jim Cooper offers step by step guidance along the way. His realistic approach gives helpful time tables, sample contracts and punch lists for the various and sundry steps in building that dream home.

Of the many, many log home guides, this is my most favorite because it is both useful and realistic. You might as well learn about change orders, cost over-runs and subcontractors before taking the plunge!

Rating:
Summary: Not very good or inspiring
Review: Just what it says in his description of why he wrote the book. It is NOT for the owner/builder, however it will make you think. After reading this book any subcontractor or supplier will have to earn his money. I now know what to look for in my future dealings with log home businesses. His contributions to Log Home Living Magazine are invaluable to owners and future owners and dreamers.

Rating:
Summary: Not very good or inspiring
Review: This book is not for anyone who wants to build there own log home. It is clearly written from someone who wants to continually sell log home kits. There is a wonderful book called Home from the Woods that is much better and describes the details of building a log home from an everyday persons perspective.

Rating:
Summary: Biased but good
Review: This is a very good book if your intention is to be your own general contractor, or even hire a general contractor to build your log home. The author (as noted in many other reviews) shows a bias towards milled kit homes since that's what he sells.

Since I am planning to build my own log home from scratch (not using a kit) I found the bias a little annoying, but I still found a few good pieces of advice here and there. If you are planning to build it yourself from scratch I would recommend taking the two-day seminar from loghomebuilders.org instead, or in addition to this book.

Rating:
Summary: Best book on the subject (but milled kit bias)
Review: This is the best book currently available on the subject of log home construction planning. It is well-organized, clearly written, and offers helpful information to anyone who is planning on building a log home. The reason it gets four stars instead of five is that some statements in the book must be read with your thinking cap on...The author is a milled log kit seller, so he shows a subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) bias against handcrafted homes, build-it-yourselfers, and the like. Of course, every salesman believes that his own product is the best- so who can fault him...just take in the book with a "grain of salt" and remember to think for yourself.