30 Secrets Of An Affordable Log Home

In order to get the log home of your dreams, you sometimes need a healthy dose of reality. Use these cost-cutting tips to eliminate unnecessary spending from your budget while still maintaining the vision of your perfect log home.

General Design

1 Use a Stock Log Home Plan

Instead of a custom design, opt for a stock plan from your log producer’s catalog. Stock designs have been built many times before, so construction errors have been eliminated.

If design tweaks are needed, Richard Titorenko, a 14-year log home veteran with Coventry Log Homes, suggests you work with a log home draftsman, rather than hiring an architect. “A log home company’s design staff is fully equipped and prepared to customize a plan to suit your needs,” he says.

2 Design a Rectangular Plan

Whether stock or custom, a rectangular design is the most economical shape to build. Add more than four corners, and you’ll add to the final cost. It takes an average of 18 feet of logs to create a single butt-and-pass corner with an 8-foot wall height. Multiply that by six or eight additional corners and that can really add up. If you’re afraid living in a rectangle will be boring, fear not! Designers have myriad tricks up their sleeves to create visual interest without venturing “outside the box.”

3 Opt for Open Concept 

You can keep square footage small AND increase your usable living space with an open floor plan that removes unnecessary hallways. Also look for innovative ways to use traditionally wasted space, like under-stair storage, and built-ins that eliminate the need for bulky furniture (another extra expense).

4 Build Up, Not Out

With square footage being equal, it’s almost always less expensive to build a multistory home than to spread it out over one level. If you’re looking to save even more, adding a dormer within the roof or attic will let you create a loft living area, which is far less expensive than a complete second story.

5 Choose a Pre-cut Package