Gastineau Log Homes University

How long will a log home last? – Video Transcription

Hi there, Lynn Gastineau again.

People ask me all the time, “Well, how long is a log home going to last?”

There are several aspects to answering that question that you have to learn about. One of the most primary ones is what wood species the log home is built out of. If you look back in history, there are log homes that are 150-175 years old, where they have taken the logs down and rebuilt them into a brand-new house. If you check into that, you’ll find out that about 90-95 percent of those log homes were Oak.

Oak is naturally resistant to insects because, remember, back then they didn’t have any chemicals or anything to make wood last. Also, you find a lot of Chestnut and Poplar log homes. It’s not uncommon to think that a log home will last you 150-200 years.

Compare that to the life expectancy of a frame home, and you realize you are building a home that is for generations. At 150 years, you could tear the house down, take the logs, and cut them up into boards to use because they will still be good. The life cycle of a log home exceeds that of any other type of construction.

How did the log home industry start? – Video Transcription

Hi Lynn Gastineau, I wanted to share with you how the log home industry got started because I think it’s a really interesting subject. Most businesses develop because somebody invents a better mousetrap, and then somebody else tries to sell it. However, this industry is actually a completely consumer-driven industry. Log homes started being made because consumers, people, wanted to build a home. It wasn’t because somebody had been doing a bunch of R&D and decided that log homes were a great thing to live in, and they decided to start making them and see if people wanted to live in them. That’s not how it happened. People started going to sawmills and saying, “Would you cut me logs for a log home?” Then, smart people realized that there was an industry there, a market, and they started building them. So, it’s been really interesting. I think we’re all here in this industry because we’re meeting customers’ needs, wants, and desires. It’s not because anybody came up with a great idea to start a log home company. We’re just meeting market demand and fulfilling people’s dreams, you know, making their dreams come true. And I think that is really cool.

Insurance for a Log Home– Video Transcription

Hi Lynn Gastineau, now we are going to talk about insurance. One of the questions we get is, “Can I get insurance on my log home?”. Well, the simple answer is yes. All major insurance companies provide coverage for log homes. You can obtain Builders Risk insurance while you are building, and you can get regular homeowners’ insurance when you are done. As a matter of fact, many insurance companies offer discounts for log homes due to their heavy timber construction and they recognize the inherent safety of a log home. Now, there is a disclaimer here. Many times, people will build their log homes in locations that are not conducive to insurance because there is not a close availability of fire protection. So sometimes people have issues with getting insurance on their log home because of where it is built. It doesn’t matter what type of construction they have; it is because of the location. That is something you should consider when deciding where to build your home. To check if it will have an impact on your insurance rates down the road.

Looking For Land – Video Transcription

Hi Lynn Gastineau here, and I wanted to discuss the question: How do I find land? Well, that answer is kind of dependent on where you’re at and if you’re wanting to build locally. If you’re looking for land at a distance, if you’re from Chicago and you’re wanting to build in Colorado, you’re obviously going to first check out the internet and see what kind of property is available. But one of the easiest ways I found to find land is to just drive around and look, and see what’s out there. Plat books from counties are available online, and you drive around and you see a piece of property, and maybe there’s not even a ‘For Sale’ sign on it, but you can find out who owns the property and call them up and maybe they’re interested in selling. So, I always think of the times whenever I was young and my dad was looking for timber, and we would just drive up to people’s houses and ask if they wanted to sell their timber. So, there’s no reason you can’t do the same thing with land. If you are looking locally, you know, ask your local friends. And of course then you can always use a realtor, but sometimes the realtors don’t know all the property that may be available. If you’re trying to figure out where in the United States that you want to build, then go online and start doing some research about some of the best places to live, but actually locate the land, go drive around and see what you can find.