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Author Topic: Timber Log Cabins/Houses Advice  (Read 2615 times)

alang

  • Joined Nov 2017
  • Morayshire
Timber Log Cabins/Houses Advice
« on: May 30, 2020, 02:18:55 pm »
Just wondering if anyone on here has had/knows of experience with timber log cabins/houses such as those made by Norwegian Log etc?

Only asking as we are thinking of moving down to the Duns area near Berwick and it is possibly the only way we could afford to buy a plot and place accommodation on it
I'm not scared to be seen, I make no apologies. This is me!

doganjo

  • Joined Aug 2012
  • Clackmannanshire
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Re: Timber Log Cabins/Houses Advice
« Reply #1 on: May 30, 2020, 04:29:03 pm »
I considered it before I built a convential home in Aberdeenshire.  The firm I contacted were local and very helpful (Rayne North)

I only had two real reasons for not going ahead
    1. The internal decoration was not to my taste - too much wood visible
    2. I wasn't confident enough of future saleability

As it turns it saleability would have been the most important reason as I moved 3 years after building the house since I moved to be nearer my children due to health reasons

You may find a firm that has more cknventional internal decoration or may ne happy with a lot of wood, and may nt have any omntntion of moving, bjt remember that sometimes that is forced on us.

In addition that was away back in 2005 and everything changes in 15 years

Hope that helps?
« Last Edit: May 30, 2020, 04:33:50 pm by doganjo »
Always have been, always will be, a WYSIWYG - black is black, white is white - no grey in my life! But I'm mellowing in my old age

alang

  • Joined Nov 2017
  • Morayshire
Re: Timber Log Cabins/Houses Advice
« Reply #2 on: May 30, 2020, 04:47:36 pm »
Cheers. We are looking at moving so we can be nearer to family too. It's an 8 hour journey at the moment. Also i might have a chance of being able to move within the business i work for.

Looking at the price of rural  housing down there is scary, especially if you want a garden of any decent size. So a plot might be the way to go.
I'm not scared to be seen, I make no apologies. This is me!

doganjo

  • Joined Aug 2012
  • Clackmannanshire
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Re: Timber Log Cabins/Houses Advice
« Reply #3 on: May 30, 2020, 05:08:15 pm »
https://www.onthemarket.com/for-sale/land/duns/

So long as you are very sure you won't need to sell it again in a hurry you'd be fine.  I have a feeling that they may be an acquited taste even yet.

These companies usually see to all the planning issues too. I project managed the building of my house myself but I think Bill (owner of the log cabin firm) would have done that for a smaller fee than usual too.  I have a feeling they aren't in business any more though, so uptake may not have  been strong at that time.
Always have been, always will be, a WYSIWYG - black is black, white is white - no grey in my life! But I'm mellowing in my old age

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Timber Log Cabins/Houses Advice
« Reply #4 on: May 30, 2020, 08:37:00 pm »
We have two log cabins on site here, and one of them has just changed hands, so I can tell you some of the issues that came up as the two parties negotiated.

The biggest was longevity.  This one has been here for 12 years, and if the expected lifespan is 25-40 years (depending on some technical choices, and how well it has been maintained, I understand), then some of the original value can dissipate in a way that does not happen (at least, not in 12 years, it doesn't) with a conventional house.

As a living space, the cabin in question is delightful.  When I moved here there were 3 properties I would have been happy to take, and that was one of them.  Yes there is a lot of wood inside, and unless you use light pine to build,  and do - and maintain - the UV-protective varnish or oil covering, it goes darker and somewhat orangey over time. 

I actually have a lot of pine in the flat I did move into, and have not yet done the oil/varnish thing, but have been thinking recently that it has darkened enough now.  It was very very pale at first, 3 years ago, and is now just a little darker than fresh beech, which I like.  So I may cover it with the UV-protective product, or I may let it carry on until it is too dark for me and then paint it with a chalky sort of matt paint.

Going back to the cabin, there is a very nice feel to the space.  It is extremely well-insulated, needs very little additional heat beside the sun streaming in the large south-facing window, even in winter.  (But this is North Cornwall, we don't get winters like you do up there!). It always feels cosy and comfortable. 

As a dog owner, I prefer wooden floors, so would not want to carpet anyway.
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

doganjo

  • Joined Aug 2012
  • Clackmannanshire
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Re: Timber Log Cabins/Houses Advice
« Reply #5 on: May 31, 2020, 01:05:28 pm »
As a dog owner and breeder I will never have wooden floors ever - a youngster of mine - very interesting prospect for both showing and breeding, and a likely shooting companion,  rushed into our parquet'ed hallway, skidded,  and did the Bambi act - result cracked pelvis and unscorable hips, so bang went the breeding and the showing wasn't great either since she occasionally threw a leg.  She was an excellent working dog though and went on to receive awards in field trials with John
Always have been, always will be, a WYSIWYG - black is black, white is white - no grey in my life! But I'm mellowing in my old age

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Timber Log Cabins/Houses Advice
« Reply #6 on: May 31, 2020, 05:14:02 pm »
I take your point, Annie.  But no floor of mine is ever uncluttered enough for this to be an issue  ::)

Although I will always remember moving into our house in Exmoor, where the large sitting room had wooden floors and a low ceiling.  We had needed to saw 1" off the legs of our beloved French dresser in order for it to fit.  One of black cat Jacob's fave games was dribbling a ping pong ball, and of course we got the cats' toys out to help them feel at home.  Immediately Jake is having a great time batting the ball and chasing it all around the sitting room.  Both together, hubs and I realised what was coming, but could only watch as Jake smashed it across the room under the dresser, and did his famous "running cat flat cat handbrake turn" to zoom after it under the dresser... 
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

Buttermilk

  • Joined Jul 2014
Re: Timber Log Cabins/Houses Advice
« Reply #7 on: May 31, 2020, 05:42:12 pm »
I once considered putting one up but a Latvian whose family built them in Latvia advised against it on a couple of points.  1, they are manufactured in a dry climate and need erecting as soon as they arrive in this country otherwise the damp in the air warps the logs slightly, not always visible by eye but enough to be a problem with perfect fit.  2, they make theirs with a membrane between every row of logs which evens out the dryness of the inside with the wet outside, the companies we looked at did not have this membrane.

doganjo

  • Joined Aug 2012
  • Clackmannanshire
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Re: Timber Log Cabins/Houses Advice
« Reply #8 on: May 31, 2020, 06:13:53 pm »
I once considered putting one up but a Latvian whose family built them in Latvia advised against it on a couple of points.  1, they are manufactured in a dry climate and need erecting as soon as they arrive in this country otherwise the damp in the air warps the logs slightly, not always visible by eye but enough to be a problem with perfect fit.  2, they make theirs with a membrane between every row of logs which evens out the dryness of the inside with the wet outside, the companies we looked at did not have this membrane.
The ones I looked at were made from trees cut less than 30 miles away, from renewable forests.  If you are careful who you buy from there isn't a problem
Always have been, always will be, a WYSIWYG - black is black, white is white - no grey in my life! But I'm mellowing in my old age

alang

  • Joined Nov 2017
  • Morayshire
Re: Timber Log Cabins/Houses Advice
« Reply #9 on: June 13, 2020, 04:52:40 pm »
Thanks for all the help. Still undecided about these cabins. Norwegian Log look great and as some of you have mentioned, re-sale might be a problem along with how long the structure would last.

I'd love to build a traditional house with stone/bricks and mortar. But those costs are huge and well beyond our means.

Guess i'll have to keep on searching and hope something comes up.
I'm not scared to be seen, I make no apologies. This is me!

doganjo

  • Joined Aug 2012
  • Clackmannanshire
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    • ABERDON GUNDOGS for work and show
    • Facebook
Re: Timber Log Cabins/Houses Advice
« Reply #10 on: June 14, 2020, 03:58:32 pm »
Thanks for all the help. Still undecided about these cabins. Norwegian Log look great and as some of you have mentioned, re-sale might be a problem along with how long the structure would last.

I'd love to build a traditional house with stone/bricks and mortar. But those costs are huge and well beyond our means.

Guess i'll have to keep on searching and hope something comes up.
No reason why you don't have a log cabin type one just now then when finances improve apply for a modification to it - perhps clad with brickss etc or extended?
Always have been, always will be, a WYSIWYG - black is black, white is white - no grey in my life! But I'm mellowing in my old age

 

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