If any of you consider yourself very knowledgable on log homes and various construction methods, please reply and I”ll post a few questions you might answer for me. Otherwise if not….I’ll work with “loggies” elsewhere.
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Hey Pyro....go ahead and post those questions!
I don't consider myself a loggie or a timber framer, but throught the years I've had my experiences and maybe it may fit one of your questions!
Even if I have nothing to offer....I will still read what others have to say about log homes!!
...................Iron Helix
My questions about log homes are as follows:
I recently looked at a log home in TN I was going to buy and rent out on a nightly rental program in the Smokies. I had a home inspection done. I know a good bit about log homes, however the inspector was telling me some things that I did not know about log homes, or at least this particular one I was looking at.
First of all the owner did not use PT wood for the decks. The decking is rotted to the core and nothing is salvagable (I'm attaching a pic in case you need reminded of what non PT wood looks like after 2yrs of weather). Even worse, there are two layers of decking and the deck posts are merely 4x4 posts, 10 in all and 5 of which were non PT and the other 5 were literally rotting at the ground level. The deck was so rotted that I fell thru at one point, the bottom literally dropped from out under me. Fortunately I stopped, otherwise it was a long way down.
Another issue and you all may offer your opinions as you see fit, is chinking. Permachink is the leader in the industry and they have a 5yr guarantee. I'm told that the big problem here and the chinking is that the log assembly method chosen has a history of problems. the method is the logs were laid down on the foundation, then a 2x4 was nailed onto the top of one log, then a log stacked on it. The resulting gap was chinked. This was done on the interior and exterior. I'm told that on average every 3 yrs I'd have to plop down about $6K to have the chinking redone on the outside becasue the logs would always move and create gaps in teh chinking allowing water to get in and beginning rot of the logs unless I stayed on top of it.
My question is, would you all agree that the 2x4 spacer method is problematic? Im attaching a pic to show the assembly detail if it helps.
Chinking lasts about like good caulking, so it won't last forever. The log finish and the chinking will need periotic maintanence that is more expensive than a painted finish. Unfortunately, the wide chink lines on that house will require 2-3 times the amount of chink (and labor) of the more common narrow chink lines.
The rot in the porch has nothing to do with the fact that this is a log home. Rather, it is indicative of the fact that the owner/builder was trying to get by as cheap as possible. That is problematic. i predict you will find many other ways that upfront savings to him mean long term maintainance costs for you.The style of construction is another. This is the cheapest method of 'log' home construction therre is, Simple and easy, but more prone to maintainance issues - and log homes do cost more in maintainance than your typical house to begin with. One of the prime pieces of info i would want on this one is whether it was built with green logs or dry, and how the door and window bucks were installed - whether enough room was allowed for settling or not.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Piffin,
The home inspector said the home was built with green logs. It was built mid 2002. Inspector said logs have prob moved about all th ey're gonna move but since they were green there is no guarantee with it being 2yrs old that it is done moving.
One of the gable windows is broken. A double pane window in the kitchen is broken, both panes, prob due to settling and shrinkage since they were green logs.
I realize the deck issues had nothing to do with the fact it was a log home, just remarking about the deck issues. I was to buy this joint for $147K. He had it at $169K, dropped it to $158K but I offered $147K and he took it. THat was before I knew of the problems. No wonder he would take $147K, I'd be willing to take anything to offload it, eh?
One last thought, if no money has changed hands and you have not signed on the dotted line..............BACK OUT!! Since you bought this as an investment property, the home is a money pit, what's the property worth in say five years??? Might make the current pain a little more bearable.
Best Regards
Let me get this straight -You made an offer BEFORE knowing the condition? Was it 147 minus costs to repairt deficiencies discovered or 147 contingent on inspection?and how is it that you did not know of the problems? The rotten deck and the broken windows would be obvious on first walk through.I'm not understanding the whole picutre, but the way i am seeing it so far is that you are buying into a money pit.Here is another cost to think of - those walls are only 4" thick.
You will be paying the heating cost. That will be a big drag on your cash flow unless you can keep high occupancy rates.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
The cabin has a pretty good rental history, it is always renting out.
Yes I knew of the decking prior to the offer. I first saw the home end of July. I next saw it again 2 wks ago and I was acting more on emotion than common sense. That is I know the deck was rotting but I was willing to fix it. But, I didn't now it wasn't PT wood posts, I tought I only had to replace deck boards with PT decking. Inspector caught it for me that the joists/posts are not PT. Additionally I'm embarassed to say I never looked up under the decking. Had I done so I'd have seen the joists were black as rot. My estimate was teh entire deck needed to be dismantled and rebuilt, from scratch with PT wood. I made the offer right before Christmas of $147K when he was at that time asking $158K.He certainly was willing to take a $11K hit below his current asking price.
I seriously didn't think he'd accept the offer. Now I know why, I'm prob the only "sucker" that made an offer offering him a chance to offload it. I am well educated on log homes I feel as I"ve been looking to build one for years. But I was not familiar with this construction method and I should've researched it first. But in making the offer I had contingencies of which one was an acceptable inspection report. The inspection revealed more to me that every possible corner was cut to build this. In my right mind I"d have seen much of it myself. But this experience was a classic case where I fell in love with what I could do to increase teh value without realize I first needed to do a ton of repairs first to keep it rentable. The inspector brought me back to reality so to speak. Something happened in my head cuz I know chinking is the last thing I want yet I was willing to buy it with chinking. I was looking at flipping it for a big cash windfall, not thinking too smart. I"m out of $225 for the inspection, I'drather be out of that than thousands.
I offered $147K and told seller he had to pay up to $1000 in repairs if any repairs were noted on the inspection report. It was evident from the inspection report that the amount of repairs would exceed $1000 several times over. I was unwilling to pay any out of pocket above $1000.
I considered going back to seller to get $8K cashback to rebuilt the deck. I might have succeeded in that if I had wanted to dothat, but I withheld doing that based on the other findings in the inspection. Basicaly I needed to sink $20K immediately into the property after it being only 2yrs old and I saw that, so I excercised the inspection report contingency to getout.
I think that was wise.Even inspectors can be wrong or come up short too.
For instance on the settling and shrinking. IMO, 80% or so of the shrinking will happen in the first two years, but there is more to come for another 3-5. Since the load is already breaking windows now, there are more yet to be broken...
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
yes go ahead and post your qustions here.I have had my share of dealing with log homes, and I am sure there are plenty others here who have as well
Yeah post away, I've found out that on here, you can post questions on just about ANYTHING and find the experts and get great answers!
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"It is so, because Piffin tells me it is."
the experts
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Is that like (x) spurt? Where it's a "drip" under the pressure (x)?Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)