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Welcome to the forum for
Owner/Builders!
You may have built your own
log cabin or are giving it some
thought, but you found there are few
places to go to for information.
You just found it.
What you will find here is
information and stories written by
folks just like you describing their
experience.
You're welcome to send us
your stories with pictures as well.
We learn by the successful
examples shown by others and their
mistakes so tell the whole
story.
Beyond stories of others,
GLLCA promotes the craft of
log building and doing it well, and
sharing knowledge with one another.
We've never forgotten the
pleasure of first learning log
building and first projects and it
continues as we learn new things
hands-on.
If you want to join in the
fun then sign up as an associate
member (it's cheap) to keep track of
everything.
Learn and practice the art
and craft of log building while
finding camaraderie.
So you found a piece of land and
want to build something on it for
visiting or maybe even living on it?
The modern age didn't equip
many of us with the rural skills
needed for homesteading but you're
smart enough to figure out those
skills can be acquired.
That means visit to the
library to find out what's in
writing and looking for groups.
You'll be in luck for most of
what you're looking for and there
are many groups with specialty
interests like gardening, etc.
If you're fortunate you'll
develop a perspective about time,
namely just how much time it really
takes to do projects and how to do
the prep work that makes them happen
successfully.
Getting things done means
making a good plan and sticking to
it.
Your marriage may depend on
it.
Can you think of any reason
not to learn each required skill
well enough to be competent?
Does it make sense to learn
something before you go out to
practice it?
Your brain will run you through
things faster than you can really
accomplish them, especially if
you've never done them before.
That impulse brain will make
you think you can start in the
spring clearing the cabin site by
hand, getting in the foundation,
plant the garden, dig the well, put
up the outhouse, cut trees and have
them skid to your cabin site by that
guy down the road with the draft
horse, get the cabin built in late
summer, get the firewood cut in
early fall, and be sitting by the
fire enjoying a cup of coffee as the
first snow falls.
The rest of the winter is
spent on indoor projects like
furniture building with lots of time
for cross country skiing and lazy
days.
Your impulse brain will
further convince you that a capable
person like yourself can be dropped
into the situation and know
instinctively what to do and how to
do it.
View the 1970's era movie
"Jeremiah Johnson" as a primer on
the immersion method of learning
rural living skills.
As it turns out that impulse
brain of yours assigned five years
worth of work and stuffed it into a
six month building period.
Whatever dreams you had about
being a self reliant woodsy action
figure and a hero in the eyes of
friends and spouse are about to be
painfully dashed on the hard rocks
of reality.
Then there are the ear
problems you'll be developing.
Yes there are old timers out there
that can be sources of information.
There are those sage old
types who give advice (picture the
Will Greer character is "Jeremiah
Johnson").
Bring a sense of humor with
you for that trip.
Then there are old guys who
spent decades refining their craft
and are good teachers.
They'll expect you to be a
good student as in keep you eyes and
ears open, do your best, and work to
refine what you learn.
Endorse the concept of
becoming competent.
Numerically, for every single
person, couple, or family
contemplating an entire rural
homestead project/start from scratch
cabin in the forest project, there
must be one hundred who simply live
in a rural area and want to try
their hand at doing some minor log
building.
It could be a shed, gazebo,
sauna, etc., but represents
something that could be built from
materials on hand and equipment on
hand.
In many respects the whole
equation is easier to manage because
you're already established.
What you need is some
specific craft training to make the
project happen.
However you arrived here and
whatever your projects interests
are, we welcome you and trust you'll
find what you're looking for and the
camaraderie of fellow log building
enthusiasts.
[click here for printable pdf of
this page]
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