With the housing and construction industry in a major slump right now, I think we'll see the price on lumber decline in a MAJOR WAY THIS YEAR and maybe next year as well. If I was a logger I wouldn't want to be sitting on a large inventory right now. I don't claim to know much about logging, however, I understand economics'. When the supply is larger than the demand.......IT'S BEST TO CUT THE PRICE AND MOVE ON, UNLESS YOU HAVE A VERY-VERY LARGE BANK ROLL to stock pile.

Might be worth the wait if you are planning on building soon. :-)

Lodgepole Pine are excellent log home trees.

It depends on what the logs will be used for, what the indigenous logs are where you are building, cost of transport etc.

Some lesser-strength types of logs can be used in the walls as they just lay on one another. For structural use such as girders etc. you may need to import a stronger wood.

More can be learned in the members only section or at the classes.

Best,

Mikey, journeyman 1988

Just put in a call to Kelly and left a mssg on his phone. Thanks also to Leaf.

My wife and I are building the LHBA 35 x 35 in Southern California and we need 108 or so house logs. Lodgepole Pine sounds good to me.

Don

Wouldn't that just be AWESOME!!!! :PDennisa

The big picture, you are probably right. Sounds nice if you will be wanting to purchase logs in the near future. Wasn't trying to get political though ;)

Expensive logs through the middleman is bad.

Of course I want to acquire my logs as inexpensively as possible, but I still appreciate the loggers and the hard work they do. Environmentalist lawsuits have shut down a LOT of logging. I've seen it time and again since I was a kid, but just last year there was much needed selective cutting started in a heavily beetle damaged area of National Forest near us. It was completely shut down by lawsuits. There are some environmentalists who would actually rather see a firestorm come through because that would be 'natural' instead of seeing any of the wood harvested and used.

CAP KEYS ARE STICKING, COFFEE WILL DO THAT TO YOUR KEYBOARD, SORRY.

I STARTED THE TOPIC OF LOWERING LOG PRICES BY MAKING A SIMPLE OBSERVATION, IT WAS ALSO MEANT TO HELP SOME OF OUR LOG-HOME BUILDER FRIENDS, BY SAVING THEM SOME CASH. NOW HOWEVER, I FEEL THE NEED TO VENT SO PLEASE ALLOW ME MY SAY, IT'LL MAKE ME FEEL BETTER, LOL.

FIRST AND FOREMOST I WANT TO SEE EVERYONE DO WELL, WHEN IT'S BROTHER HELPING BROTHER THAT'S GREAT. HOWEVER, IN BUSINESS THERE ARE SWINGS THAT GO UP AND DOWN, THE LOGGERS, MILLERS, AND LUMBER-YARDS HAVE BEEN MAKING A KILLING FOR THE LAST 6-7 YEARS . THEY WAS SHIPPING SO MUCH PLYWOOD AND LUMBER TO IRAQ AFTER 911 I HAD TWO FRIENDS THAT HAD TO HALT BUILDING THEIR OWN HOMES BECAUSE THE COST OF LUMBER WENT THROUGH THE ROOF.

THEN WHEN THE HOUSING MARKET TOOK OFF "CAUSED BY THE GOV LOWERING THE INTEREST RATES TO A 30 YEAR LOW" LUMBER PRICES TOOK OFF AGAIN, AND THIS TIME THEY WERE JOINED BY REALTORS, BANKS, REAL ESTATE DEVELOPERS AND EVERYONE ELSE IN THAT INDUSTRY. THE MARKET HIT AN ALL TIME HIGH AND THOSE I'VE MENTIONED ABOVE, EVERYONE WAS MAKING THE REALLY BIG BUCKS!!!! HOWEVER, LIKE MOST PEOPLE I DIDN'T REAP ANYTHING FROM THEIR WINDFALL DURING THAT TIME. IT PUT OUR ECONOMY IN THE TOILET AND NOW WE ALL HAVE TO SUFFER. ONCE AGAIN THE INTEREST RATES HAVE BEEN CUT, BUT THERE ISN'T NO BOOM THIS TIME AROUND, BECAUSE THE BANKS HAVE TIGHTENED UP SO MUCH THAT ONLY THE BIG MONEY PEOPLE CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT.

I DON'T MEAN TO GET POLITICAL EITHER, BUT I'M NOT GOING TO FEEL BAD, BECAUSE THE ONES I'VE MENTIONED ABOVE CAN'T MOVE THEIR PRODUCTS LIKE THEY USE TO. AS A MATTER OF FACT, GETTING A BARGAIN ON SOME LUMBER RIGHT NOW WOULD MAKE ME FEEL GREAT. :-)

It wouldn't hurt my feelings if Exxon had to lower their prices too.

Why is "political" a dirty word these days? The word is derived from the Greek "polit" meaning "citizen". Political liberty is "the right to express oneself freely and effectually regarding the conduct, make-up and principles of the government under which one lives". (Webster's)

We are citizens, not subjects, of the body politic of the United States. All the decisions we make about building our homes and making our livelihoods depend on the results of our political decisions.

And we encourage each other not to discuss it? That is a very dangerous thing for an American to do.

I don't recall anyone in this forum ever purposefully encouraging another not to discuss IT......(POLITICS).....However, I believe that most everyone in the forum understands what the sole purpose of this forum is about, LOG HOME BUILDING, not politics or religion, those can be found however, in other forums on the internet. At times we may get off the track or subject matter, and when we do we may use the phrase "I DON'T MEAN TO BE / OR SOUND POLITICAL" what we are saying is, please grant me a little leeway, and please don't take offense that I'm off the subject matter that this forum was designed for.

And if we are being courteous and use that phrase, it really doesn't mean that we don't understand what being an American is all about, once again I believe every American that uses this forum knows exactly what it means, and what we all stand for, FREEDOM, true Americans understand that freedom isn't free and it's bought and paid for every day with blood, you were military you know this, but it doesn't make the rest of us less of a patriot. Maybe its not politically right for me to point these things out or make you privy to the facts that we all pretty much understand how it works here in the USA, but I'm going to even decide on my own, not as a result of a political decision, if my home will have wood floors or concrete.

Sorry gang for getting off track, but sometimes the road isn't always straight. :-)

PS. There is no Greek translation for the word political, Webster will say something like refer to the word politic, the Greek word for politic is ( excolo, levo )

It wasn't "heated" and it isn't now. I'm not ranting. I just wanted to know why people are apologizing for anything that whiffs of political influence. Economics are political. And the word 'politic' does come from Greek, not "translated" to Greek like someone else suggested. (It's called the word's "origin".) I didn't say anything pro-this or anti-that and didn't question anyone's patriotism. I am a little suprised though at how volitile and defensive the reaction to my question was. I'm not used to having to tiptoe through conversation for fear of setting off the indignation bomb. Sheesh...no wonder that other guy ran....

Anyhow, Klapton, I hope you have good luck selling your house. I'm busting my knuckles trying to get mine into competitive shape for a sale next year. This housing market is going to cost me about 50K in equity lost. I'm hoping a buyer might see my fixed up place as a better buy than one of those skanky foreclosures. There are almost 400 foreclosures in my little village.

We have two main things we are counting on. The "Wow" effect of our entry and kitchen, and the bread machine trick. We did a custom tile job on our basement entry area (our house is half a double on a slope - three floors in the front, two in the back with a "family room" entry and garage on the ground floor). Our kitchen is, without a doubt, the nicest one in the neighborhood. And it's the kitchen especially that is going to make WOMEN want this house. Donna is of the opinion (and I agree with her) that when a couple has to choose between two homes of similar value, the one that is going to stick in the wife's mind is the one that had that beautiful kitchen. And what SHE ends up wanting the most is usually what they will end up buying.

The bread machine trick is making sure you make a fresh loaf of bread whenever you know someone is coming to look, or you are having an open house. Nothing screams "home" like the smell of fresh baked bread.

The Bread Machine Trick
The bread machine trick is making sure you make a fresh loaf of bread whenever you know someone is coming to look, or you are having an open house. Nothing screams "home" like the smell of fresh baked bread.

I remember a post of some bananas and bread-something like that-he had too many bananas. I just had some banana nut bread that was so good I got the recipee. I will post the recipee on that thread & put a link on here later. http://www.loghomebuilders.org/help-freezing-then-drying-bananas#comment-22894

I just want 10% when they buy your homes!

Also what you can do is put a drop of vanilla extract on lightbulbs. When it heats up the smell will waft throught the room. Be sure the lightbulb is cold BEFORE you add vanilla or it might crack.