There are actually companies that do log siding. I saw them at the log home show. There are also companies that do modular log rooms, make stick built places look like log homes. I don't know how affordable they all are though. I don't imagine that you can actually build a BnP log expansion onto your stick built place but maybe I'm wrong. There may be someone here who has or who knows someone who has.
Frances
I was hoping we would be able to do a BnP expansion ourselves from what we learn at the class. If we can't do it that way, I think we will just have to make sure everyone gets a bath daily :) and squeeze it in as best we can until we can start building. We will be saving all extra money for our property, so we don't want to lay out a whole lot of money for an expensive addition.
I think if you check the student log homes section, someone in there has built a B&P addtion to a stick frame building. There is also someone on the forums who is addting on to an existing log home as well.
The great thing about this type of log construction is (once again) lack of settling, so it is relatively easy to add on, without the worry of one structure moving independantly of the other.
In short, it should be very doable, but it will require some planning, and creativity on your part.
Really?!?! Well that gives me a lot of hope! I don't know if this home will logistically hold us for another 5 years, and I think that's the amount of time it will take us to save up for our land and home and get it built. I'm so happy to know that there is a way! I will look through the student section, do you happen to remember who it was that did it?
if all you need is square footage, you can build a couple rooms fairly cheap (~$25/sf, finished), of course this depends. However I think it is reasonable, considering your logs will be <100 each, and if you put a 20x20 extenstion on, you are looking at roughly 2400 bucks in logs, if you can get your joists milled for you from extra logs you buy, say 3k for logs and another thousand for roofing and thousand for cement you are into a 400SF addition for under 5k (the estimate on logs is WAY high, then you add in some cheap/free windows (I bought all mine for $100 bucks, 75 of which was for a sliding patio door). electrical and insulation (which can be cheap or free, or super expensive) for the roof and floor, and I would just ballpark your materials at well under (depending on your scrounging/networking capabilities) 10k. You'd add 2 rooms at 10x20 each.
Oh, for resale value, you may want to increase to 25x25, put in a wood burning stove, and get the fake log siding. It won't look the same, but it will look WAY better than slapping a log home on a vinyl clad home! It may cost another 3k, but your resale value will increase by 30, easy.
Once you are a member, you can post all sorts of detailed questions on suggestions, etc in the member's area forums. This alone will save you many hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars on this one project.
-Peter
My husband and I are planning to take the class the next time it is offered. We were wondering if it would be possible to do a log addition to our stick built house. We have four children, with a fifth on the way and desperately need more kitchen, bathroom and living space. We have a rancher with a full walk out basement. We were thinking about building off the back of the house. Would this be something that we could do with logs? We are saving up money to buy at least 100 acres to build a nice big log home on, but that is probably 5 years down the road. In the meantime our family is growing and we are starting to burst at the seams. Would a log addition be a feasible way to give us more room until we have the money saved up for a large property?
Also, would we be able to do some sort of log siding to cover up the vinyl that is currently siding the house, to make it look like it's all one piece?
Thank you so much for the input! We are so looking forward to taking the class!