Sometimes when you build a log home you end up with left over sections of logs.  These log sections might come from the wall, where you cut openings for windows and doors.  Or they might come from cutting your logs down to the proper lengths for your walls.  

Some builders simply throw this excess away, because the log sections are so short.  That's not the most environmentally sensitive approach to building though, and a lot of good wood simply ends up going to waste.  Our students take a different approach, often finding creative ways to use all their pieces of scrap wood.

The bottom line is that when you build your own log home, you'll be able to use every part of your logs.  That will help make your project environmentally friendly.  Here are a few examples of how our members use scrap logs:

You could rip a few scrap logs in half and make a dining room table, or a picnic table.

You could slab off a section of log leaving an unfinished edge (the natural contour of the log) for a bar top.  With a nice polyurethane or epoxy finish such a bar top is both beautiful and functional.

You could mill up the scrap logs into lumber and make some kitchen cabinets or kitchen counter tops.

You could make a log bed.  Log beds really fit in well with the decor of a log home.

You could make log stairs.

You could mill the scrap logs and make solid front door for pennies on the dollar.

Rough cut lumber could also be used as floor joists for the second floor.

Rough cut lumber could also be used to make all your window and door frames, and your window and door trim.

You could install some decorative knee braces.  These can be a real nice architectural feature.

You could use the short logs as support posts for a covered porch.

You could build a small log structure to serve as your pump house. 

One member, who built the Hilltop Lodge, used scrap logs to build a second log home on an adjacent piece of property -- at virtually no additional cost.  He essentially got two log homes for the price of one.

These are just a few ideas of how to use every last scrap of wood on your construction site.  The goal is to make sure you're using all your log scraps, so your project is more environmentally friendly and nothing ends up being thrown away.  At our two day log home class we explain all the above ideas in more detail, including the easiest and least expensive methods to get your scrap logs milled into lumber.