Roofs can be one of the biggest expenditures when building log homes.  A roof can cost anywhere from one thousand dollars to over twenty thousand dollars.  It's not uncommon for our members to spend as much on their roof as they did on building the rest of their log home.  Here are 4 easy tips that could end up saving you thousands of dollars on roofing your log home.

• Build a log home with a low pitched roof.  Anything above a 6:12 will generally be more expensive, because it is harder to work on and takes much longer to build.  Also, a low roof pitch uses less roofing material than a high roof pitch.
• Don't have any dormers on your log home.  Gable and shed dormers add a great deal of time and expense onto a project because they make the roof more complicated to build.  Minimize hips and valleys and you minimize cost -- you also minimize potential roof leaks down the road, since leaks often develop  in valley flashing.
• Put a gable roof on your log home.  A gable roof is generally the least expensive and easiest style of roof to build.  It is also the least prone to leaks since it only has one single ridge cap, rather than a bunch of hips and valleys.
• Buy the white elephant for pennies on the dollar!  Roofing manufacturers who cut standing seam metal roofs often have entire roofs sitting around in their yard that are virtually impossible to sell.  They are the 'white elephant,' the uninvited guest that has started to stink, and the company will almost give those roofs away just to get rid of them.  So what's wrong with the roof?  Typically it was a custom order that was cancelled, or it was a run of roofing panels where the color is wrong so they can't sell it, et cetera.  So it is often possible to pick that roof up dirt cheap, and toss it on top of your log home, as long as the design can be adapted.

We heard from one member recently who saved about 40% on their roofing costs, just by agreeing to accept metal roofing material that was one shade darker than they originally wanted.  What an easy way to keep money in your pocket.

So there you have it, 4 easy steps to reduce roofing costs when building log homes.  Using all four might not be up your alley, but hopefully one or two of the tips will help save you a ton of money.