Log cabin maintenance?

[Soterik]

We've had ours since 2001.

Outside maintenance has been re-staining, it's actually a waterbase log finish by Behr.
We've never re-chinked, but we have engineered logs (like the one you were looking at) meaning that it's a real log house but the logs are all symetrical. We've done some caulking each time we've done the re-coating. We've done the coating every 5-6 years.

Other outside work though has included maintenance around the base of the house, including flashing work, overhang changes to direct the snow, and trying to keep critters out.

We've not had to do a thing to the inside as far as maintenance. We did re-wire and re-plumb. We have a walk out basement so we duct into the main floor area from below, and then use wall heaters in the upstairs.

We use ours extensively, both winter and summer. We do have a Subaru as our driveway is steep and we have 3 feet of snow on the ground in the winter. A garage/pole barn is mandatory.

I love ours, we bought it right after 9/11 and the seller was anxious to sell her "second home", and we couldn't afford to buy the dirt now. Our kids were young (now 18 and 22) and they've had great summers and weekends here for years, including ski racing at the local mountain in the winters. Fishing and wake boarding are only a few miles away.

Overall there's a fair amount of maintenance for us, but it's not a hardship and I really feel like I've "gotten away" from the city whenever I'm there.

eric

[nvr2mny]

Ours is in Idaho and is fairly large. If I were to do it again (which I'm not) I'd go much smaller. You're way better off buying than building. Anyways, depending on exposure (the sun IS NOT your friend on logs) staining is the single biggest expense, especially if you hire it out, which we do. We have 6+ months of snow (we're at 5000 sq ft) some of it heavy, but our asphalt shingle roof has held up exceptionally well. We built this one about 8 years ago. I'd guesstimate our "maintenance" costs at 2000.00 yearly. They are quite warm and in the right setting are beautiful. The homes I've seen here fit those descriptions.