Posted by Norah Schneider on Wed, Jan 27, 2010
There are many misconceptions within the log home industry but one of the most common seems to be when it comes to the log home package.
Some frequently asked questions:
What do you include in your log package?
At Mountain Creations Log Homes, we include items that make sense and mostly include components that we manufacture.
It is very important to remember that every log home company offers a different package or "kit" and comparing apples to apples is virtually impossible for the homeowner or the log home companies themselves. At Mountain Creations Log Homes we strive to go beyond the log package and help our customers with each facet of their log home. We can help you coordinate everything from your building permit to the flooring.
Our standard log package includes all of your Exterior 6 x 6 D Style Log Walls, R 38 Exposed Roof Rafter System, Exposed 2nd Floor System, Heavy Timber Porch Roof Systems & Decking and Interior Tongue & Groove for all interior walls, ceilings & closets. In addition to these componenets our standard package includes complete custom design & construction blueprints, Accessories and Sikkens Cetol stain.
Do you include Windows & Doors?
If you have put some time into researching log homes you know that some companies include windows & doors, while some include shingles and others include interior doors only. There is no consistency from company to company.
We do not include windows & doors, interior doors or shingles for a few very simple reasons. We want our customers to have the freedom to choose whichever window company or style of shingle or metal roof that fits their taste. No two Mountain Creations Log Homes are alike and you will have the opportunity to customize your home to your exact liking. When it comes to these items, you will want to have these delivered when you need them to make life easier on the builder as well as keep your windows from becoming damaged during construction. We have set up relationships with Pella Windows as well as local lumber companies to allow you the flexibility you need and offering you great deals and general contractors pricing.
Remember when it comes to building your house that there is much more involved than just the log package. There is no magic formula or perfect multipliers for determining the cost of your log home. We will help you cost out each component of your home and help you stay in budget. Call us today to learn more about how to get started. 800.661.5647
Posted by Norah Schneider on Wed, Jan 13, 2010
In all economic conditions, it's a good idea to protect your investments and your new log home is certainly one of them. While many people don't look much beyond the cost of their monthly mortgage, it's a good idea to think long term and take the correct steps to protect your investment.
Quality isn't just a sales pitch...
Every log home company is going to tell you that their product is the best. The facts are important, and the USDA Wood Handbook states that Northern White Cedar is ranked as a premier wood with which to build your log home. Along with the USDA, the University of Maine has well documented their experimental findings, showing that Northern White Cedar has a longer life span, a lower moisture content and is impervious to wood boring insects, rot and decay. This is valuable information when it comes to taking that important step and signing a contract. Being in the log home industry for 24 years, we have heard the horror stories from home owners that built with pines and oaks. Invest in Northern White Cedar, an economic, energy efficient and quality material that will last a lifetime.
Start from the ground up...
When it comes to your log home there are 3 very important components that can make or break your investment. The log package, the glass and the basement are the 'foundation' of your new home and you want to be sure to use quality materials to help protect your long term investment. All of our customers are more than welcome to use any basement system or any window they would like, however, we have a few suggestions when it comes to making the right decisions.
Using a Superior Wall style, poured concrete basement system can save you thousands of dollars in maintenance and headaches down the road. Superior Wall systems come prepped, waterproofed and insulated to code.
Use a window that is durable, Energy Star rated and reputable. An aluminum clad window with a wood interior gives you low maintenance, energy efficient protection from the elements.
By implementing great quality products like Northern White Cedar, Pella Windows and Superior Walls you are creating a barrier against the elements and protecting your wallet.
All the other stuff...
Staining the exterior of your home can be a fun family project or a weekend job you hire a buddy for, either way, the materials you use are extremely important. Mountain Creations Log Homes uses only Sikkens Stain for the exterior of their log homes to enhance and protect the beauty of your new investment. Sikkens stain can be costly compared to other stains you might find at big box stores, but that's exactly why we include it in our log home package. The Sikkens stain typically has to be reapplied every 4-6 years depending on your UV exposure and the amount of pigment in the color you choose.
While the quality of materials you are using is extremely important, it's not the only thing to consider. Choosing the right company and quality construction can go hand in hand. Mountain Creations offers our customers the flexibility to use their own contractor or use one of ours. All our our builders have been trained and offer you the assurance you need that the job is being done right.
Beyond Insurance...
Everyone asks...are log homes hard to insure? Don't worry, log home insurance is the same cost and just as easy to obtain as in a conventional home. This is a large misconception of the log home industry. Many of our customers use large insurance companies such as Nationwide, Chubb & State Farm.
Insurance can be much more than a policy, it can mean the piece of mind you have from building a log home that can actually make you money. Many of our customers have over $25,000 in equity the day they move in their new home because cedar appraises so well. We also offer our customers referral fees and the opportunity to make money by showing their new home.
If you are just starting your research or ready to break ground, there's a lot to think about and Mountain Creations Log Homes can help. Build a home that you can proudly pass down for generations to come. Call us today at 800.661.5647 to schedule a visit to our showroom or attend an upcoming Open House.
Posted by Norah Schneider on Wed, Dec 30, 2009
With the New Year rapidly approaching people are starting to think about getting underway with their
log home construction plans. Every Spring, the housing industry start buzzing as new homes are beginning, older homes are renovated and garages are being built. While this trend does not seem to be fading anytime soon what has changed is the number of homes built during the winter months.
According to the NAHB, new construction sales have been steadily increasing over the past twelve months since their sharp drop off in 2008, setting the log home construction industry up for a busy new year. While the Spring is undoubtably the most popular time of year to build, log home lovers are getting started early and saving big money doing it!
Getting started in the winter months with your new log home can save you money in all facets of construction, including the log home package, framing lumber, labor costs, freight and big ticket items like windows & doors. Companies are generally slower in the winter months, allowing the customer to find great deals on appliances, flooring, plumbing fixtures and many of the items found at your local Home Depot or Lowes.
What about the weather? Western PA and surrounding areas have it 'relatively easy' in the winter months. With a snow storm here or there, contractors can usually get your log home under roof in a little under 8 winter weeks. If unforseen weather comes your way, don't worry, remember you are still saving thousands by building during the winter months.
Whether you are interested in saving money, taking advantage of the extended tax credit or just want to get started with your dream log home as soon as possible, Mountain Creations Log Homes can help.
Call Today at 800.661.5647 for more information on our winter promotions.
Posted by Norah Schneider on Wed, Dec 09, 2009
The Mountain Creations Family is pleased to announce our Holiday
Savings Event. Our gift to you this Holiday Season is the opportunity
to save $10,000 towards the purchase of your cedar log home package OR
receive a COSTCO gift card in the amount of $10,000. Either way, you
save BIG this Holiday Season.
To take advantage of this tremendous offer, simply
place a deposit on your cedar log home package from Mountain Creations
by December 24, 2009. You can choose to receive a $10,000 discount on
your log home package OR a COSTCO gift card valued in the same
amount. The direct discount will enable you to lower the overall
construction costs of your home. The COSTCO gift card may be used to
purchase furniture for your new home, an outdoor patio set for your
home, or use the card on everyday consumables available at COSTCO.
It's your card and your choice on how to spend it.
For
more information or to take advantage of our Holiday Savings Event,
please call our corporate office at 800.661.5647 TODAY! This offer is
for new customers only through our corporate offices, cannot be
combined with any other offer, and certain restrictions apply.
Posted by Norah Schneider on Fri, Nov 06, 2009
25% CEDAR LOG HOME PACKAGE DISCOUNT FOR TWITTER FOLLOWERS
Mountain Creations has unveiled the most exceptional log home deal just for you. Are you new to social networking? Well, you need to start following us on Twitter to save thousands on your dream cedar log home.
Simply follow
MCILogHomes on Twitter to receive this discount on your cedar log home package. It's that easy...it's that simple! For more information, visit our
Home Tweet Log Home page for more details.
Posted by Norah Schneider on Wed, Nov 04, 2009
One of the most frequently asked questions we receive is "What is the big difference between Cedar & Pine?"
While you can visit a log home show or browse through a log home magazine, most people end up more confused when they started. Years of studies and research from the USDA Dept of Forestry has show that Cedar, specifically Northern White Cedar, is one of the best woods to use for building log homes.
The USDA Forestry Division ranks it as one of the three best woods to use in exterior building. NWC has the lowest shrinkage factor, lowest moisture content, and requires very little maintenance. NWC is one of the most versatile woods available. Its molecular structure gives it high thermal efficiency, and in fact, it has the highest R-Factor of all domestic woods which means the best insulating qualities for your new log home. Cedar is one of the only three woods allowed by National BOCA Code to be used to build a deck or porch without pressure treating for rot, decay, fungi, and wood infesting insects.
According to the USDA, "the wood's light weight and resistance to decay makes it useful for a number of applications [including cabin homes]. The heartwood is resistance to decay and subterranean termites, is easy to work with...and has little dimensional change. Drying of Northern White Cedar is easy. It has little tendency to shrink or warp."
Northern White Cedar is the driest wood on the stump in North America! It has a low moisture content of approximately 19%, increasing stability, resistance to rot & decay and allowing for a natural, air-dried building product. Mountain Creations' logs are composed of heartwood rather than sapwood. The heartwood lies inside the sapwood. It was once sapwood, but now consists of inactive wood cells that have been changed both chemically and physically, so that they no longer conduct sap.
To compare Northern White Cedar logs and Pine logs visit our web site for more informtion.
Check out our website for more information on all the great properties of Northern White Cedar log homes.
Posted by Norah Schneider on Wed, Oct 28, 2009
Mountain Creations Log Homes announced today that they have appointed Herb Heiserer as their National Director of Brokers. The MC Log Home Brokerage program has been designed to break the traditional log home "dealership" mold and provide unique and proven entrepreneurial opportunities during the current turbulent housing market conditions.
Pittsburgh, PA, (PRWEB) October 30, 2009 --
Mountain Creations Log Homes announced today that they have appointed Herb Heiserer as their National Director of Brokers. Mr. Heiserer will join the Mountain Creations family from his office in the Atlanta, Georgia region. Mr Heiserer will manage and coordinate the appointment of Brokers to represent Mountain Creations Log Homes.
Mr. Heiserer brings with him many years of log home industry expertise. After serving as a recruiter for log home dealers within the industry, Mr. Heiserer is excited about this new opportunity. Mr. Heiserer is also a former pitcher for the World Champion New York Yankees. "Working with Mountain Creations is an opportunity I am passionate to embrace. The new and contemporary approach to distributing their product through a network of Log Home Brokers is innovative and will reinvent the log home industry," commented Mr. Heiserer on his new position.
Mountain Creations Log Homes is breaking the mold of the traditional log home "dealerships" by providing a unique and proven entrepreneurial opportunity during the current turbulent housing market conditions. They have developed and implemented a new program which allows representatives or Brokers to buy log home packages at wholesale prices rather than working on a fixed commission. This will allow for Brokers to set prices for log home packages based on their local market conditions. Brokers will receive unparalleled corporate office support and extensive sales training to ensure their success on becoming a successful member of the Mountain Creations family.
President of Mountain Creations Log Homes, Norah Schneider, spoke briefly and said, "The MC log home family is thrilled to have such dedicated and knowledgeable addition to our team. Mr. Heiserer will add a unique element to our new business model of expansion and growth to help us achieve our goals swiftly and effectively. We welcome him and are very proud to have him join our family as our newly appointed National Director of Brokers." 
For those interested in the Mountain Creations log home Brokerage program, please contact the Mountain Creations corporate offices and a Broker packet will be mailed which contains a thorough explanation to the newly instituted Broker program as well as company requirements. Brokers will submit an application for review by the Board of Directors. Previous log home experience is not required.
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Posted by Norah Schneider on Thu, Oct 15, 2009
Mountain Creations is pleased to announce that our Artisan Lodge log home floor plan was featured in the November issue of Country's Best Log Home for Ultimate Kitchens. This log home floor plan boasts a dramatic open gable dormer which is the focal point of this culinary masterpiece. Distinctive touches, such as the copper backsplash, crown molding, and leaf themed lighting and hardware, offer many functional advantages while adding elegance and sophisitication.
Mountain Creations Log & Timber Homes offers state of the art computerized custom log home blueprinting and drafting for both the Preliminary Blueprints and the Final Construction Blueprints. Denny & Mary Lou Haramic custom designed this beautiful log home floor plan with the assistance of Mountain Creations.
To view this functional and free flowing log home floor plan, visit www.moreloghomeplans.com
We offer FREE custom designed service to fit all of your log home ideas. Bring us photos of the log homes you love or even a rough sketch of your plan and let us transform your ideas and dreams into a working set of blueprints. Envision your dream log home today! Call 800.661.5647 to begin designing your dream log home floor plan and design today!
A special thanks to Country's Best Log Homes for their diligence in promoting log homes to log home lovers everywhere.
Posted by Norah Schneider on Fri, Oct 09, 2009
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Trade your Jewelry, Cars, Boats, Season Tickets, Sports Memorabilia & More Towards a CASH Deposit on Your New Cedar Log Home!!!
SAVE CASH ON YOUR NEW LOG HOME |
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Are you dreaming of building your new cedar log home? Mountain Creations is pleased to announce our new Cash for Stash program. Here how it works...all you have to do is call Mountain Creations with information on whatever item you are looking to apply towards your log home package. Mountain Creations will make you an offer based on the fair market value of the item. You bring us the item and we will immediately apply the value towards your log home package.
This offer is similar to the recent government incentive "CASH FOR CLUNKERS" to help the US economy. Mountain Creations is looking to do our part to help stimulate the economy by introducing this ground-breaking incentive for log home lovers. We want your STASH and in return, we will apply the cash value to your new cedar log home package.
Do you have items laying around your house that you do not use anymore but have value? Are you unable to sell them for what they are worth? We are looking for ANY items you are willing to bring in. These items may include cars, boats, motorcycles, quads, season tickets, jewelry, computers, stereo systems, vacant land, and the list goes on. If your item is in good condition and we can agree on the right price, you have yourself a deal. Mountain Creations will apply the value towards your log home package. You can begin building your dream cedar log home by using your unwanted items.
Save thousands on your log package by trading your "stash". If you have an item you are interested in trading as part of your cedar log home package on your new log home call us today! Certain restrictions will apply. CALL TODAY FOR MORE INFORMATION.
800.661.5647
Promotion runs from October 12 to October 26, 2009 | | |
Posted by Norah Schneider on Fri, Sep 04, 2009
LOG HOME FALL DISCOUNT DAYS
Mountain Creations Introduces
The Diamond Lake
FIND OUT HOW YOU CAN BUY THIS CEDAR LOG HOME PACKAGE FOR ONLY
$39,250
Mountain Creations is pleased to announce our Fall Discount Days with unbelievable savings on our cedar log home packages. We are offering 3 log home packages at savings that CANNOT be beaten! Here's the deal...From Friday, September 4th until Thursday, September 24th, this special will be active. All you have to do is call our toll-free number to register to enter our drawing to purchase a cedar log home package at 50% off suggested retail. Yes, that's right...we are offering a cedar log home package for HALF PRICE. We will also be offering 2 additional log home packages at a 25% discount. These savings are truly amazing! Let's look at an example.
If you were to enter and win a log home package at 50% off, and you wanted to build our new Diamond Lake plan shown above, the package would ONLY be $39,250. Yes, that's correct, your cedar log home package would cost $39,250. The retail price of that package is $78,500. You would be saving almost $40,000 on your dream cedar log home.
To take this a step further, let's look at the overall cost to build the Diamond Lake. Without any discount, the Diamond Lake can be built for appoximately $140 a square foot. At 1,752 square feet, the Diamond Lake costs $245,000 to build excluding land, utilities, and driveways. With this special, you can build this beautiful cedar log home for ONLY $200,000. That brings the square footage price down to $114 per square foot. Those are prices comparable to the year 2000, and that's all equity in your new home.
So, how do you take advantage of this phenomenal savings? Simply call our corporate office and tell us you want to be eligible for our Fall Discount Days. On Thursday, September 24, we will randomly choose one entry to receive 50% off ANY cedar log home package. You can pick one of our standard plans, bring us your plan, or we will custom design the log home of your dreams. In addition, 2 more entries will be drawn to receive 25% off any cedar log home package.
This is an event you don't want to miss! If you would like to attend an Open House at one of our models, please click here for a schedule of September events.
800.661.5647 CALL TODAY FOR MORE INFORMATION
CERTAIN RESTRICTIONS APPLY