Mountain Creations Log Homes provides cedar log home packages. One of the most common questions we receive is "what is included in your log home package" and many variations from that. This article attempts to answer many of those log home package or log cabin kit questions many of you may have when considering a log home.
What is included in the LOG HOME PACKAGE OR LOG CABIN KIT?
As many of you research log homes, you will find that no two log home companies include the same components in their log home package or log home kit. This makes it very difficult to compare one log home package to another. Mountain Creations has taken a much simplier approach to this problem. Rather than focus on the log kit price, we like to talk about and provide our customers with the total construction costs to build your cedar log home.
Log Home Packages vs. Log Cabin Kits
Let's first tackle the difference between log home packages and log 
cabin kits. There is no difference between the two. Some companies put together components for your log home and call them packages while the same materials could be called a kit by another company. Kit or Package, Home or Cabin, it's all the same.
Why Do Some Companies Include Windows and Others Do Not?
You have some log home companies that will simply sell you logs for your new home all the way to those companies that include everything from kitchen cabinets, door handles, and interior doors. There is a big gap there between what is offered in a "kit". So, what's the best way to go? Mountain Creations Log Homes feels as though we should provide all of the materials we manufacture or ones that are manufactured to our specifications. These are items that the typical consumer could not obtain from the big box lumber yards. We do not include items like windows and doors in our log home packages as we do not manufacture these items. We would much rather establish a relationship with a major window supplier like Pella and refer our customers directly to a local representative. Otherwise, we would purchase those same windows, establish a profit margin, and then sell them to you for a higher price. Why not go directly to the window manufacturer and purchase your windows with no middle-man and receive factory direct customer service if any issues arise. In addition, due to the relationships Mountain Creations has established with many suppliers, our customers receive General Contractor pricing. This is a better alternative in which you save middle-man profits, have the ability to purchase exactly what you want for your home, and receive factory direct customer service.
Log Home Package Pricing...Can't I just multiply the kit by 3 and have the final cost for the home?
Let's talk log home pricing. Some log home companies will tell you to use a multiplier to establish the final construction cost of your log home. They will say multiply the package price by 2 or 3 and that will be the final cost of your home. This methodology does not work. Each home is unique and requires more effort to arrive at a construction cost for the home. Mountain Creations prefers to use a square footage estimate in calculating the estimated cost 
for construction. Our cedar log homes range from $125 to $150 per square foot to construct. That estimate would include ALL components of the home down to flooring, appliances, and kitchen cabinets. The larger the home, typically, the less the home costs to build per square foot. How can that be? Well, there are certain costs associated with each home. Let's use a zero-clearance fireplace as an example. The same fireplace will most likely be used in the 1,000 square foot home as the 2,000 square foot home. If that item costs $5,000, that amount will affect the price of the smaller home much more than the larger home. As a result, the larger the home, the less you will pay per square foot. Other factors affecting the overall cost of the home would include items like decks and porches. Those are not calculated in the square footage of the home, but they are certainly a component of the log home.
What's Included In The Mountain Creations Log Home Package?
For a complete list of materials included in our Log Home Package, please refer to our Standard Materials List page. Mountain Creations includes all of the specialty components needed to construct your log home. We include the log wall system and all of the specialty items needed for the log wall construction, exposed beam 2nd floor system, exposed beam roof system with Energy Star rated insulation panels with fasteners, design services and CAD blueprints, construction manual and on-site assistance if required, and cedar tongue & groove to cover ALL of your interior partition walls. This is important because many cedar log home companies will offer Pine for the interior walls as this is a cheaper item for them to include. Mountain Creations is a solid cedar log home company that proudly supplies Northern White Cedar standard for our 2nd floor, roof system, porch roof system, decking, and interior wall covering. This will assist you in a higher appraisal value as appraisers deem our log homes solid cedar homes rather than just a typical log home. This will increase your investment from day 1.
Building a log home can be a wonderful experience with the proper resources. Mountain Creations can guide you through each phase of constructing your cedar log home. Don't let packages and kits confuse you. The Mountain Creations Family can help make this a smooth and easy process. Call and speak with a representative today and find answers to all of our log home questions.
Log Home and Log Cabin Interior Design Ideas
Mountain Creations Log Homes is pleased to offer the following article.
06.06.2010 | Author: StevenAppleby | Posted in Interior Design
Log home decorating is perhaps on of the more fun decorating projects. Using a cottage theme, log home decorating provides you an opportunity to draw from nature and implement some of your favourite objects. If you are a person who spends a lot of time at your cottage or log home, no doubt youve started a collection of treasures to display. Family photos and handmade ornaments are popular accessories for log home decorating. Any object reflecting family memories are great for a log home or cottage.
A log cabin is a home away from home. It is intended to be warm and cozy for all those who visit. Choosing earthly colors for paint and fabric would help create this atmosphere in log home decorating. This environment is meant to be welcoming and cheerful. Adding some vibrant colors and patterns in cushions and slip-covers will certainly brighten the space and enhance your log home decorating.
Usually people try to find used furniture for their log home or cottage. You many have 
some unwanted furniture at home such as a chair, a table or a couch. Instead of discarding them, why not take them to your log home. Flea markets and garage sales are great places to find amazing furniture to use in your log home decorating project. Remember, one persons junk is another persons treasure. Old wooden pieces of furniture are perfect for log cabin decorating. You may want to leave them in their original state or to give them a newer look, you may want to paint them or if its a chair, perhaps make nice slip-covers in a bright floral pattern.
Besides the mementos you brought from home, there are many accessories you can use in log cabin decorating. Trying to keep with a cottage theme, you might look for baskets made from natural materials that you can hang from the ceiling or place on a table, wooden bowls, galvanized tin pots and buckets, old jars or jugs, there are countless objects you could use to accessorize in log home decorating. Trying to create a feeling of warmth and cosiness, you could have handmade quilts in your log cabin. Handmade items make wonderful additions to log home decorating.
When choosing flooring for a log home or cottage, natural wood such as
birch, cedar or pine, are great choices. You can leave your wood floor in its natural form, allowing it to age and remain authentic looking. You can also pick from many beautiful wood stains to use on your floor which will protect it and also compliment it. Area rugs are nice in log home decorating. Area rugs make a space cozy especially when laid on a wood floor.
Log home decorating allows you to be in touch with nature and all the wonderful materials it has to share. The very structure of the building is made of logs which came from the forest. The scent of the logs alone, add to the natural feeling in a log cabin. Log home decorating is a project that may never be completed. Youll always find something special that can only be appreciated in your log cabin or cottage.
As a family owned and operated log home company, we have a vested interest in our customers opinions. With so much of our business coming from referrals we have asked our past customers why they chose Mountain Creations Log Homes and this is what a couple of them had to say...
I have to tell you that we are just so excited as we see progress every week on our Mountain Creations log home. I cannot express how grateful I am to have this whole building experience with you and all of your family. Wow! Everyone, and I mean everyone, that I deal with as this has progressed has nothing but the best to say about your family and Mountain Creations"
-Christine G.
"Like most people, we did our research and considered other log home manufacturers, but not one was able to provide us with the confidence, guidance and comfort that Mountain Creations did. If we had to do all over again, there is not one thing that we would change. It's crazy how making the right decision has impacted our lives every day and imprinted us with an amazing experience."
-Renee & Larry
At Mountain Creations, we are so very happy and proud of the relationships we have established with past, present and future customers and a large part of those growing relationships is due to the fact that we make customer service our #1 priority. We have heard from many customers that they went with Mountain Creations because they felt comfortable and they had all the information they needed right at their fingertips, all they have to do is call.
To continue this process we want to know what you have to say! Email me at ksnyder@mountaincreations.com and let me know your questions. I will be featuring one "Frequently Asked Question" every week on our blog in an attempt to educate and assist future customers on their journey to building their dream log home. Ask us anything! If your question is picked for the blog you will receive a special incentive!
Call or email us today!
800.661.5647
Dreaming about custom designing your log home can take people through multiple magazines, log home companies and designers and take years without the right help. Mountain Creations Log Homes has offered free custom design as a part of our log home package since we entered the industry 25 years ago.
Offering over 40 standard plans, we can customize any of these designs to fit your needs, use plans you have seen in your favorite magazine or even start from scratch designing your new log home. Start by registering for the Log Home Academy and checking out our Design Ideas page.
The term 'custom design' has taken a bad rap in past years for meaning overpriced designs and months or even years of design. This is never the case when it comes to custom designing your dream log home with Mountain Creations Log Homes. We can help get you through the design process and started building your log home in as little as a few weeks. Lynda Schneider, our resident designer, has helped over 600 customers design their perfect log home. Call today to find out how to get started with your design. 800.661.5647
This article was originally published at My Efficient Planet
Log homes are gaining popularity these days. Not only because of their unique looks but also the eco friendly nature of them. Log homes present many benefits that the conventional homes cannot offer. These log homes are not only beautifully, but also are kinder to the environment.
1. The Environment friendly home
There is a misconception that log homes lead to deforestation that in turn leads to serious environmental problems. The point to be noted here is that these log homes are made from this planets best renewable resource, ‘the trees’. The logs required for building the log homes are obtained from legal loggers. These loggers re-plant where they cut the logs and hence do not lead to deforestation. Recent surveys indicate that conventional homes contribute 40% to the total harmful CO2 emissions. Hence the log homes are excellent opportunities to reduce the Co2 emissions and save the planet.
2. The more energy efficient home
Log homes are more energy efficient when compared to the traditional homes. Energy statistics on log homes prove that they consume 30% less energy. To confirm this energy efficiency of log homes, ‘the National Bureau of Standards tests’ conducted a test. The test results where amazing. Log homes used approximately 46% less energy for heating during the spring heating period. They then tried an 11 week cooling solution during summer through the log homes. Here the log homes used 24% less cooling energy when compared to other conventional homes.
3. Unique and good to look home
Apart from being Environment friendly and energy efficient, the log homes are unique pieces of art and elegance. The log homes are very easy to maintain and the maintenance cost associated with the log homes are very low. There are so many house plans available and often you can assist in designing the home of your dreams.
Building Log Homes
After seeing the benefits that a log home offers, if you are interested in building your own dream log home, there are many places that you can do some more research. From flooring plans to roofing, there are many options available. If you are not sure about the log home plans, it is always better to some professional help. There are professional log home builders out there who offer free log home plans. To save your valuable time and money, there are log home packages too. These packages include everything from log home flooring plans to living area layout and roofing. If you like to know more about the benefits of the unique log homes, there are many log home shows and log home seminars conducted everywhere.
Bottom line
“Modern technology owes ecology an apology” is an old saying. Things are very different these days. The latest technology of log homes makes the saying change to “Modern technology owes ecology great thanks”.
The author of this article is an expert in log homes design. He is also a well wisher of the environment
and knows the importance of log homes in being Eco-friendly. He has written many articles on the eco friendliness and the energy efficiency of the log homes so that people can understand the benefits of log homes and save the Grinning Planet.
Whether the goal is to save fuel, save the planet or a little of both, American homeowners are increasingly going green. And while the average household spends $1,900 a year on energy, log home owners typically report that they spend far less than their neighbors on heating, air conditioning, hot water and lighting.
Energy efficiency is among several ways modern log homes qualify as “Green”-- an approach to building that started in 1993 with the belief that we can all pitch in to make the places where we live, work and play more environmentally friendly. The hallmark of “green” is to use less energy, renewable resources, limit C02 or “greenhouse gas” emissions and create indoor environments free of mold, formaldehyde, carcinogens, and other allergens.
The most obvious factor that makes engineered log homes “green” is their building material -- solid timbers grown from trees -- a renewable resource. Many companies that belong to the Log Homes Council purchase certified wood sourced from sustainably managed forests. During the milling process, manufacturers utilize all portions of the log, from bark and other sources for mulch, scrap from cut-offs for raw material used in carvings and other home products, sawdust used by farmers as bedding material, etc. The homes are sold as kits or “packages” with the bulk of the building materials delivered at one time. These packages consolidate delivery and generally travel shorter distances conserving fuel, says the Log Homes Council, which represents nearly 60 of North America’s leading manufacturers and promulgates industry and product standards. And, logs require less energy and man-made materials than stick-built construction. With the completion of a log home, you have walls that serve both the structural and insulative needs of a home, as opposed to using many products from siding, house wrap, plywood, dimensional lumber, insulation, drywall, and paints in traditional homes.
Heating and Air Conditioning
The massiveness of the logs plays a vital role in conserving energy. According to studies by the University of Maine at Orono, the logs absorb heat energy during the day and radiate it at night to even out the temperature, which makes the occupants feel more comfortable while using less energy.
In addition to the benefits of solid timber construction, Log Homes Council member companies engineer their log wall joinery and roof systems to eliminate air infiltration and moisture, conserve energy and increase comfort. This engineered approach continues with every product included in a log home package such as brand-name, double-paned windows and patio doors with low-e glass, proper venting and subflooring structures,” explains Rob Cantrell, 2007 President of the Log Homes Council, a council within the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
Engineered for Energy Conservation and Safety
Log home companies are up on latest developments in building technology and safety and maintain relationships with suppliers of roofing materials, heating systems, windows and other components. Council members constantly test and evaluate newer components to make sure they contribute to energy efficient, safe and trouble-free homes. Even the interior and exterior stains and finishes are evaluated for their suitability as solid timber coatings and to make sure they meet low Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) clean air standards, in their quest for the ultimate green home.
The Builder
While a green philosophy begins with the log home manufacturer at the design stage, it has to continue with the builder who erects the home. The Log Homes Council’s parent organization, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), has been getting local builders on board by providing them with the knowledge they need to build green. As part of its effort, NAHB has partnered with the International Code Council to develop a consensus committee based Green Building Standard that provides a practical, nationally recognized baseline for resource-efficient, cost-effective home building.
By the end of 2008, the NAHB expects that many of its members, who build more than 80 percent of the homes in the US, will incorporate green practices into the construction of new homes. The NAHB Green Building Standard and Certification Program addresses seven key green construction areas including site, resource efficiency, energy efficiency, water efficiency, indoor environmental quality, homeowner education, and global impact. Direct ways log home owners can reduce their footprint include less impact on natural features and vegetation during building site preparation, choosing environmentally friendly components for subflooring, trusses and other conventional materials that go into a log home, choosing energy-efficient appliances, conserving water with low-flow plumbing fixtures and taking steps to increase occupant comfort and indoor environmental quality.
Log homeowners play a big part in going green too. These individuals embrace nature and consider their homes permanent dream homes where they are willing to invest in energy efficiency upfront to reap savings over the years. Their design preferences lean toward open flooorplans that allow for the flow of warmth throughout the home – in many cases, a wood-burning stove is the principal heat source.
From the manufacturer, to the builder to the homeowner, log homes are doing their part for a greener planet. Thankfully, log home construction is and always has been green. With new technologies and products available, log home owners can go the extra step to make their homes even greener.
Explore this site for more information, including our members in the news and the Log Home Council's Buyer's Guide: The Perfect Path to Your Dream Home. The events page has listings of educational events, factory tours, open houses, log raisings and more. You can also discover 8 Simple Ways to Save Energy.
This original article can be found by visiting the
Log Homes Council.
What is green (sustainable) building?
Although the "green initiative" has been talked about for decades, green building is a relatively new approach to building more eco-friendly homes and commercial buildings. Due to the awareness being created about global warming, climate changes and sustainable building solutions, the world is now embracing these green ideas. Green is a color whose time has come!
Our homes are more than just a place to provide shelter from the weather; this is where we live, play, eat, entertain, sleep and raise our families. Creating an ecologically friendly environment isn't just good for the planet, it also provides enormous health, economic, social and esthetic benefits. It simply makes good sense, and building with logs, a sustainable resource, makes really good sense.
Go Green - Go Log!
Green building is an exhaustive topic encompassing everything from building materials, landscaping, construction designs and practices to appliances and waste disposal. For our purposes, we will primarily address green as it applies to log and timber homes.
Planning to be green
Building green actually starts with the design phase of your eco-friendly home. As an example, positioning your home so that it makes the best use of the sun, window size and placement, ceiling heights, heating options, landscaping, lighting and your choice of stains and finishes all contribute to how green your home can be.
Logs vs. studs
Using logs rather than commercial lumber reduces the amount of time, processing, and handling that is necessary with most stick built and conventional houses. Only the timber that is prime for building a home is harvested so there's no waste of unwanted younger trees being unnecessarily cut. This not only keeps cost down, but it also decreases transportation expenses for fuel and processing at a minimum. There's less expense all the way around.
Renewable resources
The use of wood is by itself a renewable resource. As trees are harvested, replacements are planted. In addition, most major log home manufacturers are heavily involved in reforestation programs that replace more trees than are harvested. Not only are the trees renewable, all parts of the tree are used beneficially with minimal waste. Bark is recycled for landscaping, bedding, and mulch. The trunks are kept primarily for the walls for homes and the smaller trunks and branches are valued for their furniture making abilities.
Surface as Finish
Log homes offer what is known as "surface as finish". What this means is that the interior walls themselves don't require additional finishing materials. This in turn cuts down on chemicals or materials that use chemicals in their processing, and because less interior finishing needs to be done, you save money.
Log homes also require fewer metal fasteners to erect the building which means less cost. Because the solid construction of a log home isn't dependant on it's fasteners but rather the gravitational weight of the logs themselves as the home continues to "settle", the energy efficiency of it increases, not decreases as more traditional houses.
Green Logs?
The words 'green' and 'log' are not usually found in the same sentence in log home construction. Green logs are taboo when you are discussing materials to be used in building a structure.
Better thermal properties
Many studies have been done concerning the thermal properties of a log home versus a traditional stick-built house. The evidence shows on average, log homes perform 17% better in holding heat than other types of houses, and in some cases this is even greater. The climate, location and design of the home itself, and the windows and doors are all factors that help in the assessment. A major difference was determined to be the thickness and solid makeup of the logs.
A Green Future
In the future, if it is decided to replace the house, the environmental benefits of log homes carries forth... Rather than demolish the home, it can often be de-constructed. The timbers are extremely valuable and can be recycled for hundreds of other uses as demand for them is always high. At that time, those same logs may become someone's kitchen cabinets, a dinette set, bedroom set, picture frame, wall paneling, ceiling beams, baby blocks, a desk, or one of a thousand other items all made from the wonderful logs that housed a family for many years.
There are so many possibilities with logs homes and the choices are endless. They can be designed to be as individual as you are and their eco-friendly footprint rests lightly on our fragile planet. Everyone needs a house, but a log or timber frame home will serve your family and our environment best.
What color are your political beliefs?
Doing the right thing for our planet will save energy, natural resources and money. Additionally, the environmental impact of green building is habitually underestimated, while the costs of building green are typically overvalued. Effectively employing green building practices can lead to:
Decreased operating costs and increased productivity by using less energy, materials and water
Healthier conditions due to better indoor air quality. "Recent studies reveal that buildings with good overall environmental quality can reduce the rate of respiratory disease, allergy, asthma, sick building symptoms, and enhance worker performance. The potential financial benefits of improving indoor environments exceed costs by a factor of 8 and 14." See more...
Reduced environmental impacts by doing simple things like lessening storm water runoff and the heat island effect.
Green building supporters usually strive to achieve harmony between the structure and its natural surroundings. With log homes, the appearance and style of the building is not discernible from less sustainable homes.
Thanks to www.logcabindirectory.com for providing this resource.
http://www.logcabindirectory.com/green_building
Mountain Creations Log Home is the Original Green Building Solution™
JFQQPQESTQ86
Mountain Creations Log Homes welcomes Guest Blogger Nicole Adams from Construction Management Degree.org. We are confident you will find her post informative and insightful.
Gone are the days when the term log homes conjured up images of small, single-room houses built off the beaten track for those who wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Today, multi-room log homes are being built in most suburban locations on a regular basis. They may be more expensive than traditional homes and the associated labor costs when building a log home are high, but if you stop to look at the advantages that log homes offer over conventional frame homes, you'll see why they're in much demand:
- They have aesthetic appeal: Log homes look much better than frame homes, both on the outside and the inside. The structure itself is grand and appealing, and the interiors are cozy and comfortable.
- They are valued higher than traditional homes: A log home is usually valued at a higher price than homes that are built with wooden frames. While the exact figure may vary from home to home, in general, a square foot of log home is valued at around $50 higher than a square foot of a traditional frame home and the entire home is valued 33 percent higher than a quality stick frame home.
- They are energy efficient: Log homes are 2.5 to 15 percent more energy efficient than traditional wood frame homes. They make comfortable dwellings and allow you to save more than $400 on your annual heating and cooling bills.
- They come with custom features: If you've ever seen the inside of a log home, you'll know what I mean. The interiors are done up tastefully with stylish staircases and shelves and cabinets made of wood. The exteriors also have beautiful patios or decks which have more appeal because they're made of wood.
- They are in high demand: Because of their status value, log homes are in much demand, especially among people who don't want cookie cutter homes and are looking for something more unique and tailored to their style. Also, the number of homes being built is less than the demand for them, so the status value of log homes keeps climbing higher.
- They are good forms of investment: Just as you would expect an investment of a large sum of money to pay off rich dividends, a log house, while on the more expensive side, is a good investment option because it grows in value. For a minor increase in cost, you gain a large increase in value when you buy a log home.
By-line:
This guest post is contributed by Nicole Adams, she writes on the topic of construction management. She welcomes your comments at her email id: nicole.adams83@gmail.com.
DUE TO THE OVERWHELMING RESPONSE TO THIS OFFER, MOUNTAIN CREATIONS ONLY HAS 2 PACKAGES REMAINING AT FACTORY DIRECT PRICING . WE WILL BE ADDING AN ADDITIONAL DISOUNTED PACKAGEDURING MARCH . PLEASE CALL OUR CORPORATE OFFICES AT 800.661.5647 FOR MORE INFORMATION. BE THE FIRST TO RESERVE THE ADDITIONAL PACKAGE.
Mountain Creations Log Homes is pleased to present select log home packages at Factory Direct pricing. For a limted time, Mountain Creations has choosen 6 of our most popular log home design, and we are offering them to you at an unbelievable 40% discount. This could be your opportunity of a lifetime to buil your dream log home at pricing similar to 2002.
These log home packages are selling fast. Mountain Creations chose 6 of our most popular designs which include the Wolfe Run Log Home Plan, Lake Arthur Log Home Plan, Treasure Lake Log Home Plan, Neshannock Log Home Plan, Punxsutawney Log Home Plan, and the Marylander. These beautiful log home designs range from 1,668 square feet to 3,344 square feet of luxurious log home living. The homes for this offer can be viewed at our log home packages Factory Direct Clearance page.
What can this savings mean to you?
Typically our log homes are built around $150 per square foot. When you take advantage of this incredible offer, you will save tens of thousands of dollars on your log home. This savings will reduce your per square foot price to the $125 range. This will enable you to build a larger home for your budget or give you the ability to finally build your cedar log home within your budget.
This offer cannot be combined with any other offers. This promotion is only available through the corporate office of Mountain Creations. Mountain Creations will allow design changes to the plans offered under this promotion. Certain restriction apply. Call today for more information and to reserve your discounted cedar log home package before it is too late. These homes are offere on a first-come, first-served basis. Don't delay, call today at 800.661.5647.
LOG HOME PACKAGE FACTORY DIRECT CLEARANCE SALE
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.