Lessons from living in the woods
Over the years. Country's Best Log Homes has made friends with a number of people who were once like you. They had dreams of a wooded piece of land by a lake or on the side of a mountain. And they envisioned coming home to all the warmth and rustic charm a log home can offer. The owners of some of our favorite homes featured in previous issues have graciously agreed to offer what advice they have in this article.
November 2002: Doug and Katie
Six years after we ran a story on Doug and Katie's vacation home in Country's Best Log Homes magazine, we found them still enjoying their lakeside cabin located near Eagle River, Wisconsin. They've added a few new outbuildings to the site, including a stand-alone garage, a wood shed, a playground for the grandkids, and a stone patio with a hot tub.
The goal of their Northwoods vacation home was to create a bucolic setting in which they could get away from it all. "Doug works for an electronics retailer and we have all the modern gadgets at our home near Madison," says Katie. "I insisted on less technology in our second home as a change of pace. Some modern technologies have made it easier to communicate with the outside world, but harder hold conver-sations with those in the same room."
The lake home is, for the most part, gizmo-free. Doug and Katie don't have satellite TV, but have a DVD for watching movies."We just installed internet last week, but that is for business purposes only" she says. 'Td much rather have everyone enjoy the outdoors, or if it's rain¬ing, read a book or work on a puzzle."
Doug and Katie have had to reclaim their boundaries from encroaching crit¬ters. "We've had bats, bugs and squirrels that try to make our home their home," Katie says. "With the help of local experts, we've been able to convince them to find other living arrangements. We had some flying squirrels that even chewed through metal mesh to get into our attic, so we replaced it with extra thick metal grilles that they can't chew through. I never knew they could be so determined."
When it comes to maintenance,"keep on top of things" is advice Doug and Katie provide. "We had started with a nat¬ural colored stain, but found that the sun was hard on the logs," Doug says. "When it came time to reapply the stain, we decided to use a tinted stain to give the logs an even look and better blockage of UV rays."
They also recommend keeping up on caulking and chinking so the home stays warm during the chilly winter and spring months.
The couple has lound that logs usee in authentic log construction do settb over lime and can create small gaps ant cracks in vulnerable sections. Keeping i sharp eye out for leaks is essential. "We'v had our builder return few limes to hel| us with some areas," says Katie. "Its ver; important to have a builder with log honn experience so that problems can be avertet now and in the future."
Over the years. Country's Best Log Homes has made friends with a number of people who were once like you. They had dreams of a wooded piece of land by a lake or on the side of a mountain. And they envisioned coming home to all the warmth and rustic charm a log home can offer. The owners of some of our favorite homes featured in previous issues have graciously agreed to offer what advice they have in this article.
November 2002: Doug and Katie
Six years after we ran a story on Doug and Katie's vacation home in Country's Best Log Homes magazine, we found them still enjoying their lakeside cabin located near Eagle River, Wisconsin. They've added a few new outbuildings to the site, including a stand-alone garage, a wood shed, a playground for the grandkids, and a stone patio with a hot tub.
The goal of their Northwoods vacation home was to create a bucolic setting in which they could get away from it all. "Doug works for an electronics retailer and we have all the modern gadgets at our home near Madison," says Katie. "I insisted on less technology in our second home as a change of pace. Some modern technologies have made it easier to communicate with the outside world, but harder hold conver-sations with those in the same room."
The lake home is, for the most part, gizmo-free. Doug and Katie don't have satellite TV, but have a DVD for watching movies."We just installed internet last week, but that is for business purposes only" she says. 'Td much rather have everyone enjoy the outdoors, or if it's rain¬ing, read a book or work on a puzzle."
Doug and Katie have had to reclaim their boundaries from encroaching crit¬ters. "We've had bats, bugs and squirrels that try to make our home their home," Katie says. "With the help of local experts, we've been able to convince them to find other living arrangements. We had some flying squirrels that even chewed through metal mesh to get into our attic, so we replaced it with extra thick metal grilles that they can't chew through. I never knew they could be so determined."
When it comes to maintenance,"keep on top of things" is advice Doug and Katie provide. "We had started with a nat¬ural colored stain, but found that the sun was hard on the logs," Doug says. "When it came time to reapply the stain, we decided to use a tinted stain to give the logs an even look and better blockage of UV rays."
They also recommend keeping up on caulking and chinking so the home stays warm during the chilly winter and spring months.
The couple has lound that logs usee in authentic log construction do settb over lime and can create small gaps ant cracks in vulnerable sections. Keeping i sharp eye out for leaks is essential. "We'v had our builder return few limes to hel| us with some areas," says Katie. "Its ver; important to have a builder with log honn experience so that problems can be avertet now and in the future."
