After securing land for the construction of your new log residence, you will need to decide if purchasing a log home kit or bulk materials that do not come in a kit are right for you. Your contractor can advise you and you can also use your own judgment to determine which materials to invest in.

The Land And The Layout

If you are uncertain about the exact layout of the home that you will be paying your contractor to build, an assessment of the parcel of land that you own will help the contractor determine how much space you have to work with. They may give you a ballpark figure that coincides with a suitable home size for the property.

A log home can be one story or multiple stories. If you want to increase the size of your living space, without having a full-sized second story added to the residence, ask your contractor about a log home setup that contains a loft and some open floor plans that combine two or more rooms together.

A Kit Versus Bulk Materials

A kit will contain precut logs that will be needed to construct a particular home style. This type of product will omit a lot of labor steps that will need to be conducted on your property. If you are going to have a hand in building the home and want to be fully involved in the building process, having access to logs that contain holes will allow you or your contractor to thread hardware, wiring, and other essentials that will be integrated into the log home's design.

If you would like to save on the cost of materials, purchasing bundled logs that are partially cut or that will need to be trimmed to size is an alternative. The wood variety that is used to prepare logs for a bundled order can be selected. The number of logs that you need will be dependent upon the square footage of your home. Your contractor can aid you with selecting a bundled package that is sufficient for your home's needs.

Additionally, many log home material suppliers offer pretreated logs. Logs may contain a short-term or long-term preservative. A preservative is a clear sealant that will protect logs from insects and decay. A preservative will also increase the length of time that natural wood will retain its color and texture. A log home material supplier will specify what type of preservative is featured on the products that they sell.