Considering you have never built a house but apparently aren't lazy, you might want to look at these folks. They will help get the lumber takeoff, plan details, set up contractors that they have or outside contractors, guide you thru the building process including the money end of it as well. They charge anywhere from $2.95 to 3.50 per sq ft. You will save money going with these folks as compared to having a builder do it. They also have plans for you to look at and can purchase. Might want to look at the plans and get ideas anyway.
http://www.ownerbuildernetwork.com/c...s&sortby=Title
Hope this has value.

 

So, you're looking at building with logs? Check out any national log home company. You can get loans through some of them also.
Some other places for good info is any book by Allan Mackey.
Log-home builders are all over the web. Do searches for log homes, etc.

 

Make sure you check out the deed restrictions (or similar) to make sure if there are any square footage minimums, design limitations/requirements or limits on the type of out buildings, like your planned shop.

 

Here are some things that come to mind -

Others have already mentioned the need for lots of electrical outlets, and to have multiple outlets and water faucets on the outside of the house. If you have the option, maybe consider placing one outside faucet on the street side of the pressure reduction valve, where you will have at least one hose with PLENTY of water pressure... (for car washing, sprinklers, water supply for a pressure washer, etc.)

If there is a basement, think about having a cutoff valve for each outside faucet on the inside of the basement. You can control who gets to your outside water sources, and also, you can easily close it off if a pipe breaks or leaks, or you need to replace a faucet or a washer without cutting off water to the entire house.

Good time for a whole house water filtration system if you go for that kind of thing.

If you ever expect to have a sprinkler system NOW is the time to "prewire" and at least lay the major lines so you don't have to tear up the lawn later. You can "mark" where they are so you can find them later when you want them.

If you have lakefront property, you can use a pump to draw water from the lake for the irrigation system.

Some places allow for a separate meter for irrigation, swimming pool, etc, as there is no sewage involved.

Don't forget to include electrical outlets outside, for Christmas lights, hedge trimmers, leaf blowers, makes it easy to add accent lighting, etc. later if you ever want it.

I knew a guy who built and forgot to add a check valve for the sewer/septic tank, and access for "inspection" or service (might prevent need to dig up lawn in the future)...

Before the interior walls are done, also consider prewiring for phones, internet, cable TV, and a security systems in case you want a hardwired system at any time in the future.

Our security system used the hardwired phone lines. We put all lines (except the box the phone man needs for service) on the inside of the basement and ran the phone line into the ground to make it more difficult for the bad guys to get to the phone lines to cut them and circumvent the security system...

Remember when "smart houses" were a hot topic, where you could control anything on the inside or outside of a home by hooking everything up to a PC, and you could even do it remotely?

Building your home can either be a lot of fun, or a flippin' nightmare, but either way it will be the experience of a lifetime. You are doin' right, NOW is the time to get all the information, questions answered, take suggestions, filter out what will not work for you, and use what will.

Please, consider all options before you go the vinyl siding route...

You ought to get a nice house built for no more than $50-$70 per square foot. Don't be afraid to ask for help, even hiring a General Contractor as a consultant could save you more than he will cost you (in the long run).

GOOD LUCK!

Forgot - we added "core" conduits in the framing so we could run any wiring we wanted like speaker wire) from floor to floor, and room to room.

Have a "secret space" built where you can hide valuables, or install a really good safe somewhere that nobody knows where it is, much less that it even exists...

None of the above will cost "that" much if they are built into the house in the planning stages.


- We are going in the other direction. We are no longer homeowners. We own/operate our own business, doing work that can be done anywhere there are paying customers. We have already been traveling for awhile, going to where we like to go, getting paid to go there. and we like it very much.

For the last couple of months we have been looking into getting a nice travel trailer so we can take "home" with us and not have to live out of a hotel anymore, live where we want to while there is work to do there, then move on to someplace else we want to go to. We can go with the weather so there is no downtime because of the seasons.

We were kinda limited to the SE USA in the past, this might open up much of the rest of the good ole' USA to us.

 

Lots of good replies but first and foremost is how big??, do you need a basement? slab, crawlspace?. Hip roof? gable? garage, cement driveway, gravel, does it snow alot out there and will you need a plow. Give us some ideas, log houses are big bucks unless you build it yourself, can you do this?.

I built my own house and just began working on a 12X20 back porch last week and its almost done... the work really never ends... no matter what you think at first there will always be something you need or should of done... good luck.

 

Well, I'm not looking to build a true log cabin. I just want something small and simple, and plan on using log siding. I like the small, rustic look. I want a walk-out basement with the garage in half, gravel drive for now, but in the future we'll have that paved in some way. Water and electricity are already there, we'll need a septic tank. There is talk of city sewer coming out that way in the future, but no idea when.

Someone mentioned restrictions. I have the list, but haven't had a chance to look through all of it. I know 1200 sq ft is the limit, no temporary dwellings, no living in the shop till the house is built, no pets other than dogs/cats/horses, plans have to be approved... I just browsed, but didn't see anything I couldn't live with, and nothing that I wouldn't want when someone new moves in...

If this goes through, we will probably be moving in with my mother ( I keep thinking about the Life Savers commercial with the two little kids on the porch. He hands her a Life Saver candy and asks her to marry him. She says, "But where will we live". He says, "Don't worry. We'll live with my mother".) till the house is complete. She lives about 5 miles from the lot versus the 25 or so to our current place. Plus, that will save us quite a bit on rent and utilities till the house is done.

A lot of good suggestions here. Thanks a bunch! Keep them coming though. I'm going to talk to the bank tonight see what my options are for sure. Then read through the restrictions, then go pick up the dash for my Belvedere!!!

 

Well it sounds like you need to find another piece of land somewhere where there are much less restrictions. This is America and I'll be dammed if someone is going to tell me what i can do on my own land, now i can see a small community development or something where homes are right next to each other but in the country no way is that happening... I can see building things to town codes and mantaining your property to a degree but dammm....