Build Your Own Log Cabin Home for Under $16,000

If you've ever considered building a wood cabin, you'll want to learn more about William Castle's modified timber framing method. Castle's wood cabin building technique has evolved to allow him to do more with less. Many timber framers mill timbers flat and square on all sides. Timbers trimmed square and straight are easier to work with, significantly when cutting the log house joints or attaching sheathing to the outside of the timber log house frame. The downside is that square-timber framing usually requires expensive woods, such as white oak, that are dimensionally stable and don't tend to twist as they dry.

Castle has found a compromise that gives him the benefits of both techniques, including a three-quarter-round timber frame. Castle simplifies his cutting and fitting by milling one or two sides of each log flat but then leaving the other sides in the round, which keeps the log stronger and less likely to twist. This allows the use of smaller trees of non-premium tree species, even with minimal drying. For more than 50 years, William Castle has been building bridges, log cabins, and huts of all shapes and sizes. Forest areas like that of his native Belmont, New York, often have an abundance of junk timber that has little commercial value because of its small diameter, twisted grain, or other imperfections. The modified timber-framing log cabin building method Castle has developed lets him build a home quickly and easily from this low-cost, local resource. Living in a small wooden house offers many benefits, including some of the following.

Improved air quality. Wood has many air-purifying qualities. The logs that wood cabins are made of store carbons and control humidity, resulting in better air circulation inside the log cabin. Additionally, this reduces the need for air filters, dehumidifiers, or purifiers. A log cabin’s solid wood walls trap and release moisture in a regulatory manner, which makes the indoor air healthier to breathe. As a result, living in a log cabin may improve respiratory health and reduce allergies. Eco-friendly. It’s not surprising that cabin buildings are very eco-friendly. Unlike brick or stone structures, log cabins are renewable and have less of an impact on the surrounding environment. People who live in eco-friendly environments are generally happier and healthier than those who do not.

Natural insulation. The natural insulating properties of wood and logs keep the temperature inside a log cabin at a pleasing level. No matter the outside temperature, wood can store heat and keep the internal temperature consistent. Because there’s little heat loss, the temperature inside a wood cabin remains stable, which, in return, stabilizes the body temperature of the humans living inside.

Promotes an active lifestyle. Often, log cabins are built in nature, whether in the woods, by a lake, or in the mountains. As a result, log home living helps to encourage a more active lifestyle because of the abundance of outdoor activities available. Rather than staying inside and watching TV, people living/staying in a log cabin are more likely to get outside and be active while enjoying the beauty of nature.