Building a new home or cabin can be a challenging undertaking. Like any construction project, it can be subdivided into smaller, more manageable pieces. The staff at Voyageur Log Homes is always happy to help with design consultation and share advice about how to make your designs "log friendly". The following contains some things to consider when thinking about a new log home or cabin.
Three ways we can help you to plan a new home
- Design it from scratch
- Use an existing plan
- Modify an existing plan
Questions to ask yourself
- How will you use the space?
- How many people will live in the home?
- How do you enter the house?
- What rooms would you entertain in?
- How can you combine spaces?
- Where will guests stay?
- What areas will you eat in?
- How will you move around the house?
- Do you want 1 level or 2?
- Do you want a separate master bedroom?
- How many bedrooms?
- How many bathrooms?
- What activities should you consider when planning a home?
- What is my realistic budget?
Things to consider with home site selection
Possible property line setbacks, neighboring houses, views – good, not so good, driveway, water source, sewer location, garden location, garage location, roads, trees, wind direction, slope & drainage, electrical & gas resources, play areas.
The 10 step plan
- Consider a Voyageur Log Home floor plan and decide what you like or what may be close. We are a custom log home builder so using a VLH plan is not necessary but often times helps as a starting point.
- Measure rooms in your current residence to get an idea of how the space feels.
- Draw all the rooms you would like to their approximate size 1/4"= 1', cut them out, and arrange them according to what may work for you.
- Measure furniture and then plan them into rooms. Make sure you have of room left over for walking.
- Plan the windows with the approximate size keep in mind that windows are escape routes, they have uniform size on each side of the home, that they are evenly spaced, and that they provide maximum air circulation.
- Consider your heating system, fireplace, stairs, kitchen, and other options.
- Go through your plan & fine tune it.
- Mentally walk through the house imagining each room, where furniture and appliances will go. Make sure it feels right, keep fine tuning.
- Draw floor plan on grid paper, label approximate rooms + door & window sizes, how they open. Make other notes on the side. If you are modifying an existing plan, note any changes on it.
- Make a call to the friendly staff at VLH and set up an appointment to move forward on the path to your new Log Home!