Building With Ward Cedar Log Homes

Building with Ward Cedar Log Homes; the Before, During, and After – Part One
 

Ah, the dream of building a new home.  Who doesn’t dream of it?!  Its fun as you can picture the end result – having friends and family over for dinners, sitting out on the porch watching the sunset, and soaking in the tub after a long days work.  If you could just fast forward through everything else to get there, now that would be ideal.  However there is a process to get there and you may not know that process if you have never built a home before.

When building a new home, it is important to work with a partner you can trust…after all you are putting your dream in someone else’s hands.  You want the support through the entire process and know that you are being respected, especially your budget.   Is that partner going to be there to answer your questions?   You want to work with someone that may notice something about your design that you may not see and put your mind at ease when you have doubts.  Ward has helped over 15,000 clients in the past 97 years, we are confident that when you are ready to build a standard or custom log home, that we can help you through the process.  Let’s take a look at steps along the way.

Before you Build
Where do you begin?  Well it all starts with a dream as discussed above.  Then you decide if you want to build a new log home and where it be located.  What works for you now in your current home so you can decide on what would work better and what features you may need?  How will you pay for it?

Finding Your Land 
Realtors in the area that you are looking are very helpful in finding available land for you.  Some specialize in land sales only.   Even if you do not have your land yet, you can still begin to work with Ward.

Financing
If you plan to pay cash, you won’t need to determine how you will finance your new log home.  Financing your log home can begin with talking with your local bank.  Other lenders that specialize in construction loans can be a big help too.  Ward Cedar Log Homes is happy to assist you in anyway.  Talking with a bank in the beginning is a good way to figure out how much you can afford for your log home.

Finalizing your budget
Once you know how much you can afford and what the cost of your land is, you can get a better idea of how much of your budget is left.  Ward has kept records of building costs over a few decades to give you a good idea of what the overall project will run.  Typically you can figure about three to three and a half times the materials package price for a completed “turnkey” home.  This figures everything contracted out and excluding raw land.  It all comes down to your geographical location and the amenities you put in your home.  For a $100,000 package, one would need to budget between $300,000 – $350,000 for your new log home.

Layout Time
Now that you have your budget, it is time to look over floor plans that fill your family’s needs/wants.  Things to think about are; do you want an open concept?  How many levels and will your Master Bedroom be on the main floor?  Will you be putting your home on a full foundation?  Ward has dozens of floor plans for you to choose from to find the solution for your family.  If not, you can modify any of the designs or go completely custom at no additional cost.

Features
You have your floor plan in mind, now to start thinking about the features you want to put in your log home.  Do you want exposed beams for your ceiling or do you wish to go with a more conventional look using rafters or trusses?  Your ceiling joists can also be exposed using 4x8 or 6x8 beams.  Do you want round posts or square?  These are some of the features that Ward will walk you through and guide you so you can stay within budget.

Stay tuned for next week when we discuss the “during” part.

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It's never too early to start planning your log home.  Start with our floor plans, modify them, or let's work together to design a plan of your own.