05 Financing for Log Cabin Construction

Financing for log cabin construction was not easy. We had the cabin picked out, the land found, now to obtain bank financing for it all. At the time of the loan needed, our bank, Bank of America, just discontinued construction loans. First off, no banks wanted to loan on a 69-year-old heap of logs sitting on a flatbed trailer. Second, we did not have blueprints. Lastly, we did not own the land nor the logs outright at that time. Most banks do not finance log homes, even if they are from a log home dealer.

I am relentless. I will not stop until I figure out what I need to do to arrive at my goal. My only goal, I thought, was to get bank financing and the rest would be a piece of cake. That couldn’t be farther from the truth if it bit me in the face.

Construction Loan Approved

To make a very long story short, we managed to obtain bank financing for a construction loan from a very small local bank. That came with a high price tag. Higher interest rates, shorter building time and the payouts came after we invested more money in each phase of the building. This forced us to do all the work ourselves and made it impossible to hire outside help. The original construction and completion were not what we had anticipated. We had to minimize in order to complete the construction phase in the time given and the money allotted.

Using recycled materials

Some of the cutbacks we had to make were using recycled building materials. Some examples were a used urinal, old windows, and doors as well as second-hand cabinets. We received a few free items such as concrete counter-tops, used installation and a hot water heater. We purchased so many house building items from our local Restore or better known as Habitat for Humanity. The savings were more than 80% versus if we purchased the items new.  The Restore not only has awesome deals but they receive donations from big box stores, many times for discontinued items or items they no longer need in inventory. Not only do we benefit from buying there, but others do as well who need housing.

The Building Code Department

Fortunately, the county we built our home in allows homeowners to build their own home as long as they could pass several inspections. Most all other local counties require you to have a licensed contractor to build your house even if you have built homes for the last 30 years. Now you know why I chose this county to build in.

The building inspector required a plot mat provided by our surveyor to ensure we were building within the county guidelines of boundary lines. Luckily for us by obtaining the plot map, we were able to relocate our original building site by a few feet in order to maintain the allotted footage from the boundary line. This literally saved our future home from a lawsuit. I drew the blueprints on graph paper and submitted for approval.

Septic Issues

We had to apply for a septic permit in order to install one. The first issue, the county department wanted the leach field 385 feet down the mountain away from the house. This posed an issue in digging the trench that far and hitting slate rocks. Not to mention the steep side of the mountain safety concerns. The second issue, we wanted to use a cistern but the inspector stated we could not and the all-gray water had to run through the septic.  We were not allowed the cistern we wanted to use to recycle the gray water to the garden and outside plants.

Septic Tank Issues

We found a local tank company 6 miles down the road and asked them to deliver a 1050-gallon concrete tank to the top of the mountain. The owner stated he could not make the mountain and would not risk setting it on the side of the mountain. We asked the county for permission to use a poly-tank in its place and they approved our request as long as it had a state-engineered stamp. So, what would normally cost $400-$500 for this tank out of state but getting one that was stamped was double the cost. We had no choice but to pay. It was delivered at the bottom of the mountain and we hauled it up with a backhoe and installed it.

It was too risky to haul the stones needed for the septic leach field. We decided to use a system called Infiltrator. This was not too costly versus the other system that used the stones.

Electric or Lack Thereof

We used an old gas generator for many months before we received the electric. Using a generator was not always an easy task. First, there was gas that had to be brought to the site in gas jugs. Second, we didn’t have a place to store it and we didn’t want to haul it back and forth to the rental house. Mainly, we were worried about leaving it at the site due to the possibility of theft.

Electric Permit and Inspections

We applied for electric service with our local electric company. The engineer came out and advised us they wanted $11,750 to run the electric from the front of the house down to our road frontage. If we could obtain easement permission to bring it up the back of the mountain from the state highway then it would only cost $4,000.

To Lie or Not to Lie to Save Money?

The reason for the high installation fee, I advised them we were not using all-electric. We were using an outdoor wood furnace, and a propane tankless hot water heater.  When they calculated the ROI, they stated it was too low, hence the high install fee. I told the electric representative I would not lie about installing more electric to meet their waived installation fees.

I did, however, met some of the requirements for fewer fees or none at all. In order not to have any installation fees, we had to purchase an end of year electric 5-ton heat and air unit. As well as provide an electric hot water heater. The electric engineer’s drawings tied into a transformer pole at the back of the hill. They obtained an easement from the landowner behind our hill and subbed it out to a local contractor for installation.

Installation of Electric

The electric contractor started installing the electric and was about two-thirds down the hill to the transformer pole when an adjoining neighbor who thought he owned the transformer pole called the law enforcement and threaten to sue and arrest the contractors and ourselves if we did not stop the install.

The contractor cut the electric and abandoned the install. It took us a few weeks for the electric company to contact that landowner who thought he owned the transformer pole. They explained that he had signed an easement year prior and he had no ground to stand on.

That landowner called Raymond and proceeded to scold him because we did not go to him and introduce ourselves and ask him personally for permission. He seems to be a very nasty bitter old man. Ray is more gracious than I, he apologized and ask if we could have his permission to continue with the electric. Even though at this point, we did not need it since the legal department agreed we had rights to continue.

Water and Water Pressure

We have always drilled our own wells every time we built. We are not fond of city water. Unfortunately, the water in this area is full of minerals and cannot be consumed. Since we are 423 feet higher in elevation than our road frontage. This poses a problem when we are actually higher in elevation than the water tower. We trenched a 2-foot-deep ditch for ¾ inch water pipe. 900 feet up the mountain we started losing water pressure. We had to stop and design something that would push it the rest of the way up the mountain to our house.

Designing a Well-House

We decided to put a pump house in with a 500-gallon water storage tank. Ray had to design a well-house that would act as a reservoir to feed an 11-stage pump.  It would pump water 1000 feet up the mountain and provide 50 PSI and 30 GPM. From the well-house to the main house, we had to replace the ¾ inch pipe with a 1-inch pipe. We had to also run electric to the well-house from the main house in the same trench.

Plumbing Copper or Pex Tubing

In the north, we were not allowed to use anything other than copper tubing. That was very expensive. Fortunately, in the south, we are allowed to use Pex tubing. We researched pex-tubing and the pros and cons of using it. We decided to use all pex-tubing and Shark Bites fittings. I have to say even though they were more expensive than traditional plumbing, I loved working with them. We also used pex tubing in all our radiant flooring. (That is another story at another time). Check out the warranty for SharkBite, it’s phenomenal, up to 25 years for some parts! We purchased all our Pex from our local Home Depot.

So stay tuned for next time-plumbing and concrete slab installation and if you missed 04-Finding the land for sale.

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