Timber and Log Home Pricing

The average ‘per square foot’ price of a Cascade Handcrafted log home shell is $70-$92 per square foot (pending design), however, there is no set price for a log home. Instead, the design elements that you choose such as its look, size, and energy efficiency will determine the materials and labor required and ultimately the cost. Whatever home design you have in mind, we can work with you to produce a “buildable” plan. We then use this plan to determine an accurate price based on the following considerations:

Browse through our sample 3d log home floor plans to get a feel for the designs that are available. Stock plans start around $1000 and if required, we can also recommend designers if you want to create your own custom floor plan. Pricing for this custom work starts from $2/sq ft living space.

How your home is assembled influences its engineering, finishing, and maintenance expectations. You can choose from the various styles of log home construction:

We recommend buying the best logs you can – any other element can be upgraded later. Better logs return their value in thermal performance, maintenance and resale not to mention aesthetic quality.

Below is a comparison of some of the more popular types of wood available.

In the log home industry there are two different approaches – handcrafted and machined. We specialize in handcrafted logs, using the full log and cutting away only what is necessary in order to retain each log’s unique shape, beauty and strength. A machined log is milled to create uniformity. Markus started his career years ago with machined log home builders and quickly understood the many advantages of traditional handcrafted log homes over the machined ones.

A notch style refers to how the logs fit together at the corners. Notches are integral to the structural stability of the building.

Although we work with a variety of styles, the best notch technically speaking is the diamond notch – it takes more work but outperforms other styles.

When fitting the logs together, a lengthwise groove is cut on the underside of each log, so they nest tightly together, to keep the weather out.

We take the trouble to ‘over-scribe’ – an industry best practice – to ensure the logs attain their tightest fit after seasoning for a few years. A straight ‘scribed’ log joint is cheaper, easier, and quicker to assemble but can open up with drying so be sure to ask about this important detail.

For best protection from the elements we recommend gasketing, (a long seal that is inserted in the underside scribed grooves of the logs and in the notches) especially in areas of high winds or temperature extremes. Different gasket materials are available, the best being bi-cellular polyethylene foam. It generally costs more than other gasket options and insulation types but it pays off in efficiency. Treated sheep’s wool is an excellent choice for augmenting the gaskets in the notches.

We price our homes by the volume of wood used rather than on a per-square-foot basis. Generally speaking, the more wood you need the higher the cost.

The example below illustrates how this works:

We ship roughly 1,000 sq feet of floor area in the Full Scribe style per truck. Other building styles use less timber so more floor area can be shipped per truck. Western Red Cedar is much lighter than Douglas Fir. This sometimes means that the higher cost of cedar logs can be offset by a savings on shipping.