Gravitas Blog

I thought I’d take a few minutes and give you some idea as to how the log home industry works, from a couple of different “inside” industry positions.  First, a little background on myself.  I’ve got a B.S. in Forest Products – Wood Construction & Design from the University of Idaho (Go Vandals!).  After graduation, I went to work for one of the leading national log home manufacturers in the country.  While employed there, I had a couple of different jobs (at the same time).  At first, I was working in the design department as a production drafter.  Basically, I was breaking down each house package to their individual logs and poles, preparing the shop order for manufacturing.  With all the growth the company was experiencing, they needed another traveling Technical Adviser, and I was called in.  With this position, I travelled all around the country and worked with different builders and their crews, and basically trained them how to correctly assemble the log packages.  I was typically on site for the first 2 days of log stacking (usually if something is wrong, you’ll find it at this time), hands on, working to get as much of the house stacked as we could in that time.  I’d also get sent to “problem” job sites, where the builder either needed some help, or the company needed to remedy an issue (log shortage, miscut logs, etc.).  I did this for almost 3 years before I burned out on all the travel (stacking is fun, it’s the traveling that’s a chore).  When I wasn’t on the road, I was in the office, working in the production drafting department.

From there, I moved to a different National Log Home manufacturer, initially as a technical consultant and sales backup.  That lasted about 3 months, before I was named their National Sales & Marketing Director.  It was here that I was really able to get behind the industry curtain and see how things work.  From an initial client meeting to watching them move in to their new log home, I was able to participate in just about every facet of this industry.

It’s with these 6 years of direct Log Home Industry involvement, and the last 3 years of designing custom log and timber homes for Gravitas, that I hope to be of some assistance to you.  I’ve been on site, hand stacked logs (milled and handcrafted), set rafters, notched corners, and many other tasks.  From the sales office I’ve created customer estimates, shop orders, cut lists, log home contracts, design revisions, helped to find qualified builders, find log home mortgages, created & maintained local and national marketing campaigns, worked trade shows nation wide, and answered lots of questions from people looking to build their perfect log home.

In the following weeks, I’ll try to break down what I know about the industry in order to help you with your log home journey.  I’ll cover topics from design, budget, builders, log components, how to best shop the different manufacturers, myths in the industry, and any other questions that may come up from  comments I receive.  I hope this helps, and I’m looking forward to hearing back from you.  Good luck and happy stacking!

Paul