Frequently Asked Questions

How can I lower the cost of my dream home to stay within budget?

Sierra Package

• Our Deluxe Package uses Semco, low-E, maintenance free, aluminum clad wood windows. We can substitute Pella maintenance free, low-E glass, tan or white, vinyl windows and save you thousands on your log home package.
• Our Deluxe Package uses round cedar log railings inside and out. We can substitute square, treated lumber, balusters and posts on the exterior and square pine on the interior. This can save you hundreds to even thousands depending on how large the home is.
• Our Deluxe Package includes solid 6-panel pine doors and closet doors. We can exchange these doors for flat, hollow core, real oak or birch and save you hundreds of dollars or more. Note that years later you can easily upgrade these doors if you wanted.
• Our Deluxe half log home package includes authentic looking butt & pass, dovetail or saddle notch corners. You can use vertical log corners instead and save a couple thousand dollars or more. Note that co-owner Jay Parmeter has vertical corners on his own home.
• In our Deluxe Package we include our kitchen and bath cabinets with dovetailed, real wood, drawers. You can substitute a laminated particle board drawer and save hundreds.
• In our Deluxe Package we include stone up the entire chimney. Reduce the amount of stone to just the mantle height and put tongue & groove pine over the chase and you could save thousands in labor and materials.
• We include lighted medicine cabinets in our Deluxe Package. You could replace those with a mirror and light and save a couple hundred per bathroom.
• The size of the deck, shown in our plans, is what is included. You can downsize the decks and also change some of them to pavers or a concrete patio.
• Do some of the work on the home yourself. Negotiate a reduced price from the builder for some of your sweat equity. For example you could clean up the jobsite inside and out weekly, stain and caulk, put up the closet shelves, insulate, put on door knobs, paint drywall, etc. Talk it over with the builder and see what you can save. It could be hundreds, to thousands, of dollars!
• Add more drywall to your home wherever it doesn't matter to you if it's drywall or tongue and groove. Drywall costs less in material and labor versus using pine T&G.
• Downsize your home. Look at your floor plan. What rooms in the home are you really going to use and not use? Every square foot you can reduce will help the overall price go down.