As a prepper, you want a solid fortress where you can keep your family safe, but also one that doesn’t rely too heavily on using public utilities.
The good news is you can accomplish this goal without having to move off of your own property by customizing a Liberty Log Cabin for your specific needs.
BUILT TOUGH
“A properly built log home is more energy-efficient than a frame home, says Charles Knight, vice president of Liberty Log Cabins. “It’s more airtight, and it has thermal mass that helps it stay warmer in winter and cooler in summer than a conventionally-built insulated house.”
In addition, a cedar home is naturally resistant to rot, decay, and insects, making it one of the most secure places you can live with your family. But if you are more likely to be seeking the cozy dream cabin of your dreams that you’ve been envisioning for years, the Liberty Log Cabin can attain that goal as well.”
“The cabins have a natural warmth and beauty about them,” Knight says. “A log home is something people dream about and think about for years. They may buy four or five conventional homes in their lifetimes, but one day they want to buy a log home and we help people do that.”
You can design almost anything into a log home that you can in a frame-based home—with one exception.
“The only design restriction we have is that we can’t put in corner windows,” Knight says. “The structural integrity of a log house is dependent on joining the corners properly, which you can’t do if windows are in the corner.”
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
One of the barriers that many people cite when they’re first on the hunt for a log cabin is that they don’t have a manufacturer or designer nearby. But you can easily jump that hurdle as long as you have the land available that will fit your dream cabin. “If someone has a piece of land anywhere in the country, we will walk the land with them and help them plan the house,” Knight says. “We’ll then make them an operational— almost idyllic—house because we custom design it based on what each person wants.”
Liberty Log Cabins designers will then take the homeowner’s requests and design the home with those requirements in mind. They will manufacture the cedar components and send the materials to the build location, then work directly with local builders in that area to construct the house. “We work with local contractors directly because they know the local building restrictions, code enforcement officers, sources of the best concrete, and other essential issues that go along with building a home,” Knight says. “We stay on site for two-and-a-half days for technical assistance in case there are any issues that the builders might have. This is infinitely more helpful than just giving the contractor a video or website, because we can personally answer their specific questions.”
TIME WAITS FOR NO ONE
You just don’t know when you’re going to need a safe place for you and your family. The sooner you start on your cabin in the woods, the sooner you’ll have peace of mind knowing you can hide in plain sight.
In addition, friends and family can help you build your log cabin. In fact, Knight says, it’s possible to create an entire community of likeminded survivalists by constructing your cabin near other similar structures. Each cabin will then be hiding in plain sight among one another, ready to house all of the local families that are seeking similar lifestyles.
Once the cabin is finished, there’s only one thing left to do—move in and start living your dream.
Can I do this myself?
If you have basic knowledge of construction techniques and are able to read an architectural plan then you can build your own Liberty Log cabin. The logs are pre-cut, the window and door openings are cut and corner details are drilled for the lags. And, remember that there’s a tech supervisor onsite to teach you what to do.
Can I afford this? There are a lot of factors that figure into the cost of any construction project, and a log home generally runs about five percent more expensive than a comparable frame home. If you don’t get fancy with the interior finish, the final cost should be about the same as a frame model of the same quality, but you’ll have the advantage of a solid cedar structure that’s air and watertight with low energy costs.
Where do I start? You need to have a piece of land before you start planning your cabin. Next, the company meets with you and helps you design your cabin to your specifications. Note: It generally takes two to four weeks less total build time for log as opposed to frame homes because there are fewer labor steps and fewer types of construction materials.
To get a closer look at the designs that Liberty Log Cabins creates, visit the company’s website.
Editor’s note: A version of this article first appeared in the September 2014 print issue of American Survival Guide.