Lindal Cedar Homes?

timb · Jul 2, 2002

Lot's of folks here seem to be in the middle of or just recently completed a new home construction project. Anyone have any experience with Lindal Cedar Homes? I've been casually looking over their stuff for years, now we're getting close to build or buy decision time and we're looking at a couple of the "factory cut" suppliers like Lindal and Timberpeg. Any feedback here? How about timber frame vs. "stick" in general?

(And how to I show the better half all the advantages of a CUT during a build project?

Tim

elmerinva · Jul 2, 2002

my wife got interested some years ago and we bought one. Lindal sends you the pieces and you have a builder put it together. The guy who sold us the lindal also built it. we ended up in a 3-year multi tens of thousand dollar law suit. then the builder declares bankruptcy. pick the right builder or you'll be sorry and poorer. as for lindal, all they do is sell the pieces, and their warranty only covers parts. they were really hard to deal with and not all helpful in replacing windows that were wrong. if i had to do it over again, i pick something other than a lindal. not worth the hassle.

rancar · Jul 2, 2002

Tim....

<font color=blue>How about timber frame vs. "stick" in general?</font color=blue>

I've done some preliminary research on timber frame homes. They are outstanding if what you want is a 'woodsy' appearance to your indoor decor. They are also quite more expensive than stick built. Following are a list of websites I bookmarked of manufacturers that 'stood out' that you might want to peruse. These represent only a small number of manufacturers that are out there. For others, do a search on Google or use another of your favorite search engines.

http://www.vtf.com/
http://www.dreamingcreek.com/
http://www.tglframe.com/
http://www.pacifictimberframe.com/
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.connollytimberframes.com/>http://www.connollytimberframes.com/</A>

Regards....
Bob Ancar
Cambridge, NY

timb · Jul 2, 2002

Your experience seems to be similiar to a few others I've seen - seems like most (but not all) of the problems are more related to the reliability of the builder/dealer than Lindal themselves. Sounds like Lindal (if they care) needs to do more to lean on their dealer network and stand behind their customers more if there is a problem with the dealer and/or builder. But from what I've read recently they don't really want to deal with you directly.

We really hadn't been considering building new until recently - and have no personal experience with other builders. EVERYONE I know who has had a house built has been in a "plan" and EVERYONE has come away disgusted with the quality of the work/materials. Not a good record for that industry. Partly why I'm hoping to find a mfg/suppler that eliminates some of the "local" work and delivers better product.

Anonymous Poster · Jul 2, 2002

I purchaced a Lindal 15 years ago and still live in it. We changed the floor plan completely from the plan in the book. I did the general contracting, electrical, finish plumbing, heating system, flooring, ceilings, doors, tile, moldings, cabnets, fireplaces, landscaping, deck, etc, etc. myself. I was happy with the quality and quanity of materials. Lindal's service was very good. I delt directly with Lindal not the dealer after the materials were delivered. Lindal sent out a photographer to take pictures when it was done. A picture of our house was in their planbook for a while although I have not checked lately.

I would buy another one.

Andy

Alan L. · Jul 3, 2002

We have spent researching and I eliminated Lindal from consideration a long time ago. The reason: price. Having inspected Lindal homes under construction I find hardly anything different from a conventional house (unless you go with log or timber construction which are EXTREMELY expensive) but for double the cost. Also, the very large lake house I looked at had some very bad workmanship and a poor choice of materials for particular uses.

However you probably should place more weight on the opinion of the guy who actually has one of the homes.

crb478 · Jul 3, 2002

Having built both custom log cabins and timber frames I can not really recommend any of the log cabin kit homes, especially the ones that spike or through bolt the logs to gather. The water needs a way to run to the outside, and even with the gaskets that are included logs will twist and trap water. The two styles of log cabins that I recommend are the 1/2 dovetail and the Scandinavian Scribe methods. Both of these styles shed water to the outside of the home.
Some of the Kit cabins do a decent job with their kits, and if you get a good contractor you could end up with a very good home, if not you could have real problems. All of the kits that I have seen do not do any custom fitting of the logs. They stack them the way they were delivered and any twist, bad cuts or shrinking that has occured ends up as a poor fit. I have worked on homes that have had about four inches of a six inch log rotted away from water setting in the logs after rain. This was a bad design and substandard workmanship. Big repair for the clients who had to cover the outside with vynal siding to save the house. This house was less than 15 years old. Big Porches and overhangs go a long way to protecting logs.
Timber frames are structually very sound houses, but they are also very labor intensive so read expensive. The beauty of a timberframe is it can look like any type of new house on the outside and be open and show the beautiful joinery on the inside. It is easy to put one up in a neighborhood with restrictions as to what the house should look like. With Stress skinned pannels it can also be very energy efficient. A log cabin can also be energy efficient but needs to be thought of as a thermal mass as the R value is low but it will radiate heat back into the home once it is warmed. I have a 1100 sq ft log cabin in the mountains that I heat for about $300. a year and never pull the thermostat below 60 degrees when I am not there.
The last thing that I recommend you consider is resale. There are a lot of people that do not want a log cabin, and a lot of neighborhoods that have restrictions against them. By having a cabin in a urban setting you may be cutting out a large part of your potential resale market. But in the right setting like in the mountains there are a larger number of people who want a cabin because they believe it blends in better. Most of the log cabins I built went to the mountains. I don't think that this is much of a concern with a timberframe home. Whatever you do shop around well and ask for references and to see completed homes. Ask to see utility bills and look for signs of water damage. This is a very major investment for most of us so proceed cautiosly

timb · Jul 4, 2002

Thanks for the feedback, all. I should probably clarify some details. We're not looking at "log cabin" construction at all - that is one of the options of Lindal - but not one we would choose.

What we're really trying to find out about are timber (or post-and-beam) framed homes that are partially pre-manufactured under controlled conditions rather than right on site.

I haven't seen that much of a cost difference between these and quality stud (2x6 on 16) construction. A lot of homes going up around here are 2x4 (maybe even 2x3?) and chipboard. Wouldn't know a piece of plywood if it hit them. Certainly no stressed panel work. Now those may be cheaper than post-and-beam but that's not apples to apples. Also, a timber-framed home built completely by hand on site (from raw stock) will be expensive, hence the advantage (and disadvantages) of the factor head start.

From the photos I've seen of Lindals and others (including a few on the links Bob posted (thanks!)) finish appearance is completely flexible. You can certainly achieve the "Canadian Hunting Lodge" look if you like, but it can just as easily appear ultra-modern. I lean more toward the "traditional" through "arts and crafts" looks - but the timber frame can handle those as well. I'm looking to the beam construction to provide the floorplan flexibility and the strength.

Lastly - this is certainly not in an "urban" environment. While the area is no longer what I'd call the deep boonies, it's still pretty rural - and the potential homesite is over 20 acres.

Another possibility on the pre-semi-mfg side are the "panel" homes. Haven't found out too much about those yet.

Again, thanks for all the info gents.

Tim

rancar · Jul 4, 2002

Hi Tim...

<font color=blue>What we're really trying to find out about are timber (or post-and-beam) framed homes that are partially pre-manufactured under controlled conditions rather than right on site.</font color=blue>

What I liked about these timber frame homes from these websites I referred to are most if not all of them are manufactured at their factory or mill site. After timbers are pre-sized and cut, they are transported to job site and simply erected by crews sent by the manufacturer. Little cutting is done at the job site.

I really like these timber frame homes. They're solid, well built, and as the previous poster mentioned, exterior trim packages are numerous. I've done this preliminary research now as this may be a retirement option in the years to come.

Best of luck to you.

Bob

crb478 · Jul 4, 2002

A timberframe that is properly put together is one of the stronger longer lasting homes you can get. Again look at some of their work before making up your mind. Joints should fit tight with less than 1/16 inch gap. Really no apparent gap. On our job sights we could not silde a piece of paper into the gap after it was joined, but I think that would be hard to replicate from a factory that does not custom fit each joint. The joints should lock themselves together using shoulder cuts and good mortise and tennon fitment instead of relying on the pegs to bare the weight for a loose joint. Tennons should slide into the mortises with a tight fit side to side, a little movement up and down the timber is ok, but the side to side fit must be tight. Try to find a house that they are working on and see if it fits together this way. I have never seen one of their timberhomes so I don't know how good they are, but I believe that you can get a good idea of their quality if you look them over with your eyes open. Kind of like buying a car, you have to look for the bad because what you like is already jumping out at you.
You are right about finishing the timber frame homes they can look like any home. One last thing you may want to consider to save money is to build part of the house as a timber frame and then conventially frame the rest. We have built houses where the center of the house was a timber frame(living room kitchen dining room breakfast and entry) and both ends were stick built ( bedrooms, bathrooms, and laundry). This also makes fitting in the mechanical systems much easier. Timber frames are going to be more expensive but that is to be expected for a more open, stronger home. The cheapest way for most people to build a home is to stick frame it , thats why you rarely see anything else being built.