A well prepared Host can expect to get 50 % or more of the log work done on a building by hosting a class of 5 or more students!
Hosting Program Details
Scope of project to be considered:
1) A description of the log home plan submitted.
2) A copy of a scaled drawing by self or others submitted.
3) Length of class to fit project determined.
4) Site preparation requirements established.
5) Availability of logs determined and established.
Host Selection:
Only students who have completed a hands-on log building workshop are eligible and will be considered to Host.
Primary concern is for quality of experience for the students attending. For example;
Sufficient camping space, or information on local lodging provided, running water for washing and showers, etc. etc. The students generally camp out for the two week courses and prepare their own food but need access to a phone to call home and secure their belongings while attending. A hay loft in a barn would even be welcome for "class room" sessions. The more comfortable the better with close proximity to the project site.
I have seen times when setting up lights at night because the team mentality driving to reach a goal has brought a desire to extend the day light into the evening! Electrical power would be a must and if any one had need for power, that a source were available. The School also conciders the location of the project too. Nothing terribly stringent and all certainly possible with ample time to prepare for the arrival of the students!
The Hosting Program is in keeping with our teaching families and individuals how to build a quality, safe, hand crafted log home of great value.
Our emphasis is on building debt-free and to encourage building and at least reducing the amount of debt incurred.
A home is a secure place and as long as it is pledged and encumbered with a clouded title (mortgage) it has conditions placed on it that simply say, you are free to use it as long as you are willing to guarantee the future to the holder of the mortage. With the average person changing jobs every 2 to 3 years, and even moving nearly as often to find that "better" job, so they can afford a nicer place, it is no mystery its a result of the way we have been marketed into accepting the mentality of financing everything, and should we have any equity, well - thats a mine of wealth the banks want to tap, and so they market further to get those people with equity to not "deny" thermselves the pleasures of life. Yada yada yada ........ having and affording the "pleasures of life" don't have to involve stepping to their drum beats.
The one thing we should never have to fear is not having a place to live of our own. Our children should'nt either, and they look to mom and dad to see to it that its not ever an issue. Our property tax system is an involuntary system derived from old european kings and kingdoms. The "King" owns it all, as along as you pay tribute to the king in the form of a tax, you may use it. And if you don't or can't - it will be taken away, by force if necessary. Thats bad enough and we have tidious political avenues to address to change it, but to voluntarily give our home to the bank in exchange for debt and so agree to be able to live in it and have use of it as long as we can guarantee the future and pay the interest and principle to the Mortgage Holder
or ("King"). Be your own king! Build it yourself, build it well and have something of great value to leave to your posterity!
In every state, if a person wants to build their own house he will find that he still has the ability to avoid the strict rules and laws emposed on someone who does it for hire for them. The building code is comprised of good guidlines and safe building information, but all to much is defined and enforced by the rule of law (thier fire power versus ours) - but they have not had the power to dictate what an individual can and can't do for himself, and where they do, it is where it effects the "life, liberty and the pursuit of happieness" guaranteed and requires the government to protect that right first. SEE: Indiana Log Cabin Act
We want to help you build your own home the way you want it, with the size and location of doors and windows, where you want them ..... so on and so on. The states regulate the dickens out of people doing something for another, but they stop where it is you doing it for yourself. This too is eroding more and more. Now we have the United Nations International Building Code that has no authority that is not given to it by our government. Thats right! We now have to incorporate rules promulgated by those not bound by our constitution by way of Treaties with the UN. And it is the door left open by our fore fathers. It was not done intentionally and was the last thing they ever wanted to do! Thats right! The Old "Taxation Without Representation".
Build your own handcrafted log home from scratch with your own sweat and labor while you still can cut the trees on your own land or buy some! We also believe that by owning your own home out right, annual property taxes aside, you CAN change that job that interferes with making choices you otherwise would be unable to make because of the promise to guarantee the unguaranteeable.
Owning your own home frees you to have your own business and a place to do it at while keeping overhead under control . Owning your own home means someone can stay home with the kids and be there for them - a priceless benefit forefeited by a mortagae that requires a two income family - unless one works days and the other works a second shift or third shift job away from the home. But find time to be with each other and share the family together with that! We're not extreme, we just write checks to pay taxes and we look at life like it is supposed to be ours, and want to keep what we have and earn!
"Bengiman Franklin had a criteria for making important decisions. He would simply make a list of the benefits of one choice over another, and take the time to make a a complete list. Then he would weight those two lists agaist one another ...... "
Log Building Workshop
Four Week Class HostingCosts
The cost is $10,000.00 plus travel expenses in the US West of the Mississippi. Outside the Country the fee is negotiated plus travel expenses.
Four week workshops are the best as the students learn what they are doing in the two weeks, the next two weeks they get to perfect it and pick up speed conciderably! Students and Hosts alike benefit from Hosted projects - the quality of workmanship is high with out methods of teaching and its good for the students to have a viable project. We can be scheduled to remain after a workshop ends to assist for an additional $2800.00/week or fraction of a week.
1) We advertise the class to the public and contact those
that have expressed attending if we were in their neck
of the woods again to get a class filled with students
put together.
2) Lodging and travel expenses for instructor to classes
East of the Mississippi River. West of the Mississippi
River is looked at individually. There would be a big
difference between Alaska and Oklahoma or foreign
countries.
3) No matter who or how many students elect to attend
The Host Fee and a signed agreement establish the dates for a hosted class. Host Fee calculated for your selection and location. The Instructor arrives 3 to 5 days ahead of the scheduled workshop.
This is how far we got this summer (2002) in Wisconsin in two weeks with two students!
In this photo, we were assembling the first of four log trusses in the 5th week we spent on the project - the log walls behind us were what was achieved in the regular four week Log Building Workshop - I'm on the right and student Dan Shirley on the left brought the walls to this point - just the two of us!
This is what was accomplished in just seven weeks time from June 18th and a pile of logs to August 4th 2002!
Many thanks to our Hosts - Rex Endres and George Annen, Dan Shirley and my ol' friend Jim Stephensen!
Archery Clubs
Rod & Gun Clubs
Youth Camps
Boy Scoutsof America Troops
Girl Scouts of America Troops
City, County, State and Federal Parks
Church Camp Groups
Resorts
Families
Businesses
Individuals
Letter.......
If you are looking for a new and innovative way to build a log home or cabin, please read on. After years of wishing and hoping, we finally found a way to achieve our dream, and what started out as a "log shack" evolved into far more than we ever expected. With the help of a friend and log enthusiast, we were able to connect with Bill Lasko and the Lasko School of Log Building. After a few visits with Bill for preliminary preparations, we located our logs on land not far from our intended building site. That was in January, and by June, we had them cut, peeled, transported and bunked next to our foundation. Bill and a few students arrived in mid-June and the first logs were taking shape. For the first few days, Bill instructed his students in the art of log building, and in a few days students were moving rapidly in the construction with Bill looking over their shoulder offering advice and helping with technique when necessary. Safety was a high priority in working with chain saws, heavy logs, and other tools.
Bill's knowledge and teaching methods were paramount to fulfilling our dream. He pays attention to detail, fit and finish. He is dedicated to completing in a realistic time frame, and he has knowledge above and beyond the basic construction. Finishing and protecting those logs was another of our concerns. Our finished product is beautiful (chink-style) and far more than our expectations, mostly because
of Bill's experience and knowledge, as well as his ability to communicate. We would highly recommend Bill and the Lasko School of Log Building to fullfill your Log dreams.
