Benefits of attending and graduating from the Lasko School of Log Building
One of the tradgedies of all of this is that many people believe that to build a log cabin from scratch is so incredibly hard and labor intensive. Well,
you are going to spend a good deal of time at it. But it was being done with far less sofisticated tools several hundred years ago and many buildings remain in use built in the 8th and 9th centuries - so, it's a great way to build. Stone and logs - both natural resources - one is a renewable resource which means you're learning hw to be building "green" and will have many opportunities to participate on various levels of forest conservation programs to see that more trees are planted than you used. Hands-on log building workshops teach you how to build correctly, safely and well, saving you both time and money.
Students learn how to build in one traditional style in the two week program. The Scandinavian full-scribe-to-fit method. Two styles in the four week program
including as well as the Hewn Log w/ half-dovetail notches as well as the Scandinavian full-scribe-to-fit method. And in four traditional styles in the full 12 week Log Builder Training Program. Log beams for porches, main floors and loft joists, Log timber-framed trusses and more. Most of your learning experience is split approximetly 20% "class room" - 80% Hands-on learning and mastering of your new skills. Check on the actual Course Contents here.
In every class, discussion is initiated and carried on through out the class - on building debt free and how the creation of a 2 to 5 year plan can fit in with your life today and result in true freedom to work at what you want and like. I will show you how the use of the traditional approach of 'pre-assembly'of your entire log shell before you even have land or talk to a banker. There is no need for a building permit in a pre-assembly - so you're free to build as you see fit and know how best to do it. Because we employ a "train the trainor" approach, you will be able to explain what you are doing and need done with prospective help or to a lender for the smaller amount to obtain land, have a well and septic system installed.
You are going to know what to do and we have several ways in which we strive to make sure of it. One is that all graduates can return tuition-free to reinforce what they learned. We also have a very successful "Host Program" that only graduates of at least our two week hands-on workshops can elect to help get a big start on their log home project. We also have a "Class Projects Purchasing Program" where graduates can have a custom built handcrafted log home built at the school by students at a discount in subsequent classes at a substantial savings, shipped and reassembled onto your waiting foundation to finish and close in yourself. Lastly, we have House Logs purchasing where any DIY log builder can order their house logs selected and harvested by a skilled log smith, and, in addition, have the silllogs, platelogs, truss rafters, log joists and purlins all have their flat cust on before being shipped at no extra cost. Houselogs are at or below market pine prices so recieving logs ready to peel and start building with is appealing to those without local sources of building logs. All graduates will know the log builders vocabulary and are encouraged to stay in contact via phone and email as they build as long as needed.
To be sure that you know of all the opportunities available to learn how to become self-reliant, we are constantly looking for more ways to make our training available and better. We are teaming up with WWW.DriftlessFolkSchool.org located in Viroqua, WI, a town about 18 miles South of us here in the Sparta, WI area. The FolkSchool has several weekend classes on country/cabin living skills from Pickling & Canning, Blacksmithing, Building an Earth Oven, Butchering Hogs, Butchering Deer, Sheep-Butchering to Home Cheese Making and much much more. All students are encouraged to visit their web site and learn many of these traditional skills not taught in schools today. Two week students will be here at least one weekend and others for more - so please take advantage of all the learning opportunities you can!
Any student registering for a Log Building Workshop that has a registration confirmation for a Saturday/Sunday class with the Driftless Folk School will be reimbursed for the cost of the tuition fee for that class. Once for two week, two for four week and, as the DFS schedule provides for our 12 week students. How cool is that? Learn how to build that cabin from scratch, Butcher a Whole Hog, Build a Root Cellar, Bee keeping and much much more, all while you're here in Wisconsin!
