HOULTON, Maine — When new national energy-efficiency codes go into effect, Katahdin Cedar Log Homes will be ready since the company has been proactive for decades manufacturing log home packages that will meet or exceed those requirements. By 2010 the codes should go into effect as a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, commonly known as the economic stimulus package enacted by Congress in February 2009.
Katahdin Cedar Log Homes Owner, Dave Gordon, has been living in his very own Katahdin Cedar Log Home since 1980 and said he knows about insulation and keeping out the cold on his windy hill in Oakfield. “What insulation does is slow the transfer of heat — whether it’s from the inside out or the outside in. It works both ways very well,” explained Gordon on how his manufactured homes help maintain desired temperatures.
“We start with cedar logs. That’s an excellent insulator by itself. After that, we add one to two inches of Styrofoam insulation under various brand names, then a dead air space — also an excellent insulator, and then, cedar paneling or log siding on the inside. It’s a sandwich effect. It’s just like layers of clothing,” said Gordon. The “energy envelope” he said will be tough enough to meet or exceed the new U.S. requirements after they are enacted across the country in each state.
No matter where one lives, weather and energy efficiency now seem to go hand-in-hand. And, recent predictions stirred the commodities markets with bone-chilling forecasts for the middle part of the country according to Pete Geiger, editor of the Old Farmers Almanac. Geiger said New England will be cold and snowy, but not quite as bitter as last year.
Log homes popular in U.S. and abroad
Right now, according to Gordon, Katahdin Cedar Log Homes is keeping its 75 employees busy. It recently hosted a log raising and open house for a 9,000 square foot home in Presque Isle — the company’s largest single family home project to date. In addition to that home, there are six more under construction in Aroostook County. And, the appeal of living in a log home is not lost on those overseas. Gordon says the company generally ships log homes from the Rocky Mountains east. But, the company has grown so much in popularity overseas “over the last few years that we’re shipping to Israel, Scotland, England, France and Canada, obviously,” with prospective sales anticipated for Lithuania.
Gordon, a Houlton native, says the company started small in 1973 with his father and has enjoyed steady growth since then. When the younger Gordon joined his father, the company was shipping about seven or eight homes a year. Now it ships anywhere from 125-200. One reason for the significant growth, according to Gordon, “is the excellent quality of cedar that only grows in a few places and is the best material for log homes.”
Prices vary for budgets, lifestyles
Thanks to 30 standard models plus 500 additional models on the Internet, and a full-time custom design team at no extra charge, prospective log home owners can create the home they want on their own budget terms. Gordon said “a modest home can start around $45,000 and go up to $400,000 like the newest home in Presque Isle. Price packages are not any more expensive than a well-built stick home. The price package includes the carpentry materials from the top of the foundation through the roof materials. Ninety-five percent of our homes are custom designed.” Additional purchases for the buyer would be, Gordon says, land, plumbing, electrification, masonry, heating systems (possibly wood-fired with an oil-burning system as a backup) and labor as well as appliances and cabinetry.
The time frame for delivery of the materials, after a confirmed order and deposit, is only about four to six weeks depending on the time of year since two lumber mills are nearby with one in Oakfield and another in Ashland.
Living in a log home may be a dream come true or a reaction to wanting to live a more simplified, rural and green lifestyle. Gordon says: “Follow your heart. Most of the people who buy our log homes have known they wanted log home since they were a teenager. Do whatever feels good and whatever you can afford.”
