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Log Cabins in Ireland

evans76

My husband and I are looking at buying a house this year and one of our ideas was to buy a plot of land somewhere and use one of the log cabin companies to build a log cabin. i'm looking for people that have actually done this and we're just doing research at the moment and I would love to hear from people that are living in a self built log cabin and get any tips and advice you would have. We absolutely love the idea of doing this but anything I've read seems to flag items like planning permission being difficult & also house insurance plus the fact there are a handful of companies that build log cabins and we'd want to make sure we use a reputable company and also get a handle on all the extra costs that will come with building a log cabin.
Any advice anyone can give (whether or not you have done this) would be much appreciated.
Thanks

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Caranica

Do a search on this forum. You'll find plenty of others who've dreamt of this but the hurdles were almost universally insurmountable.

LotharIngum

I have a friend who built one about 15 years ago in Wicklow.
I think its lovely and I would live in it myself.
I wasn't cheap though. And I stayed in it one night about 6 months after it was built and I heard the loudest crack I have ever heard in my life. I was ready to run out and he started laughing at me.

He said that happens every few nights for the first year or so while the wood settles.

Nowadays there are a lot of cracks in the logs. I think it looks nice but my wife deosnt like the look of them. And im told the cracking did indeed stop before the year was out.

So go for it, they are lovely, but expect things to go bump in the night for a while.

awec

evans76 wrote: »

My husband and I are looking at buying a house this year and one of our ideas was to buy a plot of land somewhere and use one of the log cabin companies to build a log cabin. i'm looking for people that have actually done this and we're just doing research at the moment and I would love to hear from people that are living in a self built log cabin and get any tips and advice you would have. We absolutely love the idea of doing this but anything I've read seems to flag items like planning permission being difficult & also house insurance plus the fact there are a handful of companies that build log cabins and we'd want to make sure we use a reputable company and also get a handle on all the extra costs that will come with building a log cabin.
Any advice anyone can give (whether or not you have done this) would be much appreciated.
Thanks

Planning permission to use a log cabin as somewhere to live is not difficult, it is impossible.

Tacitus Kilgore

You won't get advice on boards as they are generally not kosher,

However, you would need to be blind to not notice the hundreds of them dotted around the country with folk living in them.

Maybe try and have a chat with someone who's in one, and see how they got it there.

Cape Clear

evans76 wrote: »

My husband and I are looking at buying a house this year and one of our ideas was to buy a plot of land somewhere and use one of the log cabin companies to build a log cabin. i'm looking for people that have actually done this and we're just doing research at the moment and I would love to hear from people that are living in a self built log cabin and get any tips and advice you would have. We absolutely love the idea of doing this but anything I've read seems to flag items like planning permission being difficult & also house insurance plus the fact there are a handful of companies that build log cabins and we'd want to make sure we use a reputable company and also get a handle on all the extra costs that will come with building a log cabin.
Any advice anyone can give (whether or not you have done this) would be much appreciated.
Thanks

I wish you luck with this. It may be a long road.

Pivot Eoin

I've looked into this a lot.

It's classed as a temporary dwelling in the long and short of it legally.

If you own land, you can place on on this land for 9 months and live in it without a worry til that time passes. After 9 Months then you have all the bull**** that people on this thread have already mentioned.

notharrypotter

Pivot Eoin wrote: »

I've looked into this a lot.

It's classed as a temporary dwelling in the long and short of it legally.

If you own land, you can place on on this land for 9 months and live in it without a worry til that time passes. After 9 Months then you have all the bull**** that people on this thread have already mentioned.

Fascinating to see that you consider the laws of the land bull****.

Pivot Eoin

notharrypotter wrote: »

Fascinating to see that you consider the laws of the land bull****.

Well for someone who wants to do this, in Ireland long term you really just can't. However you can in US, UK, France, Germany, Scandinavia, Netherlands, Belgium among others... so yes I would consider it bull**** and don't think that's too drastic. You would view it otherwise? Varadkar fan by any chance?

LirW

I recently met a woman that's planning to lash one up later this year on a plot of family land in a really remote part of the South-east. I told her that this is quite a ballsy move and if she gets caught she'll have to remove it.
She didn't seem to care too much and happily takes the gamble.

awec

Pivot Eoin wrote: »

Well for someone who wants to do this, in Ireland long term you really just can't. However you can in US, UK, France, Germany, Scandinavia, Netherlands, Belgium among others... so yes I would consider it bull**** and don't think that's too drastic. You would view it otherwise? Varadkar fan by any chance?

In fairness the climate in Ireland compared to most of those places is very different.

notharrypotter

Pivot Eoin wrote: »

Well for someone who wants to do this, in Ireland long term you really just can't. However you can in US, UK, France, Germany, Scandinavia, Netherlands, Belgium among others... so yes I would consider it bull**** and don't think that's too drastic. You would view it otherwise? Varadkar fan by any chance?

I have had the dubious benefit of experiencing your kind of lip service to building regulations.
So sorry but I would prefer if people adhered to the correct regulation's and standard's in this country for a change.
Far too many people seem to think the rules apply to other people and they can simply do what they want.

Any wonder why this country is heading for another's crash.

Idbatterim

I can see why people on here would be reluctant to give out advice 'against the law' but just remember, you are living in a total banana republic, where most people just do as they like and suit themselves and enforcement in most areas is pathetic.

What are people meant to do, live in misery or take on masses of debt? they talk about issues facing rural ireland, maybe allowing these would help. Environmentally friendly, rapid construction, relatively low cost...

No doubt the difficulty or near impossibility in obtaining planning for them is to help out their mates in the building industry...

Idbatterim

awec wrote: »

In fairness the climate in Ireland compared to most of those places is very different.

log cabins here will last a life time if cared for properly :rolleyes: or do people think maintenance is just for log cabins and not a brick built house?

koheim

awec wrote: »

In fairness the climate in Ireland compared to most of those places is very different.

Climate in Ireland is very mild compared to these countries, if you think it is wet and humid here, travel to west of Norway (where 100% of houses and cabins are constructed and cladded with wood).

Timber buildings last hundreds of years if they are maintained properly, no matter the climate...

An_Toirpin

koheim wrote: »

Climate in Ireland is very mild compared to these countries, if you think it is wet and humid here, travel to west of Norway (where 100% of houses and cabins are constructed and cladded with wood).

Timber buildings last hundreds of years if they are maintained properly, no matter the climate...

Wood is a fine building material damp climates but if you want a quality of life matching a house there has to be a lot of attention to details and this means the price is not so cheap.

rosmoke

What quality of life you have when you pay 350k and in 7 years it costs 80k ?
When my neighbour closes his car door, my bedroom door handle vibrates every single time.

I have the window closed and I can still hear the wind like, it's a joke.
If I sleep in a tent at least I pay the right price for a tent, so that's why most of us are looking at alternative solutions.

[Deleted User]

You won't get planning permission as they don't meet Irish building regulations. You will get planning permission for use as a play room or office but not living accommodation.

A friend has one for around 10 years now. He rents it out. All tenants rave about it & find it comfortable to live in. It's very easy to heat in the winter. & holds the heat well.

You won't get insurance on it for a dwelling & if you did you'd find they won't pay out as it doesn't meet building regulations. Annoying if you had a leak or something but what if someone is injured or it goes on fire. Anyone thinking of going down this route really needs to do a lot of research as you will be operating below the law so to speak.

runawaybishop

Pivot Eoin wrote: »

Well for someone who wants to do this, in Ireland long term you really just can't. However you can in US, UK, France, Germany, Scandinavia, Netherlands, Belgium among others... so yes I would consider it bull**** and don't think that's too drastic. You would view it otherwise? Varadkar fan by any chance?

We have stringent building regulations, the US, for example, build sh1tboxes.

You can build a log cabin if it meets building regs, but it won't be cheap. Similarly you can build a block house for peanuts but it will not meet regs

What has varadkar got to do with log cabins?

gctest50

Sleeper12 wrote: »

You won't get planning permission as they don't meet Irish building regulations.

You will get planning permission for use as a play room or office but not living accommodation. ....,...

False .

http://www.eplanning.ie/WicklowCC/AppFileRefDetails/138528/0

(from below )

gctest50

Lumen found this with planning :

Lumen wrote: »

I've found a case study, with actual planning.

https://www.loghouse.ie/loghouse-sunday-independent
https://www.loghouse.ie/portfolio-items/super-insulated-thee-bedroom-log-house-oct-2016/

Planning files
http://www.eplanning.ie/WicklowCC/AppFileRefDetails/138528/0

............

awec

Are you sure that is the correct planning link? One of the conditions of that planning is cement rendered external walls, which the photos clearly do not have. Either it's the wrong planning or the house isn't compliant.

Either way, the point still stands. You are not the first person to think about a log house, you won't be the last, and there is a reason they aren't popping up all over the place.

Daena11

Hi All, does anyone know if you can get a mortgage on a log cabin house? We are currently thinking of buying a site and putting a log cabin on it.

Idbatterim

Many of the companies selling them, offer finance on them. Not sure about the mortgage question ...

the_syco

Daena11 wrote: »

Hi All, does anyone know if you can get a mortgage on a log cabin house? We are currently thinking of buying a site and putting a log cabin on it.

Have you checked if you can get planning permission for it?

El Tarangu

Daena11 wrote: »

Hi All, does anyone know if you can get a mortgage on a log cabin house? We are currently thinking of buying a site and putting a log cabin on it.

I'd doubt it - aside from the planning issues mentioned above, a log cabin decreases in value from the moment it is put up, so banks are unwilling to apply the same type of financing rules to it as they would to a house (which tends to increase in value over time).

People in the U.S. borrowing to purchase trailers face the same issues (as these also depreciate in value rather quickly).

Gumbo

Daena11 wrote: »

Hi All, does anyone know if you can get a mortgage on a log cabin house? We are currently thinking of buying a site and putting a log cabin on it.

Most likely not.
Your first hurdle will be planning before you even start the mortgage application process.

Ultimate Seduction

awec wrote: »

In fairness the climate in Ireland compared to most of those places is very different.

Yes, those places get much, much colder winters than us

the_syco

Ultimate Seduction wrote: »

Yes, those places get much, much colder winters than us

I'm pretty sure it's wetter in Ireland, for longer. Don't think it's that humid in those cold places.

Riar_

the_syco wrote: »

I'm pretty sure it's wetter in Ireland, for longer. Don't think it's that humid in those cold places.

Norway can be far wetter than Ireland and they have plenty of 800 year old log churches still standing.

If you want to see what kind of log dwelling is possible, here is a good example in Meath
https://passivehouseplus.ie/articles/retrofit/log-house-renovation

Graham

From the example in Meath:

The homeowners had various reasons to upgrade: for a start, driving rain was rotting part of the house's south west corner. Sinnott says that while solid log walls might be fine for the cold Scandinavian climate, they’re perhaps not the best option in rainy Ireland.