Crafting Log Homes Solar Style: An Inspiring Guide to Self-Sufficiency

A down-to-earth guide to building solar-powered log homes, complete with how-to illustrations and photos, plus enlightening stories from log home owners across the country. Follow the authors' journey of handcrafting an off-the-grid log home in the Colorado Rockies and discover how renewable energy is a perfect match for modern log home living, from small weekend cabins to expansive year-round homes. (The completed revised edition of Logs, Wind and Sun)

CONTENTS 1. Log Home Living, Solar Style
2. Site Selection
3. Plans and Permits
4. Logs
5. Tools for Construction
6. Excavation and Foundation Work
7. The Floor
8. Peeling and Lifting Logs
9. Building with Logs: Part I
10. Building with Logs: Part II
11. Gables and Dormers
12. Roof Framing
13. Windows, Doors and Wiring
14. More Settling Issues
15. Chinking and Finishing
16. A New Philosophy of Freedom
17. Harvesting Solar and Wind Power
18. Heating of House and Water
19. Pumping Water
20. Finish Work: Making Your House a Home
Log-ically Solar: Homeowner Profiles from Around the Country
LaVonne's LogBooks (a 2-year diary)
Appendix (Costs to Consider, Notes for Off-Grid Homes, Resources, General Bibliography, Recommended Reading)
Index

Rex and LaVonne Ewing currently live and work from their solar- and wind-powered log home overlooking Colorado s expansive Front Range. Their three-year project started in 1999 when they left the plains of northern Colorado and moved into a primitive mountain cabin, where they lived with few amenities while handcrafting their new log home. Once completed, they set out to produce a book that would tell others just how attainable their dreams of off-the-grid, log home living could be. Logs, Wind and Sun was released in 2003, and in this updated version, they have included several profiles of other off-grid log home owners who have successfully pursued their dreams. Rex mastered his log building skills in the 1980s when he built two log homes. After that he spent several years as CEO of a well-respected equine nutrition firm, where he formulated and marketed numerous nutrition products worldwide. In 1997, he wrote a best-selling book on horse nutrition: Beyond the Hay Days: Refreshingly Simple Horse Nutrition and has since written books on renewable energy, including Power With Nature; Got Sun? Go Solar; and HYDROGEN--Hot Stuff Cool Science. His articles can be found in log home magazines, and Countryside Journal. LaVonne is owner of Image Resource, a graphic design firm that specializes in book design, art catalogs, and corporate identities.