[evldave]

I had looked into building a log home when I bought my property last year. I decided against it because of potential rot, mildew, mold, bugs. I talked w/some local builders and some people who had log homes around here and they had the same concerns (no one had any problems, but they were concerned about the potential issues). Any time you use non-processed wood, you run a risk, and I didn't want to deal with that.

The prices were cheaper than a custom-built home, but the amenities weren't as nice. Energy costs would be higher (try and find an inexpensive energy-star true log home). A good balance might be a pre-fab using log cuts instead of full logs, this makes the outside log and the inside regular drywall. Since this was my primary house, I decided regular custom-built home no logs. If it was a 2nd home, I'd go log and deal w/the potential issues/costs.