Quality Craftsmanship
What sets Andersen Log Homes Co. log homes apart from other log homes is the quality craftsmanship. Quality is more important than quantity. At Andersen’s, we take the time required to build each home so that it fits together as tightly as possible. Jon Andersen, the owner, is personally involved in the construction of each home we build. Jon is assisted by outstanding skilled craftsmen that have learned under him how to build these custom hand crafted homes in all the areas of construction. Each craftsman has experience debarking and peeling trees, to the custom fitting the logs by hand scribing and carving each notch. Every part of the building process is important, and our staff takes pride in their work. The Andersen log home symbolizes quality – a true advantage.
Jon is also very meticulous, working to exact standards. He hand selects and chooses the straightest and finest grade of logs available. Our goal, at Andersen Log Homes, is to build the tightest and the most energy efficient home possible. We build with full-length logs on each wall – you will not find any ends butted up on any log walls, which is unsightly and which can shrink over time when the house settles.
Because we specialize in building the log shell, we have teamed up with experienced general contractors and sub contractors who are both knowledgeable and capable in finishing your log home. We are confident that together, we will help you make the best choices in building your dream home.
Click on the link below to see how Jon and ALH staff create a handcrafted log home! This 30 minute show, with two years in the making aired locally on Lakeland PBS TV in the fall of 2020.
“Scott Knudson, Producer / Director of Common Grounds with Lakeland PBS TV captured the building of ALH crew building a one-of-a-kind log home for the Satores from the largest white pine logs he has ever worked with. Homeowner Joel Sartore, world renown photographer for National Geographic with Photo Ark and his wife Kathy, speak of their want to work with Jon and all the other skilled home builders, to have a unique home with the highest quality. ”
You can watch the program on You Tube – //lptv.org/common-ground-jon-andersen-log-homes-co/
For more information please check out our building process page.
Hand Selected Logs
Most of the White Pine and Red Pine trees we build with are from Minnesota. We work with the Department of Natural Resources and individual loggers, of who are thinning and managing forests. Jon hand selects each log for each cabin or home he builds. He examines and evaluates the various stands of trees and earmarks each tree that he wants to incorporate into a home. Each home we build has a minimum of a ten inch top end, with a minimum average of 12 inches. The homeowner decides what size of log they want on their log shell, with sizes ranging from 12 inches to 28 inches in diameter. You can choose if you want the logs to be uniform in size, or you can choose to have larger ones intermingled with average size logs.
Most of the homes we build we use white pine. We have built many homes with red pine (Norway Pine) also. The white and red pine are pine species we harvest locally. We build mostly with the white pine because the trees tend to settle less and are a little more energy efficient. We do use red pine for all of our roof logs because they grow straighter at greater heights without tapering, and the red has superior strength for this application.
Once the trees are brought to our construction site, Jon also chooses each log that goes into the building of each home. With the trees all debarked and on the bunks Jon knows which log is going to be used in all areas of the home. It is an art to pick a straight log that is growing; and even more so to incorporate all the trees to give each home the unique fit that the homeowner wants and will like.
All the logs used in our homes are of the highest quality. In a couple of rare building code situations, the logs we harvested to build a home with needed to pass inspection. Timber Products Inspection Inc., a national log inspection company, graded our logs and stamped all the logs with the highest grade possible; A. Quality control is practiced with Jon hand selecting each log for each home.
Personal Approach
We look forward to meeting and sharing with people our method of building log homes, and welcome you to tour our model home and home in Walker, MN. – We are proud of our work, and love to show it. We do not “hard sell” our log homes, our work speaks for itself, and we will stand behind our work and will build the best home possible ; a home that you will be proud of for years to come.
You will work with Jon, who personally works on and oversees the building of each log home, and along with Beth and the Andersen team following up with your home we all get to know each other very well. We keep each homeowner updated on construction progress, and we are able to offer our own building experiences with new home builders, directing them in complimentary ways to finish out their home.