Is this log cabin worth fixing up?

[boggen]

just caught eye, in last picture. were the i want to say "sun room"? extension is. in the corner were it L's it looks like you might have a low spot, but it hard to tell it might just be picture. or you might have water running back towards the house.

other pictures it looks like all the surrounding grass slopes away. just not in that last picture. *shrugs*

 

[creekbend]

Have you thought about obtaining the services of a reputable home inspector? That may be money well spent.

Steve

I totally agree. If it were me, that would be my first step. Compare it to having a trained mechanic check over a vehicle that you are wanting to purchase, before you put down money.

 

[iceaxe]

You had mentioned rotting in the corners. I assumed you meant the corners of the foundation. If so, you'll have to get the rotted log end out and a new piece of log in. Seems to me you'd have to jack up the logs on top of the rotted log ends to get them out since there will be a load on them.

But I might have misunderstood what you meant.

It seems strange to me, because of where I live I guess, that you can have a foundation of a log sitting on the ground. (We have termites and moisture here and even log cabins built 200 years ago were usually set on a stone foundation of some sort). But if the 50 year old foundation logs sitting on the ground are sound when you whack then with a hammer then I guess you're good to go.

Its a dry climate and I guess the roof kept them dry most of the time.
I can probably pound something in to replace the part of foundation logs that are rotten. They use a battery ram system to pound logs in.

 

[iceaxe]

I totally agree. If it were me, that would be my first step. Compare it to having a trained mechanic check over a vehicle that you are wanting to purchase, before you put down money.

For sure. Its just that it costs $400 and then seller likely wont negotiate lower price if problems are found. I already spent $500 on appraisal.

 

[robarosa]

By the looks of the pictures, I would take it over and fix it up in a minute.

 

[studor]

I think it is worth saving but it will be a lot of work. Some can be done over time, other items neeed attention right away. As others have said I would check the rot probelm first and go from there. When I re-did my cabin a number of "experts" said tear it down. I then proceeded to do work that I could never afford a contractor to do

 

[creekbend]

For sure. Its just that it costs $400 and then seller likely wont negotiate lower price if problems are found. I already spent $500 on appraisal.

Prices have really soared. I don't know what part of the Country you live in, but I hired an inspector that was also an appraiser and he charged me $175.00 total. But that was 6 years ago here in NC. The work was done on a mobile home with 1.87 acres that we bought for one of our Daughters'. The inspection and appraisal took around 4 1/2 hours to complete and we received the written papers the next day. By the way, I decided to pick up the paperwork at his office myself, because of the time issue. I was not aware of the increased prices involved in today's market. I sincerely wish you the best of luck in your endeavor and I hope that everything works out that is satisfactory for you.