In the Woods

Setting Up a Firm Foundation

Most of us have learned that the old saying, "Failure to plan is the same as planning to fail" is all too true. There is no reason to discover the validity of that truism in relation to your In The Woods log home. In The Woods will assist you from beginning to end so that all that is foreseeable is foreseen and prepared for, and that the unknowable is considered and likewise prepared for.

Our decades of experience will be put at your disposal so that your log home experience is a pleasurable one throughout the process. We are so committed to helping you avoid any unpleasant surprises that you may begin to realize we repeat ourselves! There are certain preparations that absolutely must be made and certain scheduling points that simply can't be ignored; you'll hear and read about each of those from us more than once because we know how important they are.

Much of what we're prepared to share with you follows below, albeit in brief. Review it as carefully or as briefly as you like; should In The Woods be your log home choice, you can count on seeing and hearing it all again, but in a much more thorough and personally oriented manner!

Steps to buying and building a log home:

1. Financing Preapproval - Unless you're either building your log home "out of pocket" or are completely confident that obtaining adequate financing will not be a problem, it's a good idea to acquire preliminary credit approval from your lender of choice. In fact, your In The Woods Planning Specialist can assist you with this step - we've had a long association with a "log home friendly" lender that offers nationwide financing at competitive rates/terms, and credit approvals can be had in as little as 24 hours!

2. Select Model - With over 80 standard models, In The Woods may well have the design that's perfect for you. Or one of those designs might need a little tweaking to become the home of your dreams. Or perhaps you have, on paper or in mind, a home plan that you've already decided will be yours. Whichever may be the case, your In The Woods Planning Specialist can assist you with design ideas and, of course, no charge price quotes.

3. Place Order - Having assured yourself of the acquiring the funds necessary to build your log home, and having identified just what that new log home is to look like, it's time to get the ball rolling. Your In The Woods Planning Specialist will provide you with the Sales Agreement documents for signature and submission, with deposit, to our Headquarters.

4. Receive Preliminary Blueprints - Once your log home package order has been approved at In The Woods Headquarters, a Customer Service Representative (CSR) is assigned to your order. He/she will contact you immediately by phone and will become your primary contact at In The Woods up to the point of delivery scheduling. One of the first steps for you to achieve is to put a set of Preliminary Blueprints in your hands. These plans, typically a front and right elevation and all applicable floor plans, are your first opportunity to make plan corrections/changes so that, without too many revisions, you are ultimately able to say "that's it!" and sign off on the Preliminary Blueprints.

5. Receive Final Blueprints/Engineering - After you have signed off on the Preliminary Blueprints, it's time to prepare your Final Blueprints (foundation, framing, section and detail pages added to the elevations and floor plans). Those blueprints, once signed off on, will ultimately be used to generate the packing list for your orders and by your builder during construction; if an engineering seal is required in your area, the engineer would be reviewing the Final Blueprints, noting any required changes and sealing the plans once revised to his/her specifications.

6. Land Purchase - While land purchase may well have preceded some or all of the above steps, its inclusion at this point is due to the fact that failure to have selected, if not purchased, your building lot at this stage will make the following steps difficult (or impossible). If your property will require a septic system, be sure that a "perc" test is, or has been, performed and the property has passed before you finalize your purchase.

7. Obtain Contractor or Sub-Contractor Bids - In The Woods provides you with 5 sets of Final Blueprints for just this purpose. If you are retaining the services of a General Contractor (GC), obtaining bids is a simpler process - you should receive an itemized list of everything the GC will be doing to ready your home for move-in. If, instead, you will be acting as your own GC, you will need to obtain bids from a variety of sub-contractors (i.e. foundation/excavation contractor, shell erection contractor, electrician, plumber, HVAC, finish carpenter, painter, etc. and costs of such materials as cabinets, appliances, lighting and plumbing fixtures, etc.). Remember, In The Woods does offer its own Shell Erection Services in most states.

8. Complete Financing Application (bids, plans, etc.) - With Final Blueprints, all bids and property information in hand, your lender will now be in a position to order the appraisal, submit the loan to underwriting, issue a final loan commitment and schedule a closing date.

9. Apply for Necessary Permits - Depending on your building location, it may be necessary to obtain a building permit from your local building department. In addition, there may be other permits or approvals required by either your locality (i.e. septic, environmental, wetlands, etc.) or homeowner's association.

10. Clear Property - Before any aspect of construction may begin, access to the building site (i.e. driveway) must be provided and the actual home site cleared. Be sure to clear enough area around the home site to allow for unloading of your log home package and temporary locating of the package materials for easy access during construction.

11. Put in Foundation - In order that you or your builder can begin erection of the log home package materials very shortly after delivery, the foundation should be installed before those materials arrive. This will also avoid any damage to the log home package materials that might otherwise be caused by the foundation contractor and its equipment.

12. Schedule Delivery - In The Woods' Shipping Department will contact you 3-4 weeks before your materials will be ready for shipment to schedule a specific shipping date and time. While delivery during the contractual month is required, In The Woods makes every effort to schedule a date that works to your convenience.

13. Preparing for Delivery - Both the printed materials you will receive from In The Woods and In The Woods customer service/shipping personnel will acquaint you with the manpower, equipment and other requirements for accepting delivery and arranging for the correct temporary storage of the log home package materials.

14. Accept Delivery - With proper manpower, equipment and property access, Delivery Day can proceed smoothly and with a minimum of anxiety, regardless of the weather that day may bring. And, while In The Woods makes every effort to load the materials in the most efficient manner possible, be sure to check the materials and report any apparent damage to the truck driver.

15. Start Shell Erection - Your builder should be prepared to begin the erection of the log home package materials anywhere from one day to one week after delivery. Scheduling the start of the shell erection for the same day as delivery is rarely a workable situation - deferring that start for several days helps keep job site confusion to a minimum. And, since nearly all your In The Woods log home package materials are banded and lumber-wrapped, outside storage for an even longer period poses little potential for any damage to occur.

16. In The Woods Post Delivery Service - Whenever your or your builder have any questions about your log home package materials or their installation, our Post Delivery Service Department is ready to provide you with answers; just call us toll-free!