There are over 600 log home producers within the industry. Those that belong to the Log Homes Council agree to enter a certified log grading program, to produce a construction manual, and subscribe to a strict code of ethics.
There are more than 500,000 log homes in the United States today. Log homes account for 7% of the custom homebuilding market.
Log home popularity is rising. In the mid-1980’s about 15,000 log homes were sold a year. By 2003 that number increased 73% and currently more than 26,000 log homes are sold annually. Experts attribute this surge to more homeowners purchasing log homes as their primary residences.
Handcrafted log homes, built with logs individually crafted by handheld tools, account for 10% of the log home market. The remaining 90% are built with milled logs, systematically designed for the home.
Log homes are environmentally friendly: Wood’s thermal mass characteristics often exceed minimum energy efficiency code criteria while the most of a log home’s builder materials are naturally renewable.
In 2003 (the most recent year complete figures are available), the most popular states for log home construction were Pennsylvania, Texas, Ohio, New York, North Carolina, Michigan, Colorado, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Tennessee.
In 2003 (the most recent year complete figures are available), the most popular states for log home manufacturers and producers were Montana, Colorado, Michigan, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, New York, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania.
