Beaver Mountain Log Homes

By Jonathan Ment

Imagine a log home company so loved by its clients that owners of its homes would gather together to swap stories, share photographs and basically celebrate the success of the business that sold them the logs in which they live.

In these parts, you would probably be thinking of Beaver Mountain Log Homes, which marked its 25th anniversary with just such a shindig in October at its manufacturing facility and home office at the corner of Routes 8 and 10, two miles north of Deposit. The celebration also included a chainsaw carver, a customer’s dry-stacked future home on display and, naturally, a visit from company mascot Bucky Beaver.

A Unique Approach
The company is an independent manufacturer, selling log homes throughout the Northeast, from North Carolina to Maine and west to Ohio. “We’re probably a little unique, by the fact that we were builders first,” says Ken Clark, president of Beaver Mountain Log Homes. “A lot of log home companies were saw mills.”

Clark says his father, Donald, worked as a general contractor and residential home builder in Delaware County beginning in 1951. “We were builders first, so when people came to us and started asking for log homes, we began looking to become a dealer around 1980,” says Clark. “The two of us started shopping log home companies and didn’t find anything that would really enhance our business. We decided to build our own log homes with the features we were looking for.”

Clark says Beaver Mountain coined a phrase, around the same time as the industry, for what they were doing: “Builder friendly.” “It made us unique,” says Clark. “It’s probably the reason we are not building homes anymore—going out and constructing them. The demand for our product grew so fast that we had to make a decision to manufacture full time.”

“At that time corners were cut and fit in the field,” he continues. “We thought it would be better to do with machinery in a controlled environment. We would design a log corner or a log system and work with a machine shop to design a machine to cut it.” Some of that early machinery was purchased in Pennsylvania and modified to meet the demands of Beaver Mountain’s designs. Other machinery was custom made, and has been remade over the first 25 years as designs and machinery improved.

Most of the timber that goes into Beaver Mountain Log Homes is harvested here as well, in the Northeast around Lake George, Vermont and New Hampshire. White Pine is the predominant species, while about 10 or 15 percent of that used is Western Red Cedar from British Columbia, according to Clark.

Clark says Beaver Mountain is also unique in that it sells directly to home owners, many of whom first visit the company’s model homes on Route 17 in Hancock. “We have three models,” says Clark. “Our sales room is a design center and showroom.”

The builders that put the Beaver Mountain’s homes up are independent contractors. “A lot of builders feature our homes. They build our homes and recommend or refer people to us,” says Clark. “We work with the code enforcement officer for permits, the builder (on scheduling) and the home owner…the bank…we’re involved.”

Customer Service a Priority
Beaver Mountain Log Homes prides itself on educating its consumers before they decided to build, and once they have made that decision, customer service is a priority.

“Once a month we have home-buying and building seminars. We have a Power Point presentation comparing log home companies and products and the first steps to shopping for log homes. It’s generic about log homes. It’s not a sales presentation.”

The company also offers mill tours. “That’s probably the next biggest thing that’s different,” he says. “We go above and beyond. The industry has historically been lacking in customer service—the housing industry has been lacking, not just log homes.”

It doesn’t end at education, though. “If there are issues in the field, where it’s our mistake or the builder’s mistake, we try to make it right,” says Clark. “One of our guys left at 2 in the morning to get a log to a home being built on Long Island for 8 am. to keep a job on schedule.”

The Construction Process
Construction time for Beaver Mountain Log Homes is on par with other log homes, he says, adding that while the logs may go up a little quicker, saving some time, more amenities, such as wooden floors and fireplaces, even things out. The typical construction cycle is four to six months.

“We do one room cabins, and a lot of fishing and hunting cabins for people coming up for the weekend,” says Clark. “We have done homes over 10,000 square feet, but typically they are in the 2,500 to 5,000 square-foot-range.

Beaver Mountain Log Homes don’t generally have the same problems of other log homes, according to Clark. The logs are air dried for up to four months and then kiln dried at the start of the manufacturing process, rendering them “relatively stable,” he says. After that, nothing stays outdoors. “We use 3/8-inch lag screws and bolt each log to the other as they’re going up,” he says. “There’s never settling. There’s usually compression from the weight.”

“These homes are becoming more refined,” says Clark. “The people who buy them don’t expect the wind to come through or to have problems. We use a double tongue and groove, a closed-cell foam gasket, caulking and those lag screws, through holes pre drilled in the factory.”

“A lot of homes were built as the log home industry started to come into its own, between 1980 and 1990. A lot of the companies started using green logs, they cut down trees and started building. Some of the problems you see are from this.”

As with conventional, stick-built homes, Clark says builders putting up Beaver Mountain Log Homes tend to work year-round. “In the summer they build around the rain and in the winter, most builders are trying to get the shell up to work inside through at least January,” he says.

And while Clark says many folks are under the impression you don’t build in the winter, winter construction has its advantages. “There’s less mud, and you don’t have to deal with the rain,” says Clark. “If it snows, you can brush it off.”

“In the 1980s log homes were the inexpensive alternative. A lot of companies didn’t use Anderson windows or dry their logs,” says Clark. “(Today) If the amenities are the same, a log home will be slightly more. If you take a conventional home and put nice amenities in, you won’t be that far off. Engineered wood floors, masonry fireplaces, wooden cabinetry instead of veneer, blue stone countertops, these are becoming very popular.”

The wait time for delivery of what is essentially a ready to build home is about 10 weeks. “I know if you’re getting materials that are not cut, I’ve seen ads in magazines for as fast as 10 or 14 days,” says Clark. “And we have shipped houses in under 10 weeks. We have one now where the foundation is poured and they’re ready to go. We will be delivering that in four weeks.”

“When we precut the house, we dry stack it. There’s only a couple of companies that do this as standard on every home,” says Clark. “We invite the customer to come look at their house dry stacked in the warehouse before we take it down and ship it to them. More than half do. They look at the logs, and maybe they have an accent piece or prefer some particular types of knots. If they want a log changed because it’s in the wrong place for them, we do that, then reuse those logs elsewhere.”

The diameter of most logs that go into Beaver Mountain Log Homes is 10 inches, offering approximately the same insulation R-value as an insulated wall framed of 2x6 lumber, but the company also produces what Clark calls insulated log walls.

“This is a framed wall with log siding on the outside and a choice of finishes on the inside—sometimes sheetrock or pine—perhaps a diamond pattern in the tongue and groove. It’s typical standard construction.”

These walls are built in panels and may make sense in certain floor plans, such as a design with walls less than two feet long, or in a bay window. They also make sense if a section of stone clad exterior is planned

“If you’re just thinking I’ll want a log home one day, there’s hand-crafted, milled logs, hand-peeled or hand-hewn. We do milled logs with rustic finishing,” says Clark. “Handcrafted is a whole different animal. Engineering wise, you have to account for settling. We’ve decided that’s not a market we’re shooting for.”

A Special Niche
So how do customers find Beaver Mountain Log Homes, in the dense forest of log home competition?

Clark contributes some of the company’s success to its direct-sales niche. “Customers are very well educated in the log home industry, and that’s our best buyer,” he says. “There’s a whole industry out there from super cheap to super expensive and you do need to know what you’re buying. It’s like buying a car. A BMW is a performance car and a Mercedes is a luxury car.”

“Dealerships are tough,” adds Clark. “I know most companies have dealers and dealers do come and go. We like selling direct, having that one-on-one contact and not having the dealer be the middle man.”

There’s talk of mergers among some log home companies, he says, adding “So you may see some super companies. There’s an entrepreneurism that evolves and says where do we want to go?”

“We like our market niche. We’re very comfortable going direct,” says Clark. “We don’t want to be the biggest but we pride ourselves on being one of the best. Over 60 percent of our business comes from referrals, so if you were to knock on the door and talk to the homeowners, I think you would hear a lot about the way they were (treated).”

Beaver Mountain Log Homes also makes a point of buying the best materials, not the cheapest, says Clark, adding “You can’t get it at lumber yards. When we go to buy, we have selected suppliers. When we need a pack of 2x4s, we go to our suppliers. Most of our packs, you can use every piece in it and they all have square corners. That’s the kind of quality we expect from our suppliers and that’s what makes it easier for builders.”

25 Years in the Business
Reflecting on his first 25 years in the log home business, Clark says that in addition to improvements in the homes and a amenities, it’s the buyer that has changed the most.

“25 years ago it was an alternative,” he says. “People looked at it as a do-it-yourself project to save money. When we first started, over 50 percent were do-it-yourselfers. Now, maybe, not ever 10 percent are. A lot of it is a pride thing, for those customers. They want to put the logs in and then they have someone come into to shingle the roof.”

Clark says most of what Beaver Mountain Log Homes sells are year-round homes for baby boomers and others looking toward retirement and spending more time at home.

Beaver Mountain Log Homes’ manufacturing site fills about 13 acres, smaller by comparison to some other companies. “We’re not a sawmill,” says Clark. “When you talk about other log home companies, they have what you consider to be a larger foot print because half or more of their business is a sawmill. They bring in trees.”

“We consider ourselves a large woodworking shop and we bring in timbers,” says Clark. “We’re custom crafted, not a high-production company, doing 500 homes a year.”

Beaver Mountain Log Homes employs between 40 and 50 people, with some seasonal fluctuation. “We do a lot of bench work,” says Clark. “The people who work for us are not considered to just be laborers. A lot of the people here are definitely craftsmen. Some have been carpenters in the field or other industries. Our production manager was a production manager in a machine shop setting. It’s a lot different, versus a piece of steel, but there’s still a process that needs to go into it.”

A Devoted Customer Base
Clark says many customers brought photo albums to October’s celebration, and some got reacquainted with the company. “You make friends when you’re doing a home,” he says. “We’ve gone back to do a lot of additions and makeovers, or to finish off a basement. We’ve had several customers where maybe one family bought a house, then another, then a third.”

Most Beaver Mountain Log Homes are on secondary roads, often set back in more wooded areas, according to Clark. “This is dream in their mind. They’re picturing a dream…and this is what they’re seeing. That’s what we say, come to the mountains and make your dream come alive.”

For More Information…
For more information about Beaver Mountain Log Homes, visit their showroom on Route 17/I-86 in Hancock, NY. Showroom hours are Monday through Saturday from 9 am to 4 pm. You can also call them at 1 800 233 2770 or visit their Web site at www.beavermtn.com.