Spray Foam Insulation

We will be offering polyurethane spray foam insulation as an option for our cabins this coming year. Urethane cannot be beat for R-Value per inch and for insulating a home or cabin. At R-6.9 per inch as opposed to R-3.8 for fiberglass, it will pay for itself in a relatively short time, not to mention the air tight seal it provides. We will even be able to offer urethane on our remote jobs since we are able to break our equipment down to fit in a small plane or even an ATV trailer. Spray foam is significantly higher in price than fiberglass but the value is obvious when the temperature is below zero and you are using much less fuel than you will with conventional insulation. “In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” ― Albert Camus

2013 Pricing

We have always been a little behind the curve on our pricing. We had a very small price increase in 2010 but we have held the pricing since that time even though our operating costs have gone up significantly since that time. Unfortunately we have found it necessary to increase our pricing again effective January 1, 2013. The amount of the increase has not yet been determined but we will publish it on our blog later next month. Naturally, any contracts before January 1 will be kept at the current pricing so if you have plans to build in 2013, let us know so we can schedule you for the upcoming season.
Best Regards
Jay Friesen

The Free Cabin for a Family in Need!

Last fall we solicited submittals from folks that were in need of a home. We asked for a short letter describing the need and we had several stipulations. The building lot needed to be free and clear, the candidate must show the ability to finish the cabin and it must be a primary residence. We selected a candidate and started the actual building last week. We hope to do something similar in the future but we will use a different process to select the candidates. We have built free cabins several times in the past and we hope to do so in the future. We believe in helping our neighbor in whatever small way we can and I can say we have received much encouragement from our staff and customers. We will be posting updates on Facebook and on this blog. For unto whomever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more. LUKE 12:48

It's Here!

Winter is here, I guess we might as well accept it. For over twenty years we have had a very active winter building season. Many of our remote sites are much easier to access in winter so some winters are as busy as summer. If you have a remote cabin to build, let us know and we can start planning for it. Too often I would hear men boast of the miles covered that day, rarely of what they had seen. Louis L'Amour Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/l/louis_lamour.html#EHCKQMpwxQWgXjME.99

State Fair

Well, the State Fair was great! We had many past clients and friends stop by on the purple trail. Many interested parties also came by to get started planning for their future cabins. The Fair is a long term investment for us. Most people that meet us at the Fair are a few years away from building but it is never too soon to start planning. “Just when you think it can't get any worse, it can. And just when you think it can't get any better, it can.” ― Nicholas Sparks, At First Sight

Installing insulation baffles in your rafters

One of the most common questions I get is about insulation in the rafters. In order to keep air flow from the eaves to the ridge or vented attic space, you need to install baffles between your rafters to keep the insulation from lofting and blocking the air flow. We have created a video to get you on the right track. Hope it helps.

Summer at last!

The summer has been a busy one so far. We have projects in Homer, Delta, Fairbanks, Palmer, Trapper Creek, Soldotna and Talkeetna underway as we speak. We have been able to stay ahead of schedule and we're trying to keep that trend going. We still have start dates available later in the summer and fall so don't hesitate to contact us. Thich Nhat Hanh: “Every morning, when we wake up, we have twenty-four brand-new hours to live. What a precious gift! We have the capacity to live in a way that these twenty-four hours will bring peace, joy, and happiness to ourselves and others.”

Break-up

Well, the winter season is almost over. We still have a few projects on local lakes but we will quit driving on them in a couple of weeks.
The ground won't be completely thawed for another month or two but we are starting new work now.
We still have a couple of start dates in April and May which are traditionally slow because of road restrictions and break-up. Meanwhile, we are taking orders for kits to ship in May and June.



It takes but one positive thought when given a chance to survive and thrive to overpower an entire army of negative thoughts.
Robert H. Schuller Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/positive_2.html#AGkB0A5XIY2H1ZP9.99

Summer is coming!

We are gearing up for a very busy season this year. We have projects lined up in Fairbanks, Talkeetna, Delta, Homer and all points between so far. We still have some start dates available however, so don't hesitate to contact us.
We are in the process of developing some new plans this year as well and we welcome any suggestions.
We will be building the 'Free cabin for a family in need' in June and will be posting pictures on our Facebook page as we progress.








Happiness is like a butterfly; the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder ...


- Henry David Thoreau

A Real Winter Indeed!

Well, we are having a real winter this year. You hear everyone talk about how much colder it was back in the day but if you look at the actual weather data from the 70's, 80's and 90's, we had some warm winters back then too. When I came here in 1978, I was told that it was much colder in the 50's and 60's and I'm sure it was but this winter has been unusual in that we have a lot of snow and it has been real cold on top of it.
It hasn't slowed our construction down however. We have some of the best off road travel conditions ever.
We will be freighting for another three months or so, so now is the time to have us do your cabin or at least freight the material for a summer build.
See you on the trail!




The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair.
Douglas Adams (1952 - 2001), Mostly Harmless

2012

2011 was a really busy year and 2012 is looking strong as well. Our website traffic has more than doubled since last year at this time so we are gearing up for a busy season. We have become known for our off road projects but most of our projects have some road access. Most of our clients are from Alaska but many are from the lower 48 and are building vacation homes and others are having us build their primary residence.
Now is the time to schedule for summer work. We still have a few start dates available for summer and fall work but they usually go pretty fast this time of year. We have many projects scheduled throughout the state for this year and we are scheduling some for 2013.
Thankfully, Alaska hasn't been hit as hard economically as the rest of the country and we have been able to keep all of our crews working throughout the downturn.
The cabin kits have become more and more popular and we are constantly trying to improve our product to make them easier to build. Most folks have opted for the built-on-site cabins but if you have the time, the kits are a good option.
We look forward to seeing you in 2012!




He has a right to criticize who has a heart to help.
Abraham Lincoln