Inspired by Nature. Imaged by You. Crafted by Us.
About Frontier Builders
History
In 1982, Jerry Wait moved his family to the Northern
Wisconsin town of Land O' Lakes. He had a dream,
literally, about a handcrafted log home nestled in a
pine forest, surrounded by nature's artwork. He began
his journey by gaining knowledge about handcrafted
log homes from every book and experienced builder
he could find. With the help of family, he crafted the
image in his dream into the family homestead. Many
people stopped to observe the building of, what at that
time, was a unique home. Before he completed his
home, Jerry found himself contracted to craft log
homes for some of these visitors. From that humble
beginning, came the creation of Frontier Builders.
As the years have passed, Jerry has been sharing his
knowledge and experience with his peers, employees,
and family. He has held the position of President of
the International Log Builders Association, President
of Great Lakes Logcrafters Association and President
of the Headwaters Builders Association. The biggest
benefactors of his knowledge and experience has been
his son, Dan.
Dan has begun the transition to lead Frontier Builders
into the future. Dan was one of Frontier's first
employees. He was instrumental in hosting a
weeklong log home building class, held in our log
yard, for individuals interested in learning the
techniques of handcrafting. His commitment to
service and quality is apparent in every project we do.
Throughout the years, Frontier Builders has been
active in the community, crafting a memorial for the
Veterans of Foreign War, donating a log building for
the Land O' Lakes Chamber of Commerce office and
building a log cabin for the Northwoods Children's
Museum.
We are proud to call Land O' Lakes, Wisconsin our
home!a
Indoor Construction
Most builders of hand-
scribed homes perform
their operations outdoors
due to logistical and
construction reasons.
Frontier Builders began
their company by constructing their homes one at a
time at an outdoor “log yard” facility. But after dealing
with the inclement weather for a decade and trusting
“mother nature” to dictate our construction schedule,
we took matters into our own hands (literally) and
built a 14,000 square foot controlled-environment
facility. This investment has paid dividends in the
form of satisfied customers whose homes were
completed in a timely manner and whose raw
materials, and Craftsmen were not subjected to the
wear and tear of the elements during the construction
process.
Eco-friendly
What can be more eco-friendly than building a hand-
crafted log home. Not only do use nature’s finest raw
materials, we construct them in a building heated
with our “waste.” We heat the building with peeling
scraps and cut off’s from our building process. In our
continuing efforts to be cost effective and implement
green practices, our wood is kiln-dried with our own
wood scrap or wood pellets, a GREEN and locally
grown fuel source.
Competitive Pricing
Frontier Builders believe the old adage that
competition makes everyone better. As a matter of
fact, one of the important lesson’s Dan’s father taught
him was to listen to, and emulate other successful
builders. So to give you a completed home “ballpark
cost” projection, hand crafted log homes can range
from $150.00 to over $300.00 per square foot for a
turn-key structure. This price will be impacted by the
selected building styles, log sizes, wall heights, ceiling
designs, and levels of detail in the building. This is
why high quality construction plans are so important.
If you don’t want to pay for a formal plan, sketch
something up, to scale, with elevations, give us a call
and we’ll sit down and come up with a ruff estimate
cost. If all you have is a little sketch, have someone do
some design work, there is no substitute for good
plans. It’s a very important first step in the building
process.