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.