I had been investigating log home companies for over 2 decades, and very seriously the last 3 years. I had chosen another company at first but every tweak and change was extra money. It occurred to me one day that I was paying a lot of money for a product I really didn’t love. A flooring manufacturer I was working with suggested I check out Real Log Homes and he knew one of the local representatives. I did some looking and saw that I could get everything I wanted and that C.M. Allaire & Sons, a Real Log Homes’ Independent Representative was close to me. That meant a lot! C.M. Allaire also built a log home for my cousin in the 90’s. They’ve represented Real Log Homes for over 40 years as one of their first Independent Reps and they’ve built log homes all over New England. When the other log home manufacturer I was considering went out of business, it struck me that you don’t stay in business for 40 years unless you know what you are doing and provide a quality product.
I went up to NH to make sure it Real Log Homes wasn’t just two guys in a garage cutting down trees. I toured the plant and met the team including Jim their director of design, Mike, one of their sales reps, and Bob, the director of manufacturing. They were creative, very helpful and flexible. Even their input on everything “non log” was invaluable and greatly appreciated. I felt like I had partners helping me with the home, not just the logs.
I returned with my wife and children to see our logs in production. I am forever grateful to Bob and the RLH team for letting us visit. We even had the dog with us! We covered all the concerns and took lots of pictures in the plant. It felt good to see the entire shop filled with our house.
Real Log Homes’ Independent Representative, Dave and his crew at C.M. Allaire were the right choice too. I visited the other houses they were building, so the crew got to see a lot of me before we even signed the deal. I was concerned, of course, because this was a huge investment and you never know who you are hiring, and the Swedish cope style is very uncommon out here. But, one day during that first week of log construction I noticed how every log was placed with care. Everything was leveled, squared, and adjusted. It was comforting to see them adjusting these huge logs by a fraction of an inch. I knew right then this was the right crew to build a safe, sturdy home for my family. As the weeks marched on, the crew proved they understood customer service over and over again. Polite, thoughtful, always time for questions and explanations –always helping me make the right decisions. And they are hard workers.
My hope was to return to NH to pick/view the interior log posts to be sure they looked great. Unfortunately, I did not have the time so I was a little nervous. When I arrived at the site, they were already in place and I started to panic, but then watched as the crew put up the last post. They were having a discussion as to which end should be the top, which way it should face, where the best character in the log was, etc. I knew right then that this was the right crew to build my dream log home. They constantly met or exceeded my expectations. When I was looking to change something or do something different, it was almost effortless. They were very accommodating, we would discuss why I wanted to change, what it would impact, and how it would look. Within a short time, they knew how to recognize things I would question/change and would adjust accordingly. They would give me time to weigh big choices without it hurting their production schedule. It was easy to trust them. There’s a ton of detail work going on right now, and it is being handled as such – I am very, very impressed and pleased. All in all RLH and C.M. Allaire were the right choice, and that should mean something after 25 years of building this thing in my head….
Jason Arabian, Big River Lodge, Rhode Island
