Log Homes and Timber Frame Homes Architect and Designer, Rand Soellner - Designs luxury log homes, timber frame homes, post and beam homes, log and timber homes and other heavy timber construction styles. These rustic homes are often designed with a unique use of rock and glass. Rand's many log home designs and log lodge building designs have given him specialized experience in both residential and commercial log and heavy timber projects. Rand Soellner is a North Carolina Architect and is also licensed in South Carolina and Florida.

Rand Soellner, Architect - Luxury Home Architect - Log Homes and Timber Frame Homes Designer - Rand Soellner, Architect - Designs Luxury Homes and commercial structures in post and beam and heavy timber construction.

Western North Carolina Architect - Rand Soellner designs Luxury Home Plans and commercial projects

randsoellner@earthlink.net

Construction Administration Video

Crane installing special Rand Soellner Architect-designed "SpaceSaver" attic trusses on mountain home.

CONSTRUCTION ADMINISTRATION SERVICES

Rand Soellner Architect offers Construction Administration services on many of its projects. These services are typically hourly, and include:

Shop Drawing & Shop Submittal Review (for conformance to project documents)
Substitution Request Review (for possible value engineering or project improvements)
Construction Site Visits & Reports
Construction Coordination Communications
Construction Problem Solving - Construction Document Addenda Creation & Distribution
Construction Document Updates Conforming to Actual Construction & Addenda
Document Reproductions
Coordination of Engineering & Other Disciplines For Construction Site Visits and Issues
Additional Detail Creation and Condition Clarifications
Punchlist Walk-Throughs and Reports: Multiple Progress, Substantial Completion, Final Completion
Selection of Appliances, Fixtures (Plumbing & Electrical), Colors, Finishes, Cabinets & Cabinet Hardware, Door Hardware and other items.

Rand Soellner, Architect recommends that you always have your architect involved in the construction process of your home. Going into construction without your architect is like having an operation without your surgeon. The value of Good Design will pay you back many fold when you have your home appraised and sold. Similarly, Good Construction helps you to insure that the quality you thought you were getting during the design process is what you receive during the actual building of the project.

Western North Carolina Architect - Log Homes and Timber Frame Homes Designer - Rand Soellner, Architect - Designs Luxury Homes and commercial structures in post and beam and heavy timber construction.

SITEWORK & MASTER PLANNING

One of our estate-home projects involves extensive culvert piping so large a person can walk through them. A 1/3 mile-long road that we master-planned is being constructed on a mountain site in Franklin, NC.

Western North Carolina Architect, Rand Soellner - Log Homes and Timber Frame Homes Designer - Rand Soellner, Architect - Designs Luxury Homes and commercial structures in post and beam and heavy timber construction.

FOUNDATIONS

In mountain environments, it is important to probe the geology of the site to determine if bedrock exists near the surface. If so, we may recommend pinning the foundations to the rock with epoxy-coated re-bars, to resist the tendency of the soil above from developing a shear plane during heavy rains. Also, quite often on mountain slopes, distances and slopes exceed the accessibility of concrete truck chutes and must be pumped, as the workers are doing on one of our projects to the left.

Log and Timber Frame Homes -- Western North Carolina Architect, Rand Soellner - Single family homes and multi family residential housing plans

SOME MOUNTAIN FOUNDATIONS CAN BE TALL

particularly on steep sites. Our consultant structural engineers work with us to optimize and strengthen cast-in-place reinforced concrete walls with buttresses to handle the height, wind load and bearing conditions. This is one of our large mountain estate homes now under construction in Lake Toxaway, NC. Over 10 miles of reinforcing bars were used in this foundation.

Log and Timber Frame Homes Architect -- Western North Carolina Architect, Rand Soellner - Single family homes and multi family residential housing plans

WE SCHEDULE & ADMINISTER YOUR PROJECT, FAST-TRACKING THE WORK

Rand Soellner Architect creates detailed schedules if you desire, working with the Contractor and Subcontractors to stack construction activities, assisting the coordination of the project.

ROOF FRAMING

Roof framing and exterior moisture barrier installation on the Coram Renovation & Addition, Scaly Mountain, NC.

ROOF SHEATHING

Falcon Cliff Lodge under construction in Cashiers, NC. Special roofing underlayment will soon waterproof the entire structure, accelerating interior building activities. Large log front posts enhance the lodge image of the home.

HYBRID SYSTEMS ENSURE STRENGTH WHILE SAVING MONEY

Here we are using prefabricated economical gang-nailed scissors roof trusses, which are typically installed in just one day. Afterward, we often come back inside after the structure is dried-in and add large softwood timbers decoratively, to give the real look and feel of post and beam timber and log construction, for pennies on the dollar. We also design authentic mortise & tenon timber structures as well, in association with structural engineers.

MANY HANDS MAKE THE WORK OF INSTALLING LARGER POSTS LIGHTER

Rand Soellner Architect, in association with its engineers, has developed a unique and surprisingly economical method of reinforcing tall gable window walls with timber posts that knit those 24 foot-plus tall wall framing members together to resist the 120+ mph winds that mountain homes can experience. The result is a wonderful exposed timber post detail that has a nice mountain lodge appearance that adds warmth to the space and value to the home.

Western North Carolina Architect, Rand Soellner - Log and timber - post and beam mountain homes architecture - Log Homes and Timber Frame Homes Designer - Rand Soellner, Architect - Designs Luxury Homes and commercial structures in post and beam and heavy timber construction.

12x12 posts & beams

define a structural coffered ceiling in a Kitchen-Breakfast-Keeping Room in one of Rand Soellner Architect's homes now under construction in the mountains.

LOG SETTING

7,000 pound, 35' tall 2' diameter debarked log post being set on Soellner mountain home project. Contractor used 23-ton crane to place the rear log posts and made short work of this mountain man-sized job.

Western North Carolina Architect, Rand Soellner - provides Log and Timber Homes Design for single family homes and multi family residential house plans

INSTALLATION OF HIGH ALTITUDE WINDOWS

Rand Soellner is the featured author of an article in Keller-Williams Spring 2005 Issue of On The Mountain. The article is called "The Do's & Don't's of Mountain Design & Construction: Windows" -- In this issue, Rand explains why thousands of windows in high-altitude locations have fogged, and how to prevent this. In the photo to the left, workmen install a clad wood double-hung window in one of Rand Soellner Architect's projects. After installing special polymer sealant to bond the window's nailing flange to the water barrier, special metallic tape is applied over the flange to further improve the substrate's water-repelling characteristics. During Construction Administration visits, this is the sort of process for which we look on your behalf.

ROOFING

Here is one of our projects receiving one of the industry's latest innovations (as featured on HGTV): Slate composition roofing tiles. It looks just like the real slate for a fraction of the cost and weight. This particular pattern was developed to resist 120mph wind load. Workers are using our value-engineered copper-oxide kynar coated metal (looks like copper for half the cost) for flashing over EcoStar's GlacierGuard waterproof underlayment (which seals around nails for a watertight peel & stick system). We are using stainless steel nails, which will last the life of the roof. This is a 50 guaranteed roof! Yes, the warrantee is transferable! Our clients are demanding low-maintenance materials and systems. We created a special mix of black, midnight gray and earth green to approximate real weathered slate roofs.

ARCHITECT MANAGES 50-YEAR ROOFING WARRANTEE INSPECTION &CERTIFICATION

Our clients want homes that are as maintenance-free as possible. At the top of this list is usually Roofing. Rand Soellner Architect likes to specify EcoStar's Majestic Slate composition roofing tiles and Glacier Guard underlayment on many of its projects, as Carlisle, EcoStar's parent company provides a 50-year warrantee on properly completed and inspected installations. Our desire is to satisfy clients' dreams of a luxury resort mountain home. One aspect of this means we can provide Construction Administration activities like coordinating and managing the certification-warrantee inspection above by the roofer and roofing system provider to provide you with not only peace of mind, but a significant resale feature with a transferable half-a-century warrantee on your roofing! Where else can you find that?

INSULATING MOUNTAIN HOMES, LOG HOMES, TIMBER HOMES, CASTLES

Our log homes, timber frame homes, castles and other home designs featured significant insulation values to lower your operating costs. In this particular Rand Soellner Architect home design, we used stick and truss framing with thick fiberglass roof insulation to result in the most economical insulation and structural solution. We are adding large timber members under the ceiling level to give the post and beam and log home feeling for cents on the dollar. Many people do not realize that a 6 inch thick pine log is only worth about R=7.5. The type of insulation we typically use in a 2x6 wall is R19 and in a 2x4 wall, a special high-efficiency R15.

CRAFTSMEN INSTALL COPPER GUTTERS & DOWNSPOUTS

Old-world craftsmanship is exercised when Rand Soellner Architect administers a project. Here, coppersmiths measure and cut copper gutters and downspouts on a Rand Soellner Architect log home and timber frame project. Rand Soellner value-engineers his projects so that you receive the maximum bang for your buck. Mr. Soellner has found that when specified appropriately, copper gutters and downspouts can be affordable to many clients.

SLATE TILE ROOF AND COPPER GUTTERS & DOWNSPOUTS

The beautiful slate tile roof above is actually a value-engineered slate composition roof tile from EcoStar that is a fraction of the cost of real slate, and comes with a 50-year warrantee. Contact Rand Soellner for log home, timber home and home designs that result in solutions like this!

Western North Carolina Architect, Rand Soellner - Log and timber - post and beam mountain homes architecture

HIGH TECHNOLOGY COMPANY WIRES SOELLNER HOMES

ComTec, one of the Carolinas' leading structured wiring companies, outfits many of our projects.

TECHNICIAN RUNNING HIGH-TECH CABLING

Our homes are typically prewired for:

Satellite TV-Digital Cabling-DVD
High-Speed Internet
Whole-House Music Speaker CD Systems
Surround Sound Media Centers
Security Systems through their consultant companies
Whole-house air-conditioning and heating remote phone adjustment via computerized controlled equipment
Whole-house lighting control system for dramatic light dimming settings and timed lighting sequences

They also trim-out the systems with state of the art flat screen TVs, multiple CD players, DVD players and other systems to satisfy your every need and dream.

HEATING, VENTILATION & AIR-CONDITIONING

Rand Soellner Architect will be on-site if you wish, to coordinate HVAC supply and return air outlet locations. We work with subcontractors to locate ceiling and floor diffusers as part of the overall pattern of lighting, speakers, security and other systems to result in a "designed" pattern that reinforces the concept for your project. We also specify such outstanding features as flush hardwood floor diffusers and 1911 decorative ceiling and wall cast iron and brass grills to have all aspects of your project of a high-design quality. Also, we coordinate with your subcontractors to help them locate runs for supply and return and condensate piping through structure and crawlspaces to result in an efficient system for you. We also insure that noisy outdoor compressors are located away from your bedroom and deck areas.

STONE MASONS WORKING WITH RAND SOELLNER

We enjoy participating during construction to see that you receive the quality of design conceived in our documents and maximum cost-savings for the best appearance and function. With this particular craftsman, a 3rd-generation stone mason, we guided the aesthetic placement of a combination of cultured stone and a new product, native stone which has been cut thin, which resulted in a magnificent Appalachian Lodge-Style fireplace that looks better than most native-stone heavy fireplaces for a fraction of the cost, weight, time and foundations. Our signature huge log $B!H(JFireplace Arms$B!I(J will soon be supporting a massive maple mantel.

See the Wealth page for financial reasons why you should hire an architect