Building a Cabin

[Soln]

It could be my age,  but I find myself fascinated these days with the idea of someday building my own cabin.  There's a great blog of a guy off the NYT who is doing this:  From the Ground Up.  He started this Winter and he's blogging each stage of the construction.

Also worth reading is the amazing Dick Proenneke and watching the home movies he made when in '68 he built with no power tools his own cabin in Alaska (Alone in the Wilderness" sometimes shown on PBS).  Both of these narratives really intrigue me not for the Waldenesque Romance, since this is hard work, but maybe the craftsmanship.  Anyone ever built a house?

[Signe]

Please explain.  Are you very elderly or very young, my old Soln?

[craan]

One of the things that impressed me the most was how ol' Richard found some old tree stumps and turned them into the hinges(?) for the door to his cabin.  Brilliant.

[Yegolev]

I paid people to build my house.  I mostly learned two things: building a house is hard work, and I could have done it better with enough time.

Currently I am tasked with building a pool house.  Not being a fool, I intend to purchase pre-fabricated trusses (one day in the future).  From there, I assume it will just be lots of hard work and comedy.   OK, I do have one more solid item: I am building it on a concrete slab so I'm going to check on what is available to have it raised a couple of inches off the slab, likely with some sort of metal posts anchored in the slab.

[Selby]

I've built a house - not my own, and not 100% of it.  It definitely is hard work, and yes, you can do considerably better than contractor's men can since you tend to give a shit about the final product.  Caulk and joint compound are your friend.

[CharlieMopps]

 Dick Proenneke walked into the woods with nothing more than the HEADS to the tools he needed. He whittled the handles when he got there... that's nutz.

[Sky]

Proenneke is my hero. Many years ago, my plan was to get a straight job, stash enough money to buy some land, basic supplies and have a rainy day fund. Then pull a Proenneke and disappear onto my property for a few years.

Though as other have, I did harness that desire enough to do work on my own house, and did a better job than the stuff I contracted out, though it took longer and I did make a few mistakes. I'm in the process of turning my 1930's rather plain little house into a Craftsman. Going to start working softwoods until I'm good enough to get quarter-sawn oak. This summer I'm doing a few maintenance projects, but my main goal is to build my workbench and start woodworking. Going to start with trim work and simple pieces, working up to putting in built-ins in the library. Sure, I won't be Stickley, but when it's $2500 for a bookcase, close is good enough imo.

Luckily, I love chunky simple pieces that show off the wood and joinery with no frills.

Right now my biggest wish is that I could afford some wooded acreage with some decent trees to get lumber (I know a guy with a mill) and crap trees for firewood. If I ever get there (planned for after I pay off my dern truck), I'll probably put up some god-awful excuse for a cabin.

[CharlieMopps]

Shop around... I'm an avid woodworker. I drive about an hour to this guys place... he has several small barns that he drys wood in, and then a large plainer and belt sander. There's boutique guys like that all over. You just have to find them. I found my guy through a cabinet maker I met. Those are the people to ask.

And, you don't want to buy wooded land, clear cut it, and resell it... that's a bad idea. You want to find a neibor that's complaining about a huge tree in their yard. Tell them "Don't worry, I'll take care of it" I've done that a couple of times and ended up with several large oaks a an absolutely ancient walnut. Hope you have a trailer 

[Sky]

Clear cut? I don't want enough wood to build a house and furnish it and have enough firewood for 20 years. I just want a nice big patch of trees so I can wack a few down every year and replant it.

[CharlieMopps]

If you plant an oak today, your great grand kids would be the ones that could cut it down and use it. Hard woods grow sloooow. Also, when you cut the tree, you have to leave it lay to dry for several years before you can use it. There's a formual, something like 1year per 2" thick, but I forget. You'd have to look it up. If you plank out hardwood too soon, it will warp and split.

[apocrypha]

My girlfriend's parents built their own house in Milton Keynes. They started in 1972 and are hoping to be finished in the next 5 years or so.

[Soln]

Please explain.  Are you very elderly or very young, my old Soln?

Sadly my dear I am middle in-between. 


Yeah, I was enjoying that film about Dick Proenneke and slowly becoming in awe when all he had were tool heads and files to sharpen them with.  But when he made the door handle to the cabin and then a lock all by hand and from wood... well, I think I paused the show at that moment and had to walk around the house for a bit.     

[Merusk]

My girlfriend's parents built their own house in Milton Keynes. They started in 1972 and are hoping to be finished in the next 5 years or so.

 

[Selby]

My girlfriend's parents built their own house in Milton Keynes. They started in 1972 and are hoping to be finished in the next 5 years or so.

Seriously.  I've known some people like that who started back in the late 1950's or early 1960's and hope one day to be finally finished (one unfortunately did not make it before dying and estate selling).  It's not like the place is empty and barren, but progress is definitely slow and it's the definition of "work in progress."  When you get to the point where you started by putting up a 1 bedroom shack with a toilet\shower corner and a kitchen, and have added on 5 times to slowly get where you want (over 30 years) the house ends up looking like a trainwreck to a degree (pier and beam for half, concrete slab for the other half, different architecture styles, different electrical and plumbing, etc).

[apocrypha]

Yeah I was kinda joking a little bit, the house has been livable in for 25 years, it's just that they got into the "self build" mentality and have never managed to get out of it. Her dad is 70 next year and he's still planning on major projects like re-doing the staircase, building a conservatory, finishing the garage etc. They completely re-did their dining room & kitchen last year and twice he managed to give himself a mains electrical shock and at one point nearly had a built-in fridge/freezer unit fall on him.

Unfortunately I think it's going to take a very serious incident for them to realise that they really are too old for a lot of this stuff now 

[ShenMolo]

I've had a similar dream floating around for years.

Knowing my own limitations, and design style, I like the idea of a prefab cabin. Order the parts from the factory pre-cut, and voila:

Little Cabin in the Woods

[Bunk]

My mother's family built log cabins as a hobby in rural Nova Scotia in the 50s. My grandmother and three of her sons still lived in one of the cabins they built when I visited them in the late 70s.

[CharlieMopps]

I actually want to buy a bunch of those giant cement sewer pipes... you know the 10ft diameter ones... Bury them in a hillside to make an awsome hobbit-hole style house... Unfortunately there's all these lame building codes.... grrr....

[Sky]

If you build your own house, it's never really "done". Hell, just renovating a place yourself is never "done". Last night I was considering which walls I wanted to tackle this year. I'd like to do the last wall in the living room (that I've shown here before), but there's a lot of trim around the front window and I'd like to get some trim experience finishing out the other three walls before I tackle the last one...or maybe it's better to do the fourth now and do all the trim at once. Kitchen walls could also use some updating (all the exterior walls are paneling over block, no insulation).

The lead option is ripping the front room out, because that would give access to a plumber to set up the gas lines for the eventual new stove and fireplace. But if I'm going to rip out those walls, I also need to work out how I want the electrical set up, probably a cat6 drop or two, maybe even a new run of heating ductwork...and then I need to envision how I'm going to set up all the built-in bookshelves so I can lay out all the aforementioned systems inside the walls in a functional way.

So much goddamned planning.

Also have to rebuild my shed roof (per insurance  ) and then there's the stone pavers I want to put out back so I can roll my grill from the garage to the patio. And the stone pavers in front so I can tear up the cheesy blacktop sidewalk/patio.

And this is before we start thinking about the addition we'd like to put on when she moves in.

It never ends!

[Merusk]

Well, owning a house period means you're always going to have projects - big or small.  I'm trying to decide if I'm going to build the pergola this year or finish the perimeter fence garden first, myself. Thats along with several interior projects I haven't been able to finish since the industry went tits-up and my bonuses (which were what always funded said projects) went away.   When I hear "not done" I inerpret that to "not livable."  Thus, the 

I've had a similar dream floating around for years.

Knowing my own limitations, and design style, I like the idea of a prefab cabin. Order the parts from the factory pre-cut, and voila:

Little Cabin in the Woods

My grandparents did this about 17 years ago on their lot in Alabama.  The house is great, but had a few structual issues that had to be fixed after the fact.  In all they seem to be great places to live in so long as you can manage the upkeep and the bees, but that's any home.

[Salamok]

I've had a similar dream floating around for years.

Knowing my own limitations, and design style, I like the idea of a prefab cabin. Order the parts from the factory pre-cut, and voila:

Little Cabin in the Woods

from user comments via your link:

With a few clicks on the multiple links listed, quite a bit of additional information is available. The Method Home\’s site lists the Method Cabin size at 1811 sq ft, 3BR, 2 Bath. Although I have not found finished costs available, previous posts (also linked) estimated costs between $150 and $250/sq ft (yeah, big range). The Method Home\’s site briefly mentioned available solar hookups, LEED 2.0 Gold standards, and other sustainability items. Still too expensive overall, but more eye candy to build ideas from.

What a load of crap $150-$250 is about the same price range for having a home built (albeit thats a home not located in BFE w/o road access).

[ShenMolo]

I've had a similar dream floating around for years.

Knowing my own limitations, and design style, I like the idea of a prefab cabin. Order the parts from the factory pre-cut, and voila:

Little Cabin in the Woods

from user comments via your link:

With a few clicks on the multiple links listed, quite a bit of additional information is available. The Method Home\’s site lists the Method Cabin size at 1811 sq ft, 3BR, 2 Bath. Although I have not found finished costs available, previous posts (also linked) estimated costs between $150 and $250/sq ft (yeah, big range). The Method Home\’s site briefly mentioned available solar hookups, LEED 2.0 Gold standards, and other sustainability items. Still too expensive overall, but more eye candy to build ideas from.

What a load of crap $150-$250 is about the same price range for having a home built (albeit thats a home not located in BFE w/o road access).

Yea, that link is more for the idea than for that actual product. Too often "modern design" is synonymous with "stupidly expensive". I have found similar prefab designs out there that cost less than the one linked to, but couldn't remember where I found them. That link gives the idea though.

[Soln]

from the From the Ground Up blog this link to the Shelter Institute which offers courses in home building and timber framing.  Hm.



And for those who want Hobbit hole go to Wales (Low Impact Woodland Home).



I also once read and saw photos that someone was building Hobbit holes on the West Coast to rent, but couldn't find it.

[apocrypha]

And for those who want Hobbit hole go to Wales (Low Impact Woodland Home).

That is awesome. My brother is moving to Wales in the summer, that's just the kind of thing I can see him wanting to do (but never getting round to...).

[ShenMolo]

Alas, the housing market bust killed a Middle Earth themed subdivision in Oregon:

Foreclosing Middle Earth

[Phildo]

http://designbuildbluff.com/

Not necessarily cabins, but a group of architecture students goes out every year, designs and then builds a house themselves.  I got to help out a little on one of the projects a few years.

[Yegolev]

a group of architecture students

Danger!  Danger!

[apocrypha]

What should the collective noun be for architecture students?

A block? A cul-de-sac? A flying buttress?

[Murgos]

What should the collective noun be for architecture students?

A block? A cul-de-sac? A flying buttress?

A collapse...

[Sky]

What should the collective noun be for architecture students?

A block? A cul-de-sac? A flying buttress?

A doucheful.

[Merusk]

What should the collective noun be for architecture students?

A block? A cul-de-sac? A flying buttress?

A doucheful.

Yes.

[Sky]

I'd really like to go back to school and become and architect. But I wouldn't build any style after Craftsman. I would love to build a nice authentic bungalow with tons of rich wood or a Queen Anne with updated tech throughout, but still have the great woodwork and layout. Unfortunately, I'd probably be better off trying the music business again.

[Signe]

Why do you think you'd have an easier time of it trying to break into the music business than being an architect?  I would think the opposite.  What am I missing, though?

[Sky]

To do my kind of architecture requires a level of taste and wealth that is pretty damned rare. If you could even assemble a team of craftsmen to do the building.

In short, few would want the kind of houses I'm talking about. But maybe I'm wrong, maybe people are tired of shoddily built houses full of cheap and toxic materials. Either way, the housing market is in the shitter and so is the economy, so it's just a pipe dream, and my pipe's been empty for years.

[Signe]

There is the whole housing market and economy thing, but if that changes you should fill your pipe up    and go for it.  I bet buckets of money that more people want to live in the sort of house you'd make rather than the sort I'd make.  Not that I'd ever make a house.  You know what I mean!