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nicalisa
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# Posted: 1 Apr 2011 09:41pm
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Hi there fellow small cabin builders!!
We started our project 5 years ago to realize the dream of off the grid cabin ownership. We also increased the difficulty of building by buying a water access only property. So not only did we have to build it, but if we wanted it we had to cart it down an ocean inlet to get it to our beach....and then up the logging trail to the building site! somehow in our excitement of finding a piece of property at the 50k range on an ocean inlet in Beautiful BC dulled our understanding of the logistical challenges we were undertaking. (property out here is crazy expensive) So the pic is the before excavation.
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nicalisa
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# Posted: 1 Apr 2011 09:49pm
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For the first 2 years after we bought the property, it looked exactly the same at the picture above. no $$s to do the work, but lots of dreams for the future. Then a minor miracle happened. My parents sold their share of their summer property and gave each of the kids 10k to use as they wished. That was it. We were going to get the place cleared up a bit for a driveway and cabin space.
Now, back to the water access only issue....not too many people willing to come out at a reasonable price. I called around for 5 straight months to try to find someone to do the work for us. Finally I called the water taxi company to arrange a visit out there to look at how hard it would be to do it ourselves. The water taxi owner told us that a neighbor out in the area had a machine in at that moment. So we went out there, negotiated a deal and got the driveway in and the building site cleared! When it was done the cabin site had a great ocean peek a boo view. Who knew!
Now it was time to make plans about getting some materials out there!
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nicalisa
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# Posted: 1 Apr 2011 10:05pm
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Barging materials is a great option out here, however to load and unload a barge by hand with 2 people would have been a really expensive way to spend 2 back breaking days.
So I came up with the bright idea (ha) to rent a moving truck, load it with everything we would need to build and furnish the cabin, put the truck on the barge, take the truck off the barge onto our beach, drive it back up to our site, load it back onto the barge, and then off load back onto the main land. Nice idea I thought.
Things to remember if you ever think that this is a good idea (though you are all likely much smarter than me on this esp. if you are boaters) With the size of a 5 ton moving van, the angle of the ramp, and the lovely soft sand, getting on and off of a small barge was the most challenging, difficult, and dangerous thing I was ever stupid enough to propose we try. If it were not for the only person who lives at that beach year round and his 30 year old pick up, we would be the proud owners of a moving van, loaded with all of our tools, and materials which was sitting at the bottom of an ocean.
To my husbands credit, he has never told me how crazy I was to make him do this. He instead just raises his eyebrows each time someone asks us how we got out stuff over and shakes his head.
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Just
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# Posted: 1 Apr 2011 10:08pm
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great start nic , got a pic of that view ?? you on the mainland or island ??
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nicalisa
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# Posted: 1 Apr 2011 10:14pm
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One thing that I will never understand about BC is the cost of lumber. Just over the border in the land of the moderately priced, our 2x4s are almost half price.....and they come from the woods above where we were building our cabin!!!
So the most cost effective way to get the basic building supplies was the buy a Shed kit that came with cedar siding. We framed according to the instructions in our backyard and realized that a shed was really short. much head scratching, and our neighbor came by and suggested we add 3 feet additions to the top of our walls. Well, that made sense so we framed it up and one day loaded it onto the moving van of stupidity.
We only had to buy 3 feet around of cedar siding to finish the rest. Thank god for craigslist where we found everything that was not part of the shed kit that we needed to build and furnish the cabin.
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hattie
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# Posted: 1 Apr 2011 10:27pm
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nicalisa: Welcome to the forum. *S* I am thoroughly enjoying your thread. Keep it coming. I can't wait to read more. *S*
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nicalisa
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# Posted: 1 Apr 2011 10:33pm - Edited by: nicalisa
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Just
We are on the mainland but along the coast no road access. Might as well be an island for all the fuss of getting things over. The view on our beach is a huge expanse of water on one side, and the water surrounded by mountains on the other. I don`t have a pic of the view from our deck on my computer, but attached one from up the beach that is close to what we have.....ours has less leaves, but it give you an idea of what we are looking at from the front deck:)
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nicalisa
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# Posted: 1 Apr 2011 11:07pm
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so about off the grid appliances on a shoestring.
I mentioned that Craigslist was our plan for picking up everything we needed on teeny tiny budget right.
So with our little guys at home, it was important to us (me) to have cold milk etc. which means a fridge, and the means to bake a cake because what is a cabin in the middle of an old growth forest without a warm chocolate cake to attract the bears right.....(don`t ask, I assure you my husband already has gone on.....and on......about my ideas around needs for our lil bush wacked retreat)
So we found a late 70s harvest gold model vangaurd, pick up top camper on craigslist (don`t know who craig is but I owe him a big kiss!) We talked to the current owner and paid his 300 dollars, plus an extra fee to allow us to take it apart, pull out the appliances, oven, burners, lights, windows, regulators....ah heck, we took everything that a sledge hammer, saws all, and assorted tools would allow us. The extra fee was to have him haul the scrap metal to the yard for us.
Cost 350.00
Watching your two little boys (2 and 7) with jean and no shirts helping their dad (wearing a wife beater, jeans, with a sledge hammer in hand) dismantle a camper...priceless. Looked like something out of the beverly hillbillies. So I not only got a great laugh and memory, but I also got my fridge and stove which are in perfect working condition:) and later loaded on the moving van of my hubbies discontent:)
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nicalisa
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# Posted: 1 Apr 2011 11:36pm
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On storage of your things before you have your cabin built.
Well, by the time we got all of our building supplies, furniture, wood stove, lovely lovely appliances, and boxes of glasses, dishes, tools, etc. over there it was already August. (why I needed dishes at that point I have no idea, but there was room in the truck and I figured how often would we be barging over a truck) It takes a lot of time and planning to make so many mistakes over a summer! No time to get a cabin up to lock up for 2 people with no heavy machines, (hell, some days I would have taken light machines), two small children, and very little idea of how to build a birdhouse.
So what did I determine was an acceptable storage unit to house all of our valuables in the mean time..a garden gazebo. Heck, that has to stand up to a BC winter right...I mean how much damage can rain do....didn`t count on the fact that we would have the worst snow storms of 100 years. So we packed up our belongings into large tarps at the end of the summer and wrapped them like a great big Christmas package with a garden gazebo over the top.
So I don`t have a picture of what the gazebo looked like 4 months later, but it was something like this:
Luckily the next summer the building began and my harebrained ideas were just warming up:) the next few posts will have the actual cabin pics attached as we moved through the building process.
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turkeyhunter
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# Posted: 2 Apr 2011 06:59am
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good read----looking forward to MORE!!!!!
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BlaineHill
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# Posted: 2 Apr 2011 11:56pm
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I thought I was up against a challenge, but with $1500/acre land, easy access and no building restrictions I guess you have given me a new perspective. Thank you for posting your story and be sure to post cabin pics as you go.
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MikeOnBike
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# Posted: 4 Apr 2011 04:09pm
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Quoting: nicalisa actual cabin pics attached as we moved through the building process.
Looking forward to your posts. Great story, thanks for sharing your adventure.
We are starting our 10x14 in about 6 weeks. I'm always looking for good ideas and lessons learned.
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nicalisa
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# Posted: 4 Apr 2011 09:22pm
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To be or not to be.....nope.....To permit or not to permit that is the question.!
So here we are at year 2.
The age old question of to permit or not to permit came up. I called the district and they said, well if it is close to 100ft they won't bother you....but if you want a permit, the septic has to be installed and the health ticket issued before the bylaws department will issue a permit. Well in beautiful BC the septic installers are also the regulators so the prices in the past few years have increased X 3....really??? That is like giving the fox the keys to the hen house! anyway long story short we didn't have the 30k to get the septic in so made the determination that we would try to keep it to 100 ish square feet....I guess 160 isn't that far off!
The inspector flew over to a near by logging camp and noticed that there was a nice new roof on a newly cleared piece of property....opps:) ...he asked a neighbor how big the cabin was and the neighbor said....well, I haven't a complaint about that lil old cabin and given that this is a complaint driven system...well, he hasn't been back....yet!
Usually they send a warning, make you apply for the permit and charge you double for your error of an early start for your permit costs:) So we have decided to ask for forgiveness if we get that notice tacked to our door:)
So back to building.
Day 1
We selected the spot and tried to level the land with a shovel and a quad. There is only 1 "cabin" that overlooks our property. The owner is one of the guys that cleared our land. He and the other two land clearing guys were sitting on the deck, drinking a beer and watching us. They are all builders by trade so they must have had many giggles watching us in our inexperience. Now if we were not in the middle of the wilderness with no electricity, I am sure that we would have been posted on you tube with some colorful descriptions about why city folk should not be allowed in the wild with power tools.
They let it go on for about 5 hours before strolling down to our site and asking if we needed some help....uh, yup. So after some back and forth we decided that what we needed was someone who had some skills that we were lacking, and we hired one to be our PM, and teacher, and we would be the students and do the work. Except the roof which we contracted out to the three of them.
Do I think that we could have done it....yes, and it may have made it through the winter....maybe.
But the real question is can we do it now and the answer is yes without question. We have learned so much through this process. So in the end, we did the framing, they helped us put it together, and they did the roof and installed the wood stove. We did all of the finishing, wiring, doors, windows, insulating and inside work.
So with their help in 6 months at the end of year 2 this is the start of base camp.
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nicalisa
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# Posted: 4 Apr 2011 09:39pm
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So year three we started the year off with a warm and dry roof and walls around us!
Yay!!!!
This year, The Loft. So I went to the trusty internet and found the formula to calculate load to ensure that we used the proper size boards for stability. We also wanted to install cupboards, a front deck, and build in bench seats around the table that would hinge at the top that that they would double as wood/paper storage for the stove. We also wanted to stain the exterior to make the wood last.
And low and behold by the end of year 3 we had it all complete. Plus some extras! We wanted to build a woodshed. The "guys" offered to help. Well we now have a woodshed of gigantic proportions (bigger than the cabin to be sure) but we decided that when all of the building is done, we will make the half of the woodshed that is not full of wood into the spare bedroom:)
We also brought over Bessie. Our 30 year old pick up truck that is Giants Orange and White (was the half time give away in 1980).
So at the end of year 3 this is what we looked like:
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nicalisa
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# Posted: 4 Apr 2011 09:44pm
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and more pics from the end of year 3:)
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dk1393
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# Posted: 5 Apr 2011 06:28am
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Beautiful job on the camp
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honusbam
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# Posted: 5 Apr 2011 08:40am
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Wow! I love everything you have done there. Really looks comfortable.
How tall are your side walls? 10'?
I also enjoy reading about you taking your time on this. I could pay someone to build and finish my structure in a few days, but I think there is something to doing it all yourself, as well as including the entire family. I know my 9-year old daughter has really enjoyed working on the poop deck.
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CabinBuilder
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# Posted: 5 Apr 2011 10:07am
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Nice cabin, interesting story - thanks for sharing.
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Anonymous
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# Posted: 5 Apr 2011 06:09pm
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I love everything you have done. Great deck for the wine I saw on the counter. Great woodshed. What are you planning for the interior walls.
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canadian girl
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# Posted: 5 Apr 2011 06:54pm
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I love your post and your story telling ability . Cabin looks great !!
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hattie
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# Posted: 5 Apr 2011 07:49pm
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WOW - Congratulations on all your hard work paying off!! This place is really great!! Your posts are a great read too. Thanks for sharing this with us.
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squirrel
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# Posted: 5 Apr 2011 09:17pm
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wonderful place and alot of hard work but I am sure it is well worth it love the veiw thanx for sharing
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turkeyhunter
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# Posted: 5 Apr 2011 09:48pm
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congrats.....neat place and good readin..........
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nicalisa
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# Posted: 6 Apr 2011 12:22am
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Quoting: honusbam How tall are your side walls? 10'?
They are 9.5 feet. It is just high enough for the loft as we have 6 feet under the loft for our "bedroom"....we are not tall enough to hit our heads:) Might be an issue for a taller person, but for us it is perfect!
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nicalisa
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# Posted: 6 Apr 2011 12:38am
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Quoting: Anonymous I love everything you have done. Great deck for the wine I saw on the counter. Great woodshed. What are you planning for the interior walls.
Can't take credit for the woodshed except for writing the check, but love all of the split wood that they installed inside of it! When we build out the extra room on the empty side of the shed, I will post the pics. I love the idea of a guest room.
For the interior walls we picked up scads of free paneling. Some Great....some not so much. We have decided to use that and paint over it for the interim (want to keep the creepy crawlies on the outside of the cabin as our friendly 4 and 8 legged friends keep finding their way through the vapor barrier and scaring the heck out of our kids...they are a bit big to be honest, even for me). Our plan when we have the time is to use some of our cedar and fir, and hand saw the trees to a rough pattern and notch them together for a cool tree house look.
the deck is great for wine:) We also keep Rum and beer stocked as it is a type of currency out there when you need to barter:) "hey there! come on over for a beer and look at our loft to see if we really missed the boat on our calculations" Seems to work so far! And if they are not in the mood for a beer or rum (rare:), the bartering of TP works too!
BTW - this past weekend my husband and I watched a movie about a guy in Alaska that built a log cabin with hand tools. Even made his own wood hinges for the door..... I will get the name of the movie and post it if anyone is interested. We got some great ideas from it.
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dk1393
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# Posted: 6 Apr 2011 07:15am
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I think the book your talking about is "Alone in the wilderness"
It was a great book and video.
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turkeyhunter
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# Posted: 6 Apr 2011 07:39am
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Quoting: dk1393 "Alone in the wilderness"
great video............x2
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Anonymous
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# Posted: 6 Apr 2011 11:02pm
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Richard "Dick" Proenneke was his name and he is an inspiration to me.
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nicalisa
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# Posted: 7 Apr 2011 07:49pm
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That was the movie! I didn't know that it was a book as well but now I am going to look for it as I much prefer a good read to a movie any day.
He was an inspiration to me as well. My husbands said to post that he hates him (not really) because of how easy he makes it look....somehow when we get out there, it is never as easy as it looks on that show and we somehow make it 10 times harder than it needs to be! My hubby has watched the show a few times to figure out some ideas and really learn how he did things. Funny, people ask if we have any hobbies and we say our cabin....somehow on this site I feel like we are not the only ones with this hobby:)
I was amazed at how easily he settled into his new lifestyle.
I have a dream about someday (after pension at 55) buying the property next to us and building about 6 large canvas tents with woodstoves:
http://www.sweetwaterbungalows.com/portable-structures/shelters.php
and starting a hostel/B&B kind of eco experience. It is a crazy beautiful place, and so much fun. We have been having a glass of port on our deck and watched a huge black bear stroll down to the water for dinner a mere 30 feet away, seen a cougar prancing down the road like the king of our little jungle that he is. We are able to get all kinds of seafood, fish, crabs, oysters, muscles every day. We are on the pathway of killer whales along with tons of other sea creatures. The kids love going down to the beach and working to get dinner especially because I ohhh and ahhhh over every tiny scrap that goes in:)
There was a dish I loved when I was in the peace corps in Nicaragua. It was called "rondon" and was served on the Caribbean coast. It had coconut milk, red chili, wild root vegetables, and what ever you could run down to the beach and put in your pot.....hence "rondon" I can't wait to try it this summer!
I have so enjoyed reading and watching all of your cabins come to life! It makes me as happy to see so many other people that have the same "cabin fever" that we do.
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nicalisa
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# Posted: 7 Apr 2011 08:01pm
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So on hot water and washroom facilities:
We have found the most amazing hot water propane on demand system....It is called an Ecotemp system. We went with the L5 model as it is going to be a camp shower, but if you have a bigger system need, there is the L10 model. The best part is that it needs no electricity, (D batteries for the starter...and we are looking for solar rechargeables) and cost only 129.00!!! we had it delivered to a shipping place in the states and drove down to do our shopping and picked it up on the way back. So cool!!
I have attached a picture along with the current shower/potty (and the one from year 2:) We have come a long way babe!. We are going to make this the shower only and we have a panelized 4ft x 4ft building for our sunmar composting toilet. We got it on clearance at home depot....a friend of ours happened to be there one day and it was sitting in the middle on an aisle (apparently a return) with a 75% off sticker on it!!!! yay!!!! I told him to sit on it (no pun intended) until I got to the store, so for less than 500 dollars we got a composting toilet, that is both electric and non electric with the modifications, fan and solar panel we added.
The last pic is of the 100 year old stained glass window that was a must have......don't say it.......my hubby already did!!!!
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