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Lance Skene
Member
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# Posted: 5 Jun 2023 10:03pm
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Hello folks.... I recently bought 11 acres in Saskatchewan with an old run down farm house that will take at least a couple years to sort out so in the meantime Im planning to convert one of the wood grainaries already on the property into a cabin that I can live in temporarily.
I will be moving out there and staying in a 35' camper at the end of June... and hoping to have a grainary sealed up and insulated by around the end of october.
The property has electricity and a well, but no natural gas so I may be using an old wood stove for heat and cooking at least for the first winter.
Im thinking I can salvage about 80% of the materials needed from the old house and other out buildings and do 90% of the work myself to keep costs down... wont happen too fast cause I am 64 but still capable enough and have a basic knowledge of most aspects of such a build.
In the future I might bring in a modular or mobile home and then upgrade the cabin to serve as a nice guest house or rental.
Im semi retired, drive schoolbus, currently have a home based small engine repair shop which I will start up again after I get moved, worked metal fabrication on highrise construction for over 30 yrs, have basic electrical and plumbing knowledge.
So thats me... I'll be snooping around here looking for how-to info and maybe stealing a few ideas ;)
Lance
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spencerin
Member
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# Posted: 5 Jun 2023 10:08pm
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You can't steal what's freely given. Welcome aboard!
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Alaskajohn
Member
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# Posted: 5 Jun 2023 11:52pm
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Welcome from Alaska!
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razmichael
Member
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# Posted: 6 Jun 2023 07:02am
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Sounds like a great adventure! Maybe you'll have so much fun completing the grainery that you will decide you don't need anything else!
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Steve_S
Member
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# Posted: 6 Jun 2023 07:54am
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Welcome from Algonquin Park Ontario.
presently surrounded by wildfires... eeeeekkkk
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gcrank1
Member
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# Posted: 6 Jun 2023 10:25am
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Welcome!
I guarantee you aint gonna be bored 
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Lance Skene
Member
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# Posted: 6 Jun 2023 01:13pm
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Thx guys.... this is no doubt going to be a learning curve and a bit of a challenge but I think I'll have fun with it.
Eventually I do want to bring in a modular or mobile home as the the foundation under the old farm house is beyond repair within any reasonable budget so I want to demolish the house and salvage what I can... then fill the hole and create a good foundation for the modular/mobile.... that will increase the property value although there is ALOT of yard cleanup to do aswell.... the place was cheap for a reason.Haha
There is about 10 out buildings many of which will be dismantled and used as firewood, I'll keep one for a shop and maybe one or two with floors for storage.
I do need to keep things budget friendly so for this first winter I'll just focus on the basics but eventually I'll want the cabin to have full running water with a proper septic system. I'll add some electric heat so that Im not tied down all winter having to keep a fire going.
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gcrank1
Member
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# Posted: 6 Jun 2023 03:08pm
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How about LP for heating with maybe 'some' baseboard elec to supplement or just for shoulder seasons?
Btw, in Aug. 2020 we closed on our 9+ ac 'square' with a rough sawmill board 16x24 cabin. If anything is straight and square it may be an accident, lol. The guy was a scrounger.....we had a mess to clean up, from the sat pics the 'debris field' looked like a small business plane had crashed there. Not what other folks were interested in doing going on 70! We dove in and got it all cleaned up by winter.
All that to say Go For It 
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Lance Skene
Member
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# Posted: 6 Jun 2023 04:30pm
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I might get an LP tank in the future but for now there is an old wood burning kitchen cook stove in one of the out buildings that appears to be complete and intact.... along with a few sections of new insulated metal chimney... IF... that works out it will be more budget friendy and I can dispose of alot of the scrap wood from the extra out buildings.
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gcrank1
Member
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# Posted: 6 Jun 2023 06:04pm
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Look under around and in back of that stove! They often rot out in places away from sight. Stick a very bright led light inside and view from outside too in the dark.
Doing a proper chimney is not inexpensive and, imo, the stack needs to go straight up and exit well near the roof peak to avoid draft and snow-slide issues.
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bugs
Member
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# Posted: 8 Jun 2023 05:01pm
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Hey Lance...
We are in SK too...Our long and sorted tale is available somewhere in the archives of this forum.
Good luck with your project... Hope it works out for you.
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Steve_S
Member
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# Posted: 8 Jun 2023 05:35pm
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I will offer one safety suggestion for you about burning up the old building wood within a stove. Be completely certain it has not been painted or coated with "anything". Many older coatings have some seriously nasty assed shit in them, and you never know. If was burnt in an outdoor burner that's safer, except for what can come out of the chimney stack.
The reason I mention this is because of my personal "nightmare" experience. I was doing just that and burning up old structural wood, unknown to me at the time some of t was coated and when the flames hit that, the instant black smoke was almost explosive, I got one small breath and it knocked me flat on my ass and I had a hard time breathing for a good hour after that... 1 small breath of it ! I happened to be using my inside woodstove BTW, if outside, the burst of smoke "may" have dissipated.
I got Lucky, please be cautious and don't assume or take for granted. There is only One of You !
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Lance Skene
Member
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# Posted: 9 Jun 2023 07:30pm
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From what I could see the stove looks intact but I'll have to pull it out of the shed for a better look... Im hoping that since someone took the effort to store it away that it may be usable.... most anything else metal just got left out in the yard.
I'll likely end up digging a pit for brush, painted wood, garbage and get a permit to set fire to it in the winter... but cleanup around the place will produce alot of clean wood that can be burnt inside.
Only about 3 weeks left here in Ab... Ive been selling off as much as I can to reduce the load, and getting tow vehicles / trailers serviced ready for the big haul.
Was thinkin last winter that my Bronco II needed clutch work so thats in the shop right now, dont expect I'll ever register it in sask but I have a 72" snowplow for it and it can pull a small trailer so I want to keep that.... nothing like a heated cab for pushin' snow ;)
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FishHog
Member
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# Posted: 10 Jun 2023 08:05am
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Tend to agree with Steve, burn the old crap outside, I put tones through 2 burn barrels I had going at the same time. Good clean dry firewood for indoors.
Welcome to the group, fun and knowledgeable group here, so post away with your questions.
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