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smitty
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# Posted: 19 Sep 2011 06:36pm
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Just looking for honest opinions from those who have a cabin on skids, sitting on a gravel base..
How has it been with drainage, is everything staying dry and level?
If I buy a prefab, from the Mennonites in the area, they suggest a gravel base, to sit it on.
Anybody here done it? What do you think?
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bugs
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# Posted: 19 Sep 2011 07:19pm
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Hi Smitty
Can only speak from our own experience (which may be, likely is, wrong depending on climate etc etc) but that is what we used for our little shack. We have 6 to 8 feet of frost so if we wanted to set down piles it would be a lot of work and then we would not be able to move the shack if we had to so we went with skids.
The shack floats on the ground nicely and is reasonably level. It appears very little water gets under the shack to contact the skids except wind blown snow.
One thing that we did right was to use metal mesh cloth all around the base and buried it into the gravel to deter unwanted guests setting up camp under the shack. This has worked well for the most part....altho we did have some deer mice compromise the perimeter but that was not the fault of the mesh.
Just an aside on our farm we used to have grain bins 20x20 +/- on skids set on gravel pads and they lasted decades.
I suspect the Mennonites are giving you sound advice for your area.
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PA_Bound
Member
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# Posted: 19 Sep 2011 08:09pm
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Smitty... I'm looking at doing something very similar to you. I'm talking to a local Mennonite shed builder about a 14'x40' unfinished shell, that I can finish into a cabin. Like your builder, mine recommends the gravel pad. But in my case, I can't level the ground enough over the 40' length to make that practical (the drop will be about 2' to 3' end-to-end).
My builder said that if we pre-pour the concrete footers, he could drop the shed on them right off the trailer then we could use farm jacks on the low-end to raise it up enough to install some form of pier to level it. I'm not committed to this idea yet, but one advantage would be the ability to install screw, timber or some other adjustable jack that would allow for some small adjustments over time.
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smitty
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# Posted: 21 Sep 2011 05:19am - Edited by: smitty
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Thank you Bugs,
That's the real world advice I was looking for. Thank you :D
PA,
We were going to do something different, but the wife and I keep going back to an Amish built shell.
We have concerns but it looks like the way to go really, the more we think about it. Spring will be here before we know it.. I got to make my mind up and quit flip flopping on it lol..
I am concerned if they could even get the delivery truck back there.
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PA_Bound
Member
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# Posted: 21 Sep 2011 08:45am
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@smitty... I've been bouncing back and forth between building some form of cabin and buying a used travel trailer. There are benefits to both, but buying a shell and finishing it myself may be the best "middle ground"- although this is still under discussion with my wife who is favoring the trailer approach. I simply don't have the time to build the whole thing so I need help to get it to the dry and secure phase, where I can take over from there. And the shed/cabin shell may be the best way to do that short of buying a trailer.
I also echo your concerns about the delivery and the road in. But, for a bit more $'s, my builder says they can pre-build the peices but finish the construction on-site. They don't prefer to do that, but they will. And it definitely reduces the road quality requirements.
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dstraate
Member
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# Posted: 21 Sep 2011 11:24am
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Interesting. The Mennonites built ours on skids as well. I had a bit of gravel, but needed to do some last minute leveling, so it mostly sits on dirt. They said it should be fine. I'll do some trenching around the outside so drainage moves away from the cabin.
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smitty
Member
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# Posted: 22 Sep 2011 04:55am
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PA,
It sounds like we are on the same page, and at the same stage of the process. The wife and I have had exactly the same discussions, and concerns. Going to call and ask about on site assembly. See exactly how much extra they would charge if we need to go that route.
dstraate,
How long has yours been at your site?
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dstraate
Member
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# Posted: 22 Sep 2011 09:55am
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Two months, not very long, but no problems yet.
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PA_Bound
Member
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# Posted: 22 Sep 2011 07:41pm
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Smitty,... did you have a chance to call and ask about on-site assembly? I'm curious what they told you.
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smitty
Member
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# Posted: 23 Sep 2011 04:21pm
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Not yet, I will update you if you like when I do.
If you are in northern PA, we are southern NY, we might be calling the same guys. lol
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PA_Bound
Member
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# Posted: 23 Sep 2011 04:42pm - Edited by: PA_Bound
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I'm actually in Southern PA, working with an outfit out of Bedford, PA. But, with no offense intended to anyone , I'm not sure that all of those Amish/Mennonite shed businesses aren't all connected somehow :-). They seem to be operate very similarly.
And, yes, keep me in the loop with what you learn. As you and I are on a similar track I'd like to compare notes. Our big decision for this weekend is deciding between the spouse and I whether we are going to build a cabin (me), or buy a trailer (her). Survival of the fittest... (Actually it's not fair to disparrage my wife in any way. She's actually been very supportive of this effort to date.)
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mag162
Member
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# Posted: 23 Sep 2011 07:13pm
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My cabin is menonite built also and sits on top of chimney blocks on top of a gravel bed. The gravel is starting to wash out a little on one side of the cabin. I'm thinking of pouring a slab and dropping it on the slab.
Try to have the cabin built with at least 12" eaves so any weather drops off away from the cabin. Mine doesn't have that.
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