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AlabamaDan
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# Posted: 26 Jan 2012 11:02pm
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So I've been lurking around here for a few weeks and y'all have some beautiful little cabins. I've been thinking of building something a little more stealthy and rustic. I wanted to get your feedback.
I have some property a few hours away and want to build myself a little getaway place on it. Problem is that I don't really know anyone out there anymore to check in on it when I'm not there. So, I thought I'd make it stealthy.
I have an old barn on the property. Used to be a horse, hay and tool barn. It hasn't had cows inside pooping or anything. In fact there hasn't been any livestock on the farm in over 10 years. It's all planted in trees now. My thought was to build a little cabin inside the barn itself. I could park my vehicles and such inside the barn and from the outside it would just look like the same old barn that's been there for 50 years. What do y'all think about something like that?
Thanks ahead of time for looking.
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 26 Jan 2012 11:40pm
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That would be kind of cool.... but how solid is the barns structure?
I wouldn't think you actually have to build an entire cabin inside. Or does the barn roof leak a lot and you don't want to repair/replace it as the stealth might go away?
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hattie
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# Posted: 27 Jan 2012 12:32am
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This sounds really neat. If you decide to do it please send updates and lots of photos. The only downside is that it might be pretty dark inside.
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AlabamaDan
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# Posted: 27 Jan 2012 09:20am
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I wouldn't think I'd need an entire cabin inside either. I would think the existing tin roof could be repaired if needed. It would be more a matter of buiding rooms inside.
It probably would be pretty dark wouldn't it...I hadn't thought about that. Going to look it over in a coupe of weeks.
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wakeslayer
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# Posted: 27 Jan 2012 11:12am
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And if you ever had to tear the barn down, you could claim the cabin was simply an improvement to the barn, and duck any permitting issues that may have existed. I would personally build a complete cabin, roof and all inside if I did something like this.
My parents bought a lot a couple years ago that has a 90x50 polebarn on it. They wanted to tear it down and rebuild it, but that size building is no longer permitted in the township. They have replaced every single bit of it as improvements and now have a 100% new polebarn larger than is allowed as they did not technically tear it down. There is not one board, piece of tin, or chunk of concrete left of the original building.
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hattie
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# Posted: 27 Jan 2012 12:51pm
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You are right wakeslayer. It could allow you a way to dodge permits. Locals in our town have done that, and later on they just tear down the original building.
Regarding the problem with light. I wonder if maybe you could sneak in a skylight or maybe a couple of those solatubes (they might be more stealthy). Just a thought.
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AlabamaDan
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# Posted: 27 Jan 2012 02:15pm
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I hadn't thought of getting around permits and such. That's a great idea.
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ErinsMom
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# Posted: 28 Jan 2012 06:21pm
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I think that could be amazing. Do the doors slide or open? If you You could possibly do large windows behind the doors if you have two sets of doors (use other as opening to park your vehicles.
One thing you want to be careful of, is the dust esp, if chickens or birds have nested in the barn. There are some terrible illnesses contracted from old bird droppings. You would need to really clean up!
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Martian
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# Posted: 28 Jan 2012 07:15pm
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Why not use two walls of the barn as walls for your cabin? Put in a couple of windows for light and maybe a door. Use old material or make new material look old. Then the rest of the covered area could be your 'porch'.
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AlabamaDan
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# Posted: 6 Feb 2012 10:02am
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Mostly bad news this weekend. The old farm that I was planning to use...the barn has completely fallen in. Maybe a tornado picked it up and dropped it or something. Really bummer. Also, it's a little low in the spot where the barn was, so I'm not sure that would be the best place for a shack. More bad news is that my in-laws want to lease the land to a hunter to help pay the taxes. I understand, but now it looks like I might need to come out of pocket to prevent that from happening.
One little piece of good news is that there is a well. In talking with my in-law she remembers the well working well and being good and clean to drink. Right now it's a galvanized pipe sticking up out of the ground and running to a storage tank. Maybe I can get that up and running easily. There's also a power pole at the corner, so if I wanted I could probably get power up there relatively easily.
Maybe I can use some of the old barn lumber for building and siding. When's the last time you saw 1"x18" boards?
There's a natural gas line running along the back of the property, which should make a nice shooting lane for hunting. There's a couple of ponds, one should have fish.
I am a little concerned about security out there. Not so much personal safety, but just theft.
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 6 Feb 2012 10:54am
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Well, if the barn fell in you should probably be glad it did it now rather than later. More than likely it had some serious deterioration just sitting there waiting for a little shove...
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Martian
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# Posted: 6 Feb 2012 01:12pm
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Salvage as much of that old barn wood as you can. It sells for about $2-3/bdft around here.
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AlabamaDan
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# Posted: 6 Feb 2012 01:36pm - Edited by: AlabamaDan
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You're right, it would've been a shame to invest time and money in my room to have it collapse later. That is the bright side! Thank you for helping me see it.
I'm thinking that's one of the first order of businesses this Spring, after securing the sole use of the land. I'm going to tear down what's left of the barn, sort and salvage everything for reuse. That should be a good undertaking, but I have a vision of a cleared spot with site prepared for building and stacks of wood, tin and such waiting around it. I do want to get started before the spring growth of weeds, vines and such takes it. Right now there's nothing in the way.
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trollbridge
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# Posted: 6 Feb 2012 01:46pm - Edited by: trollbridge
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Quoting: AlabamaDan I'm going to tear down what's left of the barn, sort and salvage everything for reuse.
That should be a lot of work but worth it!Quoting: AlabamaDan That should be a good undertaking, but I have a vision of a cleared spot with site prepared for building and stacks of wood, tin and such waiting around it.
My kind of place...please post pictures when you get started and have fun...it will be so cool to watch your project come along!
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 6 Feb 2012 01:59pm - Edited by: MtnDon
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This is a great nail puller. The handle has a sliding sleeve that permits "setting" the jaws under a nail head, even if the nail head is nailed flush or slightly into the wood. The handle length makes even pulling 16 or 20D nails easy. Much better than any other method when it comes to pulling a flush head. Beating the board from behind usually just splits the board.
Crescent 56 Nail Puller
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AlabamaDan
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# Posted: 8 Feb 2012 09:22am
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Thanks for the heads up on the nail puller. I was just going to get started with a crowbar. I like this idea better.
Any more advice on tearing down an old barn to save the lumber? I've never done that.
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Martian
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# Posted: 8 Feb 2012 09:46am
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Quoting: AlabamaDan Any more advice on tearing down an old barn to save the lumber?
A sawzall is your friend!
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 8 Feb 2012 10:09am
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Quoting: Martian A sawzall is your friend!
Use it with a metal curring blade to cut nails you can't pull
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Just
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# Posted: 8 Feb 2012 11:39am
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If the barn is made of hardwood,, as many are,, the nails will be very hard to pull . you will end up cutting most of them that prevents plaining the wood in the future you can cut it,, with a good carbide blade . you should try to get the wood under cover as soon as u can as that very old wood deterorates quickly if it gets wet...
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AlabamaDan
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# Posted: 8 Feb 2012 03:43pm - Edited by: AlabamaDan
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Thanks for the encouragement and advice so far. I've been wanting an excuse to buy a sawzall for years!
I'm not sure if the barn is hardwood or not. It's very old and weathered grey, even inside where it was 'protected'. It used to be an old home site a loooooong time ago. The original house has been gone for at least 50 years.
I don't think I'll plane the wood any. I thought that using that rough old barn lumber would add to the character of the cabin. I'm not so sure about the inside however. It might be good to plane the wood for the interior huh?
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oldbuddy
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# Posted: 8 Feb 2012 09:26pm
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I have to tell you AlabamaDan......your thread is the without a doubt, the most entertaining one I've read....to date!
First of all....if you look at it like some of us do....you just have to have faith that no one will bother it. Our cabin is deep in the woods, up a very steep hill some 600 feet above the hardtop road, but still, I think about someone eventually coming across it. Eventhough they may have passed a half-dozen "No Tresspassing" signs, I could see someone just wanting to take a peek inside.
That's why we never lock it. The only thing worth anything is the wood-stove and I honestly can't imagine someone wanting to hump a cast iron stove very far through the woods. We never leave anything of value for that reason. Heck...I wouldn't care if they needed a place to get out of the weather and stayed in it for a night or two. I just don't want anyone messing with it. I figure if we leave it unlocked that no one will beat the windows out to see what's inside.
We lock the gate everytime we leave but I realize that any dirtbike could go around the gate. But like my son (Old Buddy) says, you can't steal too much stuff on a dirtbike.
Maybe you remember reading before on our thread about a friend of my family's who had a cabin and worried about someone breaking in. He came up with a plan.....He left a fifth of whiskey on the kitchen table sitting on top of a $20.00 bill with a note that read.." Take the money and have a drink on me but please don't destroy our place."
He never found any "takers" and no one ever bothered it. 'Nuff said?
Just build what you want but don't put a fortune in it in case someone decides to "burn it down." And don't ponder on it.
We can't get insurance on ours and I would hate to have to replace it but I can't "worry" about it.
Keep us updated with your build. I like your site already!
Old Old Buddy
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redlandfd
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# Posted: 10 Feb 2012 12:27pm
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Hey Alabama, your idea of using the barn wood for your cabin is an excellent plan. Break ins can be a problem, we had a neighbor who left his cabin unlocked with a note telling whoever where the food was and how to turn on the water. He had some takers, but no damage. My dad's cabin was pretty much empty, but the woods caught on fire (kids camping 1/2 mile away) and burnt it to the ground. With all that said, you probably face more loss from fire than a break in. I'd suggest clearing the area for 50 ft around your cabin with put a 10 ft gravel buffer around the perimeter of your cabin,,nothing fancy,,,just to keep the weeds and grassfires back...good luck and post some pics
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carcrossguy
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# Posted: 11 Feb 2012 02:29am
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Very few people live in barns. Must be a reason. Bad air. No light?
expensive to keep safe?
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Bevis
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# Posted: 11 Feb 2012 06:46am
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I know quite a few people who live in barns...good quality air, Great light (natural and other), no more expense than a home.
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trollbridge
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# Posted: 11 Feb 2012 12:31pm
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Quoting: Bevis I know quite a few people who live in barns...
Sometimes our kids act like they were raised in a barn! LOL!
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trollbridge
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# Posted: 11 Feb 2012 12:37pm
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Quoting: Martian A sawzall is your friend!
Very true...we have one more barn to take down...we didn't get anywhere before when we first looked at it. It all depends on what type of siding it has...a sawzall is needed for the over lapping "dutch" type. Regular vertical barn boards come down very easily with just a hammer.Quoting: oldbuddy I honestly can't imagine someone wanting to hump a cast iron stove very far through the woods.
Too too funny Old Old Buddy...that just made my day reading that!!!!
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oldbuddy
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# Posted: 11 Feb 2012 03:49pm
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trollbridge
Maybe my selection of words could have been a little better...but you got the idea, right? Generally speaking....people (thieves in particular) are a very lazy species. For that reason, I can't imagine them wanting to carry a 120 pound woodstove through the woods to try to sell it for $40-$50 at a flea market.
I think AlabamaDan will do just fine building what he wants. I remember being scared to leave the cabin with a fire in the stove. Now we do that without thinking twice about it. After he spends a few days away from it and finds that no ones has tresspassed onto his property....it will be a confidence booster. There are never any guarantees but sometimes "you just have to have a little faith."
Old Old Buddy
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trollbridge
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# Posted: 11 Feb 2012 11:49pm
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Quoting: oldbuddy Maybe my selection of words could have been a little better...but you got the idea, right?
Nope! That is why it was funny!Quoting: oldbuddy I remember being scared to leave the cabin with a fire in the stove.
I felt the same way too!
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