Actually building a cabin

[offgriddave]

Hi, moderators please let me know what subforum to post this in or I beg for your forgiveness

I am curious, given everyone here has been quite helpful with my solar setup, if I can ask for advice on building the actual cabin? Yes the Cabin Cabin. I have built stick structures before, that's all fine. Some things I need overcome are road building on muddy clay soil, dealing with water run off, foundation, anti-mold, and all those things you don't think of before you start hammering and nailing. My last tiny house I didn't build it high enough (only 1ft) and I was stepping in puddles of mud until I bribed a guy with a dozer logging next door to put a slant on my build pad. The build pad was already there, on my old property. My new property is forest zoned, raw forest. There's a lot of mud and when I tried clearing it with an excavator, I got to clay. Now there's mud and clay haha.

This is in Southern Oregon. It doesn't get cold and doesn't get hot but it rains 20-30" for a few months, Jan Feb and then it doesn't rain at all June to September.

Can anyone recommend a forum to ask DIY questions to do this?

 

[MichaelK]

One site I could recommend is https://www.homesteadingtoday.com/
They have a construction section.

You might find some value in the recent construction I did, which was the combination workshop and car-port that I built at my homestead. In this first pic, you can see the poured footer, which goes down 18". In pic two, you can see us pouring the pads, each about 6" thick. Once the pads were poured, I started the framing. Finally, in pic 4, you can see the finished workshop along with the car-ports.

I bought a concrete mixer from HomeDepot, and mixed each and every load of concrete with it, all powered solely on solar. There were five of us the day we poured the footer, and just three of us each day we poured the 10X10' pads. We let the new concrete cure for 2 weeks before continuing with construction. The last pic is one of the solar arrays powering the workshop.

 

[Rednecktek]

So as something to think about for your area is spacing your crawl space. Get it up off the ground, and I don't mean "I can get under there if I suck in my gut", I mean "I can get a new roll of insulation down there with me" because you WILL have things destroying your insulation and such and if you can't get under there it's a nightmare. You may think going up 3ft of stairs is a pain, but the first time you need to go down there you'll be thanking yourself.

 

[Steve_S]

Very nice Cabineer Site here: Not Big but good. http://www.small-cabin.com/forum/index.html
HomeSteadingToday was OK but it changed over the past couple of years...

 

[12VoltInstalls]

you can see us pouring the pads

Holy cow. Was that economical pouring from 80# bags as compared to delivery?
Or was delivery just not an option?

different tastes regarding how we want the design of the house to be.

I’m always intrigued by this dilemma. I can draw architecturally and have decades in the construction industry. It’s so expensive and rare to get an architect that can actually take multiple design ambitions and meld them into an esthetic that functions visually and ergonomically...

I hope your online service works out for you. The site looks like a McMansion Plansmill- not sure they can put out a wilderness esthetic with post-modern design cues yet still create a golden mean emotional response.

 

[Rednecktek]

I hope your online service works out for you. The site looks like a McMansion Plansmill- not sure they can put out a wilderness esthetic with post-modern design cues yet still create a golden mean emotional response.

And that entire sentence sounds like something my wife would say and I would just give her a dumb look.

 

[12VoltInstalls]

And that entire sentence sounds like something my wife would say and I would just give her a dumb look.

You may not cognify those things. Many (most?) people don’t.
Though most people do “know” when something looks ‘right’ and they can ‘feel’ whether a space is comfortable. Or not.

 

[Rednecktek]

Though most people do “know” when something looks ‘right’ and they can ‘feel’ whether a space is comfortable. Or not.

That actually makes sense.

 

[MichaelK]

Holy cow. Was that economical pouring from 80# bags as compared to delivery?
Or was delivery just not an option?

Actually, I had the sand/gravel mix delivered, and dumped on a big plastic tarp close to the site. I then mixed the concrete with 1/2 of 94lb bags of cement with the gravel, sand, and water into my little mixer. About 240 batches in total.

 

[Rednecktek]

Actually, I had the sand/gravel mix delivered, and dumped on a big plastic tarp close to the site. I then mixed the concrete with 1/2 of 94lb bags of cement with the gravel, sand, and water into my little mixer. About 240 batches in total.

The only thing that comes to mind reading that is "OUCH!"

 

[MichaelK]

The only thing that comes to mind reading that is "OUCH!"

Well, I didn't actually make the cement, I bought it, so it's not quite DIY!

 

[12VoltInstalls]

Well, I didn't actually make the cement, I bought it, so it's not quite DIY!

You aren’t ashamed you didn’t build a furnace and ‘crack’ the lime yourself?!!

 

[MichaelK]

You aren’t ashamed you didn’t build a furnace and ‘crack’ the lime yourself?!!

There is an outcropping of chalk in the roadcut going up to my homestead, so that isn't completely off the table. I'll put it on my "to do" list.

 

[WYtreasure]

Hi, moderators please let me know what subforum to post this in or I beg for your forgiveness

.... Some things I need overcome are road building on muddy clay soil, dealing with water run off, foundation, anti-mold, and all those things you don't think of before you start hammering and nailing. ...

If you have not found a good forum yet, maybe consider an earth home structure.
The (in) ground portion, which will be full of water can be your aquaponics and the second story could be the actual house.

Did a mod move this to the humor forum yet?

 

[12VoltInstalls]

Did a mod move this to the humor forum yet

Hopefully not!
I think this thread has important questions and relevant information. That we’re having fun discussing it doesn’t off-topic it- it just confirms we are not Amish.

 

[upnorthandpersonal]

Sound similar to what I built - I am in the process of writing it all down:

Up North and Off Grid – Medium

Read writing from Up North and Off Grid on Medium. Off Grid at 63 degrees north in Finland. Every day, Up North and Off Grid and thousands of other voices read, write, and share important stories on Medium.

medium.com

Maybe some of this can be helpful for OP as well.

 

[Wellbuilt]

Well mud and building is just what happens , my cabin is on a big rock 8” to 2 feet down
On one end .
I have sticky red clay .
I had to tree a area 200x200 and pull the stumps .
Then I had 10” of Moses to remove I added a few few inches of Sandy soil and then 2/3” of some real dirt
To grow grass .
My place is ground level but I had to build it up 20” in areas .
you have to embrace the mud ? the last pic the mud is gone
I did not do much hand mixing I have 120 yards of 4500 psi concrete in the ground
but we did cut mst of the lumber on site .

 

[Checkthisout]

Keep it simple. Pole building with Tin. Start with something small you can sleep in and add onto in the future.

 

[Steve_S]

I started my build in 2015 and it took me a couple of years before move in. I still have receipts for all my lumber etc (its a thing) right up to last fall when building my bunkie. The cost of Lumber today is "Ludicrous", well, actually, beyond it. There are excuses and reasons and all the justifications everyone can dream up (without mentioning their record profits) and sadly that will also dictate Size & Material usage.

2x4x8 SPF Dimensional Lumber $9.98 /7.98 US
2x6x8 SPF Dimensional Lumber $14.78 /11.82 US
2x8x8 SPF Dimensional Lumber $26.68 /21.34 US
1/2"x4'x8' Std Spruce Plywood $68.98 /55.16 US
7/16 4x8 Oriented Strand Board $59.98 /47.96 US

Current Price as of April.1.2021 @ HomeDepot.CA (Ontario Canada)

And let's not forget the Softwood Lumber Duties piled on at the US border which can add 9-21% pending on product going there.

 

[Koldsimer]

$60 osb jeesh. It's tough trying to build anything with these prices. I think osb was 12 bucks a sheet in early 2020 when i built my cabin. 1200 sq ft energy efficient cabin built for under $70k all in. Picture of my dad- talked the ole hippy carpenter out of retirement to help me build the place! Built 100% off grid using a generator for power.

Some suggestions- Build on pier and beam if possible. Cheaper and you can utilize the space under the house if you build it with that purpose in mind. You can control moisture under the house with proper water diversion, skirting and tarps/plastic where necessary.