Hunting Cabin

[EddieWalker]

I have never built a cabin, so this is just my thoughts on what I would do. I would prefer a slab foundation, but if that wasn't possible, I would have the foundation on concrete blocks. Absolutely no wood on dirt contact.

I would go with a decent pitched metal roof to make sure leaves and branched came off of it during storms. It would be a simple gable roof. No valleys, nothing to catch or hold debris, or leaks. 4:12 or more.

Double pane aluminum windows. The vinyl ones always stick and drag when opening and closing them.

Hardie Lap siding on the exterior. It has a nice look, it holds paint forever, it's bug proof and just about impossible to burn.

Advantec sub flooring.

Lots of options on the flooring. Around here, metal on the ceiling and wood on the walls is very popular. I personally love wood ceilings and a trowel finish on the sheetrock walls with a faux finish.

 

[GPintheMitten]

Consider 12 volt LED lighting like in a sailboat with a deep cell battery. Use your tractor to carry it when it needs to be recharged. A small wood stove would be fun or a propane heater would be convenient. Porta potty or just a 5 gal pail with a plastic bag liner and toilet seat on top.

I built a little cabin. I'll look for the thread and post a link. It might give some ideas. We built the front door using T & G 2x6. Strong door and looked nice.

Here's my thread.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/223480-building-guest-room-cabin.html?highlight=Cabin

 

[oosik]

There is one other thing I never thought about until about a year after the cabin was built. Insurance. The cabin was beyond ANY services - including road services. During the winter we would haul the snow machine to a parking location and have to go the last 12 miles by snow machine.

When I talked to our homeowner insurance company and they saw where the cabin was - - it was "no dice". They would not even consider writing a policy of any kind on the cabin.

 

[ultrarunner]

View attachment 461837 When I built our 18 x 24 log cabin in AK the squirrels were the eventual big problem. They found a way into the ceiling space and would store/dry their harvested mushrooms there. I obtained the necessary permit from the state, cut the trees, trailered them to our site, two-sided them and built this cabin. Its was true heaven - we would go there and spend as much time as possible. Had a small generator outside, wired to provide light in the cabin. Everything else - stove & refrigerator were propane. Collected rain off the roof - in a whiskey barrel - for our water. That was one of our big regrets in leaving AK - we could no longer go to the cabin. Sold the land & cabin to a good friend and its still there being used. Cabin was built the summer of 1976

Looking back at all the effort required I probably would have built a pre-cut log cabin. We had to clear the site by hand, dig 24 holes-each 6' deep, pour full of concrete, extend each hole upward to a level plane with sono-tubes and pour them full of concrete. The sand,gravel, water & cement had to be brought in by hand, the concrete was mixed by hand. Each log was winched up to the site with the winch on my Jeep, pealed and two-sided with an Alaskan mill. The first layer of logs were 14" thick by 18" wide. You have no idea how VERY slick a freshly cut, peeled, two sided log that is 30' long can be and how hard it is to man-handle it into position.

I would put the winch line on the end of the log, run the cable to an appropriate snatch block on a tree and, on command, my wife, who was in the Jeep, would activate the winch - pulling the log up to the cabin and slowly, carefully up the side of the cabin and over the top log on a wall and into position. You can only imagine some of the shouting scenes that developed from this operation. In those days I was young, fearless and slightly crazy. But with only me, my wife and my seven year old son we got the entire job completed in the summer of '76.

You are full of surprises... I can see why it would be hard to walk away... maybe knowing a friend owns it helps?

When was the last time you visited?

Who is the young family in the pictures???

As to homeowners insurance... can't even get that in lots of places in California even if on utilities and fully sprinklered... the companies have every corner of the State rated and it basically comes down to how far you are from a fire hydrant...

 

[DrRod]

We have a 75 year old log cabin and issue number one has always been mice. If I lived there full time I would have a dozen cats but for now we just rely on poison. Given that you are building a very small cabin and have access to new materials I would focus on making it tight. I understand rustic but mice [and squirrels] are not healthy cohabitants.

I know you don't plan on running water but I would consider building an outdoor wash stand. I simple trough about waste high with a shelf above it. Or you could use a utility sink on a stand and mount a shelf on it. Even while roughing it, you will still want to wash your hands and maybe some knives and forks, and who knows what all -- so a wash stand plus jeep can might be a great convenience.

 

[joefromga]

Pay the premium into a savings account and you've just self-insured. Do it with 4 other people and you have a mutual aid society.

 

[ultrarunner]

It works if you own... the California homes range from cabins to million dollar country homes...

No fire insurance... no conventional financing.

 

[oosik]

I have often thought of returning to Alaska....... The only reason would be to visit the cabin and I can see most of it simply by clicking on Google maps. Our reasons for leaving AK were because I was Director of Environmental Health and sick & tired of years of being a political pawn. It was, more or less, post pipeline boom(1982) time and Anchorage had become just another big, dirty city with all the associated problems. Homesteaders & sourdoughs no longer ruled the last frontier. And we got a fantastic price for our home in Anchorage. Plus I had this 80 acres here in Ea WA just waiting for us.

As far as the pictures - that's me, the wife and my son. Camera on tripod with 20 second timer takes the pic. The spring of 1982 was our last visit and farewell to the cabin.

 

[ultrarunner]

Almost 35 years... must have built it right.

You are a man of many talents...

I've never been to Alaska... have friends that simply love it... all stayed as long as they could... some would leave in winter as they got older.

Must be a special place.

The closest I got to building a lot cabin is in Austria... it has a concrete block basement/foundation with square cut timber for walls... that was started in 1982 and it a project that continues...

The concrete and cinder block basement makes for a long lasting cabin construction.

 

[oosik]

Alaska is a land for the young & young at heart. The average age of all Alaskans in 1982 was 27.5 years. A typical day in Anchorage, mid-December, saw the sun rise over the Chugach range at 11am and sunset was at 2pm. The major diseases were and still are alcoholism & depression. Fairbanks being some 250 miles further north than Anchorage, and being inland, has even shorter & MUCH colder days in the winter. Anchorage is much like Seattle with a lot less rain and usually only a foot or so of snow. Cook Inlet is a major weather influence on Anchorage - making it almost a coastal city.