Author Topic: Is a cabin an accoutrement?  (Read 13631 times)

Offline Robert Wolfe

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Is a cabin an accoutrement?
« on: April 08, 2011, 08:36:54 PM »
I had always wanted to build a cabin since I was a kid. In 2009 I was looking at 50 and decided I had better do it while I was still young! Kind of a mild midlife crisis I guess. I figured it would take me a summer. Well, it took me two summers to get to the point of being mostly done. I (with the help of my wife and friends!) cut the logs on our property and skidded them to the cabin site mostly by horse. I cut all the joints with an adze, axe and hatchet though mostly by adze as I got better with it. It is shingled with salvaged wood siding shingles off a friend's house. The tin porch roof came off an old sheep shed. It still needs a front door, porch, and miscellaneous fixins but I basically finished it last fall as winter set in. My 13 year old daughter and I skied out to it and camped out in it last February with 2 foot of snow and night time temps in the single digits. I think it needs a woodstove for me to do that again!

It's not really PC but I had a great time building it and learned a lot about what to do and not to do in case there is another "midlife" crisis at 75! I have tremendous respect for settlers that had to build these quickly.

Rob Wolfe








« Last Edit: April 18, 2011, 03:21:29 AM by Robert Wolfe »
Robert Wolfe
Northern Indiana

Offline rich pierce

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Re: Is a cabin an accourtrement?
« Reply #1 on: April 08, 2011, 08:53:46 PM »
Terrific!  Definitely an accoutrement, in my book!
Andover, Vermont

Offline Model19

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Re: Is a cabin an accourtrement?
« Reply #2 on: April 08, 2011, 08:57:53 PM »
@!*% straight that's an accoutrement!   Possibly the ultimate, it's just not portable.  Well done.  I love little cabins like that.  Add the smell of coffee on the fire just after dawn and you've got a slice of heaven right there.
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Offline Shreckmeister

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Re: Is a cabin an accourtrement?
« Reply #3 on: April 08, 2011, 08:59:45 PM »
Sweet...... When you're finished would you like to do another one in
my woods in Western PA.  I like it alot.  Did you have to get a zoning permit,
pass DEP inspections, meet universal building codes or any of the rest of the BS the govt piles on these days....or did you just wing it.
Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual.

Offline Shreckmeister

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Re: Is a cabin an accourtrement?
« Reply #4 on: April 08, 2011, 09:14:58 PM »
On the serious side, I just bought a fools adze and want to shape some
timber for my back porch.  I'm a little nervous about taking my leg off
with it.  Did you wear any protection on your legs?  I was thinking about
wearing soccer shin guards.  Any tips that might help?  They aint called
fools adze for nothin!
Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual.

Offline Shreckmeister

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Re: Is a cabin an accourtrement?
« Reply #5 on: April 08, 2011, 09:20:38 PM »
Yes, I have alot of respect for those old settlers too.  I just moved three
five ton dump loads of cut stone from an old barn foundation on my property.  Took me 10 hours and a pinched nerve in my neck that is still
there 3 weeks later.  That was only 3/4 of one wall of the barn.  After the
barnstone is moved, there is still a house and springhouse to remaining.  Some of the stones were 6 feet long and 1 foot square.  The early settlers were  REAL men.
Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual.

Offline Robert Wolfe

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Re: Is a cabin an accourtrement?
« Reply #6 on: April 08, 2011, 09:32:11 PM »
Suzkat - No permits on this one though there probably should have been. It is tucked away in the woods so not really visible. I was very tentative with the foot adze when I started with it but after a few hours got surpringly efficient with it and rarely used the axe or hatchet after that. I did not use shin guards through probably should have. I had a couple of close calls but no serious injuries with it. Most of my logs were bigtooth aspen which is soft and cuts very nicely. I used two trees which were oak and ash. They were much harder to cut with the adze (particularly the ash) and more dangerous because the blade tended to skip if you did not hit it just right. If you keep the blade sharp it is less likely to jump out of the log and bite you.

Also, I was cutting notches not squaring the logs. If squaring logs I think your shins would be at a higher risk for getting notched.
« Last Edit: April 08, 2011, 10:16:43 PM by Robert Wolfe »
Robert Wolfe
Northern Indiana

Offline Tim Crosby

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Re: Is a cabin an accourtrement?
« Reply #7 on: April 08, 2011, 09:38:03 PM »
 Great cabin. What did you chink it with?

 Thanks, Tim C.

Offline Robert Wolfe

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Re: Is a cabin an accourtrement?
« Reply #8 on: April 08, 2011, 09:44:25 PM »
Tim,

I rolled up chicken wire and jammed and nailed it into the gaps. Then trowelled in cement. I did the first few logs with quickcrete with aggregate in it but struggled to get it smoothed down. I switched to just a sand mix and it worked much better. I mixed it on the dry side to help keep it from slumping. It has only survived one winter but so far it is not cracking. I think it helped that the logs have had two years to season. I lost about 4 inches of height to log shrinkage.

My wife thought I should use horse manure and clay but I did not want to be remudding it every year....
« Last Edit: April 08, 2011, 10:18:42 PM by Robert Wolfe »
Robert Wolfe
Northern Indiana

Offline Jerry V Lape

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Re: Is a cabin an accourtrement?
« Reply #9 on: April 08, 2011, 10:53:10 PM »
Looks pretty nice to me.  Only thing I would question is the six concrete block footer which is not likely to be stable long term unless it is resting on a good rock footer underneath.  You might want to improve those areas before too many wet s and frosty seasons pass.  And if you put a potbelly stove in the footer might come in to play sooner . 

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Re: Is a cabin an accourtrement?
« Reply #10 on: April 08, 2011, 11:06:44 PM »
You did a great job on the cabin. Use it a lot.

For info there is a super 1/2 hour video called "Alone in the Wilderness" showing a one man cabin build by a fellow in Alaska who lived in it till his 90s.    Lon

Offline Robert Wolfe

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Re: Is a cabin an accourtrement?
« Reply #11 on: April 08, 2011, 11:09:59 PM »
Jerry,

The supports are poured concrete 3.5 feet deep which is below frost line and the soil is well drained sand so hopefully I won't have an issue. But, I'm not a builder so it's all new to me.....
Robert Wolfe
Northern Indiana

Offline Robert Wolfe

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Re: Is a cabin an accourtrement?
« Reply #12 on: April 08, 2011, 11:12:08 PM »
Lon, I've seen that video. That guy was pretty amazing. I loved his carved solid wood door hinges. I am clearly not that talented.
Robert Wolfe
Northern Indiana

dannybb55

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Re: Is a cabin an accourtrement?
« Reply #13 on: April 08, 2011, 11:27:59 PM »
So, from the front door, which way is the range and is it near the smithy?

Macon Due

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Re: Is a cabin an accourtrement?
« Reply #14 on: April 09, 2011, 01:17:32 AM »
Wow!.............Well done!
Macon

Offline hanshi

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Re: Is a cabin an accourtrement?
« Reply #15 on: April 09, 2011, 01:25:22 AM »
That is one fine project and kind of encompasses the whole lifestyle.
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Offline Jerry V Lape

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Re: Is a cabin an accourtrement?
« Reply #16 on: April 09, 2011, 02:24:04 AM »
Glad you do have more than just a few blocks under it.  It should be fine and give you a lot of pleasure.  I have a cousin  who bought a parcel of land with little use other than the trout stream through the bottom, turkey and deer hunting.  He built a cabin too.  Problem was he owned a construction firm and his cabin in two stories tall, bottom one is a double garage for all his quads and other toys, top is modern with kitchen, bath etc.  Below the cabin he built a large picnic pavilion, then a utility building with bathrooms and large kitchen, and recently another large pavillion I haven't seen yet for his daughter's wedding.  And last but not least a 30 ft tall observation tower for purposes unknown even to him.  His wife says he is adult attention deficeit disordered.  He recently learned to fly so an international airport might appear next.   To his credit I would note he spends a lot of his time and money on arranging outings for disadvantaged and handicapped kids both at home and at the "cabin" and is about the most generous soul I know of and I am quite proud of him.   But for personal use I like your kind of cabin much better. 

Offline Tom Currie

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Re: Is a cabin an accourtrement?
« Reply #17 on: April 09, 2011, 02:40:16 AM »
Very nice. I'm jealous. The ultimate coutermint.

Offline mr. no gold

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Re: Is a cabin an accourtrement?
« Reply #18 on: April 09, 2011, 06:09:45 AM »
Dang! NICE JOB! Wish I had the youth, and the git up and go to do something like this. I have the land, but the rest is woefully lacking, (probably should add 'skill' to this list). Again, well done and worth every ache and pain that you incurred getting her up and going.
If any of you get down to Jim Chambers' place in NC, by the way, ask him to show you a cabin/house that he built out of logs there on his property. Worth seeing.
Dick

J1776

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Re: Is a cabin an accourtrement?
« Reply #19 on: April 09, 2011, 03:21:52 PM »
OUTSTANDING!!!!! ;D

Offline Robby

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Re: Is a cabin an accourtrement?
« Reply #20 on: April 09, 2011, 04:22:28 PM »
Flat out Awesome!!
Robby
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Offline Sequatchie Rifle

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Re: Is a cabin an accourtrement?
« Reply #21 on: April 09, 2011, 05:45:18 PM »
That is a great project.  Something my Dad and I talked about forever. He's gone now.  I'm 50 and I still have the urge, but no time.  Thanks for sharing your dream.
"We fight not for glory, nor riches nor honors, but for freedom alone, which no good man gives up except with his life.” Declaration of Arbroath, 1320

Offline Kermit

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Re: Is a cabin an accourtrement?
« Reply #22 on: April 09, 2011, 05:51:51 PM »
Two of the ultimate accoutrements--a cabin AND a horse!

Hereabouts any building under 200 sq ft doesn't need a permit. Seems to me that 10 x 20 is adequate. A friend got hassled for a driftwood cabin he built near his beach. He claimed it was an outdoor sculpture--a work of art, requiring  no permit. He actually got away with it.
"Anything worth doing is worth doing slowly." Mae West

J1776

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Re: Is a cabin an accourtrement?
« Reply #23 on: April 09, 2011, 06:33:02 PM »
THAT'S IT!,...IT'S SETTLED!,...
 If we finally find an old home with a bit of land I'm building a cabin on it for use as a workshop! ;D

I had toyed with that idea before,...

Offline Fullstock longrifle

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Re: Is a cabin an accourtrement?
« Reply #24 on: April 09, 2011, 07:00:36 PM »
Like you, I've always wanted to own a log cabin.  Several years ago I moved a small (12' x 12') 1840's period log cabin to my property.  After I got it set up and the roof on, progress slowed, but I finally have it pretty much completed.  I don't use it for anything yet, but it sure looks nice sitting in the field behind my house, I call it eye candy.   ;)

FK