Tiny log cabin, what do you guys think?
 

25k for the shell (pic is of a 18x22) what you get is 24x24 shell. They use 12-14" trees and have a special way to fit them together.

http://images.craigslist.org/01010_3...Xb_600x450.jpg

http://images.craigslist.org/00s0s_c...mk_600x450.jpg

http://images.craigslist.org/00F0F_4...eb_600x450.jpg

http://images.craigslist.org/00l0l_8...aV_600x450.jpg

I like it. Looks like something prefabbed in a large factory and then brought onsite and assembled?

Log Cabins = the 1911s of Housing :hide:

Does it include the windows and roof? If so, it looks like a good deal. It's a nice looking cabin, I like it

prettier than cargo containers

I could live in it...
while a house was being built...
on property...
in a free-state...

link please

A few other plans......

http://www.countryplans.com/

It's cute. Especially if that price is for everything (roof/windows/etc).

Would make a great hunting/vacation cabin on a nice piece of land.

Don't forget the cost for the foundation, utilities (Water, Electrical, propane, and septic system) and the all important building permit. Do yourself a favor; if you have the extra cash available, include a basement in the design for storage or future build-out.

Enjoy the build. This has the potential of being be a very stressful process if you're not prepared for all the question, or haven't built a house before.

Cheers,

25K in Cleveland, Ohio or built out in Bumfuk where you want it at the end of long winding road?

Don't buy till local inspectors all on board, and even then. Just because one guy says "no problem" don't mean the other wont shut you down. IIRC these are all 'pre engineered' to pass anywhere, but still.

I suspect, like those geodesic domes, the real prob ain't getting the thing 'up in the air' but all the details and partitioning, etc. Knotching sheetrock around all those logs is doable, just understand it will be about 10X or more work and trash to haul out from waste. Ditto all plumbing, elect, data, etc.

Standard "california framing" is pretty dailed in for low cost and versatility, and who gonna be eyeballing them logs out in boondocks but you?

I'd see these more as a hi-profile but 'rustic' location, like maybe a dozen for a resort, where a guy can learn the tricks when he does 20 units, rather than beat himself up on his first and only.

Just my take. Neat house though.

Talk to prior owners, but also consider wood quality is changing and not for the better, so just because a guy got a good one 30 yrs ago doesn't mean YOUR logs won't be warping or something.


PS-make that sheetrock notching more like 100X more than normal house, where it is done with one quick razor cut and a backcrack of a line. And I didn't even factor in the mudding.

For electric and plumbing, not only will you be sweating blood (since you can't just buy new board and H-Depot), you will have 10-20X more wood to drill through, and measuring to make holes line up also 20X as tricky.

In a free-state, out in the sticks, I have read that there are less permits, less regulations, less inspections, and less zoning. I read it is like "It' your property..." in a free-state.

I like a small living space that works well with a wood stove.

A mechanical out-building with a cool basement, for food storage, washer/dryer, generator, heavy duty canning stove, etc.

A shop out-building for auto storage, plumbing parts, tools, tractor etc.

I've been trying to find sort of a plain english description of what the CA standards are. Any references?

I believe the OP is interested in property in North Idaho, where the only inspections are septic, plumbing and electric. No structural inspections are required.

ProblemChild - I'd be interested in a link to the source of this. My wife is interested in putting up a guest cabin on our property in ID. Something small like the 18x22 might be interesting.

"California Framing" is a simplified wood framing method, designed to provide a lower cost method of framing walls and roof. Contractors like them because they are easier to build and cost less; Engineers distrust them, because they really take the design to the edge of the limits of the materials. As a result, the Engineers have to really watch the connection details and the contractor workmanship. A good explanation of the "California Farming" is within the line below.

http://meadowlarkbuilders.com/green-...anced-framing/

Not quite. Engineers can take the materials much farther towards the edge of their capacity, and many do. The "Light Frame Construction" or "Conventional Framing Standards" (however you refer to it) allowances within the code are really quite conservative. Engineers don't like it for one reason: because it allows someone like me (not an engineer) to design a house without needing an engineer's stamp & structural calculations... saving my client money. If a house is designed per "conventional framing methods", then no engineered is required to check anything during construction. Studs are still 16" o.c., floor joists are still 16" o.c., Rafters & trusses are still 24" o.c. Footings & slab thickness are the same size (determined by the soils report & the bearing capacity of the soil). There is not much of a difference in cost between an engineered structure & one designed per "Conventional Framing Standards".

Here's a decent reference for what is referred to as "Conventional Framing" or "Light Frame Construction" within the 2010 CBC/ CRC:

http://www.co.calaveras.ca.us/cc/Por...nstruction.pdf

The codes just updated to the 2013 CBC/ CRC, but it is still about the same. If you're interested, I can get you a copy of the current building code section. I use this often to avoid having to hire a structural engineer when doing plans for a simple addition or single story residence.

I would do it for 2-Story residences (as the means to do it per code is available), but I don't want the liability... plus the design constraints are a little too strict for what most of my clients want in a 2-Story residence.

NEVER trust out of state suppliers of pre-manufactured structures when they say it meets all of the CA building codes. Just meeting the CBC is one thing, and you have to double check that they at least have met those requirements. There are also local city or county ordinances that must be met. I've had several clients who have purchased plans off the internet hoping to save a buck, only to have to hire me to get bring the plans up to code & approved by the building departments. They never account for the right amount of (or any) lateral. That is the big thing. With our earthquake codes, the seismic requirements are huge compared to other states. Seismic outweighs wind load 90% of the time in CA, whereas in other states, wind loading takes precedence.

Thanks for the link. That's just what I needed.

I often wondered about all those online plans .. thanks for that tip.

No problem. It's what I do for a living. I tell most of my clients that if they saw a plan they liked online, show me the floor plan & I'll make t work with our codes. Much less painful :D

No problem. It's what I do for a living. I tell most of my clients that if they saw a plan they liked online, show me the floor plan & I'll make it work with our codes. Much less painful :D Plus, it allows them to tweak it to their own personal tastes.

Pretty small to live in even just for a couple.

Build what you want the first time even if it is just a shell. With a shell and a bigger place you can finish things as you go along, one room at a time. Make sure you build a shop at the same time. Cry only once.

Find out if you can have a basement.

It looks too top heavy to me.
I think the important thing has been said. Ordinary framing will give you a lot more of what you might want.
But you need to look at what you want. Full time, year around? Or just the summer, or summer and two or three weeks in the winter?
dc

It looks cute, I understand the steel clad roof pitch but roof structure appears ill thought.

Roof structure is supposed to look cute, not be 'well thought out'.

Why no thatched option?

http://www.housekaboodle.com/wp-cont...read-House.jpg

If you are in stupid-in-luv with the log-look, I'd be 'more comfortable' doing frame house and adding log exterior, especially if you got logs on site. Saw outside of logs into three 1/3 radius pieces with chainsaw or lumber mill, then add 1" 90' cuts so they stack(actually you want about 80' and 10' so water falls outside). Butt them into vertical logs on corners (with 90' Vee notch to take corner of house framing). Looks hella cool and fully 'authentic' and with BARK that GRADUALLY ages off. Can't find pics yet, seen in Santa Cruz Mtns. And without the headaches of trimming out a log cabin. Framing/roof only a small part of building cost, in both houses and boats.

Personally, I'd say dropping a few shipping containers on a mound of 2" granite gravel is hard to beat, and a lot easier to 'pack up and go' if needed.

IIRC you can get a big 2axle flatbed with a winch and cables for pretty cheap and do your own container moving(to sane weight limits), but now I'm thread jacking.

just get a yurt and spend the rest on a satellite dish

Shipping containers sprayed in and out with rhino liner.

I thought this was an interesting build. Constructed on an old, 45 foot trailer frame. The basic structure was welded up in steel then finished out as you see here. One advantage is this home can be moved. :cool2:

It's taller than we think and the owner has a partial loft inside. I like the idea of building on a frame at your leisure and cash flow and moving it to a prepared fenced compound/lot as you desire.






http://i62.tinypic.com/14lor5g.jpg





http://i58.tinypic.com/mv474h.jpg

that looks so cool just wonder if those windws and glass pannel door is designed to be able to take the jolts from moving it by driving on the freeway lol

That's what I always think when I see these. I seriously doubt most could survive a 100 mile relocation, especially if the last 5 miles was into the country where you would want a cabin sized habitat.

^^^ I like the trailer idea - making use of what you have, and mobile to boot.


I like the cabin as well, but for a defendable structure, it needs fewer - and smaller - windows...

I suspect it's half of a salvage double-wide, damn cute tho.

Looks nice. As other have pointed out you have MANY other associated costs still to factor in.

On another level, are you/family ready to live in less than 600 square feet of space? Sure it can be done, but if you have a wife 2 kids, a dog......

Link for the original cabin?

There is a place called SoCal Cottages. Might look them up. They have a trailer for places where permitting is an issue and units 20x30 where permitting isn't an issue. We inspected the largest unit in Sacramento and consider it as an inlaw quarter until the inlaw passed away and we didn't need. Good pricing, they run a lot of specials so don't expect to pay posted prices but maybe 10-15% less.

Thanks for that! I can't believe I never found them in all my other searches for this kind of houses.

I know people that have isolated cabins; the locals rip them off when nobody is around. Winter is best, snowmobile in and clean them out. If this isn't year round, I'd get a nice motorhome, build a pole structure with a roof to park the coach under. Then you take all you goodies home with you....

I like the cabin in the OP, nice.

Reseller
 

The one we visited was a North of Sacramemto. She was going to be a reseller for them but this was 3 years ago. Get on their mail list and they'll send you "specials" many of which are pretty food.

Orient one on a perfect azimuth to the south for solar!