We plan to build a 700 sq foot cabin in the Wisconsin woods. What would you consider essential to the plan? We don't have a lot of time, nor $$, but would like the structure to be as off-grid as possible. Any tips, shared experiences would be appreciated.

-- have q's (answer@here.com), December 01, 1998

Answers

q, I think I would go underground.

I just did a HOTBOT search and got 140 hits on 'underground homes' exact phrase.

MVI

-- MVI (vtoc@aol.com), December 01, 1998.

What would I consider essential to the plan?

A broadaxe.

E.

-- E. Coli (nunayo@beeswax.com), December 01, 1998.

1) Scrap slabs (from sawmill) for siding, use Thompsons or Canvak on it to preserve it (YES I am aware of the large initial fire hazard!)

2) Insulate to R-60 - R-90

3) Stove designed for both wood and coal for heat

4) Range/oven designed as above (Yup, not a lotta coal there but keep options open)

5) AT LEAST 3 DOORS!! 2 in the main living area (on DIFFERENT WALLS!) and one on the opposite side of the house from the front! (the reasoning should be obvious!)

6) Floor minimum 6" (.5 ft) above soil, with walls going to the ground to give some insulation from ground in winter. Consider filling the space with insulation (very carefully consider the +/-'s).

7) seriously consider water sources, wind direction, snow flow (as in down hill), etc for location. (August 1st: "Look Martha, the stream will be at our back door in this little valley!" March 15th "Where did all this water come from!!!")

Chuck

-- Chuck a night driver (rienzoo@en.com), December 01, 1998.

A footpedal powered sharpening wheel for the axe.

-- x (x@x.com), December 01, 1998.

An Adze

a froe

a maul

Alex W Bealer's "Old Ways of Working With Wood" isbn-- 0-7858-0710-1

(all above spelled correctly)

cr

( I checked!)

-- Chuck a night driver (rienzoo@en.com), December 01, 1998.

You might consider a "Straw Bale" construction. The natural control of the interior temperature requires very little in the way of heating or cooling. Put in a root cellar and a food cellar. Also, consider an "open" floor concept with a loft. This is similiar to the interiors of very easly constructions where the sleeping loft was above the heat source for winter comfort.

Get a copy of "The New Natural House Book" by David Pearson...it's full of useful ideas.

Texas Terri

-- Texas Terri (TYSYM@AOL.com), December 01, 1998.

If you can finagle some old windows, build on a solar room on the southeast side (site your cabin to take full advantage of the sun) for some cheap heat. Pour a concrete slab floor, and make the wall on the back side (where the rest of the cabin is) filled concrete block to absorb solar heat. Don't forget to make the entry into the sun room secure...maybe you could use it like your front porch.

700 sq. feet isn't very big, so one thing I'd do is make a loft for sleeping. Not only do you have the floor space below free for other things (table and chairs to eat at, stove to cook on, etc.) you can take advantage of the fact that warm air rises, and the sleeping area wouldn't need any heat source.

Since you are in Wisconsin, I'd suggest you look into a root cellar underneath the cabin; it should get cold enough up there to make it worthwhile for storage.

-- Karen Cook (browsercat@hotmail.com), December 01, 1998.

"have q's", you might check this out if you haven't already seen it:

Countryside & Small Stock Journal

"COUNTRYSIDE is the truly original country magazine (established 1917) serving that branch of the Voluntary Simplicity movement seeking greater self-reliance (homesteading), with emphasis on home food production. This includes gardening, small-scale livestock, cooking, food preservation, resource conservation, recycling, frugality, money management, alternative energy, old-time skills, home business, and much more."

And they even have an article about Preparing for Y2K.

-- Max Dixon (Ogden, Utah USA) (Max.Dixon@gte.net), December 01, 1998.

To: Have q's...

I'm off-grid and have been for years. Located in the woods in Wisconsin.

Contact me at the e-mail address below. I'll be happy to do what I can to answer your questions particularly about solar/wind power.

Dan

-- Dan (DanTCC@Yahoo.com), December 02, 1998.

To Max Dixon:

Thanks a bunch for the reference to the magazine! Looks great. My wife are already on the phone ordering back issues! Thanks.

Joe and Pat

-- Joe (jba@there.com), December 02, 1998.

Reference to another magazine source:

Home Power Magazine .. covers virtually anything you'd ever want to know about solar electric, wind generators, small home hydroelectric systems, energy efficiency, efficient applicances, batteries, etc. Also interwoven among their pages are sections dealing with construction such as straw bale, adobe, insulation, electric cars, communications (i.e. ham radio), solar cooking, food dehydration, and down-to-the-nitty-gritty design info. Best of all - virtually all of the articles are written by folks who have done it. They aren't techno-geeks .. meaning lots of plain English.

Back issues are available on two CDs or in hardcopy. If you opt for the CD route .. they even include Adobe Acrobat on the CD.

They also have some excellent preliminary info on line:

http://www.homepower.com/hp/

(http://www.homepower.com/hp/)

For back issues, subscriptions, The Electric Vehicle Book, or their CD-ROM's (and I guess other stuff):

Inside the USA .......... 800-707-6585 The rest of the world ... 530-475-0830

or

Home Power Magazine PO Box 520 Ashland, Oregon 97520

Good luck.

Dan.

-- Dan (DanTCC@Yahoo.com), December 02, 1998.

As a cabin owner myself, I would recommend placing the stove as close to the middle of the cabin as possible. If you are going to have a second floor, install air vents in the floor near the stoves location so that heat can rise into the upstairs easily. Also make sure you get a stove that is large enough to heat the home's square footage.

-- Yin (excop@police.com), December 02, 1998.

I just took a class by a great teacher in the seattle area. (I flew out from Chicago) His Name's Skip Ellsworth, a fifth generation log home builder. He's been teaching for 25 years. He boils log home construction down to a 2-day, 12 hrs a day seminar for $150. IT WILL BE THE SMARTEST THING YOU CAN ever DO! his site is at: http://www.premier1.net/~loghouse. He is going to the Philipines soon, though so call now to save a space. If he gets enough interest, he'll come back once a month to teach a class. If he has room, stay at his bed & breakfast. It is so awesome. tell 'em Dale sends regards.

-- Dale Rehus (dale@spicreative.com), December 15, 1998.

Man, I just read Dale's post and it brought back some memories. Ditto what he said, if you are interested in log homes, and building them the 'right way,' then you really mush check out Skip's class.

I took the course last month and it was a great experince, well worth the price of admission and the trip. Skip doesn't teach anymore (he retired), but occasionally one of his sons and a family friend teaches a course at Skip's ranch in Wa.

It is simply hard to believe how much info those guys cram into 2 days, you will indeed learn how to build a log home before leaving the class, and you'll be able to spot all the mistakes on other peoples log homes (not that you'd point them out to the owners, no use being rude HEHEHEHEHE).

Check those guys out before you even cut a tree, go to www.loghomebuilders.org and read the whole damn site.

-- Frank Zafrand (hardlylucid@yahoo.com), December 23, 2004.

Hmm, just to see if I can make it easy on folks how about we see if this board does hyperlinks :)

[url]http://www.loghomebuilders.org[/url]

-- Frank Zafrand (hardlylucid@yahoo.com), December 23, 2004.