We Bought an Abandoned Alaskan Cabin | Full Tour
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 13 янв 2024
- When we purchased our piece of Alaska, we ended up buying a homestead that had been abandoned for nearly 20 years. We had a ton of cleaning up to do when we arrived at the property, both inside and out. After removing everything from inside the cabin and fixing part of the roof and floor, we have a great place to use as storage and a workspace until we can build something of our own. While it is an eyesore, it is great to have something that we can temporarily use for our belongings and house our chickens. Come along for the tour of our abandoned cabin!
Thank you for watching and supporting our channel!
Katie & Chris
Got Jax/Down for It/Courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com
Biddy Sullivan\Day of Mine/Courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com
Follow us on Facebook: / northtoalaska2022
Keep the original owners heart somewhere on the new build. This was his passion before you. Remember we don’t live for ever, and one day a new person could be looking at your build the same way as this.
The cabin has great craftsmanship and some shady craftsmanship all in one. No way I could tear it down.
Yeah, shocked me when she said that, a milion ways to save it rather than turf it.
Maybe our video did not represent the actual poor condition of the cabin. The logs and building materials will be of great use once dismantled. We will more than likely reconstruct a smaller guest cabin from the materials in a better location on our property.
Good move to take it down. I bet when it warms up there will be mold smell.
Such a shame this super cool cabin will live only in this video after you dismantle it, it looks so neat and I think it would be nice to see the foundation shored up and repaired
That's exactly what I was thinking. Just get some mini acrow's and away you go.
We will have many great videos of the deconstruction and reconstruction of new structures in a better location on the property in the future with all of these materials.
One man's dream ends, so shall another's begin. Enjoyed you sharing your dream and how respectful you are of what came before you. Thank you
Very true 👍 thank you!
So smart to reuse the wood. Someone spent a lot of time preping those logs and still a ton of life left in them. Wood will last for generations if it is kept dry and bug-free. So nice to see you guys doing all this hard work. I'm envious. I enjoy watching you guys so much!!
There is a lot to be salvaged. We are thankful to use it as a shed for the time being. It is going to take many years to get this property to the point we want but we are looking forward to every step along the way!
I’m In Pennsylvania and have always wanted to move to Alaska. I couldn’t agree more. I don’t know what part of Pa but I’m in NEPA and would leave in a heartbeat. Good luck guys. So glad I found your channel. Until I move I’ll live through y’all.
Glad you found us! We lived in York County!
In PA as well! Lycoming County. Getting ready to retire and have considered a move to Alaska. But it would be move in condition only! Been there, done that on fixer uppers.
UT seems like you could've jacked the house up and put new supports under it
Anything is possible, but is it worth it? Not to us.
At least you could use it for the tent. Then some of the timbers can be salvaged. What a job cleaning it up. It might have been easier if there had been no buildings. But the property has so much potential.
It definitely would have been easier if the cabin was not here. We will make the best of it in the future, and thankful to have it for a shed and chicken house for the time being.
You could jack the building up and replace the foundation posts. A totally new build would be better.
I wouldn't try to fix that cabin I probably burn it down. probably have mold inside cabin
We have no intention to fix it, As we mentioned once we have an adequate storage shed that we no longer need to use the cabin as a shed we will dismantle it, and reclaim what we can.
Maybe when you dismantle the old cabin you could save one of the largest logs or the most unique log and incorporate that some way into your new cabin in a central location, as a passing from one generation to the next.
I initially was thinking just burn the old cabin, but you are correct there is a lot of log, lumber, and plywood value in what is there and lumber is only getting more expensive. Great that you want to upcycle what is of value.
Thank you, that is a great idea! Hopefully, it is worth the effort. Worst case scenario there is a lot of firewood to put in a stove sitting in the log walks. Will need to check them with a metal detector before sawing. I bet there are a lot of nail spikes inside
You didn’t go into detail on the fireplace, but at first glance it’s a cool looking build. Would it be possible to disassemble the cabin around it, than use some of the salvaged logs to build a Gazebo style building around it? It would make an awesome outdoor covered space with the fireplace!
99% sure we will reuse the logs to build a small guest cabin in a better location on the property in the future 🙂
So happy you’re saving the logs and not burning them! U can use a battery powered or corded electric disc grinder and grind the first layer of aging off the logs. Then use a propane torch and burn them then broom 🧹 them off and paint them with Australian Timber oil. Then use the Cabin logs to build a nice size work shop with or on your house for that matter. If you used that Japanese burning method on them logs whatever you build would be there when your grand kids are old. The burning & Timber oil makes them insect & rot resistant. Definitely don’t throw them away or burn them because someone has already took out a ton of work for you by having those logs already in place. Even the ones that are a little bit rotted you can cut the bad part off and use the rest of the log. That’s a lot of work cutting down logs stripping all the bark and letting them dry, so that part is already done for you. It’s amazing how well those logs will clean up with a disc Sander, lightly burning, brushing 🧹 off the char off and treating them with oil. They’ll then be good for another 100 years or longer. Yeah you guys definitely have a lot of nice usable logs in that cabin that’ll save you time and money to be ready to be used again.
😁👍🏼
So true! A lot of usable materials to be salvaged. A lot of the logs are cracked from not being properly sealed over many years but as long as they are still sturdy I would love to try and rebuild a small summer cabin out of the better logs on the property for when our family from out of state come to visit they would have a private guest cabin to use!
Wow, and to think I was complaining about what stuff the seller left in the above ground basement in the place we bought up here in Alaska. We only partially filled up a roll-off dumpster, you guys had a whole lot more than that, not including what was outside 🤯. At least you are able to use the building as temporary storage for now. Thanks for the tour & before/after pictures.
Alaskans love to hang on to everything it seems... a lot of cluttered properties to be seen in the state. That is one downside to living in an area with no regulation people start personal landfills sometimes.
Thanks for tour guys !!
A lot of good temporary storage!
Stay safe and warm 😊
You are welcome 😊
Good morning how are you folks doing this morning hope everybody's doing okay out there keep up the good work I'm proud of both of you keep up the proud of you help that water thing still working for you guys and then take it easy
Good morning! Hope you are well too 🙂 the spring is still flowing, it has been freezing very thick ice all around the outlet but after using an ax to remove the ice we can still use it just fine!
All the power to you guys that’s amazing. I’ve worked in construction for a good many years as a bricklayer. To be perfectly honest, I think I’d write up by just a normal piece of ground and build what I want on it. Might spend having to do all that cleanup. I would’ve built about a 4000 square-foot home in the time I spent just clearing all that crap. I’d write up by a blank canvas with some planning permission and start from there.
We only bought it for the land. The shack is of no real value to us. This video was mainly created to answer questions our viewers had about the cabin which could be seen in many of our other videos. We are currently building a new energy-efficient cabin on the property to live in full time if you are interested check it out. As far as the mess we spent several weeks cleaning it all up but it was well worth it. We love our property and location. It was a great investment for the price as well.
we jacked up my cabin the correct way and replaced rotted posts with new ones.
If this cabin had been constructed in a better fashion from the beginning that may have been an option here. In this case, we are building a new well-insulated cabin to live in full-time here.
we all have health fail.. my advise is plan ahead & steps become limits. i am looking to put ramps to our home entry ways 🏡
True, our new cabin will have limited steps.
It seems that it was a pretty nice cabin back in the days. Such a shame that it was abandoned for so many years. Definitely you will need to tare it down and salvage what can be used in the future. Looking forward to all your new projects. Love and be safe!😘🤗🌼🇻🇪
Would love to go back and see the place 30 years ago, I'm sure it was one of the nicer cabins in the area at that time. We had hoped to find old photos from the construction in the abandoned belongings, but no luck... ❤️
Good luck. Lots of good materials in that cabin. Nice that you can utilize the space for now. Thank you for taking us on a tour. Take care✌️🇺🇸
For sure! We have a lot of plans to reuse as much as possible 😊 thank you for the good luck wishes!
Amazing how much work you two have done in such a short time , having fuel storage in a remote building is a great safety measure stay safe healthy and warm ,can’t wait to to see you
build this summer
Yes, we are ready for better weather ahead! Progress has been very slow since winter set in.
nice larger logs still, just jack up and replace that their rotted foundation log with filled concert blocks!
Could be an option if we were desperate to live in a shack.
This is awesome! I walked through that place when it was listed. What a small world.
Not surprising, for as big as the state is there is not a lot of land for sale.
Wow guys! What an arduous task you have before you. I feel like this will be on of those situations where the mission was to drain the swamp and found it was full of Alligators. You are so correct to leverage what enclosed space is available for storage of items and housing your Chickens. You guys continue to amaze me with your willingness to work hard and make good things happen for your homestead!.
We feel like we have been fighting the gators for a while now! Great analogy, thanks for that! It's not going to happen overnight but we are getting there 🙂 thanks Chuck!
Sometimes it is better to rebuild from scratch and they will be keeping some of the original owners wood to reuse in their build if no bugs or mould. You forget it has been standing 20 years now abandoned. Your channel came into my recommendation. Look forward to watching your journey.
Glad you have found us! And welcome 🙂
Wow! It’s a good thing that y’all are young and energetic. At my age, I would probably burn it down and start over. Good job!
We will salvage what we can. It's hard to know until we get into it, but it seems there would be a lot to salvage, hopefully, it is worth dismantling it.
Hi...please remove snow from the roof the cabin and record full video and share...thanks
That the original builder's stuff held up for 20+ years after he died shows that his building quality was at least adequate. It seems he lived a far more rustic life with simpler things and tools.
Very true 🙂
Thanks for taking us along.
You are welcome!
Salvage what you can and have a nice fire to stay warm perfect time do it with the snow. Cold here in Pennsylvania now. Good luck
You have made a lot of progress! Hopefully there is an early and dry summer ahead of us!
Slowly but surely grinding it out! After seeing it rain a few times recently in your town, It feels like spring is already here!
We know someone who tore down a home, used the lumber to build a three car garage attached to their home with matching vinyl siding. It was great,even poured a full cement floor. It takes a lot of time and patience. You can do this!
Very nice! We are excited to see all of the useful construction we can do with the material here 🙂
Thanks for the tour! Pretty neat! I’m from P.A. to, Oxford. ❤
The cabin is ugly, but it is interesting ❤️
We've bought several properties and cleaned them up. It's amazing how much equity you can build just with a good cleaning.
That is great! This one took a bit of time and effort but it has been worth it. We can't wait to see the final results in a few years when the new cabin is up, and the old cabin is gone.
@@northtoalaska2022 we can't wait to see it either 😊. Stay safe and warm
So glad you are going to try to reuse the old cabin
A lot of good wood to salvage 🙂
Beautiful place, looking forward to seeing the transformation...
You guys are living my dream I love what you're doing
Loved the journey thank you.
You are welcome 😊
I like how well you inform us of what you see etc. It does add to the feeling of being there. Looking forward to future projects!!
Thank you 🙂
I would like to do that but I'm 72 yrs old now and it's out of my sphere of things I recently bought some rural property With an old house on it and a really big metal building ,Had my Son and his construction crew fully upgrade it before we moved in New Everything . But I'm Older and had some money to pay for it all , Had my own Contracting Business myself . But I can't even get out of my own way now days.Did the type of things you're doing when I was younger .So stay positive and keep pushing .
Congratulations on your new property and home, it sounds like it is turning out nicely! Thank you for the positive comment. We do hope what we are building here will last us for the rest of our lives with some regular maintenance. Nothing is becoming more affordable or easier with age.
Did I see a birch tree on that property ,I really enjoyed the bonfire stoke, Stoke it
Yes! Hundreds of them 🙂
10:47 I LOVE that little decoration 🥹
Oh my! Yes! We just love that little decoration. It will certainly be getting cleaned and put in our cabin. A piece from the previous owner's past for our new home 🥰
Quite the building - Yes, you should be able to salvage many useful logs ... Will be a hell of a lot of hard work - All the Best to you both and stay warm and safe - (I'm a lab lover - hope to see more of your gorgeous pup....)
It is a shack for sure... it will be a lot of work! Thank you for the well wishes! Benelli made a short appearance in the last video hopefully you caught it 🥰 he doesn't like staying outside for long recently it has been too cold for him 🥶
Can’t wait to see what y’all get accomplished this summer.
We are excited to see too 🙂
Thank you both for the update! The place certainly has an interesting history! Your work so far has been amazing! Looking forward to your next episode! 😊
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the video 🙂
whoop, cool video series comming up! can not wait to see you guys wchange this in an awesome place!
Thats a good thing for storage when you started and maybe give you something back later. Good for you guys
Exactly our thoughts 🙂
Ha, I lived in Alaska 30 years and that sure looks like an Alaskan build. Good stuff for young people.
Classic Alaskan build for sure!
I’m curious but I believe I saw an extra set of tracks for your snow blower? Looks like it’s still really cold up there. I bet you guys can’t wait till spring. I’m excited to see how your new house comes together & thank you for posting videos on your journey. I believe some people have the dream and never get to live it. I imagine it could be stressful on a relationship if you don’t have a partner willing to take the dive with you.
Psalm 125:1
They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but stays for ever.
You were not supposed to see that 😅 that's stuff for a future episode haha! It was a warm 20°f today, back down to single digits this weekend. We will welcome spring but no rush for the mud and bugs. Winter is beautiful here, we are not geared up enough to enjoy all of it yet but looking forward to many long winters ahead. We should have an update on the new cabin progress soon! You are right about the dream, Life is too short to live it unfulfilled.
@@northtoalaska2022 So that means I get the first T-shirt when you guys start your merchandise store? I would be definitely be first in line to buy one.
You could jack the cabin up and put footers underneath it. It's done all the time.
It is possible to do for sure, unfortunately, after the foundation is replaced, it would also need a new floor system. The beams and floor joists would need to be redesigned because it was not built with the correct dimensions of lumber or spacing to hold the load, so it has a sagy and creaky floor. Then the log walls would need to be repaired because several logs on the bottom are completely rotten from ground moisture. Another issue is the diameter logs that they used in this cabin are not large enough diameter to provide much insulation value at all in an arctic or sub-arctic region like ours making it difficult to keep a warm temperature in the winter even with burning tons of firewood. They would also need to be completely re-chinked. Then the entire roof would need torn off and redesigned because it has water and mold damage, it was also not built correctly and has many issues. Unfortunately at that point, it is just not worth the time and money to try and fix it. If it was in a different location on the property we would leave it as is for a barn or shed but we want the location for a more important project. Our new cabin will be a lot more efficient and more than a shack like this old cabin.
Chris would be great at narrating westerns or documentary movies! He just has that perfect voice.
I agree lol
Glad you guys think so but not sure about this one haha
That will be one massive project. Best of luck in future.
Enjoying your tour and much good luck in you endeavors!!
Thank you!
We tried to rent a house near Fairbanks in 1973 and the foundations were terrible because they were built on permafrost causing them to sink much like what you have found.
Lots to clean, your young and well make it all look beautiful. ❤
🙂
Wow what an amazing project you have. Excellent video
Thank you! It's a big project but it will be well worth it 😀
So interesting. Thanks for sharing
You are welcome!
WOW, you two did an amazing job of clearing..... good use of the stable parts of the build to use for storage and looks SO MUCH better when it was cleared out! (14:51) GOOD LUCK with Winter and look forward to your new house build~~
Thank you!
Image the original homesteader's journey building and living there.
Congratulations on your journey with this property. Hopefully you have saved some of those papers that showed the history to build a scrapbook or journal of the property including your journey as well. 👍💪🛠🎥📺
Just found your channel. Will have to binge watch a bit this weekend.
Hello from Florida 🏄♂️ 🏖 🌞 🐊 🐬 🦩 🦞🌊🍊🌴
We can only imagine they had a very interesting and challenging adventure! 🙂👋👍
I immediately like this guy the second the video starts!
🙂
Great to see you guys again I so agree about doing thing s right the foundation is everything anyway glad you guys doing well had my knee surgery in time as recover be so glad when I get back to Alaska have great time and good luck be safe 👍🔥
Glad to hear you are doing well! We hope your recovery is going smoothly! Thank you!
I bet the man used to own the cabin was proud of the cabin when he finished it.
Agreed
Awesome video and Thanks for sharing. 👍👍👍💯💯😊
Thank you! 😀
Love your videos, very relaxing and informative
Thank you! We are glad you are enjoying the videos! 😀
I bet you could disassemble the cabin and rebuild it on a better foundation. May have to replace some of the logs but it looks like most of the logs are still good.
Logs don’t really make for a warm house in Alaska. Ask anyone who heats one. The logs can be used for a lot of beams for future building.
Once we disassemble, it would be a nice project to build a smaller log cabin with a normal roof out of the materials in a different spot on the property. It could make a decent guest house for our family to visit in the summer. Like Chris_ at_home mentioned this diameter log has a terrible r value. So they will not make for a warm home in winter. Log homes can be beautiful but with high heating energy costs today it is not practical compared to modern construction, especially in an arctic or subarctic region.
@@northtoalaska2022 Every Alaskan with family in the lower 48 needs a quest cabin. My parents came up every other year in the 80s and early 90s and 3 of my siblings made multiple trips. A brother lives here and a sister did from 81-2000. Right now we have a travel trailer with all the hookups and a nice deck with a view. If I had those logs I’d build a roof over it as I am tired of cleaning the snow off it. Thats about 10 items down on the major to do list. And now back to hanging drywall.
@@northtoalaska2022 I am curious on what type of walls and type of insulation you are going to use on your home.
The plan as of now is studded with either blow-in cellulose or rock wool. Mainly for more r-value, but they seem to be better for mold resistance compared to fiberglass. Spray-on Foam is out of the budget.
So glad you guys are going to salvage some of those logs and wood. It would be a shame just get rid of it. Looking forward for the build to start. Peace ✌ and Love ❤.
We will save all we can, so many great ideas we can repurpose the materials for! ❤️
Awesome!!!!
Thank you! 😀
Wow lots of work
Yes!
you should pressure wash the outs walls. You might find some of the logs are still usable.
Most of the logs other than the bottom rows that are rotten will be salvaged!
If the logs are in good shape you could use them to build a livestock shelter. It would save a lot of time since building season is so short up here.
Very true! We have a lot of plans and ideas for all the materials 🙂 with the short building season it may take many years for sure.
Good luck up there you crazies 👍
Thank you, we will take the luck 🙂
Congratulations, Nice find. You are young enough to where you can make a nice home.
Thank you 🙂
Hey Chris and Katie, greetings from Baltimore County.....We just got a HUGE snowfall with a whole 3 inches of snow!!!!!! Everyone is paralyzed and loosing their minds, don't you miss that? Eyeroll. Keep up the good work.
Hey! I can only imagine the pandemonium 😆 it's a different world up here driving on ice roads for 5 months out of the year. Back in Maryland, the entire government would be fired over the roads haha... With tires rated for low temps and ice it is not a big deal at all. Believe it or not, they do use salt brine on the highway in this area. Very unfortunate, had hoped to get away from rust and destruction of the salt. Hope all is well!
Hey what a cool video. Seriously thanks for making it! I remember being younger and seeing abandoned buildings and just itching to know the stories. When you get older you learn to google but by then it’s usually torn down or collapsed to explore! Taking video “evidence” for future generations is very honorable/entertaining since it’ll look completely different in a few years!
Glad to hear you enjoyed the video, we wanted to capture the story of this property the best we could. Unfortunately, we did not record as much of the cleanup process as we could have but we will make up for it with the rest of the project. Thanks for watching
WOW! Y'all have been busy!!!! Lots of clean up in that cabin.
Thank you! It's been quite the undertaking, but it has been well worth it! 😀
Sweet
Great storage for you! Too bad it’s not salvageable. Thanks for sharing
🙂
That's quite the project , Good luck
It's been quite a lot of work but it has been well worth it! Thank you! 😀
@@northtoalaska2022 You know when I first got married .We took on a fixer upper , Almost ruined my marriage . always working on House and property . But we survived just a word of caution.47yrs of being married to the same woman and still Happy 😊
Awesome!! I've had to clean out some estates like that! Its a lot of work!!
Thank you! It is quite a bit of work, but it has been well worth it! 😀
I appreciate your ambition.
Thank you! 😀
I’m feeling a lot better about the barn I live in after seeing this cabin……lol
It's rough, glad you can see it how we do. Seems about a hundred commenters think we should live inside it... I would rather live in a tent.
Nice spot, I'm sure you guys will clean it up and get it together, very good investment
Yes, we are excited to see what the future brings 🙂
3:19 What type of tree is that to your right? Sooo pretty!! BTW.....huge fans, as we are remodeling a log cabin in CO and plan to live very simple!
We believe it is a paper birch tree! Thank you! Glad you enjoy our videos! 🙂 we wish you good luck with your cabin remodel!
Wish I can find something like this
There are a lot of abandoned recreational cabins in Alaska but not many are listed for sale. Good luck with your search!
Was a nice looking place at one time
Yes, I would love to go back in time 30+ years to see it in person. We had hoped to find photos in the cabin from the time of construction but no luck.
That’s awesome I’m so happy for you guys
👏🏼😁 Guys I haven’t gotten a notification from RUclips for your videos in 90 days + so I’m playing catch up. Crazy right ?
That is unfortunate, RUclips may have stopped recommending our videos, it seems our views have been lower than usual in the last few. Oh well, we will continue posting whenever we have something we feel is interesting to share!
Beautiful dog!!!
Thank you! 😀 🐕
A BIG project but you have a great started a the vision to keep moving forward. I wish you well as you work toward your goals together!
Thank you!
Great video!
Glad you liked it!
There is a lot of good material in that cabin to build lots of other things with. That's what I'd do anyway.
We plan to dismantle and repurpose as much as we can 🙂
I'd say the person who built it did a good job with the construction. To build something by yourself that can last 20 years in that climate without any maintenance is quite the task. Its sad they only got to enjoy it for a short time.
Unfortunately this happens too often, just as I sit here (in NJ for medical treatment) terminal at 42yo with a cabin in northern Quebec just rotting away because my illness dictates where I can go. It's sad how many people have become sick, I swear we are being poisoned and told things are "safe" when "they" know it's not, cough... Flint Michigan and so MANY other examples..cough...cough!
New subscriber Enjoy the tour Lots of work But enjoy the journey And we'll catch you another one to stay safe stay healthy stay happy
Welcome and thank you!
Một môi trường sống trong mơ ❤❤❤
It’s a shame the previous owners left it in such a mess. I don’t understand how someone could do that.
It may have been nice at one time but after being abandoned for 20 years the bears and squirrels had a hay day inside!
Log at foundation.. you could just turn couple large Stones for that.
Anything is possible, not worth it in our situation.
Awesome a new video.
🙂
Get pump Jack's lift house use cement blocks hold house
It could be done but not worth it once you see the full situation in person.
Greetings from Cordova Alaska
Hello neighbor! 👋
@@northtoalaska2022 hi....hope everything is well
Thanks for the tour! I’ve been curious what the old cabin looked like inside. Quite the clean up project there.
We had quite a few questions about it, hopefully this video helps. We did talk about the cabin briefly in our very first video when we arrived and when we built the chicken coop. But we never went into any real detail or shared the before cleanup footage because back then we were not recording enough to make an interesting video, it was mainly for our memories.
From what i can see, the basics weren't done right in the first place,
If you can salvage some useful bit well and good. If not you have a source id firewood
We have the same view 🙂