I’m Building an Off Grid Cabin in my Woods! Part 1 - Foundation and Floor
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- Опубликовано: 21 ноя 2024
- In this video I kick off the build series on building a cabin in my woods. We live on a 90 acre piece of property in Michigan and always thought it would be neat to have a place to get away from everything right here on our property. I hope you enjoy this build series as much as I enjoy building it.
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Skidding logs for the cabin:
• 162 Skidding logs with...
Saw-milling the lumber:
• 163 Saw milling timber...
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Your one of the few builders that goes to the trouble to notch the posts so that the weight of the building rest on the foundation posts. Other builder just nail everything to the side of the posts and the nails are the only thing holding the building up. I see in the comments that other people agree. I guess it is true that great minds think alike.
WELL DONE!!!!!! Can't wait to watch all the other videos!!
Your notched posts look good. Thanks for doing it the right way. I'm tired of watching people on RUclips nail their beams to the side of the posts and have their entire cabin supported by a few nails!
Thanks!
I like how you made a cut in the piers so the casement boards rest on those piers rather than what you often see, the boards just being nailed against the piers where the weight of the structure is poorly distributed. I often had my doubts about the strenght of such building in strong winds, or how it deals with aging.. if these things come lose....
I have yet to start my first project and it's these little details that worry me as the devil is in the detail.
There are waterproof sleeves to put your foundation posts into to prevent rot.
I like putting a layer of 1/4 inch hardware cloth underneath your floor joists during construction, easier than after.
You scared me for a moment. I thought you installed the joist hangers upside down! Goofy me!🤪😜
😂 yeah I had one placed on a joist upside down….that could throw you off until I grab it to install. Thanks for watching Raymond!
Thank you for adding insulation. I see so many weekend builders not adding floor insulation, even in the far north. Nice build. I have a 12x20, just built an 8x20, and getting geared up for a 16x28 - can’t wait
How much did it cost you to build a 12x20 I’m new to carpentry thought about building a little cabin on my woman’s family’s land to live in for awhile to upgrade farther.
Greeting from mountains in Czechia :-) You did simple but powerfull foundation!! I suggest just only one change - to do concrete pilots of foundations with some asphalt isolation on the top. I did it before 16 years and wood floor is still ok! :-)
I love how you specified 'my' woods, I haven't seen that in other videos, and it's interesting to me because they are YOUR woods, I've just never seen it so proudly used, great video man!
We take great pride in our property and using it and managing it in a responsible way. Thank you for watching!
Very nice build, live just across the boarder north, with same snow and a little colder. I see a small problem with the foundation ( 1/2 century repairing same type of thing ) your building weigh's more than the sq, feet of the posts can support (no pad at the bottom), end result you cabin will sink over time. The nice thing is if this happens, your on sand so a pad on grade works fine and in most cases will not move up or down with frost. For others reading this, pads don't work well for clay, just gravel or sand.
I thought about that. Here’s hoping I’m ok. Year and a half in and no movement yet. Thanks for watching.
Hello my friend I enjoy watching your outdoor video and I am outdoor person like you too even cold winter. Your new friend
Great hole digging and post placing.
Ideally your concrete level should have raised above ground level, and be rounded off to a dome to shed water.
Wood should never contact (moist) soil.
There are water proof sleeves that can be placed over your posts before burying them.
I was thinking the same thing. I would expect even pressure treated wood would rot in about 10 years if exposed to earth.
Nah, ground rated posts will last for a very long time in earth. The spot that is at risk is right near the surface at the air/ground barrier. A little roofing tar there from about 10 inches above ground to 10" below will extend the pier's lifespan.
Looks great the only thing id add to you build is rot wrapping you posts in your footers. AND adding footers in the middle. The rot wrap is like a rubber wrap that you put on your posts. Other than that i love it
A suggestion from a Construction Forensics Engineer. (I investigate why buildings fail)
I would have recommended sticking 2 layers of 4" thick Owens/Corning pink foam insulation tight up to the floor joists filling any gaps with spray foam along with not enclosing the bottom. Michigan has lots of humidity. Enclosing the bottom and installing regular insulation will cause the insulation to sweat since there is no vapor barrier installed at the cold side of the floor and will eventually rot and mold.
I would also recommend installing lag screws or thru bolt the rim joist to the post.
Nice job.
What type of trees did you mill the lumber from? It looks like you have a lot of hardwood on your property.
Good ideas. I may end up building other structures on this property, so input is appreciated. The timber I used was aspen. Thanks for watching.
If you insulate the bottom of the joists with sheet foam and fill the gaps, how would that rot the fiberglass above? how does the foam not provide a vapor shield?
I do similar work for a living. For a basic cabin like this, I would just cut out some of the umderaide plywood and add ventilation strips. Foam is overkill for something like this.
Set the floor on concrete footings. Do not use treated wood in ground if you want the building to stand for more than forty years. A little extra work, but worth it.
@@BlackpowderBBQ It will if you encased the post in concrete and all the post preservative in the world will not help you. Moisture is held between the post and concrete and cannot escape. If the post is on bare ground and not gravel that the chances are good the bottom will rot. Also without a concrete footing to spread the load out you have limited yourself on how much that post is going to carry before punching down thru the soil.
We've had PT 6x6s start to rot out in as little as 6 years here in Virginia. If you are hell-bent on using them, pour a 6" thick concrete base with 6" of gravel on top of that. Do not encase the post in concrete. Backfill with tamped dirt only. If you want them to last longer, use stainless steel screws to attach 3/4" Pt plywood all the way around, including the bottom of the post. Have the plywood come above ground level by several inches and seal the seam where the plywood meets the post with silicone. For really important areas, we have also wrapped the plywood with ice dam underlayment or the equivalent (that very sticky and adhesive black sheet sealant that is used around rough window openings before installing windows; I can't remember what it is called). We've also used milled locust 8x8s as posts. They're hard as crap to fasten to but they do last longer than a bare PT 6x6.
40 years! Thats great
In my American Dream, since 1964, I'm visiting Karst.
Because it allows me to locate caves, Cool chambers
back into prehistoric periods. In Permian Age stone
with marine fossils inside. Saved for my senior citizen
years. Its a 2 hour highway hike to the nearest public
bus route stop and as a senior I ride with no charge,
All I do is groom the trail and wear bear bells. The cave
water was piped out early in the previous century by a
farm family. An old car of theirs is in the woods.
Tested the water. Safe. Just some silver and calcite.
Sounds interesting. Thanks for watching
You have a beautiful site & I can see what a magnificent sight in winter it will be.Lovely
New Sub, Hidin' in Dryden, MI
I have a Small Property up in TUSTIN that Im now 3rd Gen Owner, We removed the previous "Winter Cabin" a Singlewide 70's trailer; 20 years ago and its been grown over.
I Bush Hogged it, and now need to figure out what I want to build, Septic is Hopefully still good, the Well pump has been in the Well dormant all this time.
Im not sure if its still good to use or not to be honest.
Well Done!
I buiilt a similar 14 x14 bunkhouse up behind my southern Vermont home. Insulated the floor with rocksol in a similar fashion. The rest of the building is 3 season, not insulated but I did the floor now in case we decide to insulate and heat the bunkhouse. My adult kids, husbands and 5 grandkids love sleeping up there when they are here in the spring, summer and fall.
Hi Doug, that’s the idea here too. Glad to hear your family gets great enjoyment from your bunk house. Hoping for the same with this building. Thanks for watching in Vermont!
Thank you for sharing. Some footage was in time lapse mode so I couldn't catch critical details such as 1) was gravel poured into the pits before inserting the timber posts and pouring concrete? 2) Was a vapour barrier installed on the underside of the floorboard? I saw that no vapour barrier was laid on the boards beneath the joists, that supported the insulation from below. Merry Christmas and God bless you.
Hey yeah bud, looking good!
hope you get to complete the sides and the roofing before Christmas 21, Stay safe.. GOD BLESS.
Very good documentation. I am thinking of a similar build on my property in Ohio and so far, this looks within my skill set. The roof is another matter!
Same here, that would be my main issue if I tackled this solo.
@@Darkware880 For me it would be putting up the rafters. Determining the pitch and angles would be my biggest concern. I feel like I could slap on some plywood, felt and metal roofing material.
@@Darkware880 Thanks. I will research this. I am physically capable, but I guess I need to master the speed square.
@@johnbrowniv use a framing square for the birds mouth just make one template and trace onto the rest of the rafter and u should be good (if ur building a gable roof at least)
This is a great video, its not in our line of work (Foundations and Digouts) but this was super fun to watch !
Just found your channel. Also from Michigan. Will be doing a similar project on my property in the U.P. next year. Looking forward to more of your videos.
Hi Paul. Sounds like you have a good project ahead of you. I’m having a blast doing this one. Stick around, just put the roof on today and the steel siding goes on this week. Thanks for watching.
@@LivingOurAmericanDream How come no moisture bearier on bottom of floor joists first and then plywood. Then install insulation and then a layer of foil bubble wrap stapled to top of floor joists for added thermal protection, then nail down 5/8 or 1 inch treated plywood for base flooring. That will make a good strong floor for a very long time..And there won't ever be any warping of any part of floor or bowing of floor..I want my floor to feel super solid like concrete.. just a thought, let me know what ya think.. of course I always like to do things heavy duty so to last a very very long time.. I guess that is just me.. keep videos rolling. I am subscribed.
Great video. Building an off grid cabin on my property here in Australia . Thx for sharing
Congratulations beautiful place
Looking good Matt. I'll be following along. 👍🏻
I’m thinking that a row of blocking (bridging) midway of the 12’ span would help keep the Joists from twisting, also to keep the spacing for your plywood. Nothing worse than having to cut the plywood to fit because the joists are out of alignment!
Looking good
Forget all the fools who left dumb comments. I think you did a good job. I think it's cool.
Thanks man
Just found your channel, been there and enjoyed it, if you take water and bring to boil add hot peppers and use it to saturate under the cabin no insects or mice or snakes for years like your stuff
I suggest you enclose the base of your platform to keep out porcupines, rats, chipmunks, racoons, possums, snakes and other critters. We used it as a tent platform and wrapped the tent and base in plastic. Made a big difference in keeping the tent warm and dry and reducing condensation.
This guy actually knows how to auger a whole in the ground.
Love Coco!! I have a chocolate named Cleo!
Nice! I definitely will be using this type of insulation in my build that I'm starting next week. Last winter, my floors were ice cold.
Outstanding job awesome
Fantastic!
Good stuff!
Staggering the plywood on the floor will make it MUCH stronger. How deep is your frost line up there? How deep did you bury the post, it didn't look like you dug them very deep.
There are several things I learned doing this project including proper orientation of plywood and Osb on floors and roofs. So far so good, everything is holding up extremely well at three years in. Regarding frost line, it’s between 36” and 42” here. The posts are between 42” and 48” into the ground. Zero movement in the structure so far. I plan to do an update video real soon for folks who are interested. Thanks for watching!
Ill never understand doing wooden foundation when durable concret foundation is possible too... And YES - i know - Wodden Sticks are long lasting....but concret forever.
In my experience working on different homes. The plumbing on concrete foundations is much more difficult to work with and also more expensive. But I would agree that concrete is better as far as life and strength.
@@federicolopez-casildojr1451 you ar rigth! but - what plumbing? think he will do an outhouse? if u make concret point foundaion (not a plate) there is no difference in working with maybe planed plumbing. The moisture in the ground will rot the wooden foundation much earlier as the whole cabin. so the Life Expectancy of the cabin depends on the foundation. and is drastically shortened by the senseless sticks.
@@mikecollon100 rightyright, my druug! you know whats meant.
Nice start
You satisfied with the ground life of those posts....could have been just as easy to sonotube it? Just curious. Nice work.
Yeah, time will tell. The sandy soil is pretty well drained so it should be ok. I used the 6x6s so they’re a bit more beefy to get more life. I’m 40-ish so they’ll last longer than me I’m sure. Thanks for watching.
Thanks for not rambling on at the beginning with a bunch of fluff!
We live off grid on 85 acres in the UP of Michigan and we don’t have a cozy house to run to on our property
Nice Kubota
Fantastic!!!
Great job! I've got some bug out property in Carp Lake MI and will be doing a similar cabin build next spring. I'm on the fence with regards to PT 6 x 6 post in grade or setting biscuit footings below frost line (appx 48"), sonet tubes, etc.
I’d vote sono tubes
Hey how you doing brother I was looking at your RUclips channel. And I would like to ask you a question in the beginning when you're doing the post for the foundation I only see that you put the concrete on it without water why is that?
The moisture from the soil and rain will cure the dry concrete over time. Also, in my case, the holes began to fill with water so I sort of mixed it in the hole.
What did you do to set the posts?
Just pour in the quick-crete and pound it down? Or did u use water also?
Backfilled with soil. You never want to encase wood in concrete.
Que tenían las bolsas que le echaste a los hoyos con los apoyos del fundamento de la cabaña ???....te veo desde el sur de Chile.
It's a lot easier to build the floor platform then come back and fill in and permanently set the posts.
I treated the foundation like a pole barn and set the posts first. In hindsight sight if I were to do it again, I fully agree with your suggestion and would build the frame first then attach posts. That said, I’m pretty sure that would be difficult to do with one person. Either way, worth a try to attempt to get things aligned more perfectly. Thanks for watching.
@@LivingOurAmericanDream Pole barn columns are set on concrete pads.
Only if you have 10 friends who are willing to trade ice-cold beer for labor.
i think you have your insulation in upside down. the paper side goes toward the heated area.
That’s the way it’s installed. I should have taken a clip showing the floor insulation instead of just time lapse.
You do good work!
im not experienced but it seems like their should be a center beam joist support to prevent floor sag?
I applaud your skills and great looking project. If I use plywood I have problems with porcupines eating it, and that insulation is a mouse magnet. Do you have any issues with either?
So far so good. I sealed up the bottom real good before enclosing the floor in. We don’t have porcupines in mid Michigan, gotta go north further for those guys.
You can fasten whole sheets of metal lath to the underside of the plywood holding up the insulation and that will keep out just about any gnawing critter than wants to freeload in your house. Fasten it into the bottoms of the floor joists along the same line that you fastened the plywood into those same joists.
Great Job! Thank you so much for sharing. I have a question about the wood that you are using for the foundation. How long does it last and what are the alternatives if we want to build a house at a location which receives moderate to heavy rainfall for 3-4 months in a year. Thanks
To be honest, I would set the wood on concrete footings instead of just burying them in the ground. In my opinion, a foundation set on concrete footings will last longer.
@@vatoloco1348 OK. Thank you so much.
9:05 Now is the time to insulate the floor, putting a sub floor underneath.
What are the advantages or disadvantages to having separate pillars to serve as a foundation opposed to just having the structure flat on the ground with a fully filled square foundation so to say?
The post style foundation is really easy and fast. However, being wood is in the ground, its life is limited. Concrete footings would last much longer but also cost a lot more. Here in Michigan the footing needs to be at least 42” in the ground or freeze-thaw will cause the structure to heave. Hope this helps.
@@LivingOurAmericanDream Yeah thanks for the reply.
So few cabin builders use a pole-barn foundation....all seem to want the cement piles. I'm doing mine like a pole barn . Did you put in a cement footing under your posts?
I agree. It’s a simple way to build but lots of folks over-design. Yes, I have a bag of concrete mixed into the bottom of each post hole.
Hi there. Just saw your video. What size timber is your joists? Height and thickness?
Would you recommend the pressure treated plywood on the underside for a simple lawn mower shed? I really would like to know. Thanks
Probably wouldn’t need it on this cabin since the under side is not touching the ground. That said, I did so because of moisture in the woods. For a lawn mower shed, if you’re not insulating it, you wouldn’t need the underside at all. Just make sure anything touching the ground is treated or it will rot.
Why do you use the vertical wood posts instead of pouring concrete as a foundation?
I guess you don't have termites in that part of the country. You should've chard those post before putting them in the ground and never use concrete on a wooden post. It will cause them to rot over time.
Never heard of termite issues in my area. Thanks for watching.
Vapor barrier?
Great video! Wouldn't mind if you slowed the time lapse a little.
you can always adjust the playback speed -- look under settings
How deep are posts in the ground?
How long will a foundation like this last
50-100 years
I didn’t know you could add the concrete without mixing it.
won't these posts rot in the ground?
Probably
How far apart are the footings? I really want to do the same thing
Mine are 8’ apart
Estwing hammer
Maybe should’ve sealed those open cuts in the piers?
With the siding on there’s not actually any exposed wood. Hopefully it lasts 50 years, I’ll be long gone!
You should've staggered your decking for more structural integrity...
Probably
Did you get a permit to build this? It's over 200 sq'. I don't buy permits myself I'm just wondering.
What is the length & width measurement of the cabin you are building?
12x20 with 8x12 loft
Hey aren't you Bushradical's brother?
Did you install a vapor barrier or does it not need one
I did not install a vapor barrier. If I were building this off grid cabin to modern building codes and standards for full time dwellings, there should be a vapor barrier. However, I don’t think it’s necessary for this type of build. Thanks for watching.
Godd job. It will be standing for your grand children. Do it while you are able, yes sir.
What will you need ? not much
12x16?
Any more videos of this build up or not Any more work done yet
Hi mustang…the next video is coming within a week or so. My intention is to get into a rhythm of uploading a video every week, we’ll see how that goes. Next video will be framing walls, setting rafters etc… Then sheathing and roofing after that. More to come, thank you for following along.
You've got some pretty significant view but not nearly as many followers. My guess is the videos of a cabin build need to bee longer than 10 minutes long. The bushradical videos, for example, are up to almost 2 hours some times. He may not make as many, but they draw you in. Probably why he's got 1.07M followers to date. Give it a try. The cabin is pretty cool.
That dude was on TV (history channel?). I’m sure that helped him tremendously. Wonder what show I could be on 🤔
木柱插在土裡不會腐朽嗎？
Hopefully with the bottom sealed critters can't get in
12x16? That's my guess.
What are your dimensions? Length by width?
The cabin is 12x20 and 8’ sidewalls with a loft over half of it. Check out the build series for more info!
What’s the size of your cabins? L x W
My cabin is 12’ wide and 18’ long. In the future I will likely add a 12’ wide by 6’ or 8’ long porch on the front.
@@LivingOurAmericanDream I might consider setting the posts and create the porch now. Built the porch as you build the cabin and incorporate the roof or add separate porch roof if that's the style you want. In any event, you have the covered porch to keep materials and tools dry plus a dry place to work (and do messy work) as you finish the interior of the cabin with supplies out of your way. I am always puzzled why most folks don't do the porch at the same time and make use of that space as you go along.
@@LivingOurAmericanDream I thought you said "12x20 with 8x12 loft"
What size cabin is this?
12x20 with 8x12 loft
I laugh at how all these builds are now called off-the-grid cabins. We built a cabin, actually 2 of them, when I was in my mid-late teens and early 20's. We called them hunting camps.
You were ahead of your time!
Cool story.
República dominicana almira esto tipo de proyecto
I've seen a number of similar videos and some even larger than this. A standard feature is that posts are only under the periphery, with NONE in the middle of the floor. I was quite surprised about this, as this surely isn't structurally sound. The centre of the floor is where all the traffic (and weight) is and there is no support there. If a centre post is required at the edge why not in the middle as well? Makes no sense. Where I live there is a 3 X 3,5 metre shed built like this. After a few years the whole floor is sagging and "bouncy" and surely won't last much longer. Two posts along the centre line would have sorted this out from the get-go, so why not used? ai'd love to hear your reasoning.
Hi Dennis. Actually, the safe, sound span for a 2x10 floor joist is longer than this. I am at 12’ and I think I could have gone 14’ or more. Typical home building uses either 2x joists or engineered joists for all types of spans. Additionally, in my case I am using rough sawn lumber, meaning the cross section of the board is 2”x10” instead of 1-1/2”x9-1/2”. This means even more rigidity. Honestly, the floor of this building is really solid and has not even 1/16” of “bounce” in it. Thanks for your comment and thanks for watching.
@@LivingOurAmericanDream That's very interesting. Where I'm from (South Africa), building regulations won't allow spans of more than 3,5m for a 51 x 251mm rough sawn joist. When I designed my house (7 x 12 M) I had to have 3 rows of 5 supports 3.5m apart. Also, any beam longer than 5m had to be a laminated beam, which is considerably stronger than solid wood. I later built on a lean-to shed roof on one side of the house 10m long, and had to get an Engineer's certificate to use one single 10 metre laminated beam of 76 x 251mm, on 4 posts. The regs are very strict over there! Your standards seem to be very different over there. Thanks for the vid. Cheers.
dimensions?
Why would you spend all that money on pressure treated timbers just to cut into them and notch them out? Doesn't that weaken the treatment? I mean, maybe you went way heavy duty, ground contact treatment. Anyone able to answer this or educate me on this?
Great question! In this case, only treated, un-trimmed ends went into the ground. The tops did get trimmed and notched. If you watch the series, you will see that all trimmed and notched areas are not only above grade but also completely under the building siding and will never see moisture. That said, you are correct that cutting into treated lumber will sacrifice the longevity of the board if that area is exposed to ground contact or moisture like rain. Thanks for watching.
Any deer in those woods that you wood let a man hunt??
Are you a builder by trade?
No, and I’m aware my work reflects such 😊
Esto es afirmar la casa en clavos.edemas las planchas se ponen a lo largo del entramado. mal
No insulation in the floor?
Did we watch the same video?
Yeah, the floor has 6” insulation in between the joists, just didn’t capture it too well on the time lapse. Thanks for watching
@@LivingOurAmericanDream A 2x12 floor system would easily take R-30 insulation. Use all available space to keep your build as toasty as possible when the cavities are open. Too late and too expensive to retrofit a cold house after it's all buttoned up.
I statuy
А чего дерево ни чем не обработали? Древесина уже начала гнить, и этот процесс надо остановить обработкой. Да и жить с грибком как-то не очень.....
Is he Canadian?.scam 🤣
Not Canadian, eh.