Temporary housing ideas on our construction site.

Started by rorybagleys, February 03, 2016, 05:26:30 PM

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rorybagleys

My wife and I recently purchased a piece of land in Eastern Washington near the Methow valley and are planning to eventually build a small house on the property. In the meantime we're going to need some sort of temporary housing arrangement. My wife has been talking about setting up a yurt, and I'm not apposed to the idea. We could leave it set up after the house is completed for extra storage or guests in the summer. I've also been looking at camp systems. They're a little more modern and heavy duty than a yurt, in my opinion. I've been looking at these models by Alaska Structures. Or possibly their quonset-style camp. On the other hand, we could just get a trailer or RV, but I think those could be a little more expensive, and I'm not sure how well a trailer or RV would hold up under the wintertime snow. Another idea would be to get a trailer or RV and build a post and pole roof over the top of it.  I'm curious if anyone has any suggestions either way.


ChugiakTinkerer

I just picked up a 12x20 Weatherport that I will be using as a temporary structure for our cabin build.  Here's the Craigslist link, which will probably good for a while yet.  Once the cabin is built this will likely become a tool shed / workshop.

I favor Weatherport over some other options, but I don't have much reason other than personal experience.  If you want to buy new then give Erik a call at 970-399-5909.

Edit: I don't mean to suggest you buy one of these in Alaska, just showing the CL page for reference.
My cabin build thread: Alaskan remote 16x28 1.5 story


rorybagleys

I wasn't aware they could come with their own flooring system. That's interesting!
Looks like you found a pretty good deal on Craigslist. I'll have to keep my eyes open for something like that.
Thanks for pointing out the WeatherPort camps. I hadn't run across those yet. They look to be very similar quality to the Alaska Structures camps. Good to know!

NathanS

Make sure you know the laws for you area... some places have banned yurts. Every county does their own thing.. just double check before you buy something.

That said, a travel trailer can be a thrifty option. There are tons of used ones, they are designed to be off-grid, there's virtually no site work or set-up required. And, it will be the easiest thing to sell when you're done with it.

rick91351

We did the trailer - it was not blue birds singing and sun shining.... It was a great port in the storm....  It was great place to take meals and grab a shower and to get some sleep.  Then a new day and you are back working on the house. If you do not have a septic system in, power and a good stand alone pressurized water source I would never look at a trailer.

To prepare we installed a 500 gallon propane tank.  We built insulated skirting clear around and heat taped everything and I mean everything.  I rigged a halogen lamp on the black water tank and would plug it in when it got 'cold'.  Inside we used both a Eden- Pure heater and the furnace which is a heavy maintenance item by the way in cold weather.  The furnace motor bearings in our couple years in the trailer we went through two motors. (One a year.)  We went through one charger controller mother board.

That said we went through one very cold winter up here and never froze it up.... I talked to as many people as I could who also did the same thing and took pointers from them.   As well as a friend who has been in trailer sales for like 40 years told us in no uncertain terms.  DO not open your black water valve and leave it open winter nor summer.  You can your gray water but manual your black water.  We did that exactly - the reason for the halogen light on the black water tank when it got cold.  I heat taped the the outlet from the tank to the waste gate or valve.  Never had a real problem after I had a plug or two then worked out my system......  Worked great after that point.  Use lots of water to flush the solids and hold them suspended.  Use plenty of toilet chemical to help brake down the solids.  There is a big difference in a trailer running up and down the highway and one sitting still for a year as far how it handles the black water.

As far as keeping the snow off in the winter and if you are living in it full time you have nothing to worry about because the heat rising and goes up and pretty takes care of itself.             

Proverbs 24:3-5 Through wisdom is an house builded; an by understanding it is established.  4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.  5 A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.


ChugiakTinkerer

Quote from: rorybagleys on February 04, 2016, 10:45:53 AM
I wasn't aware they could come with their own flooring system. That's interesting!
Looks like you found a pretty good deal on Craigslist. I'll have to keep my eyes open for something like that.
Thanks for pointing out the WeatherPort camps. I hadn't run across those yet. They look to be very similar quality to the Alaska Structures camps. Good to know!

Actually, I think Alaska Structures now owns Weatherport.  If you go to the Weatherport.com web site you can somehow end up at Alaska Structures.

I don't think Weatherport sells floors directly, but you never know.  The floor boards that were for sale with my structure are ones made by the seller.  They are a logistics company that specializes in setting up remote camps for exploration and scientific research projects.  Five 4' x 12' pieces can be put on a pallet, shipped to the site, then bolted together to form a floor.  My needs are for something a little more permanent so I'm opting to build my own out of pressure-treated lumber, with either plywood or 2x decking.

Once things thaw, the first thing I'll be doing is putting in the outhouse.
My cabin build thread: Alaskan remote 16x28 1.5 story

CabinNick

Last fall we were in the same boat as you, trying to decide on some form of temporary structure before we got out cabin built.  This summer we built a wooden platform to put our wall tent on but we weren't comfortable leaving it up all summer when we were not there.  It was a real pain to put up and take down ever weekend that we went to the property.  We thought about buying a used travel trailer but the heavy snow here would crush it like a pop can if we left it there all winter.  We decided to go the route of a stick built structure onto of a trailer - similar to a "tiny home".

We just purchased a used "tiny cabin" that should work perfectly for what we need.  The interior is 20' x 8' with a 4 x 8' covered porch.  Walls are 2 x 4 construction with insulation.  Roof, siding, and underside are heavy corrugated metal.  Built on a custom frame with dual mobile home axels.  Interior is knotty pine, double queen bunk beds, sink, counter top, cabinets, RV propane heater on thermostat, etc.  It is hard to value these things but we paid $5K which I think is a pretty darn good deal; might not even cover the materials to build it.  My hope is to sell it for what we paid for it in a few years when we get done with our cabin build.  Given the popularity of tiny homes right now I think we should be able to flip it pretty easy. 

Others mentioned the Weather Port idea.  I lived two summers in the arctic of Alaska in a Weather Port.  Can't say enough good things about them.  Very comfortable and we weathered some major arctic ocean storms in them.  We just built a floor out of 2x4's and plywood, then nailed the frame to the floor. 


UK4X4

we did the travel trailer route on our build but really only in 3 week stints summer and winter, in the winter we'd live without the water system, just use bottled water and pans for a wash warmed on the stove.

We found the furnace noisy at night, so we turned it of at bed time, but it was well chilly by the time dad had to get out of bed and turn it back on !

Water wise being that we weren't there full time having the system freeze and burst was more risky than the hassle of using bottled water.

Gray and black tanks we had no issues with, flush wise we made up spray bottles of water and RV toilet fluid, we used no paper in the toilet, all paper was collected in a dustbin, wet wipes helped with hygine.

When we sold the first trailer we made money, and the second larger one it was new off the lot when bought but the depreciation was less than renting a motel 6 over the time we spent on site, it had 100 miles on it after 3 years !

Up the hill from town and back down..

The convenience of being on site well outweighed the alternatives


MushCreek

I had several temporary quarters during my build in SC. I started out with an elderly  pop-up camper. I built a shed, and did stay in it from time to time during stormy weather. The pop-up didn't have much of a bathroom area as such, so I used the shed. I built a 'shower', using a plastic mortar trough, and made a framework out of PVC pipe to hold up shower curtains. I used a solar shower, which worked fine until winter really set in.

Since we needed a barn anyway, I got the barn up and weather proof pretty quickly. I moved the camper into the barn, as the barn was (marginally) warmer than outside. The barn was put on the septic system, so I now had a real bathroom!  I bought a small, 120 volt water heater so I could really shower. Luxury! The tricky part was running everything off of a single 120V extension cord. Since it would only run one heating appliance at a time, I couldn't cook dinner while running the water heater, and other such fun. I had a hot plate, toaster oven, under counter fridge, microwave, etc.

Once the house was dried in, I moved into the basement, and things got easier from there. We're in upstate SC, so this worked about 9 months out of the year. The barn is about 10-15 degrees warmer than outside, and an electric heater could keep the camper 20 degrees warmer than the barn. You can do the math to see at what point it was no longer doable. The first winter I went back to our home in FL and worked for a few months. The second winter, i stayed with a friend who wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. All in all, it was a great adventure, but pushing it for a 60 year old. In the long run, I didn't waste much money, as I use the shed and the barn, and I can probably get my money back on the camper.
Jay

I'm not poor- I'm financially underpowered.


OlJarhead

There are some small cabin/shed builders in the Okanogan that I know others have used.  Not sure that's what I'd do but I didn't have to live at my place while building either.