Finally underway! My upstate NY 20 x 40 off-grid gets started

[Squirl]

That's not so bad doc.

NYSE&G gives the first 500 ft free, then $12.50 a foot after that.  Plus they charge a $300 easement fee across every property they have to cross.  They quoted me $8,000 for 1000 ft.  I went solar

Everything looks great doc.

[AdironDoc]

I love the logs. is this a 30x30?
I take it the logs were lifed with a crane?

Thanks, they are the pine removed from the lot. The cabin is 20 x 40. The logs were hand-peeled by my neighbor, dried in his mill, and lifted using his logging equipment. Cabin is log frame with 2 by's in between. Sort of a hybrid that he enjoys putting together because of the ease of running wires, pipes and insulating while retaining the "log" look. This cabin is solar. The guest camp I own across the creek has road frontage and will soon enjoy heat, lights and hot water. I'm sure the expense of running power in will be long forgotten when I take my first long hot shower. Until the taxes go up that is..   

[nysono]

Doc,
Nice to see you are able to continue progress, looks very nice.  I like the slightly darker look on the pine also.  Gotta love NYS and taxes......Im just waiting for my assessment to jump, or not......
I figure I have another month at least before I can drive the truck in to mine, til then its snowmobile and that makes getting bigger stuff in there slightly challenging.
Dont forget to enjoy the fruits of your labor once in a while too.

Steve

[MWAndrus]

I got really lucky with electric installation here in Wisconsin. WPS originally quoted me a little over $1000 for a buried line 250ft to my meter base. After they dug it in and hooked everything up, we got a refund check. It ended up only costing us $380.

[Bishopknight]

Beautiful work! I love the exposed timber rafters and craftsmanship.

[duncanshannon]

I got really lucky with electric installation here in Wisconsin. WPS originally quoted me a little over $1000 for a buried line 250ft to my meter base. After they dug it in and hooked everything up, we got a refund check. It ended up only costing us $380.

Tell us some more about that!  I've got land up near Spooner... and i'm about 1200' I figure from the power.... hoping someone else brings it further down the private road before I build at 4-6$ / foot.

[AdironDoc]

Ahhh, the snows are gone and work gets underway at last! A lovely easter weekend at camp with my father. What a way to kick the year off.

Priorities: Water source, bathroom, kitchen

Getting railings together



Used some yellow birch I cut down to make furniture:


Solar was working well until 3pm shade set in.. hand me a chainsaw?


Hung the cabinets and used boards for countertop. Just had to add the edging for overhang.


Finally looking cozy..


View from the great room:


View of loft:

[new land owner]

Looking good Doc!

Can't wait to get up and get some more work done on my camp!

[John Raabe]

Lots of fine work there. Rustic with a nice polish!

[beckhamk]

Nice build!   I see on your wood stove you have one of those heat powered fans, how do you like that and does it move much air?

[AdironDoc]

Lots of fine work there. Rustic with a nice polish!

Thanks guys. Not quite done yet but it's shaping up. I'm kind of wondering now... When it's finished, will i be satisfied to just sit down and relax? In the words of a popular song, "and when it's over, is it really over?..it never ends.."

[AdironDoc]

Nice build!   I see on your wood stove you have one of those heat powered fans, how do you like that and does it move much air?

It spins quite fast and moves a bit of air, but, in a space that large, it's more of a conversation piece 

[AdironDoc]

Had a great weekend at the camp. With the exception of permanent stairs, a septic tank and permanent hose to the spring box, it seems to be nearing finished (as are my funds!). The powers had a change in heart and ruled that my loft counts as a bedroom, thus, I will be assessed at a "3 bedroom house" rate.

Cleared out more hemlock by the creek which I will soon mill into dimensional lumber.



Had the pine from last season made into some barn style interior doors.


Unlike the more rustic look of the 8" stained boards, I opted for 4" unstained in the bathroom. I wanted to keep things lighter and brighter.



Earlier flood conditions knocked down the bridge up the creek. Seems some of it ended up on the bank of my camp a bit downstream. What I thought was a beaver dam, now uncovered, ended up being a bunch of iron. Here the creek is comparatively low.


With all the sharp angles of the white clad windows against the rustic wood, I thought I'd soften that impact a bit with some window treatments. I'm thinking something with deep colors, and campy. Of course, that's not my strong point.. 






The springbox was filling as fast as I could pump out with my two 12V pumps. I resorted to a 120v well pump with the genny which at least dropped the level to around 1ft. I got in and found my rubber boots gave me an inch to spare as I cleaned out dead salamanders, boards, roofing shingles and mud. The two pipes I had noted earlier were completely plugged up so I filled them permanently. I will run a new overflow pipe.

Good news was that shovelling even a 6 inch hole into dirt on the hillside of the box resulted in immediate water. Towards the swamp side, very little. At least I know the water is coming from the ground and not backfeeding from the marsh. Also that there's a proper porous bottom, and its from the hill. the box is 38" by 72". With the water rising easily a foot an hour when near empty, that's a very high refresh rate (~135 gallons/hr). I threw in a couple gallons of clorox, scrubbed the walls, got the large debris out (despite remaining mud on the bottom), set a ring of 2x4 around the lip, and covered her up with weatherproof boards. Next step will be the 12V shurflo pump to the storage tank I have 60 feet up the hill. I'll run it off a battery set and my 50w PV panel. Anyone know where I can find a switch that will come on when the water level runs low in the storage barrel? All the bilge float switches I see turn off when the level drops. Maybe I can mount it upside down?

One of the critters evicted from my spring box.

[Sassy]

Hey, at least they're still alive, unlike the ones that were found in the pipes Glenn used to drink out of as a kid in Oregon    When it started taking 3 minutes for a glass of water to fill up, they speedily went out & checked the pipes... (it only took them 3 wks to get around to it)  Adirondoc, have to tell you, they didn't find any pretty salamanders like you did - theirs were gray & rotting, just on the point of being liquified, IIRC, adding a special flavor to the drinking water     

[glenn kangiser]

Well..... we all lived through it as I recall, and nary a bellyache either...

You'll seldom find water with that particular flavor.... [ouch]

[Sassy]

BTW, you've done a beautiful job on your cabin!

[AdironDoc]

Hey, at least they're still alive, unlike the ones that were found in the pipes Glenn used to drink out of as a kid in Oregon    When it started taking 3 minutes for a glass of water to fill up, they speedily went out & checked the pipes... (it only took them 3 wks to get around to it)  Adirondoc, have to tell you, they didn't find any pretty salamanders like you did - theirs were gray & rotting, just on the point of being liquified, IIRC, adding a special flavor to the drinking water 

I had thrown a gallon of bleach into the murky water 2 weeks back and felt terrible when, on returning, I saw several salamanders. Certain they were dead, I tried to fish them out but they swam under. Certainly the cleanest specimens by that time and their spots hadn't faded like my jeans. This time, I did fish a gelatinized critter out.. not much left but his bones. No wonder the bacterial test was positive some time back. Thank God I didn't take a few swigs beforehand. Yack! That's a "flavor" I'd gladly do without!

[Squirl]

I like those doors.

[OlJarhead]

I'd like to make one of those doors with the pine I've milled.....any chance you can get some more pictures uploaded?  Details?

Did you check out Backwoods Solar's section on pumps and accessories?  I think their float will work for your needs too.

Keep up the posts!  I love the pictures!  Makes me cabin sick (like home sick but for my cabin)

[OlJarhead]

Pictures like that one just make me itch to get home from work and get woodworking!

[AdironDoc]

Thanksl. I asked my neighbor the cabinetmaker/mill owner to make me up some pine doors that look like barn doors using T&G. I'll take some closer photos next weekend and measure them up. I've been looking at the link you sent and wondering if I will buy the float.

Doc

[OlJarhead]

I'd love to know what he did, and how it went together -- it looks a lot like what I've been wanting to do with T&G

[JavaMan]

Looks like he used a whole lotta screws! ... beautiful door, tho.  Makes me want to build something that could i\use a door like that

[AdironDoc]

I'd like to make one of those doors with the pine I've milled.....any chance you can get some more pictures uploaded?  Details?

Regular T&G pine boards on hallway side. Room-side of doors is made as follows:

[new land owner]

I like the stain color.