Hunting Cabin Remodel in Green Bay, VA

h20buoy · December 17, 2008, 12:39:37 AM

Hi all, I've been lurking around for some time taking in all the beautiful work shown in this forum. I live with my wife and four children in Richmond, VA and have long been looking for some hunting/recreational land within a few hours of Richmond for us to enjoy. I planned to purchase a tract of land somewhere in the neighborhood of 20-30 acres and had intentions of building a small hunting cabin as a retreat for me and my 3 boys. During my search, I ran across a 40 acre tract in Green Bay, VA (Lunenburg County) just outside of Victoria, VA. The property is a little over an hour away from our home in Richmond and seems to be just what we have been looking for. It already has a 400 sq ft cabin that I am told was built in the mid 90's and already has electric/well/septic. The cabin is not up to par with the ones listed in this forum, but I think with a little hard work I should be able to turn it into something worthy of these pages. I plan to take another trip down next week to get a better look at the cabin and walk the entire property before making an offer on the tract. I'm not really sure about the foundation and need to take pictures to post for your feedback when I'm down there. The property is surrounded by forrestry owned land and a large part of the property was cutover 6 years ago. It isn't the prettiest, but i think it has a ton of potential. There is a decent creek with over 200 ft frontage on the back end of the property and a logging road borders the length of another side. Seems to be a nice spot for a .5-1 acre pond being feed by the creek and I would want to clear some trails and a few acres of land, not to mention a couple of food plots. Anybody familiar with the area that could offer an advice on help clearing the land and constructing the pond? I am hoping to make a decision over the next few weeks to pull the trigger or not on a purchase. I have posted some pics to get any advice/feedback you are willing to offer. If I do decide to purchase, I'm sure I will be spending a great deal of time here looking for answers to many, many questions that I am sure I will have. Thanks in advance for looking.

Here are a few pics of the cabin. I believe it is stucco of which I am really not a big fan.

Best pic I currently have of the foundation. Not really sure about this......

The logging road borders about .6 mi of the property...property is on the left

Logging road going toward main road with old tobacco barn on left. You can't see it in this pic, but there is a nicer barn just to the left of this pic. It sits right in front of the cabin.

Pic of cutover....

Still some woods left along the property boarder and the creek....

Pics of the stream....

Only neighbor that can be seen from property..I know, a bit of an eyesore. At least it is up near the main road.

Thanks for looking and you guys have a great community here!!

glenn kangiser · December 17, 2008, 12:59:10 AM

Thanks for posting, H2O.

Stucco is not the worst thing in the world. Lots of things you can do with it and it is fireproof.

Looks like nice property. Looking forward to hearing more.

I use trees for my foundation too --- I'm not scared.

December 17, 2008, 01:27:04 AM

Nothing really wrong with stucco; there's lots of it used. I have a stucco house. You may have the first stucco cabin on the forum. Place of honor.

G/L, I hope it works out for you.

Whitlock · December 17, 2008, 01:49:54 AM

I hate stucco >:(But that is me.If it were mine I would pull the stucco off and put some board and bat on.
Cover the block with rock and add some yard art(old stuff).
The land looks good. It is amazing what you can do with the land plant some trees to cover the veiw of your friends next door add a food plot and you will have a place of your own

Welcome to the forum,W

glenn kangiser · December 17, 2008, 02:20:10 AM

I'm too lazy for that. If I wanted to do that I would put about 3 wood bands around it then put the wood over the stucco.

December 17, 2008, 02:24:29 AM

Quote from: glenn kangiser on December 17, 2008, 02:20:10 AM
I'm too lazy for that. If I wanted to do that I would put about 3 wood bands around it then put the wood over the stucco.

Don't you mean lag bolt boat docks to the ext.

NM_Shooter · December 17, 2008, 09:11:18 AM

H20!

You've started out correctly. We like pictures. Lots of pictures. That looks like a sweet setup! Your family looks to be just the right age for making lots of great memories.

What is the tower behind the woodstove?

glenn kangiser · December 17, 2008, 12:21:27 PM

Quote from: Whitlock on December 17, 2008, 02:24:29 AM
Quote from: glenn kangiser on December 17, 2008, 02:20:10 AM
I'm too lazy for that. If I wanted to do that I would put about 3 wood bands around it then put the wood over the stucco.

Don't you mean lag bolt boat docks to the ext.

Boat docks will work if you can find enough. Fortunately I can find enough. Should I bring the boat and tie it to a dock?

h20buoy · December 17, 2008, 04:18:47 PM

I think the tower behind the stove is an attempt at a chimney. Anything I should be conerned about with this setup? Seems some of the slate is coming unglued from the center block. BTW...thanks for the comments.

December 21, 2008, 10:47:23 PM

Whitlock--you mentioned putting stone around the block foundation. What would be the best approach for doing this...dry-stack? Any body have any pics of how this would end up looking?

Also, would I need to put bands over the stucco, or could I just use smaller concrete nails and nail the siding directly into the stucco?

MountainDon · December 21, 2008, 11:20:01 PM

Dry stack works best on short walls.

Re stucco: Removing the stucco before installing siding would be the way to go. That way go can verify you have a good weather barrier in place and have something better to nail to. Also you would have aneasier time of fitting around the windows and door. The only thing I would apply over old stucco in a skim coat of new stucco to repair faults or change color.

Whitlock · December 22, 2008, 02:42:30 AM

Quote from: h20buoy on December 21, 2008, 10:47:23 PM
Whitlock--you mentioned putting stone around the block foundation. What would be the best approach for doing this...dry-stack? Any body have any pics of how this would end up looking?

Also, would I need to put bands over the stucco, or could I just use smaller concrete nails and nail the siding directly into the stucco?

Look at how Redoverfarm covered his block work with stone. It is in the owner builder projects part of the forum under Dogtrot at Hightop. He did a wonderful job and I'm sure he will have some pointers for you.

glenn kangiser · December 22, 2008, 11:51:15 AM

Nailing to the stucco I don't think would be much fun. I see bent nails, cracking - loosening - capillary action holding water between the siding and the stucco, rotting the siding from the back. The bands would give you a screen wall effect making the siding last much longer.