Hello; theres a small plot 4hrs or so drive from full-time residence/work; over the next few years I'd sure like to put up a 10x12 A-frame shelter w/ a sleeper loft. Something to winter over in when I'm retired after decade or so. Quick sideline here do these plans ever work out? love to hear a successful GGfG/bug-out tale... thats Getting Gone for Good :D
w/ the shelter main concerns are water source; on this was thinking I could possibly dig a big pit and line it w/ rocks & concrete. Like a man-made underground reservoir to trap rainwater... from which it could be siphoned up and fed through hoses with whatever sort of simple filtration method (maybe drums w/ sand ect.) I can manage into my shack. Need to generate enough water for one man to cook w/ and drink plus the odd scrub-down. In winter melting snow is always an option; but water for weekend trips would be necessary. Maybe better off w/ a series of pits instead of a single big one.
heating: I have an old rusted but not structurally unsound wood stove I got for free - small ornate one unsure of maker. I have to refurbish this completely and find some stove pipe.
lighting: Been told older Coleman double-mantle are best all around lantern. I've used one on a night fishing trip - dude wasn't interested in selling.
latrine: tiny bathroom w/ nature's head composting toilet... listed at $900 but its better than a steel pail. Figure I'd make a solar fan with some sort of hatch so I can seal it up to keep insulated.
roof: Gotta be tin. whatever problems arise it'll be a small price to pay for just a single night dozing off during a good rain.
So, just wanted to get on the forum & introduce myself & outline my plan. Got site bookmarked going to start delving through some post w/ similar sized cabins see how they went up. Thanks for reading.
- buckroe
A few things that came to mind reading your post-
Mr. Heater indoor propane lights are awesome. around $50 each- go for 11 hours per pound.
Save yourself the $900 and build a sawdust toilet. Just have to empty it once a week.
Water- If you are going with a tin roof and get a fair amount of rain, why not just collect that water. Run your drinking water through a filter.
Good luck!
Re; gas lighting... As well as light all fuel burning lights produce lots of heat. Maybe welcome in winter, but there are many places where that would be a drag, IMO.
My .02...
A-frames are cool but you end up with a lot of wasted space. I like gambrel roofs for lofted shelters because you get the most inside space for the footprint.
Underground water tanks are cheap enough. Buy a good one and set it properly and it will last as long as you care to stay there. Plenty of info online on rainwater catching and treatment. A little pool shock will treat a lot of rainwater for general use and a big berky will make it drinkable
For a few hundred bucks you can set up a small solar system that will give you enough power to run some LED lights, charge your phone, listen to a little radio, run a small water pump...
Use the humanure toilet instead of the composting one, the $$$ you save will buy your solar system and most of the water tank
Hope these ideas help, good luck with your project
Water
Without much trouble or expense you can collect water off the roof.
Store in an underground plastic tank...pretty cheap and you can easily pump what you need into the house with a small pump or manually.
The rocks and cement idea is not a good way to go. Will be a pain to build, cost about as much and give you constant sanitary and leak headaches.
Lights
Just use a couple of oil laterens and in a 10x12 you will have a lot of light.
Or look up Waka Waka light and for 39 bucks get big time light from the sun.
You might be interested in Ryo Chijiiwa's Laptop and a Rifle blog.
https://laptopandarifle.wordpress.com/
I would suggest going back to the beginning and working forward through it. He has taken much the same approach that you describe.
Ditto what Rob O says. 10x12 is pretty tiny, and if you make it an A frame you will be struggling for a place to stand. Take some sheets and tack them to the ceiling in a room in your house to get a feel for what 10X12 feels like. Keep in mind that your front door opens inwards.
Watch out for coleman lights in small spaces for CO also. Plus, those things stink like crazy when you shut them off. I use one in my cabin and I take it outside to shut it off and leave it there.
Good luck, and keep us posted!
The smallest plan in the Little House plans kit (http://www.countryplans.com/jshow.com/y2k/listings/29.html) is for a 10' x 14' floorplan. You can print the page linked below and play around with moving the sleeping man, the table, etc. to get a feel for how to use the space.
http://countryplans.com/Downloads/10x14plan.pdf (http://countryplans.com/Downloads/10x14plan.pdf)
After talking to people who have built A-frames (same for geodesic domes) All the advantages are in the construction. For A frames, it's very easy to build a series of triangles to put up. Really all you have to build is the roof, and you're living in the attic. However, your useful area to surface area is small and heat loss is great. Building your own place is extremely rewarding. If you are choosing an A frame because you like that design, do it....I'm a huge proponent of drawing exactly what you want it to look like then learning how to build it. When you consider all the effort and logistics it's going to take to build, the complexity of the shape is kind of a small consideration in my opinion. Also--the rain runoff collected will be identical on a 10x12 footprint regardless of roof configuration
John's 10 x 14 was my first attempt. Outstanding results, we kept this place as a bug out/calming spot long after we built a bigger cabin. We have had up to 6 people staying in it. Cozy, but that was the idea....
kevin